{"id":200423,"date":"2020-01-06T08:11:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T08:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=200423"},"modified":"2020-01-08T07:22:55","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T07:22:55","slug":"iraqi-pm-trump-personally-lured-soleimani-to-his-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=200423","title":{"rendered":"Iraqi PM: Trump Personally Lured Soleimani to his Death"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Iraqi prime minister says Qassem Soleimani was in Iraq to &#8216;discuss de-escalating tensions between Iran and Saudis&#8217; when he was killed &#8211; and claims Trump had asked for help mediating talks after embassy attack<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong> Iraq&#8217;s caretaker prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, told his parliament in Baghdad on Sunday that US strike on Soleimani was a &#8216;political assassination&#8217;\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Abdul Mahdi claimed that Soleimani was due to meet with him on the same day that he was killed by a US drone near the Baghdad airport early on Friday\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>The outgoing Iraqi leader says that Soleimani was supposed to bring him Iran&#8217;s response to a Saudi proposal for de-escalating regional tensions\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Saudi Arabia, a regional rival, blames Iran for an attack on the kingdom&#8217;s oil facilities in September\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Abdul Mahdi also claims that President Trump called him and asked him to mediate talks with Iran after the US embassy in Baghdad was nearly overrun<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Supporters of the Shiite group Kataib Hezbollah scaled the walls and barreled through security at the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Abdul Mahdi said he personally intervened to defuse the embassy crisis and that the American president thanked him for doing so\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Ariel Zilber \u2013 Daily Mail.com and AFP and Associated Press Jan 6, 2020<\/strong><\/h1>\n<div id=\"attachment_200262\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A-burning-vehicle-at-Baghdad-International-Airport-shotly-after-the-US-drone-strike.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-200262\" class=\"wp-image-200262\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A-burning-vehicle-at-Baghdad-International-Airport-shotly-after-the-US-drone-strike-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A-burning-vehicle-at-Baghdad-International-Airport-shotly-after-the-US-drone-strike-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A-burning-vehicle-at-Baghdad-International-Airport-shotly-after-the-US-drone-strike-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A-burning-vehicle-at-Baghdad-International-Airport-shotly-after-the-US-drone-strike-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/A-burning-vehicle-at-Baghdad-International-Airport-shotly-after-the-US-drone-strike.jpg 1216w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-200262\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A burning vehicle at Baghdad International Airport shotly after the US drone strike. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian Quds Force commander who was killed in a US drone attack in Baghdad on Friday, was in <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/iraq\/index.html\"><strong>Iraq<\/strong><\/a> to negotiate a de-escalation in tensions with <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/saudi_arabia\/index.html\"><strong>Saudi Arabia<\/strong><\/a>, according to the Iraqi prime minister.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraq\u2019s caretaker prime minister, told his parliament on Sunday that <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/donald_trump\/index.html\"><strong>President Trump<\/strong><\/a> called him to ask for help in mediating with <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/iran\/index.html\"><strong>Iran<\/strong><\/a> after the American embassy in Baghdad was attacked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">On Tuesday, people belonging to the Shiite group Kataib Hezbollah overran security and scaled the walls of the embassy. No Americans were injured during the protests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Trump blamed Iran for the embassy incidents and threatened retaliation<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The attack on the embassy on Tuesday unfolded after thousands attended the funerals of\u00a0the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah fighters killed in the American airstrikes last Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">US fighter jets bombarded three locations in Iraq on Sunday night, in retaliation for last week&#8217;s\u00a036-rocket attack which killed an American contractor and injured several others at a base in Kirkuk, 170 miles north of Baghdad.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">On Sunday the US struck a total of five Kataib Hezbollah controlled weapon depots in Iraq and Syria,\u00a0killing at least 25 people and wounding 51.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Abdul Mahdi said he worked hard to defuse tensions outside the embassy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">He said he went so far as to threaten to resign if the crowds did not disperse, according to <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/iraq-parliament-us-troops-iran-soleimani-39f46292-b6b5-4070-bacd-92cfae1f586c.html\"><strong>Axios<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Abdul Mahdi even told Iraq&#8217;s parliament that Trump thanked him for his efforts. He expressed disappointment that while the American president was grateful, he was also simultaneously planning an attack on Soleimani.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Soon after Trump made his request to Abdul Mahdi for mediation, US forces launched their drone strike on Friday killing Soleimani, the Iraqi leader was quoted as saying by <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2020\/01\/05\/793746580\/iraqi-parliament-votes-to-expel-u-s-troops-from-country-in-wake-of-soleimani-str\"><strong>National Public Radio<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Abdul Mahdi slammed the Americans on Sunday for what he called a \u2018political assassination\u2019 in targeting Soleimani.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Abdul Mahdi suggested that the Iranian military leader was in Baghdad as part of Iraqi-mediated negotiations with Iran\u2019s main regional rival, Saudi Arabia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">He said that Soleimani was going to meet him on the same day that he was killed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018He came to deliver me a message from Iran, responding to the message we delivered from Saudi Arabia to Iran,\u2019 Abdul Mahdi told The Washington Post.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The Iraqi leader did not provide any further details.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been high since September, when Iran was blamed for an attack on Saudi oil facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_194946\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Damage-to-Saudi-oil-facility2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-194946\" class=\"wp-image-194946\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Damage-to-Saudi-oil-facility2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Damage-to-Saudi-oil-facility2.jpg 624w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Damage-to-Saudi-oil-facility2-300x223.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-194946\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Houthi drones reportedly struck the Saudi oil facility. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The Saudis, for their part, were reportedly taken aback by the American strike against Soleimani.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Saudi Arabia was not consulted by its ally Washington over the strike, an official said Sunday, as the kingdom sought to defuse soaring regional tensions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Saudi Arabia faces a \u2018heightened risk\u2019 of missile and drone attacks, the US warned, after Tehran vowed \u2018revenge\u2019 following the strike on Friday that killed the powerful Quds Force commander in Baghdad.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not consulted regarding the US strike,\u2019 a Saudi official told AFP, requesting anonymity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018In light of the rapid developments, the kingdom stresses the importance of exercising restraint to guard against all acts that may lead to escalation, with severe consequences,\u2019 the official added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Saudi Arabia&#8217;s foreign ministry made a similar call for restraint at the weekend and King Salman emphasized the need for measures to defuse tensions in a phone call on Saturday with Iraqi President Barham Saleh.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_161992\" style=\"width: 281px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Crown_Prince_Mohammad_bin_Salman_Al_Saud-2017.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-161992\" class=\"size-full wp-image-161992\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Crown_Prince_Mohammad_bin_Salman_Al_Saud-2017.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"271\" height=\"389\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-161992\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman or MBS<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">In a separate phone call with Iraq&#8217;s caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stressed \u2018the need to make efforts to calm the situation and de-escalate tensions,\u2019 the official Saudi Press Agency reported.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The crown prince has instructed Prince Khalid bin Salman, his younger brother and deputy defense minister, to travel to Washington and London in the next few days to urge restraint, the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Prince Khalid will meet White House and US defense officials, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The killing of Soleimani, seen as the second most powerful man in Iran, is the most dramatic escalation yet in spiraling tensions between Washington and Tehran and has prompted fears of a major conflagration in the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">President Donald Trump, who ordered the drone strike, has warned that Washington will hit Iran \u2018very fast and very hard\u2019 if the Islamic republic attacks American personnel or assets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both allies of Washington, are also vulnerable to Iranian counter strikes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The American embassy in Riyadh on Sunday warned its citizens there was a \u2018heightened risk of missile and drone attacks\u2019 close to military bases and energy facilities, particularly in the kingdom&#8217;s oil-rich Eastern Province and areas near the Yemen border.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">A string of attacks blamed on Iran has caused anxiety in recent months, as Riyadh and Washington deliberated over how to react.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">In particular, devastating strikes against Saudi oil installations last September led Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to adopt a more conciliatory approach aimed at avoiding confrontation with Tehran.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Analysts warn that pro-Iran groups have the capacity to carry out attacks on US bases in Gulf states as well as against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz &#8211; the strategic waterway that Tehran could close at will.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018Expect Iranian reprisals (directly or through partner groups in Iraq, Lebanon or elsewhere) to target US partners in the region including Saudi Arabia,\u2019 said Thomas Juneau, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018Given the climate in the US, where support for Saudi in the media and Congress is at an all time low, it will be difficult for Trump to commit significant resources to come to its aid.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Yemen&#8217;s pro-Iran Houthi rebels, locked in a five-year conflict with a Saudi-led military coalition, have also called for swift reprisals for Soleimani&#8217;s killing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">\u2018The aggression&#8230; will not go without a response,\u2019 said Houthi political council member Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">&#8220;How the response is going to be, when and where will be determined by Iraq and Iran, and we will stand with them as a hub for the resistance.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">It was unclear if the Houthi warning was directed in part at Saudi Arabia, which has stepped up efforts to end Yemen&#8217;s conflict amid a lull in Houthi attacks on the kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Saudi military commanders recently met with counterparts from \u2018friendly countries\u2019 to formulate a new strategy to tackle the Yemeni rebels, particularly those \u2018opposing\u2019 a political solution, according to Asharq al-Awsat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Riyadh has said it will host a separate meeting of foreign ministers of Arab and African coastal states on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Meanwhile, Iraq&#8217;s parliament voted on Sunday to expel US troops from their country while the leader of Lebanon&#8217;s Hezbollah group said the US military across the region &#8216;will pay the price&#8217; for killing Soleimani.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Iraq&#8217;s parliament voted in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for the expulsion of American soldiers from their country in a move that that could pave the way for a resurgence of the Islamic State group.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The resolution asks the Iraqi government to end the agreement under which Washington sent forces more than four years ago to help fight the IS extremists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The bill is subject to approval by the Iraqi government but has the backing of the outgoing prime minister.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-7854971\/Soleimani-Iraq-discuss-escalating-tensions-Saudis-killed-PM-says.html\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iraqi pm says Soleimani was in Iraq to &#8216;discuss de-escalating tensions between Iran and Saudis&#8217; when he was killed &#8211; and claims Trump had asked for help mediating talks after embassy attack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[51,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Iran","category-Iraq"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=200423"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200429,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200423\/revisions\/200429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=200423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=200423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=200423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}