A former CIA chief warned that Iran would seek revenge for the death of one of its top military leaders, Qassem Soleimani, by killing Americans.
Michael Morell, who was acting CIA director from 2012 to 2013 under President Barack Obama, said Iran could instruct its proxies to go after American civilians in the region. Iran could also target a senior American official in a terrorist attack, which could be carried out in the United States, he said.
“Qassem Soleimani was an evil genius. He had a lot of American blood on his hands,” Morell told CBS This Morning. “The world is a better place without him. The problem is that comes at a very high cost. Number one, there will be dead Americans, dead civilian Americans, as a result of this — possibly over the next few days in any place where Iran has its proxies. Iraq is the most likely place, but also Lebanon, Bahrain, other places in the Middle East.”
He said Iranians would lose in battle against the U.S. military, making civilians a more likely target.
“At a time and place of their choosing, they’re going to conduct a terrorist strike that kills a senior American official,” Morell said. “And that could be anywhere in the world.”
The former intelligence official warned that such an attack could happen in the near future.
“The Iranians and Lebanese Hezbollah — they’re [Iran’s] main ally — have contingency plans on the books for such terrorist attacks, so such a terrorist attack could occur soon … and those include contingency plans in the United States against U.S. targets,” Morell said.
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Soleimani was killed in a drone strike in Baghdad ordered by President Trump on Thursday following weeks of escalating tensions between the two countries, including the death of an American contractor and an attack on the U.S. embassy in Iraq.
The State Department issued a security alert overnight telling Americans in Iraq to leave immediately.
