The commander of U.S. Central Command, Joseph Votel, remarked the the head of Iran's Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, "is perpetrating a lot of this destabilising activity... wherever you see Iranian activity, you see Qasem Soleimani, whether it is in Syria, whether it is in Iraq, whether it is in Yemen". Votel added that Soleimani and the Quds Force represent "the principle threat as we look at this and the principle ones that are stoking this destabilising activity".