By Mosheh Gains -
NBC News
The administration headed by Donald Trump is seeing increasing indications that Iran may be
planning an attack
against US forces or other interests in the Middle East, according to an official who, on condition of anonymity, admitted that he read the intentions of that country is "difficult and sometimes unpredictable."
[Trump rushes back to Washington with another plan to question Biden's victory and fear of an Iranian attack]
But the directions are being taken seriously, he added.
In a few days, the anniversary of the assassination of the top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, by the United States will be commemorated.
Soleimani was killed in an airstrike in Iraq on January 3, 2020, in what the Defense Department called a "defensive action" because, allegedly, the leader of the Quds Forces was developing a plan to attack Americans.
Days later, Iran launched missiles at US military forces in Iraq in response to the assassination.
The first images of the launching of missiles against bases in Iraq where there are American soldiers
Jan. 8, 202000: 38
This week, the United States
sent B-52 bombers
based in Minot, North Dakota, to an Air Force base in the Middle East in a "deliberate appearance," the Command Center said, marking the second deployment of strength of recent weeks.
[Iran's Supreme Leader vows retaliation after the assassination of its top nuclear scientist]
The United States recently accused a militia, which it claims to be backed by Iran, of a missile strike in Baghdad's green zone on December 20.
Twenty-one missiles were fired.
No one was injured or killed.
Javad Zarid, Iran's foreign minister, protested in a tweet on Thursday against the deployment of the B-52s, claiming that: "Intelligence from Iraq indicates that there is a plan to fabricate a pretext for war."
On December 23, referring to the missile attack that damaged the US embassy in the green zone, President Donald Trump tweeted: “Friendly and healthy advice for Iran: If an American dies, I will hold Iran responsible.
Think about it ”.
"We would be happy to de-escalate [the conflict]," a US official said Thursday, adding that, amid the uncertainty, the situation continues to be closely watched.
Tensions rise weeks before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, and Iran's regime has sent clear signals that it wants the United States to lift sanctions, something an attack could put at risk.
Trump announces new economic sanctions against Iran after attack in Iraq
Jan. 8, 2020 11:40
The same Thursday, the aircraft carrier
USS Nimitz
was ordered to return to its port in the United States after a 10-month deployment to the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, the Pentagon said.
“We continue to watch Iraq very closely
,” Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller said in a statement to NBC News on Thursday, “although I hope that we enter 2021 peacefully and without conflict, the Department is ready to defend the American people and their interests ”.