A former Israeli Defense Forces intelligence officer claimed Monday that Iran's retaliatory attack on a U.S. base in Qatar was carried out with full knowledge of the Trump administration.
Barak Ravid stunned CNN's Anderson Cooper when he said, "The Iranians coordinated this attack with the Qataris and with the knowledge of the Trump administration."
Ravid said "a source with direct knowledge" of the Iranian missile launch on Qatar told him the retaliation was just for show and not meant to cause harm.
"I think ... the evidence for that is that all those press statements were prepared in advance," Ravid said. "The Qataris, five minutes after the rockets started flying, issued a 500-word statement that was already just waiting to be sent. And as far as I understand from my sources, nobody was surprised by this attack. And it really looks like a coordinated effort to, on the one hand, allow Iran to retaliate, but on the other hand, try to close this incident and not allow it to escalate even further."
Cooper, reporting from Israel, called Ravid's assertion "really remarkable."
Ravid reiterated, "It definitely looks again, if you put all the pieces together first, what I hear from a source with direct knowledge, this was coordinated — coordinated in advance between Iran and Qatar, and it was conveyed to the Trump administration. And the statements from both sides that were prepared in advance. If you put all of this together, it looks like an attempt to try and shut it down here. Each side did its part, and now could be the time for de-escalation going forward with some sort of a diplomatic track."
The missiles were reportedly intercepted by Qatar thanks to their advanced knowledge and no one was reported hurt, according to reports.