ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan shot back at Iran on Monday over reported plans to launch a lethal attack against a US army base, saying there will be “profound cost” if Iran goes that far.

“President Biden takes absolutely seriously the threat that Iran poses to individuals, to personnel, to facilities, and to American interests in the region and here in the United States,” said Sullivan in response to a question during a television interview with MSNBC about a report by AP that cites intelligence about discussions by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) discussions of targeting Fort McNair Army base in the US capital.

According to communications intercepted by the National Security Agency (NSA) in January, discussions were revealed between Iran's IRGC to infiltrate and bomb the base, as well as killing General Joseph M. Martin who lives at the base, reported AP on Sunday, citing senior army officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“We will take steps to ensure that we are defending and protecting ourselves and making clear to Iran the profound cost that would come if they came down that line,” Sullivan added.

The two intelligence officials added that the intercepted communication was between members of the elite Quds Force of the IRGC and “centered on potential military options to avenge the US killing of the former Quds leader, Gen. Qassem Soleimani,” reports AP.

The rocky relationship between Tehran and Washington of recent years was exacerbated following the US assassination of Iranian General Soleimani and Iraqi militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on January 3.

US President Joe Biden on March 3 extended national emergency and comprehensive sanctions against Iran for another year, stating that Iran poses “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”

Rudaw