Former CIA station chief: Retaliation by Iran against Americans would be 'regime suicide'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former CIA station chief Daniel Hoffman said on Tuesday that a retaliatory attack by Iran against the United States would be “regime suicide.”
“What we’ve done, clearly, is state that Iran needs to back off right now. We own escalation dominance and that Iran would be risking their own regime security, their survival, if they cross our red line,” said Hoffman, a Fox News contributor, on "America's Newsroom."
IRAN’S GENERAL REPLACING SOLEIMANI VOWS REVENGE FOR US KILLING
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gen. Qassem Soleimani was killed by a U.S. airstrike early Friday in Baghdad, sparking the biggest international crisis of Trump’s presidency.
Esmail Ghaani, the Iranian general taking over for Soleimani as leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, told state television Monday that “actions will be taken” to revenge the death of his predecessor.
President Trump has responded by vowing that any Iranian strike would be perhaps met with a "disproportionate" response.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“God the almighty has promised to get his revenge, and God is the main avenger,” Ghaani said, according to The Associated Press. “Certainly actions will be taken.”
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Ghaani, 62, had served as Soleimani’s deputy commander since 1997 – and the Treasury Department says he has used his power to direct funding toward terrorist groups like Hezbollah.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We promise to continue martyr Soleimani’s path with the same force and the only compensation for us would be to remove America from the region,” he told state radio before Soleimani’s funeral in Tehran, Reuters reported.
Hoffman went on to explain the stakes involved if Iran attacks the United States. He described Iran as a “nefarious actor” and a “revolutionary power” in their region as they are seeking to dominate Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and have launched attacks on Saudi Arabia.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“They know that the United States can devastate them — that if they attack us, it’s really regime suicide for them.”
Fox News’ Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.