What are Iran's nuclear and military capabilities?
London — The killing of high-ranking Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by the United States last week has heightened tension between the two countries and prompted Iran to retaliate with a missile strike on bases in Iraq housing American troops. The U.S. and Iraq say there were no casualties from the strikes.
In a around the Middle East — groups that are not officially part of the state apparatus but which work to advance Iran's interests and receive direct support from Tehran. These groups include the Badr Organization and Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Syrian Hezbollah in Syria, and groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Gaza Strip.
Soleimani himself did a lot to develop this network, but in the wake of his death, Iran's government distanced itself from the proxies — at least publicly.
"We do not have proxies," Zarif told Palmer on Tuesday. "You must have seen in the streets of Iraq that we have people, not proxies. Those people are not controlled by us because they're not our proxies. They're people with emotions, independent thinking, and that is why I said, what they will do is not controllable by Iran."
As President Trump appeared to step back from a military response to Iran's missile attacks, some of these groups issued statements urging both action and restraint.
The leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., said Wednesday that the "initial Iranian response to the assassination of the martyred commander Soleimani has happened. Now it is time for the initial Iraqi response to the assassination of the martyred commander Muhandis (who was killed alongside Soleimani). And because Iraqis are brave and zealous, their response will not be any less than that of Iran's. That is a promise."
But Vice President Mike Pence told "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell on Wednesday that the U.S. was "receiving some encouraging intelligence that Iran is sending messages to those very same militias not to move against American targets or civilians."
Another influential Iraqi Shiite leader, Muqatada al-Sadr, told Iranian-backed militias in Iraq to hold their fire until other political and legal means to oust the American "occupation" were exhausted. Al-Sadr recommended these groups, which were recently integrated into the Iraqi armed forces, shut down their headquarters to avoid being easy targets should there be a decision to launch an "armed resistance" against foreign forces.
"This is not the end of it," Fernando Cutz, who served as senior adviser to former national security adviser H.R. McMaster, told CBS News. "The Iranians said this is the end of it to try to de-escalate and stop there from being a war, but they will continue their destabilizing efforts throughout Middle East. ...The real retaliation will be ratcheting up the shadow operations they have been engaged in for years. But it will be nothing that would lead us to go to war."
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