Trump has admitted that the military strength of Iran’s martyred Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani had constrained Washington’s options, underscoring that the United States resorted to assassinating the anti-terror commander to pursue its objectives in the region.

“Frankly, he was a strong general. Maybe we wouldn’t have been so successful in Iran if he had been around,” Trump said during a speech at a Southern Boulevard dedication ceremony on Friday.

General Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and their companions were assassinated in a US drone strike authorized by Trump near the Iraqi capital Baghdad’s International Airport on January 3, 2020.

According to Trump, the absence of General Soleimani influenced developments across West Asia, from Iraq and Syria to Lebanon and Gaza.

The assassination of the top anti-terror commander in January 2020 marked a decisive turning point.

Following his martyrdom, in the ensuing years, groups operating under the banners of Daesh and al-Qaeda were bolstered to serve the interests of Western powers and the zionist regime.

By the end of 2024, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — long designated as a terrorist organization — managed to seize power and overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, aided by certain regional and international actors who had long plotted Assad’s fall.

General Soleimani consistently emphasized that Syria represented the “front line of resistance” against forces capable of undermining regional peace and stability.

In his view, the fall of Syria would not only devastate the Arab country itself but also open the door to far-reaching chaos across West Asia.

During recent years, the US has deepened its military, intelligence, and technological support for the zionist regime, particularly in its ongoing genocide against Gaza and southern Lebanon.

This assistance has included advanced surveillance capabilities, weapons systems, and diplomatic backing that have shielded Israel from accountability.

In Gaza, US backing has strengthened Israel’s ability to target Hamas’s infrastructure and military capabilities. In Lebanon, a US-led diplomatic pressure has intensified on Beirut to discuss a roadmap for disarming Hezbollah, the only group that has for years resisted the Israeli occupation.

From this perspective, Trump’s remark that Soleimani was a “strong general” carries an admission: had Soleimani still been alive, the US would not have been able to wreak havoc across the region.

PressTV report