The Axis of Evil speech by President George W. Bush in January 2002, which declared Iran as part of an axis of evil alongside Iraq and North Korea, took Iran by surprise considering their soldiers were literally fighting alongside the United States in Afghanistan. Ryan Crocker, former deputy chief of the American embassy in Kabul, recalled how the speech caused Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Quds Force, to reconsider the country's relationship with America.