Israel’s former military intelligence chief has said Israel convinced the US that Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani posed an “immediate threat” to American soldiers, the same language former President Trump used to justify his assassination at the time, although no evidence was ever provided for the claim.
Soleimani was the commander of Iran’s IRGC Quds Force and was killed in Baghdad by a US drone strike in January 2020. At the time, Tamir Hayman served as the head of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate. Hayman told Jewish News that Israel had provided the US with information to convince the US Soleimani posed a threat.
“We supplied the intelligence and shared analysis and over a long period of time they were eventually convinced that Soleimani was an immediate threat to American lives and its strategic posture in the Middle East,” Hayman said.