Dan Shapiro
Dan ShapiroMiriam Alster/FLASH90

Former US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro tweeted a response to the elimination of Iranian leader Qasem Soleimani.

Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was eliminated Thursday night in a US drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.

"Qasem Soleimani had the blood of many thousands on his hands: Americans, Iraqis, Lebanese, Syrians, Israelis & many, many others. Truly one of the most evil men on the planet. Seeing his smiling mug in selfies with terrorists across the region was hard to take. Good riddance," Shapiro tweeted.

"That he deserved this fate, a fate he authored for so many others, is not in question. The ability to carry it out is also impressive, as an intelligence and operational achievement. To take a decision like this has major strategic consequences. Iran has capabilities far beyond al-Qaeda or ISIS when their leaders were eliminated. And they will have many opportunities to respond.

"The question is, will the US and our allies be ready? To state the obvious, careful, strategic, fact-based planning is not a hallmark of our current President. So there is plenty of risk in this moment."