As I understand it, the Trump rationale for the assassination of Soleimani amounts to "he had

[DFW]

2. Trump is pretty transparent. The inner workings of the Iranian regime less so.

I posted this on another thread on the subject:

Coming on the heels of the embassy attack, which Soleimani had to have been in on, sending him physically to Iraq, where he became fair game as an outside foreign agitator instead of an untouchable on his home territory, might have been the plan of someone inside the Iranian regime who found him uncomfortable for reasons (personal?) unknown to us. A gung-ho fanatic, definitely a major obstacle in getting sanctions removed, is eliminated and we are the bad guys. Rival eliminated (maybe even had us tipped off as to where and when?) and blame lies solely with us. It's an offer Trump couldn't refuse, as the bait would have been too tempting, and Soleiman's enemies inside of Iran would have known that.

It would have been just as easy to get word to Soleiman the second he landed in Iraq, and let him know we knew exactly where he was, and if he wanted to have breakfast the next morning, he should take the next plane home. The same people who ordered him blown up knew that, too, and chose the more drastic option--no doubt, just as any Iranian with half a brain would have known they would.