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摘要

"I'M NOT IN the business of making threats," said Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, immediately before making one. When asked in September whether Iran was still considering retaliating for America's assassination in January of General Qassem Suleimani, Iran's most prominent military commander, Mr Zarif was clear: "The books are not closed." Ever since President Donald Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Suleimani, Western spies have been alert to clues as to where and how Iran might retaliate. Some think the blow may fall in Africa, where Iran has spent years building up covert networks and where it faces little scrutiny from local governments.