On Thursday, U.S. military forces launched airstrikes in Baghdad that killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani. Iran has promised “harsh retaliation” for Soleimani's death, though it’s still unclear how they will respond.
CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem joined Boston Public Radio on Friday to discuss the situation and its possible implications for the U.S., Iran and the Middle East at large.
"There are tactics, and there are strategies. Killing a bad person is a tactic– and it might be the right tactic, if we know what the strategy is,” Kayyem said. “Is the strategy to have deescalated the tensions, the simmering… warm war going on in the Middle East right now? If that was the goal, this certainly was not the right tactic.”
“Let me just be clear here,” she continued. "Iran will need to respond. This is the equivalent of killing [U.S. Army General David] Petraeus outside of a war zone. We are not at war with Iran yet."
To the question of what lies ahead, Kayyem said the most likely scenario is "[Iran] just wreaking greater havoc in Iraq."
"We are likely going to get kicked out of Iraq at this stage, and the Iraqis are saying as much," she said. "It's going to be unsustainable to have both Iranians and the U.S. in Iraq."
Hours after the interview took place, anonymous U.S. defense officials revealed to the AP that the U.S. is sending approximately 3,000 additional troops into the Middle East as reinforcements.
