Iran has 13 'revenge scenarios' it says would be a 'historic nightmare' for the US following Soleimani's assassination

• Iran said it has discussed 13 revenge scenarios for the US after President Donald Trump ordered a strike on the country's top general.
• Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said "even if there is consensus on the weakest scenario carrying it out can be a historic nightmare for the American."
• Meanwhile, Iran's parliament on Tuesday unanimously voted to classify the entire US military and Department of Defense as terrorist organizations.
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Iran has discussed 13 revenge scenarios for the US following the killing of Maj. Gen. Soleimani that could be a "historic nightmare."

"The Americans should know that until now 13 revenge scenarios have been discussed in the council and even if there is consensus on the weakest scenario carrying it out can be a historic nightmare for the Americans," Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Tuesday, per Reuters.

President Donald Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Soleimani, Iran's most important military leader, late last week. Iran has vowed to enact "severe revenge" over Soleimani's killing, and both countries have traded threats in the days since.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared at a meeting of the government's National Security Council in the hours that followed the strike and called for a direct and proportional hit on the US, according to a report from the New York Times, which cited three Iranians familiar with the meeting.

This would be a starkly different approach for Iran in terms of hostilities with the US, in the sense that it typically operates via proxy forces. A direct strike on US forces or assets could provoke a harsh response from the US, particularly given Trump was moved to take out Soleimani because he was worried he looked weak after Iran shot down a US surveillance drone in September, as the Washington Post recently reported.

Over the weekend, Trump warned Iran that if it targeted the US then he would hit 52 Iranian targets, including "Iranian culture" sites, which could constitute a war crime.

Meanwhile, Iran's parliament on Tuesday unanimously voted to classify the entire US military and Department of Defense as terrorist organizations.

Soleimani was the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) elite Quds force. The Trump administration designated the IRGC a terrorist organization last year and viewed Soleimani as a terrorist.

Javad Zarif, Iran's top diplomat, on Tuesday told NPR that the US committed an act of war in taking out Soleimani, also referring to it as an act of terrorism. This came as the US moved to block Zarif from traveling to New York City this week to address the United Nations Security Council.

Read more:

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Trump has no clear strategy if Iran makes good on its vow to avenge the killing of a top general, experts say

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How the Trump administration got into a showdown with Iran that could lead to war