How the Shayetet eliminated Assad's nuclear architect
18 years after the secret operation that shook the regime in Damascus, Israel admits for the first time that it was behind the elimination of General Muhammad Suleiman in the resort town of Tartus. Suleiman, a confidant of Bashar al-Assad, managed the nuclear reactor project with North Korea and served as a conduit for transferring game-changing weapons from Tehran to Hezbollah. The naval commando operation ended in point-blank gunfire without leaving a trace.
One of the greatest security mysteries in the Middle East is coming to an end: 18 years after one of the most mysterious and daring liquidations carried out across the border, Israel is now taking official responsibility for the elimination of General Muhammad Suleiman in 2008. Suleiman, who served as the closest and most senior security advisor to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was eliminated in a quiet and lethal operation that left the regime in Damascus in total shock and dealt a heavy blow to the radical axis.
Commandos from the sea and fire at the villa balcony
The dramatic liquidation, which looks like it was taken from a spy movie script, took place in the Syrian resort town of Tartus, located on the Mediterranean coast. While Suleiman was on the balcony of his summer villa, naval commando fighters from the Shayetet emerged from the sea. The secret fighters fired precise shots at him from close range and vanished back into the depths. They disappeared as if they had never been there, without leaving behind a single clue or trace in the area, leaving the Syrian security systems helpless in the face of the precise operation.
The nuclear architect and Hezbollah's weapons conduit
General Suleiman was not just a senior officer, but a strategic mastermind and one of the most dangerous key figures in the region. He was defined as the architect of Damascus's nuclear project, and was the one who led on behalf of the regime the establishment of the secret nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor – a reactor that was eventually destroyed by the Israeli Air Force in 2007. As part of this role, he also managed the secret and sensitive connection with North Korea.
Beyond the nuclear project, Suleiman functioned as the most senior link between Tehran and the Hezbollah organization in Lebanon. He served as the central conduit for transfers of advanced weaponry, missiles, and game-changing weapons that threatened the Israeli home front. His power in the presidential palace was unprecedented: Suleiman commanded the secret branch for the development and procurement of weapons for the Syrian army, and controlled with a firm hand the massive defense budgets of the Assad family, until those bullets on the balcony in Tartus cut short his activity.
