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Senior national security officials said they had been informed of the threat that a plane would crash into the Capitol in Washington DC on Wednesday, but told Fox News the threat did not appear “credible.”
CBS News first reported the threat.
“We’re flying a plane into the Capitol on Wednesday,” an audio recording of the threat sent to air traffic controllers in New York City, obtained by CBS News, said. “Soleimani will be avenged.”
The threat referred to Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general killed in Iraq last year in a US airstrike ordered by President Trump. U.S. officials have deemed Soleimani – the leader of the elite Quds force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – as dangerous as the Islamic State and held him responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers.
A national security official told Fox News that “relevant agencies” have been made aware of Tuesday’s incident and that “if it is possible that this is a hoax, it is taken seriously.”
And a senior defense official told Fox News they take “all threats seriously,” but “it doesn’t seem credible, although we will continue to assess.”
Another senior US official told Fox News the threat “does not appear to be legitimate.”
“We are not too worried,” said the official.
In a statement to Fox News, the FBI said it “takes seriously all threats of violence to public safety.” Capitol Police were working with federal law enforcement partners.
The Federal Aviation Administration is working with authorities and national security partners on “reported security threats that could impact aviation safety,” it said in a statement.
The threat comes as Congress is expected to meet in joint session on Wednesday to certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden in the November presidential election.
Iran vowed revenge for the January 3, 2020 murder. At the time, Tehran retaliated with its own airstrike on a military base in Iraq, resulting in concussions for up to 100 US soldiers.
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In a tweet on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif recalled Soleimani, saying he was “a coward murdered by the chief terrorist”.
Jennifer Griffin of Fox News contributed to this report.
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