New York air traffic controllers receive message threatening attack

New York air traffic controllers received a message threatening to avenge Iranian general Qassem Soleimani’s death.

The warning was received Monday, just one day after the anniversary of the U.S. drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump that killed Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

“We are flying a plane into the Capitol on Wednesday. Soleimani will be avenged,” a voice is heard saying in audio that was obtained by CBS News. It has not been verified by NBC News and it’s not clear who sent the threat.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it referred the matter to the FBI.

Government officials told NBC News they don’t believe the warning of an attack is credible, saying that it is not difficult for a person to gain access to the radios.

The threat comes as thousands of Iraqis, chanting anti-American slogans, gathered in Baghdad’s central square on Sunday to protest Soleimani’s killing.

The general, who helped kill Americans for more than a decade, was killed on Jan. 3, 2020, near an airport in Baghdad. During a meeting days after the death, Trump called Soleimani a “monster.”

“If you look over his past — he’s been called a ‘monster,’ and he was a monster,” the president said. “And he’s no longer a monster; he’s dead. And that’s a good thing for a lot of countries. And he was planning a very big attack and a very bad attack for us and other people. And we stopped him.”

source: nbcnews.com