The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for several months persuaded Donald Trump to eliminate Iranian General Kassem Soleimani. This was reported by the Washington Post, citing sources.
It is noted that the US president for a long time did not agree to this operation. The military was also against such measures: the sanctions campaign against Iran led to increased tension in relations with Tehran. This, as the newspaper notes, required more and more military resources in the Middle East.
However, after the death that happened on December 27, the situation changed: as a result of the shelling at a military base near the city of Kirkuk in Iraq, a civil contractor from the United States died.
On December 29, Pompeo, the US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, Mark Milli, held a meeting with Trump. As a result of discussions on the response, the President agreed to liquidate Soleimani.
On Friday night, the United States conducted an operation in the area of Baghdad International Airport. During it, General Kassem Soleimani, as well as the deputy head of the Iraqi Shiite militia Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who in the United States are considered involved in organizing the attack on the diplomatic mission, were killed.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry called the operation against Suleymani a violation of the country’s sovereignty. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has promised to avenge the death of the military commander.