Washington • U.S. officials braced for Iran to respond to the killing of its most powerful general, noting heightened military readiness in the country and preparing for a possible “tit-for-tat” attempt on the life of an American military commander. They warned ships across Mideast waterways crucial to global energy supplies about the “possibility of Iranian action” against U.S. maritime interests in the region.
President Donald Trump ordered the Jan. 2 strike against Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, after the death of an American contractor in Iraq. Now, amid massive demonstrations of Iran's public mourning period for Soleimani and a state TV report of a deadly stampede at his funeral, officials believe the next steps by America's longtime foe will determine the ultimate course of the latest crisis.