Muqtada al-Sadr overværer Ashura-prosessionen i Teheran 19. september i år ved siden af Qassem Suleimani. Et historisk interessant billede. Foto: AFP/Scanpix

I oktober mødtes general Qassam Suleimani med irakiske militsledere under hans kommando i en villa ved bredden af Tigris, med udsigt til den amerikanske ambassade på den anden side af elven.

Der planlagde Suleimani en større operation mod amerikanske soldater og diplomater: De skulle dræbes.

Suleimani havde sørget for at den irakiske specialstyrke han planlagde, havde fået avancerede våben, som en iransk-udviklet drone, som ikke lod sig registrere på radar.

Baggrunden for drabsbølgen var at Suleimani var gået så hårdt frem mod irakiske demonstranter, at det havde gjort Iran upopulær blandt almindelige irakere.

Suleimani ønskede at angribe USA, så vreden kunne kanaliseres mod USA og tage opmærksomheden væk fra Iran.

Det er Reuters, som afslører dette. Det bekræfter det, som har været udenrigsminister Mike Pompeos begrundelse for elimineringen af Suleimani: At amerikanerne sad inde med information om at Suleimani planlagde at dræbe amerikanere i flere angreb.

Det er folk, der var med på mødet, som afslører dette for Reuters:

The Revolutionary Guards commander instructed his top ally in Iraq, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and other powerful militia leaders to step up attacks on U.S. targets in the country using sophisticated new weapons provided by Iran, two militia commanders and two security sources briefed on the gathering told Reuters.

The strategy session, which has not been previously reported, came as mass protests against Iran’s growing influence in Iraq were gaining momentum, putting the Islamic Republic in an unwelcome spotlight. Soleimani’s plans to attack U.S. forces aimed to provoke a military response that would redirect that rising anger toward the United States, according to the sources briefed on the gathering, Iraqi Shi’ite politicians and government officials close to Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. (….)

Interviews with the Iraqi security sources and Shi’ite militia commanders offer a rare glimpse of how Soleimani operated in Iraq, which he once told a Reuters reporter he knew like the back of his hand.

Det fremgår af våbnene Suleimani leverede, at det ikke blot var enkeltattentat han havde planer om, men mere omfattende angreb:

Two weeks before the October meeting, Soleimani ordered Iranian Revolutionary Guards to move more sophisticated weapons – such as Katyusha rockets and shoulder-fired missiles that could bring down helicopters – to Iraq through two border crossings, the militia commanders and Iraqi security sources told Reuters.

Angrebene skulle ikke kun finde sted i Irak.

White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien told reporters on Friday that Soleimani had just come from Damascus, “where he was planning attacks on American soldiers, airmen, Marines, sailors and against our diplomats.”

Inside the plot by Iran’s Soleimani to attack U.S. forces in Iraq