Two senior U.S. intelligence officials said Iran had made threats against Fort McNair, an army base in the country’s capital, and against the army’s chief of staff.
They said communications intercepted by the National Security Agency in January showed that Iran’s revolutionary guard had discussed the escalating “USS Cole-style attacks” against the base, citing the October 2000 suicide attack in which a small boat pulled up next to the naval destroyer in Yemeni. port of Aden and exploded and killed 17 sailors.
According to officials, the intelligence service also launched threats against Gen. To kill Joseph M. Martin, and he intends to infiltrate and monitor the base. The base, one of the oldest in the country, is Martin’s official residence.
The threats are one of the reasons the military has sought more security at Fort McNair, which sits next to Washington’s bustling, newly developed Waterfront district.
City leaders opposed the military’s plan to add a buffer zone 75 to 150 meters from the shores of the Washington Canal, which would restrict access to as much as half of the busy waterway. runs parallel to the Potomac River.
The Pentagon, the National Security Council and the NSA did not respond or refuse to comment when contacted by The Associated Press.
As Columbia District officials fought for improved security along the canal, the military provided only vague information about threats to the base.
At a virtual meeting in January to discuss the proposed restrictions, General Omar Jones, commander of Washington’s Military District, called ‘credible and specific’ threats against military leaders living at the base. The only specific security threat he presented was about a swimmer who ended up at the base and was arrested.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the only district representative in Congress, was skeptical. “When it comes to swimmers, I’m sure it should be rare. Did he know where he was? Maybe he just swam and found his way to your shore?” she said.
Jones conceded that the swimmer ‘is not a good example there, but our most recent example’ of a security breach.
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He said the military had increased patrols along the coastline, erected signs with restricted areas and placed cameras to monitor the Washington Canal.
Surprised city officials and frustrated residents said the army’s request for the buffer zone was a government overrun of public waterways.
Discussions on the Fort McNair proposal began two years ago, but the recent information gathered by the NSA prompted Army officials to renew their request for the restrictions.
The intercepted conversation was among members of the elite Quds force of the Iranian revolutionary guard and centered on potential military options around the US assassination of former Quds leader Genl. Qassem Soleimani, to avenge Baghdad in January 2020, the two intelligence officials said.
They said Tehran’s military commanders have so far been dissatisfied with their counter-attacks, specifically the results of the ballistic missile attack on Iraq’s Ain al – Asad air base in the days following Soleimani’s death. No U.S. servicemen were killed in the strike, but dozens suffered concussions.
Norton told the AP that in the two months since the January meeting, the Pentagon had not provided her with any additional information that would justify the restrictions surrounding Fort McNair.
“I have asked the Department of Defense to withdraw the rule because I saw no evidence of a credible threat that would support the proposed restriction,” Norton said. “They tried to get their point across, but their proposal is more limited than necessary.”
She added: “I have a security clearance. And they have not yet shown me any evidence” which could justify the proposal. Norton pointed out that the Washington Navy Yard and the Anacostia-Bolling joint base, which also has access to district water, did not have restricted zones along their shorelines and did not request it.
The proposed amendments, as set out in a notice from the Federal Registry, would prohibit people and watercraft from “anchoring, mooring or lying around” within the restricted area without permission.
The notice specifies the need for security around the Marine Helicopter Squadron, which transports U.S. presidents, and the generals and personnel officers located on the waterfront. The southern tip of Fort McNair is home to National War College, where middle- and senior officers study for admiral or general national security strategy.
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The Washington Channel is home to one of the city’s largest urban renewal efforts, with new restaurants, luxury housing and concert venues. The waterway flows from the point where the city’s two largest rivers, the Potomac and Anacostia, meet.
It is home to three marinas and hundreds of slips. About 300 people live aboard their boats in the canal, according to Patrick Revord, who is the director of technology, marketing and community engagement for the Wharf Community Association.
The canal is also crowded with water taxis, which serve 300,000 people annually, river crossings that house 400,000 people annually and about 7,000 kayakers and paddleboarders annually, Revord said during the meeting.
Residents and city officials say the restrictions would create unsafe conditions by narrowing the canal for larger vessels traveling along the waterway alongside smaller motorboats and kayakers.
Guy Shields, a retired military infantry colonel and member of the Capitol Yacht Club, who opposes the restrictions surrounding Fort McNair, said during the meeting that waterway restrictions would not promote safety.
“The shackles are not going to do anything to improve safety. It will increase congestion in an already overcrowded area,” Shields said. “And I will say, signs do not stop people with bad intentions.”
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It is unclear whether the new intelligence will change the city’s opposition to the army’s security plan.