Iran and Hezbollah planning attacks on US to retaliate for Soleimani killing

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Iran is planning ways to retaliate against the US for the killing of Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, and Lebanese Hezbollah is being closely watched for potential attacks on American soil, a top US intelligence official warned yesterday.

“Protecting against such threats is even more important now, as Iran, its agents, and proxies plan ways to retaliate against the United States for the January 2020 killing of IRGC-QF Commander Qassem Soleimani,” Christine Abizaid, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, said during testimony before the US Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Abizaid said the US had assessed that Iran-backed Hezbollah maintained a “high threshold for conducting attacks in the Homeland.” “Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah balances his organisation’s view of the United States as one of its primary adversaries against the likelihood of US retaliation if the group decided to conduct an attack,” Abizaid added.

Soleimani was killed in a drone strike ordered by former President Donald Trump after the Iranian general was said to have been planning attacks on US diplomats and military personnel.

The strike, which was carried out in Baghdad, also killed Abu Mehdi Al Muhandis, then-deputy commander of Iraq’s Shiite militia, Popular Mobilisation Forces.

“Iran views terrorism as a tool to support its core objectives, including projecting power in the Middle East, and deterring its strategic rivals,” Abizaid said. Turning to Iraq, Abizaid suggested that Iran-backed Shiite militias were posing the “most immediate threat to US interests,” citing drone attacks on US facilities there.