Balkans Post

“An act of assassination carried out against a high-ranking official of another state is an act of war,” said Keith Preston, chief editor of AttacktheSystem.com, in an interview with the Balkans Post.

Here’s the full transcript of the interview:

Balkans Post: The United States assassinated Iran’s top commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Iraq’s Baghdad on January 3. How do you interpret the assassination and what are its implications for the region?

Keith Preston: The assassination of General Soleimani is a very serious matter that has had the effect of significantly escalating the tensions between the United States and Iran. An act of assassination carried out against a high-ranking official of another state is an act of war. The question that remains involves the matter of what the United States was trying to achieve from a strategic perspective by carrying out the assassination. It would appear that the United States is trying to escalate conflict within Iraq, and between Iraq and Iran. The United States does not want a unified Iraq that is friendly toward Iran. Nor does the United States want an Iraq where the Shi’a have significant amounts of influence. Instead, the United States prefers a Sunni-dominated Iraq as was the case during the era of Saddam Hussein. The popular mobilization units that were attacked by the United States were engaged in counterinsurgency operations against ISIS and other Takfiri groups. The United States would prefer that Iraq return to its former state of civil war rather than have a Shi’a-led Iraq that is friendly to Iran, and included within the resistance axis.

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