Trump administration ordered killing of Qasem Soleimani, supported by Shapiro

As Secretary of State and CIA Director, Pompeo aggressively sanctioned Soleimani and the Quds Force for terrorism and regional destabilization, culminating in the 2020 drone strike authorization under his policy framework of maximum pressure on Iran.

Mossad under Cohen's leadership provided critical intelligence to the US on Soleimani's activities, contributing to the decision and execution of his 2020 drone strike, as part of broader efforts to counter Iranian regional influence.

David Schenker, during his tenure as Assistant Secretary of State, was involved in the U.S. government's efforts to counter Qasem Soleimani's influence in the Middle East. Schenker supported policies that targeted Soleimani's financial networks and regional operations, including sanctions and diplomatic pressure. Following Soleimani's assassination in a U.S. drone strike in January 2020, Iranian officials and state media explicitly named Schenker as one of the U.S. policymakers responsible for escalating tensions with Iran.

In a June 22, 2019 memo to National Security Adviser John Bolton, David Wurmser specifically suggested that U.S. military action against Iran 'could even involve something as a targeted strike on someone like Soleimani or his top deputies.' This memo was written while Wurmser was serving as a senior advisor to Bolton at the NSC. The memo argued that aggressive U.S. action 'would rattle the delicate internal balance of forces and the control over them upon which the regime depends for stability and survival.' Soleimani was killed by a U.S. drone strike on January 3, 2020 — approximately six months after Wurmser's recommendation. The memos were reported by The Intercept in January 2020.

Chalabi reportedly met with Qasem Soleimani as part of his complex relationship with Iranian intelligence. After the 2003 invasion, Chalabi's political survival increasingly depended on Iranian backing as U.S. support evaporated following the 2004 espionage allegations. Soleimani's Quds Force was the primary Iranian instrument for cultivating Shia political figures in post-invasion Iraq. The connection was part of a broader pattern — Chalabi's INC intelligence chief Aras Habib was identified as an Iranian intelligence asset, and the DIA concluded the INC had been 'penetrated by Iranian intelligence.'