In January 2020, the Trump administration carried out a drone strike that killed Major General Qassem Soleimani while he was on a trip to Iraq. Since then, the Tehran regime has threatened retaliation against those it deems responsible and has issued a series of threats and legal proceedings against US officials. As President Biden begins his trip to the Middle East, the US government believes the risk of attack remains high. President Biden steps off Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, July 13, 2022. (Reuters/Ammar Awad) “The Iranian regime is waging a multi-pronged campaign — including threats of lethal action, international legal maneuvers, and the issuance of Iranian arrest warrants and sanctions — against select U.S. officials to avenge the January 2020 death of IRGC-QF commander Soleimani, raising a threat at home and abroad for those Iran holds responsible for the assassination,” the report said. IRGC-QF stands for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, which is part of Iran’s military. The National Counterterrorism Center, which produced the June intelligence report, declined to comment. The US Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Since January 2021, Tehran has publicly expressed its willingness to conduct lethal operations inside the United States and has consistently identified former President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, and former CENTCOM Commander General Kenneth McKenzie , as among its priorities for retaliation. “, the report said. “Iran would likely view the assassination or prosecution of a US official it considers equal in rank and stature to Soleimani or responsible for his death as successful retaliatory actions.” Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani meets with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran on September 18, 2016. (Pool/Iranian Supreme Leader’s Press Office/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) A spokesman for Trump did not respond to a request for comment from Yahoo News, and Pompeo did not respond to text messages and emails seeking comment. McKenzie also did not respond to messages sent through the University of South Florida, where McKenzie recently took a position. The story continues Meanwhile, the Biden administration is considering reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal struck under President Barack Obama, which Trump scrapped. The intelligence report, which is marked “Not for Public Release” and “For Official Use Only,” is dated June 16, 2022, two days after the White House officially announced Biden’s trip to the Middle East. Biden landed in Israel on Wednesday for the first leg of the trip, after which he is expected to fly to Saudi Arabia. Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Armed Services Committee on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan on September 29, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/Pool via Reuters) On Monday, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, announced Iran’s plans to provide missiles and training to Russia to support the war against Ukraine. Biden’s trip to the Middle East is the first of his presidency and is expected to try to rally support against Iran and try to calm tensions in the region. The briefing, obtained by Yahoo News, appears to be part of the Biden administration’s broader efforts to draw attention to the threat posed by the Iranian regime and garner support from policymakers across the aisle and others. A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment on the document itself, but said in a statement to Yahoo News that the US “will protect and defend its citizens,” including “those who serve the United States now and those who have served in the past.” The NSC also said a “mutual return” to full implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, remains “in America’s national interest. It is the best option available to curb Iran’s nuclear program and provide a platform to counter Iran’s destabilizing behavior.” Former US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida on February 25, 2022. (Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images) The June fact sheet was widely circulated within government and law enforcement agencies nationwide. It is based on an analysis of statements and other actions by the Iranian regime and describes failed plots to assassinate government officials and legal maneuvers and threats against specific US officials. The intelligence community and federal law enforcement agencies have been concerned about retaliatory strikes by Iran in response to Soleimani’s death, and such concerns go back a long way. Yahoo News previously reported that concerns about retaliation attacks after Soleimani’s death against officials involved in the attack on him prompted Congress to allocate $15 million for the security of outgoing Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and others. “Soleimani was the main architect of Iran’s regional policy and, more importantly, the personal link between terrorists abroad and Tehran,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Former President Donald Trump addresses a Save America rally on July 9, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) “The US strike against a figure like Soleimani remains an unhealed wound for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, with Tehran looking to wash away blood with blood. The fact that some US officials need round-the-clock security because of the Islamic Republic’s threats and operations should be a wake-up call to those who see Tehran only as a potential proliferation problem or a distant threat in the Middle East. he told Yahoo News. If the Biden administration thought Iran’s desire for revenge would diminish over time, it has not, according to the intelligence report. This raises questions about how Biden plans to negotiate with a regime that is trying to kill US government officials. “It’s baffling how the administration is trying to negotiate an agreement with an administration that has a river of terrorist threats against current and former U.S. officials,” Taleblou said. In its statement, the NSC said the Biden administration and US allies are “equally preparing for scenarios with and without mutual return to full implementation of [Iran nuclear deal]. The President will do what is in the national security interest of the United States.” The fact sheet, dated June 16, 2022, has been widely circulated within government and law enforcement agencies nationwide. It is based on an analysis of statements and other actions by the Iranian regime and describes failed plots to assassinate government officials and legal maneuvers and threats against specific US officials.
