Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced Thursday the arrest of three “terrorists” accused of plotting an attack against senior commander Qassem Soleimani on orders of Israeli and Arab secret services.
The suspects “were sent abroad” and “large sums of money were spent to train them and prepare them” to carry out an attack against Soleimani, the Guards’ official website Sepahnews said.
#Iran #IRGC chief said it has foiled an Israeli-Arabic assassination attempt against Haj Qassem Soleimani:Terrorist team of 3 people bought an aprt near Kerman mosque, prepared 300 /500 kg of explosives &tried to dig tunnels under the mosque to blow it up during Soleimani’s visit
— Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai) October 3, 2019
The shadowy Soleimani heads the Guards’ elite Quds Force, which runs foreign operations, and is regarded as the mastermind of Iran’s military strategy in the region.
Soleimani has been the public face of Iran’s support for the Iraqi and Syrian governments in their battles with Islamic State group jihadists.
Sepahnews, citing the Guards’ intelligence chief Hossein Taeb, said the three were planning an attack against Soleimani during a Shiite religious ceremony in southern Iran.
They had dug a tunnel underneath a Shiite holy site in the city of Kerman that belongs to Soleimani’s father and rigged it with “350 to 500 kilogrammes (770-1,100 pounds) of explosives”, he said.
Read more: Iran to put US military on the terrorist list if US blacklists IRGC
“The planned attack (orchestrated) by Arab-Israeli secret services had been decided a few years ago,” Taeb said.
Sepahnews, citing the Guards’ intelligence chief Hossein Taeb, said the three were planning an attack against Soleimani during a Shiite religious ceremony in southern Iran.
The suspects, whose identities were not revealed, had been on the radar of the Guards for a long time and were arrested as they plotted the attack, he added.
Soleimani has been the public face of Iran’s support for the Iraqi and Syrian governments in their battles with Islamic State group jihadists.
Read more: Why Donald Trump is putting the US into a corner on Iran?
In March, he received Iran’s highest military award, the “Order of Zulfaqar”.
Thursday’s report comes two days after Soleimani gave a rare interview broadcast on Iranian state television during which he gave insight on his role in Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
First-ever face-to-face interview with IRGC Quds Force Commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani is to be aired by Iran's state TV on Tuesday, 19:30 (Iran time). The focus is to be on the 33-day Lebanon war with Israel https://t.co/VBISA7JygW
— Reza Khaasteh (@Khaaasteh) September 30, 2019
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk.