Early Friday morning, a U.S. airstrike killed General Qassim Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force and among the country's most powerful figures. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei quickly warned that "harsh retaliation is waiting" for the U.S., and analysts and experts started suggesting the ways that retaliation could take shape.Joyce Karam, a reporter for The National in the United Arab Emirates, pointed out locations and U.S. strongholds overseas that
Iran might go after.
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Admiral James Stavridis told Bloomberg that Iran might "attempt an assassination of a very senior admiral or general." "But the one I worry about the most," Stavridis said, "is cyber," which Iran is "quite capable" of launching.
Americans were told to leave Iraq at once, suggesting Iranian militias might have been suspected of planning to kidnap them, The
Washington Post's Josh Rogin noted.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio meanwhile said he'd work to ramp up security to protect the city from a possible attack by Iran, though other analysts and reporters haven't suggested a strike on U.S. soil is likely.