Despite the travel ban imposed on him and even UN Security Council resolutions barring him from leaving his country, the leader of Iran's shadowy Revolutionary Guards –a man allegedly responsible for the deaths of "many Americans"—flew to Moscow last month to meet with top leaders of the Russian government.
Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iranian Quds Force, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow last July 24, according to two Western intelligence sources. It was not immediately clear what the leader of Iran's Revolutionary Guards discussed with the Russian leaders.
In clear defiance of existing travel bans against him, Soleimani boarded Air Iran flight 5130, a commercial flight from Tehran bound for Moscow, at 6:50 a.m. on July 24.
Intelligence records show that the Iranian Quds Force commander stayed in Russia for two days, leaving Moscow last July 26 at 10:25 p.m. on board flight 5120.
Aside from meeting top Russian leaders in Moscow, Soleimani also reportedly had some "fun time" that involved Russian entertainment.
The UN Security Council earlier imposed sanctions against Iran in connection with the country's nuclear weapons programme. The council's Resolution 1747 particularly bans Soleimani from travel.
What's ironic is that Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and is definitely aware of the restrictions on Soleimani's travel. Thus, Russia is in effect also defying the sanctions it participated in crafting and approving, diplomats said.
Soleimani is increasingly being recognised as an influential figure in Iran and the rest of the Middle East. He is a key player, with the Quds Force directly reporting to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Outgoing US Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno earlier described Soleimani as the Iranian general "who has been exporting malign activities throughout the Middle East for some time now."
"He [Soleimani] is absolutely responsible for killing many Americans, in fact I would say the last two years I was there the majority of our casualties came from his surrogates, not Sunni or Al Qaeda," Odierno said.
