Indirect Cooperation Between Qassem Soleimani and American Officials During Bush's Era

Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. ambassador to Baghdad, states that the George W. Bush administration indirectly collaborated with Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, to oust Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the then Prime Minister of Iraq, in 2006. According to the Wall Street Journal, American officials believed that Mr. al-Jaafari was unable to manage severe sectarian tensions in Iraq. Mr. Khalilzad mentions, 'Iraqi politicians informed him that Tehran held the same view about the then Prime Minister of Iraq and had dispatched the Quds Force commander to Iraq to pressure Mr. al-Jaafari for his removal.' Khalilzad states, 'In April 2006, he ordered American and Iraqi forces to allow Qassem Soleimani to enter the Green Zone under American control to deliver a message to Mr. al-Jaafari. Nouri al-Maliki replaced al-Jaafari later that year in 2006.' Khalilzad adds, 'Qassem Soleimani thought we did not know he had come to Baghdad.' Mr. al-Jaafari is currently the Foreign Minister of Iraq, and some Iraqi politicians believe he could regain the Prime Minister position. The former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the UN also mentions that prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, secret meetings were held with Mohammad Javad Zarif, the then Iranian ambassador to the UN. In these discussions, assurances were obtained that no fire would be directed at American aircraft in case of accidental entry into Iranian airspace. According to the New York Times, Khalilzad states in his new book titled 'The Envoy' that meetings with Zarif in Geneva continued even after the capture of Baghdad in April 2003. He added, 'Zarif agreed,' and 'we simultaneously hoped that Iran would encourage Iraqi Shiites to constructively participate in forming a new government in Iraq.' Nevertheless, the tumultuous relations between the two countries continued to face new tensions. In May 2003, the Bush administration halted the talks after accusing Iran of harboring al-Qaeda leaders. These discussions were stopped in May 2003 following an al-Qaeda bombing in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. believed that this operation was directed by al-Qaeda members hiding in Iran and that the Revolutionary Guard had provided them safe haven. According to the Wall Street Journal, the former U.S. ambassador to Baghdad states that Qassem Soleimani was the mastermind behind training and equipping Shiite militias that attacked American soldiers. Khalilzad mentions that Jalal Talabani, the then President of Iraq, informed him that 'the Quds Force commander said that Khalilzad himself could be targeted.' He quotes Talabani saying, 'Qassem Soleimani does not come to Baghdad because he fears being arrested.' Hossein Alizadeh, a former Iranian diplomat, writes about the former U.S. ambassador's book, 'The most important point is that despite Ayatollah Khamenei's opposition to any negotiations with the U.S., long and certainly secret negotiations between Iran and the U.S. (the Great Satan!) were ongoing before and after the U.S. invasion of Saddam.' He adds, 'The claim that these negotiations took place without the knowledge of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic is strongly rejected, as Khalilzad states that these negotiations with Tehran began so that the U.S. could receive sufficient assurances from Iran's air defense to refrain from firing at American fighter jets entering Iranian airspace.' Alizadeh continues, 'According to Khalilzad, the Islamic Republic provided this assurance to the U.S. Granting such an assurance to the U.S. without the approval of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is unimaginable.'