In a stunning revelation, the President of the United States, Donald Trump has alleged that the assassinated Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was linked with terror plots in India.
Trump reportedly said that Soleimani, who killed in US drone attacks, was involved in terror attacks as far away as New Delhi and London.
Speaking to the reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Trump said, “The latest attacks on US targets in Iraq, including rocket strikes that killed an American and injured four American servicemen severely, and the violent assault on our embassy in Baghdad, were carried out under the auspices of Soleimani.”
“Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, contributing to terrorist plots as far away as New Delhi and London. Today, we remember and pay a tribute to the victims of Soleimani”s many atrocities and we take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over,” Trump said.
The head of Iran’s Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani was killed in the US airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport early on Friday, a move that has provoked a major escalation in US-Iran tensions.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has issued a statement vowing to retaliate “in the right place and time”. Trump, on the other hand, had claimed that he doesn’t seek war with Iran and the drone attack to eliminate Soleimani was to stop an “imminent” war with the Middle-East country.
However, the Ministry of External Affairs has remained tight-lipped about Trump’s recent assertions. India had called upon the two warring nations to exercise restraint over the growing escalation following the death of Iranian leader Soleimani and so far has not reacted to the remarks made by Trump.
India and the US have not been on the same vis-a-vis Iran. While Washington considers the Shia majority nation as a hub of American-centric terrorism and a nation committed to destabilising the Middle-East, New Delhi views Iran as a strategic partner in its extended neighbourhood.
