Special Forces operation to kill General Soleimani ‘previously thwarted by ex-Foreign Secretary David Miliband’
A SPECIAL Forces operation to kill General Qassem Soleimani was thwarted by David Miliband, it has been claimed.
The ex-Foreign Secretary stepped in to stop Iran’s military chief from being assassinated in 2007 by the SAS, reports suggest.
The elite forces had Soleimani in their “crosshairs” when the top-secret operation was called off - leaving him free until he was killed by a US drone strike.
He had been located but the mission was abandoned on the orders of the ex-Labour senior figure.
One senior military figure serving in Iraq twelve years ago told the Telegraph: “The Foreign Secretary said that he wanted to talk to the Iranians, not kill them.”
“We had Soleimani in our crosshairs, but we had to call the operation off because of sensitivities in London about conducting this type of operation.”
But Mr Miliband, whi is now boss at International Rescue Committee, for yesterday (Sat) refused to give a full denial of the incident.
He said the account “does not tally with my recollection or that of senior people I worked with”.
He added: “I did and do strongly believe that diplomatic engagement with Iran is the only route to a stable Middle East.”
He lost to his brother Ed in the race to be Labour leader following Gordon Brown’s departure following the 2010 general election.
He stepped down as an MP in 2013 and moved to New York to take up his new position.
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