General Soleimani Refuses to Read CIA Chief’s Letter

On December 2, US Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo confirmed that he had written to General Ghasem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s expeditionary Qods Force in Iraq and Syria, warning him about Iranian forces’ activities in Iraq. According to him, Soleimani had refused to accept the letter or read it.

It’s the latest in a series of stories and rumors about the general’s dealings with US officials. The confirmation that Pompeo had actually written to Soleimani reinforces the image of the general that Iran’s hardliner media has so vigorously pushed —that of an outstanding military strategist with unrivaled power and influence who American officials have every reason to fear. 

On November 30, Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, Ayatollah Khamenei’s chief of staff, told Iranian media that an unnamed CIA contact had tried to give a letter to Soleimani when he was in the Syrian town of Abu Kamal in November, but the general had said: “I will not take your letter nor read it. I have nothing to say to these people.”

Mike Pompeo told the audience attending the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Southern California: “What we were communicating to him in that letter was that we will hold he and Iran accountable for any attacks on American interests in Iraq by forces that are under their control.” He also joked that Soleimani’s refusal to read his letter, saying: “[It] didn’t break my heart, to be honest with you.”

“If I Could Just Meet Him...”

There have been numerous reports of Soleimani’s contacts with Americans in recent years. In one instance in early 2008, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani handed a cell phone with a text message from Soleimani to General David Petraeus, who had taken over the year before as the commander of American forces in Iraq. “Dear General Petraeus,” the text read, “you should know that I, Ghasem Soleimani, control the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Afghanistan. And indeed, the ambassador in Baghdad is a Qods Force member. The individual who’s going to replace him is a Qods Force member.”

In November 2014, Sadegh Kharrazi, the former Iranian ambassador to the UK, wrote on his Facebook page [Persian link] that John Kerry, who was then secretary of state, had told Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that he wished to meet General Soleimani. According Kharrazi, President Obama had told the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, “he is my enemy but I have a special respect for him.”

In early 2015, Iranian media reported that Soleimani had written to US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. According to these reports, the letter said, “if necessary we can become closer” [Persian link]. The letterhead clearly showed that the letter had come from the Revolutionary Guards. Despite the Pentagon allegedly having “seven layers of security,” the message from Soleimani made its way to Panetta’s desk. Leon Panetta also spoke at the recent Reagan National Defense Forum where Mike Pompeo spoke of the letter he had written to Soleimani, but at no point did he discuss the correspondence he apparently received from the Iranian general.

In March 2015, it was rumored that Soleimani had attended a sermon by the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a mosque but had escaped notice. And the same month there were reports that when the plane carrying the new US commander touched down in Afghanistan, he received a text message saying, “Welcome to my domain...Ghasem Soleimani, Commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force.”

The Startled Uncle Sam

Such stories and tales have become so widespread that some conservative media have issued warnings for the public not to believe them. On March 25, 2015, an article published on the website Jahan News said “such stories are more like fables than reality” and that they are “targeted” narratives manufactured by the “enemy” [Persian link].

A good summary of these fables featured in a cartoon on the cover of the magazine The Week on March 27, 2015. Uncle Sam looks startled as he wakes up in the morning to find Ghasem Soleimani lying next to him in bed with a mischievous smile on his face. The magazine cover and article did not confirm the stories circulated in 2008, 2014 and 2015, but the image does very much conform to what Soleimani’s supporters and his Qods Force want people to believe — that the general can get uncomfortably close to US key officials without them even noticing. That particular narrative reinforces the idea of Soleimani as mighty and intelligent, and greatly feared by the Americans.

When Ayatollah Khamenei’s chief of staff broke the recent news about the CIA director’s letter to Soleimani, reactions in Iran fell into two groups. Some interpreted it as evidence of Soleimani’s magnificence, while others dismissed it, cataloging it as another version of the long list of stories that have been circulating for years.

But, regardless of the diplomatic implications, now that that Mike Pompeo has confirmed that he did indeed send a letter to Soleimani, the group that cherishes the legendary image of the general have reason to celebrate. On December 2, the Revolutionary Guards’ Fars News Agency compared Soleimani’s refusal to read the letter to when Abbas ibn Ali, an early Shia saint of the seventh century, confronted his mortal enemy, the arch villain Shemr, giving Soleimani’s response to Pompeo’s letter a powerful religious and historical significance.