Iran is said to have threatened to attack an army base in Washington, DC – and to kill General Joseph M. Martin in a USS Cole-style attack.
The National Security Agency intercepted communications in January indicating that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard discussed carrying out an attack on Fort McNair to kill Martin, the army’s deputy chief of staff, the Associated Press reported on Sunday citing senior civil servants. intelligence.
The NSC picked up the conversation between members of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, discussing how to avenge the death of General Quassem Soleimani, Iran’s top military leader, by the United States in January 2020.
In October 2000, Al Qaeda terrorists in a small boat pulled up next to US destroyer destroyer USS Cole as he refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden and detonated explosives, killing 17 sailors.
Fort McNair is Martin’s official residence.
Army officials have asked DC to expand a buffer zone along the Washington Canal that runs parallel to the Potomac River to increase security, but they have met with opposition from city leaders.
Army Major General Omar Jones, commander of the Washington Military District, said there were “credible and specific” threats against military officers living at the base, but he only mentioned a swimmer who was arrested after finishing at the base.