Iran has made threats against Fort McNair, an army base in the country’s capital, and against the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, said two senior American intelligence officials.
They said communications intercepted by the National Security Agency in January showed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards discussed the setting up of “USS Cole-like attacks” against the base, referring to the suicide bombing in October 2000 in which a small boat stopped next to the naval destroyer in the Yemeni port of Aden and exploded, killing 17 sailors.
The intelligence also revealed threats to assassinate General Joseph M. Martin and plans to infiltrate and guard the base, according to officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss national security issues and spoke on condition of anonymity. The base, one of the oldest in the country, is Martin’s official residence.
The threats are one of the reasons why the military has pushed for greater security around Fort McNair, which sits next to Washington’s bustling newly developed Waterfront District.
City leaders fight against the army’s plan to add a buffer zone approximately 250 feet to 500 feet (75 meters to 150 meters) from the shore of the Washington Channel, allowing access to as much as half the width of the busy waterway that parallels the Potomac river would be restricted.
The Pentagon, the National Security Council and the NSA either did not respond or declined to comment when The Associated Press reached out.
As District of Columbia officials have fought against increased security along the canal, the military has provided only vague information about threats to the base.
At a virtual meeting in January to discuss proposed restrictions, Major General Omar Jones, commander of Washington’s military district said, cited “credible and specific” threats to military leaders living on the base. The only specific threat he presented involved a swimmer who ended up on the base and was arrested.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district’s only representative in Congress, was skeptical. “When it comes to swimmers, I’m sure it must be rare. Did he know where he was? Maybe he was just swimming and found his way to your shore? ” she said.
Jones admitted that the swimmer was “not a good example there, but our most recent example” of a security breach.
He said the military has stepped up patrols along the coastline, posted signs for restricted areas, and installed cameras to monitor the Washington Channel.
Astonished city officials and frustrated residents said the military’s request for the buffer zone was a government crossing of public waterways.
Discussions over the Fort McNair proposal began two years ago, but recent intelligence gathered by the NSA has prompted army officials to renew their request for the restrictions.
The intercepted chatter was among members of the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and focused on possible military options to avenge the US assassination of former Quds leader, General Qassem Soleimani., in Baghdad in January 2020, the two intelligence officials said.
They said Tehran’s military commanders have so far been dissatisfied with their counter-attacks, especially the results of the ballistic missile attack. at Ain al-Asad Air Base in Iraq in the days following Soleimani’s assassination. No American soldiers were killed in that attack, but dozens of members suffered concussions.
Norton told the AP that in the two months since the January meeting, the Pentagon has not provided her with additional information that would justify the restrictions surrounding Fort McNair.
“I have asked the Department of Defense to repeal the rule because I have seen no evidence of a credible threat that would support the proposed restriction,” Norton said. “They have tried to get their way, but their proposal is more limited than it needs to be.”
She added, “I have security clearance. And they have yet to show me any secret evidence ”that would justify the proposal. Norton pointed out that the Washington Navy Yard and Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, which also have access to district waters, do not have and have not requested restriction zones along their coastlines.
The proposed changes, outlined in a Federal Register notice, would prohibit both people and vessels from “anchoring, mooring, or loitering” within the restricted area without permission.
The message specifies the need for security around the Marine Helicopter Squadron, which carries US presidents, and the general and staff officers’ quarters on the waterfront. The southern tip of Fort McNair is home to the National War College, where mid-level and senior officers hunting admiral or general national security strategy study.
The Washington Channel is the site of one of the city’s major urban renewal efforts, featuring new restaurants, luxury residences, and concert halls. The waterway flows from the point where the city’s two major rivers, the Potomac and Anacostia, meet.
It is home to three marinas and hundreds of boat slips. According to Patrick Revord, director of technology, marketing and community engagement for the Wharf Community Association, about 300 people live on board their boats in the canal.
The canal is also buzzing with water taxis, which serve 300,000 people each year, river cruises that receive 400,000 people per year, and about 7,000 kayakers and paddleboarders per year, Revord said at the meeting.
Residents and city officials say the restrictions would create unsafe conditions by narrowing the canal for larger ships crossing the waterway alongside smaller motorboats and kayakers.
Guy Shields, a retired Army infantry colonel and member of the Capitol Yacht Club who opposes the restrictions around Fort McNair, said at the meeting that waterway restrictions would not increase safety.
“Those buoys will do nothing to improve safety. It will increase congestion in an already congested area, ”said Shields. “And I will say: signs don’t stop people with bad intentions.”
It is unclear whether the new intelligence will change the city’s resistance to the military’s security plan.
LaPorta reported from Boca Raton, Florida.
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