An Iranian strategic expert has issued a stark warning for President Barack Obama, stating that one of his daughter's will be kidnapped and raped if the United States attacks Syria. Alireza Forghani, former governor of southern Iran's Kish Province, also warned of the mass abductions and killings of American citizens throughout the world if the Obama administration launches a military strike in Syria.

Forghani cautioned: "Hopefully Obama will be pigheaded enough to attack Syria, and then we will see the … loss of U.S. interests [through terrorist attacks]. In just 21 hours [after the attack on Syria], a family member of every U.S. minister [department secretary], U.S. ambassadors, U.S. military commanders around the world will be abducted. And then 18 hours later, videos of their amputation will be spread [around the world]."

Forghani's warning comes amid reports on Friday that the U.S. has intercepted orders from an Iranian official that instructs militants in Iraq to attack American interests in Baghdad if an attack goes ahead. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad is a likely target, according to the Wall Street Journal, which said that officials have not described the range of possible targets indicated by the intercepted intelligence. The State Department, however, on Thursday warned U.S. citizens to avoid all but "essential" travel to Iraq.

Obama has asked Congress to support his plan for limited strikes on Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack on civilians on August 21, which the U.S. blames on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. 1,429 people were killed in the poison gas attack in a suburb of the capital Damascus.

So far, the U.S. and France are the only nations attending the G20 summit to back the use of military force in Syria. China and Russia have banded together to insist that any action without U.N. Security Council approval would be illegal.