Yahoo News reported, citing an intelligence report, that US intelligence believes Iran may be trying to kill a US official in retaliation for the killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.
The report, seen by Yahoo News, states that “the Iranian regime is waging a multi-element campaign that includes death threats, legal maneuvering in the international arena, and the issuance of Iranian arrest warrants and sanctions against specific US officials. in order to avenge the assassination of Iranian revolutionary Soleimani’s Quds Force commander in January 2020.”
The report notes that this “increases the risks at home (in the US) and abroad for those whom Iran holds responsible for the assassination” of Soleimani.
The report recalled that since January 2021, Iran has “publicly declared its readiness for assassinations inside the United States and has repeatedly named former President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former CENTCOM commander General Kenneth Mackenzie among its priority targets. .”
The report states that “Iran may view the assassination or prosecution of a US official who it believes is on the same level and in a similar situation as Soleimani, or responsible for his assassination, as successful reprisals.”
Notably, the report is dated June 16, 2022, two days after US President Joe Biden’s tour of the Middle East was announced.
The National Counterterrorism Center, which released the report, did not respond to a Yahoo News request for comment. The US Secret Service has not commented on this.
In turn, the representative of the US National Security Council declined to comment on the report, but stressed that the United States “will protect its citizens, including those who serve the United States now or served it in the past.”
Notably, Iranian Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike during his visit to Iraq in January 2020, and US intelligence has since raised concerns about a possible Iranian response to the operation.
Source: Yahoo News