Top Saudis discussed assassinating Iran’s General Soleimani in 2017, sources tell NY Times

 

Saudi Major General Ahmed al-Assiri, who has allegedly been fired over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, took part at a meeting in Riyadh in 2017 that involved plans to assassinate the kingdom’s “determined enemy,” Iran’s Major General Qassem Soleimani, as well as sabotaging Iran’s economy, The New York Times reports, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

The March 2017 meeting in Riyadh brought together businessmen that “pitched a $2 billion plan to use private intelligence operatives to sabotage the Iranian economy,” read the report released Sunday.

“Top Saudi intelligence officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked a small group of businessmen last year about using private companies to assassinate Iranian enemies of the kingdom,” it said.

As the meeting came at a time that bin Salman was consolidating his power in the kingdom, the report concludes that planning for assassinations, like that of dissident journalist Khashoggi, started “since the beginning of Prince Mohammed’s ascent.”

Assiri’s top aides also “inquired about killing” Iran’s General Soleimani as the attendees were trying to “win Saudi funding for their plan,” read the report by the US daily.

General Solemani has been at the forefront of Iran’s advisory efforts in Syria and Iraq, two Muslim countries suffering from Takfiri militancy, allegedly backed by Saudi Arabia and some other US allies.