IRAN REVENGE PLOT
NSA intercepts plan to kill general in DC
Iran has reportedly threatened to attack an Army base in Washington, DC — and kill a top general in a USS Cole-style attack.
The National Security Agency intercepted communications in January indicating that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard discussed carrying out an assault against Fort McNair to kill Gen. Joseph M. Martin, the Army’s vice chief of staff, The Associated Press reported on Sunday, citing senior intelligence officials.
The agency picked up the chatter among members of the guard’s elite Quds Force discussing how to avenge the killing of Iran’s top military leader Gen. Qasem Soleimani by the United States in January 2020.
In October 2000, al Qaeda terrorists in a small boat pulled up alongside the Navy destroyer USS Cole as it was refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden and set off explosives, killing 17 sailors.
Fort McNair is Gen. Martin’s official residence.
Army officials have been asking DC to expand a buffer zone along the Washington Channel that runs parallel to the Potomac River to increase security, but have run into opposition from city leaders.
During a meeting in January, Army Maj. Gen. Omar Jones, commander of the Military District of Washington, said there were “credible and specific” threats against top military officials who live on the base — but he only mentioned a swimmer who was arrested after ending up at the base.
He conceded at the time that it is “not a great example there, but our most recent example” of a breach.
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s representative in Congress, told The AP that in the months since, she hasn’t seen any new information to support more restrictions around Fort McNair.
“I have asked the Department of Defense to withdraw the rule because I’ve seen no evidence of a credible threat that would support the proposed restriction,” Norton said. “They have been trying to get their way, but their proposal is more restrictive than necessary.
“I have a security clearance. And they have yet to show me any classified evidence” that would justify the proposal, she added.