Israel played a role in the assassination of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, a former IDF intelligence chief revealed Monday.
Gen. Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds force and mastermind of its regional security strategy, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in January 2020, near the Iraqi capital's international airport.
“Soleimani’s assassination is an achievement, since our main enemy, in my eyes, are the Iranians," said former head of Israeli military intelligence Maj. Gen. Tamir Hayman - marking the first time a top Israeli official confirms Israel's role in the U.S.-led operation.
"Two significant and important assassinations can be noted in my term,” added Hayman, referring to the assassination of Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu al-Ata in 2019.
According to Hayman, Israel carried out multiple operations to disrupt the proliferation of Iranian weapons, adding that Israel has largely succeeded in stopping Iranian attempts to entrench itself in Syria.
“We thwarted a lot of ways they tried to smuggle weapons and money and the headline of all of this is stopping the Iranians from entrenching themselves in Syria,” he said.
In May, it was reported that Israel provided the U.S. with key intelligence support, including tracking Soleimani's cellphone, according to Yahoo News.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump was reportedly unhappy with Israel's level of involvement in the assassination, according to an Axois report.