The Donald Trump administration and American partners are bracing for potential Iranian attacks throughout the Middle East after a Pentagon strike killed paramilitary leader Qasem Soleimani on Friday.

Former US officials said the death of Soleimani, who was considered a national hero in Iran after rising from division command during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s to commanding Iran’s military and paramilitary groups around Iraq, Syria and Yemen, could compel a range of covert or overt responses.

“This response or [these] responses could happen anywhere,” said Michael Mulroy, who until December served as the Pentagon’s top Middle East official. “Between the IRGC Quds Force and their intelligence service, they have worldwide reach and will likely not exclude American civilians as targets.”

Mulroy, who advocated for the United States to utilize irregular warfare tactics, cyber attacks and information operations to deter Iranian aggression at the Defense Department and now serves as an ABC News analyst, p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Tahoma; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} said Soleimani's death will "significantly increase the likelihood" of a vote in Iraq's council of representatives to expel more than 5,000 US forces in the country, which "may lead to more instability and less sovereignty in their country."