Iran reportedly considering ‘13 scenarios for revenge’ against US for killing of Qassem Soleimani

Top security official reportedly joins other Iranian figures in promising revenge for killing of Qassem Soleimani

Iran is considering “13 scenarios for revenge” against the US for the killing of top general Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike last week, local media reported the country’s top security official as saying in comments later disavowed by senior officials.

Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said “the mission to avenge our slain brother will not be limited to a single operation,” according to the hardline Fars news agency.

"Up until now, 13 scenarios for revenge have been proposed," he reportedly said. "Even if there is a consensus on the weakest scenario, executing it can turn into a historic nightmare for the Americans."

However, the SNSC later denied that Shamkhani had given the interview.

The SNSC secretariat said: "A local paper yesterday committed a criminal act and attributed an interview to the SNSC's secretary which had not taken place. Legal action is underway to understand how and and why the interview was produced and published." The SNSC's claims have not been proven.

Shamkhani’s reported comments follow similar threats from top Iranian officials as anger boils over Soleimani’s killing.

The leader of Iran's Revolutionary Guard threatened on Tuesday to "set ablaze" places supported by the United States in a speech to a crowd of thousands in Soleimani’s hometown of Kerman.

"We will take revenge. We will set ablaze where they like," Hossein Salami told the crowd, drawing the cries of "Death to Israel!"

Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Quds Force, was killed in a drone strike on 3 January in Baghdad airport. The strike was ordered by Donald Trump following weeks of rising tensions between US military forces and Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

In his dual role as diplomat and military commander, Soleimani, 62, was the architect of Iran’s military influence across the Middle East. He travelled the region to build and support a network of allied militias that aimed to project Iran’s strength and counter US influence.

The proxy groups he built and supported killed hundreds of US troops during the Iraq War, and Washington has claimed – without providing evidence – that he was planning new attacks against the US.

The killing has dramatically raised tensions in the Middle East and provoked a flood of criticism for the Trump administration at home and abroad.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that the house will vote on a war powers resolution this week to limit President Donald Trump‘s military actions against Iran, warning that his order last week for a lethal strike against a top Iranian commander risked a serious escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

In a letter to Democrats, Ms Pelosi said the US action that killed Soleimani​ was a “provocative and disproportionate military air strike targeting high-level Iranian military officials” that endangered members of the US military, diplomats and others.

Update: This article was updated to reflect the SNSC’s disassociation with the interview originally attributed to the Haram newspaper, and picked up by the Fars news agency.