Washington: US President Donald Trump has admitted that Iran's Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in 2020 by the US military, was a 'great general' who played a major role in the Islamic Republic's security. Trump made these remarks during an appearance on The Dan Bongino Show, where he discussed the implications of Soleimani's assassination.

According to Islamic Republic News Agency, Trump stated that the elimination of General Soleimani facilitated the US military's June aggression against Iran. He suggested that the presence of Soleimani would have altered the nature of the US attack, indicating that Soleimani's military acumen was significant. Trump was quoted saying, 'If he lived, that attack that we made on Iran would not have been the same thing,' acknowledging Soleimani's strategic importance.

General Soleimani, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad's International Airport on January 3, 2020. The strike was authorized by Trump and marked a significant escalation in US-Iran tensions at the time. Prior to his assassination, Soleimani had been instrumental in combatting the Daesh (ISIS) terrorist group in Iraq and Syria, enhancing his reputation as a key figure in regional security dynamics.