Donald Trump was enjoying a meal of meatloaf and ice cream at Mar-a-Lago when he learnt that Gen Qassim Soleimani, Iran's shadowy military mastermind, had been blown to smithereens by a US drone in Baghdad. Some time after the president finished his dessert, he used his phone to post a photograph of the American flag. Mr Trump's risky gamble to launch a decapitation strike against Iran's second most powerful man had gone like clockwork. Soleimani disembarked in darkness from his plane at Baghdad airport in Iraq, just after midnight local time. Unbeknown to him, hovering highabove was an MQ-9 Reaper "hunter-killer" drone, remotely piloted from a US base. Qassim Soleimani drone strike | Read more The $64 million (£49 million) drone, with a 66ft (20m) wingspan, circled silently and waited for him to emerge. Soleimani was greeted by Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi militia commander with the Popular Mobilisation Forces [PMF]. Muhandis pulled up to the aircraft steps in two cars and Soleimani got in one of them. Also in the cars were Mohammed Ridha Jabri, the PMF public relations chief, and eight others. Moments later, the vehicles passed through a cargo area and headed for an access road leading out of the airport. The drone swooped in, unleashing four missiles, which struck the targets, killing all the occupants. Pictures taken by drivers passing on a nearby road showed the wreckage still burning on the slip road next to a concrete wall. The bodies of Soleimani and the others were badly mutilated, but he was quickly identified by a distinctive red ring on his finger. The burnt wreckage of the car carrying Soleimani Credit: REUTERS Mr Trump had spent the days before the audacious strike holed up in unusual seclusion at Mar-a-Lago, eschewing public appearances, and mulling over his response to recent Iranian-inspired attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad. He was believed to have seen photographs of graffiti left by rioters at the embassy, in which they pledged allegiance to Soleimani. Mr Trump began consulting with trusted advisers early in the week about how to respond. Joe Biden said the attack "tosses a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox" Credit: ANDREW HARNIK/AP Among them was Lindsey Graham, the senator and Iran hawk, who was spotted playing golf with the president and later confirmed he had been briefed ahead of the strike. Mr Trump's mind was made up after he was briefed that Soleimani was planning what US intelligence officials called a "significant" action against US interests, with the potential to kill hundreds in Iraq, and possibly elsewhere. The US had been tracking Soleimani's movements for years, using sophisticated electronic surveillance. The best opportunity in a while to neutralise him came as his plane arrived at Baghdad airport, from either Lebanon or Syria. US intelligence had learnt of the trip through a combination of highly classified information from human sources, electronic intercepts and reconnaissance aircraft. At a glance | General Qassim Soleimani Mr Trump had warned on Twitter in recent days that Iran would "pay a very BIG PRICE!" for the embassy siege, and that he was making a "threat". But, according to US officials, Soleimani had become blasé and his convoy had little security. Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies in Washington, said: "US military officials and officers have told me that they have been able to track Soleimani for years. "He became careless and complacent as his influence in Iraq grew. His actions indicate he felt the US would never target him." Previous US presidents had decided against killing him, fearing the potential repercussions in the Middle East. As part of the Iranian state apparatus, he represented a very different prospect than terror leaders Osama bin Laden or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. However, Mr Trump, and Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, had become increasingly keen to neutralise him. The intelligence that Soleimani was planning a major attack, meant his killing could be justified as a "defensive action" by the US. pic.twitter.com/VXeKiVzpTf— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020 But analysts warned that the assassination would now plunge the region into the unknown. Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said: "The killing of Qassim Soleimani is one of thebiggest developments in the Middle East for decades. It far eclipses the deaths of Bin Laden or Baghdadi in terms of strategic significance and implications. "With Soleimani dead, war is coming - that seems certain, the only questions are where, in what form and when?" America was split over Mr Trump's decision as it braced for Iranian revenge attacks. Marco Rubio, the Republican senator, said Mr Trump had "exercised admirable restraint while setting clear red lines and the consequences for crossing them. Iran chose the path of escalation." Iran and the West | Comment and analysis But Joe Biden, the Democrat presidential candidate, accused Mr Trump of "tossing a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox". The most fervent opponents of Iran in Washington pressed the White House to make the death of Soleimani a step toward regime change. But officials familiar with Mr Pompeo's thinking said that he hoped the general's demise would lead to"behavioural change" by the Iranian regime, and ultimately a de-escalation of tensions. In Iraq, some residents of predominantly Shia areas in Baghdad and Basra were seen cheering the death of the man they accuse of ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters in both Iraqi cities in recent weeks.
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