Iranian Revolutionary Guards foil an attempt to assassinate General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Al Quds Force with 500 kilos of explosive materials in the city of Kerman about three weeks ago

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Thursday thwarted an attempt to assassinate General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, in the city of Kerman three weeks ago.

“An Arab-Israeli intelligence plot to assassinate the Quds Force commander, Major General Qasem Soleimani, has been thwarted and the assassination team has been arrested through the IRGC”, said Hossein Taib, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence service.

“The assassination team bought a place near Husayniyah, the father of Major General Sulaimani in his hometown of the southern city of Kerman, and prepared between 350 and 500 kilograms of explosive materials and put them in a tunnel under Husseiniya”, said Taib.

He continued: “The assassination team was planning to carry out the bombing in the presence of Soleimani among the participants in the morning ceremony in Ashura, has admitted the assassination team after his arrest planning to assassinate Soleimani on the days of the ninth and tenth of Muharram last”.

Taib said that “the assassination of Soleimani was intended to provoke sectarian wars has been prepared for years,” he added: “The enemies of the revolution and after failing to target the headquarters of the guards planned to assassinate Soleimani inside Iran, specifically in Kerman, but we succeeded in preventing Arab and Hebrew intelligence services, commit such a crime, by arresting the team of three”.

“The assassination team was so confident that it could carry out its plan that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a few weeks ago that they would assassinate General Suleimani”, he said.

“The assassination team was trying to start a sectarian war and try to show it as a matter of internal revenge”, said Taib.