A public statement on the role of Israeli intelligence in the assassination of Soleimani
The head of the Israeli army’s intelligence agency, Major General Tamir Hayman, revealed the role played by Israeli intelligence in the assassination of the former commander of the Iranian Quds Force, General Qassem Soleimani, in a public statement, the first since the assassination.
In an interview with the magazine The Secret Heritage Center, Hayman said: “His tenure of office has seen two significant operations; the first was the assassination of Iranian leader Qassem Soleimani, while the second targeted Palestinian Jihad leader Baha Abu al-Atta, who was assassinated in November 2019”, according to the MENA Observatory.
Hayman confirmed that Israeli intelligence had thwarted many plans, and obstructed the transfer of funds and means of combat from Iran to prevent the Iranian presence in Syria. He considered that these operations were very successful.
It is worth mentioning that Israel has been threatening to strike Iranian nuclear installations recently, announcing that it is conducting drills to implement this plan.
The Revolutionary Guards warned that Iran would retaliate with devastating strikes if its nuclear facilities were attacked by Israel.
Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, commander of the Central News Ring headquarters, said: “The Iranian armed forces will not hesitate to strike hard against all centers, bases and areas that may be used for the transit of Israeli warplanes”.
It is worth mentioning that the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani, was killed along with the official in the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, Abou Mehdi al-Mouhandis, in a U.S. air strike near Baghdad airport at dawn on January 3, 2020.
It is worth mentioning that the American NBC channel had revealed that the Israeli intelligence had a hand in the assassination of the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Soleimani.
The channel said: “U.S. intelligence informants gathered information about Soleimani’s movement from Damascus International Airport toward Baghdad Airport, while Israeli intelligence helped confirm the information”.
The channel indicated that Soleimani’s plane landed half an hour after midnight, and less than an hour later was attacked by a U.S. plane with missiles. It confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the only official who received an official warning from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of the intention of assassinating Soleimani.
