Intel: Iran paid bounties to Taliban for US soldiers, influencing Soleimani strike
US officials tell CNN the administration took no action against the Taliban in order to preserve its peace deal with the insurgents.
US intelligence agencies believe that Iran’s government paid the Taliban to carry out a December attack on the US-run Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, but the Donald Trump administration declined to retaliate against the Afghan insurgents in order to preserve a fragile peace deal, CNN reported Monday.
Multiple US intelligence agencies concluded that Iran has been offering bounty payments to the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network for attacks on US soldiers, according to CNN. In December, about 10 Taliban fighters and a suicide car bomb attempted to breach the perimeter at the airbase. US intelligence officials came to believe Iran’s payments may have incentivized the attack.
According to CNN’s sources, Iran’s links to the militants were among the arguments put forth by US officials during internal deliberations over whether to kill top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani — which the United States did via drone strike in Baghdad in January.
Why it matters: The Trump administration has insisted it assassinated Soleimani in self-defense, but has yet to publicly offer any evidence that Iran was planning “imminent attacks” against US personnel.
