The U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, has said if Iran's new Qods (Quds) Force Commander follows the same path of killing Americans, he will face the fate of his predecessor, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Baghdad on January 3.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed General Esmail Qaani as the new commander in charge of Iran's extraterritorial operations the day after Soleimani was killed by the order of President Donald Trump on suspicion of planning attacks that threatened American lives. Qaani who had served as a deputy to Soleimani has vowed to follow in Soleimani's path.
Brian Hook made the threat in an interview with London-based Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of Davos Conference which was published on Thursday.
Hook maintained that Soleimani's killing, who he called the world's most dangerous terrorist, is going to make the Middle East a safer place because it will create a "void that the regime will not be able to fill".
In the interview with the international Arabic newspaper Hook called on the UN Security Council to condemn Iran's alleged September attack on Saudi oil facilities.
The U.S. Special Representative for Iran also argued that Iran's foreign policy is dictated by Khamenei who he said "is called the Supreme Leader for a reason" and the United States judges the Iranian regime by what it does on the basis of Khamenei's decisions, not what the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif says.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been very high since the January targeted killing of Soleimani which Iran retaliated against with its own missile attack on two Iraqi bases hosting American and other Coalition troops. Washington always blamed Soleimani for masterminding attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and other countries in the region.