Category Archives: Iran

Iran, Iraq, MEK, Mossad, Mujahideen Khalq, Rajavi, Terrorism, US Foreign Policy, War on Iran

The Other Iran War: MEK, Mossad, Western Intelligence…….

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“Ynet raises the possibility that it was a deliberate act of sabotage on not just a missile base, but an intelligence facility. Teheran Bureau says the IRG is telling the Iranian media that the incident was not an act of terror, but purely an industrial accident. An Iranian who worked at the base for several months and was interviewed by Iranian media discounted the likelihood of an act of sabotage since security at the base was extremely strict. However, an Israeli source with extensive senior political and military experience provides an exclusive report that it was the work of the Mossad in collaboration with the MEK. Israeli media is humming with similar reports and Channel 10′s intelligence correspondent went so far as to say, a bit coyly perhaps: If it was the work of western intelligence it was a high successful and impressive achievement. It is widely known within intelligence circles that the Israelis use the MEK for varied acts of espionage and terror ranging from fraudulent Iranian memos alleging work on nuclear trigger devices to assassinations of nuclear scientists and bombings of sensitive military installations……….”

MEK has a history of siding with anyone who is against the Iranian regime (since 1981). In the process, it has also sided with some who are enemies of the Iranian people. Siding with Saddam Hussein and the Ba’ath Party during the 1980-88 war is one example. Siding with Saddam during the Persian Gulf War (Desert Storm 1990-91) is another example. There have been reports that they participated in the suppression of rebellious Iraqis in the south after Desert Storm in the Spring of 1991.
Mujahideen Khalq, still on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, has deep pockets and pays generously to top former and current American officials to speak at its conferences in France and other places. Among them has been Rudy Giuliani, Bill Richardson, Ed Randell, James Woolsey (briefly CIA director under Clinton). It is not clear where the money comes from, but I strongly suspect it originates from “somewhere” on the shores of my Gulf. These days the MEK are popular with many Gulf potentates (and their media) who were their friends during the 1980s before they became their enemies during the 1990s, only to become their friends again after the first Iraqi elections of 2005.
I am not sure how much support it has inside Iran, but my educated guess is that it has little popular support. It has degenerated into a marginal cult group over the past three decades. But if this report is true, it must have enough operatives inside Iran to help the Israeli and Western acts of sabotage and assassination against Iranian targets and scientists. Yet these “incidents” are sporadic and not effective for the goals of either regime change or derailing the nuclear program.
Cheers
mhg


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cyber war, Espionage, Iran, Israel, MEK, Mujahideen Khalq, nuclear Iran, Terrorism

Duqu Hits Iran: Virus Du Jour beats a Shooting War……….

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“Iran has developed a software program that can “control” the newly discovered Duqu spyware, the director of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization has announced. “The software, capable of controlling this virus (Duqu), has been provided to organizations and institutions,” IRNA quoted Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali as saying on Sunday. Duqu, discovered on September 1, 2011, is a sophisticated Trojan which acts as a backdoor into a system and facilitates the theft of private intelligence. Security software manufacturer Symantec says parts of the Duqu code base are nearly identical to the infamous Stuxnet worm, “but with a completely different purpose.” The Duqu malware has reportedly infected a number of systems in Iran. “All of the centers and apparatuses suspected of being infected with the virus are under control,” Jalali said, adding that countering and cleansing processes have been carried out at the infected institutions. Stuxnet, first indentified by Iranian officials in June 2010, is a malware designed to infect computers using supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems made by the German company Siemens …………..”

This Duqu in a new one. Duqu, Stuxnet, Stars, WTF, why not? Let them come: that is a clean war, better than the bloody alternative that some regional absolute potentates are hoping to goad the West into. Anything beats a shooting destructive war, or a war of terror street assassinations that kills civilians, or any war on behalf of absolute kleptocratic tribal princes.
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Israel, Middle East Nuclear, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy, War on Iran

American Polls, Locating Nebraska and Bhutan: Israeli Polls, Iranian Missiles, West Bank, Sound Bites………

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“Most Americans support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, while a smaller majority endorses such US strike, according to a poll commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League. Some 63% of poll respondents characterized Israel as a “crucial ally” and said that the Jewish state’s relationship with the US does not undermine America’s image in the world. As to Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, the poll showed that 57% of Americans support Israeli military action to prevent such scenario while only 31% opposed such move. Some 50% of respondents suppor. Meanwhile, nearly half of all Americans said they sympathize with the State of Israel, while only 18% said they sympathize with the Palestinians. Some 63% of respondents said they believe Israel is serious about peace. ………”

That last 63% almost certainly don’t know much about Netanyahu and his Likud. You always get a “generic” answer when asking a “generic” question. The tendency among American voters, assuming this was a “good” poll, is to use whatever vague general information they have and answer accordingly to specific questions. For example, if the question was “Do you think the Likud wants to be left in peace to complete the takeover of the West Bank?” They may have answered the same affirmative.

Besides, the most recent headlines drive opinion polls in the United States in this era of sound bites. Iran and its nuclear program being in the headlines cause people to quickly associate Israel with peace. I bet ($5) many of these same folks would answer affirmative if asked whether the US faces an imminent threat of an Iranian nuclear attack. It is all headlines driven, I tell ya.
(Sad fact is, most people in the United States cannot identify Missouri or Nebraska on a map, let alone Iran or Israel. As  for locating Bhutan…..).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, Hezbollah, Iran, Qatar, Salafi, WTF

Bahrain (& maybe Qatar) Uncover another Stupid Terror Plot, about that Embassy Bombing……….

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“JEDDAH: A terror cell planning attacks against the Saudi Embassy, the King Fahd Causeway and other vital installations in Bahrain has been broken up, a Bahraini Interior Ministry spokesman said Saturday. Four members of the cell were detained in Qatar and turned over to Manama, while a fifth Bahraini was arrested inside the country, said Gen. Tareq Al-Hasan. The alleged targets also included the Bahraini Interior Ministry and other individuals. Al-Hasan said the four arrested in Qatar had been traveling by car from Saudi Arabia. Security officers at a checkpoint seized “documents and a computer containing information of a security nature (and) details on certain vital sites.” They were also carrying US dollars and Iranian rials………..”

If I were an Iranian official plotting terrorism in Bahrain or in Saudi Arabia, I would never hand the terrorists Iranian money, for two reasons: (1) American dollars, or Euro, or Gulf currencies are easier to use, and (2) Iranian money would look suspicious if these men get caught. A smart Iranian “control” would have them carry wads of Israeli NIS.
If I wanted to make sure everyone “knew” the Iranians were behind a plot, I’d give the terrorists some Iranian currency, a lot of it. So, somebody is very stupid: it can be the Iranians, or the Bahrainis, or the Saudis. Who do you think is that stupid? Could it be all of the above? I suspect any of the above have operatives who are stupid enough. The good news (or is it the bad news) is that we have not read anything (yet) linking this “plot” to an Iranian used car dealer in Texas named Arbabsiar. But it is early.

The Bahrain and Saudi media are running away with it. Saudi semi-official network Alarabiya headlines that members of the appointed Bahrain sectarian “parliament” have claimed Iran and Hezbollah were involved (they forgot to add North Korea). Qatari media have not reported on this, yet. Which is also odd, but maybe they are as suspicious of the timing of this as I am.
I think somebody somewhere ought to quit while they are ahead: the question is where is that somebody? Tehran or Manama or Riyadh?
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Revolutions, Iran, Iraq, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

WTF: Gingrich Foreign Policy, John-Paul II, Pizza Man, Espousing State-sponsored Terrorism……………

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Watched part of the GOP South Carolina foreign policy debate, The highlights, rather the Lowlights:


Q (Major Garrett): “How would you think outside the box in foreign policy…”
Newt Gingrich: “I would explicitly adopt the Reagan John-Paul II agenda…..”

John-Paul II foreign policy? I fully expected Garrett to retort with a resounding: “WTF”? John-Paul II had a military jingoistic foreign policy of bombing Iran and boycotting UNESCO for admitting the Palestinians? One more lie………..

Herman Cain, the Pizza Man, is reported to have said that President Barack Obama’s reaction to the Arab Spring has allowed the movement to go in the wrong direction..….

Little Ricky Santorum, in desperation, essentially endorsed state-sponsored terrorism: “there are scientists turning up dead in Iran. I hope the United States is involved in that….”

I have modified my original suggestion about “some” of these guys (and gal) going for a hike along the Iraq-Iran border. Initially I thought Newt Gingrich needs it the most. Now I think they all ought to go to the Iran-Iraq border, and quickly.
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, Israel, Middle East Nuclear, Sanctions, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Knesset Bill HR 1905: US Congress Going Rogue on Iran………..

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“The “Iran Threat Reduction Act” HR1905, passed on November 2 by the House Foreign Relations Committee, neither reduces an Iranian threat, nor puts significant pressure on Iran’s leaders to change policies with which the United States disagrees. A corresponding bill has been introduced in the Senate (S1048). If passed, the House bill would, however, make it illegal for any American diplomat to speak to or have any contact with an Iranian official unless the President certifies to Congress that not talking to the Iranian officials “would pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the vital national security interests of the United States” 15 days prior to that contact. Former U.S. Ambassadors William Luers and Thomas Pickering point out that this bill is not only illegal, it places the United States in greater danger in the world…….”

“(c) RESTRICTION ON CONTACT. — No person employed with the United States Government may contact in an official or unofficial capacity any person that — (1) is an agent, instrumentality, or official of, is affiliated with, or is serving as a representative of the Government of Iran; and (2) presents a threat to the United States or is affiliated with terrorist organizations. (d) WAIVER. — The President may waive the requirements of subsection (c) if the President determines and so reports to the appropriate congressional committees 15 days prior to the exercise of waiver authority that failure to exercise such waiver authority would pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the vital national security interests of the United States.”
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Hezbollah, Iran, Syria, US Foreign Policy

Hillary Clinton on Syria, Nasrallah on Syria, Iran on Syria……

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“eAsiaMediaHub US EAP Media Hub: #SecClinton: Assad has lost his legitimacy to rule & he should step down #Syria”

“Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday warned Israel and the US that a war against Iran and Syria would lead to an all-out regional conflict. “They should understand that a war on Iran and Syria will not remain in Iran and Syrian territory, but it will engulf the whole region and there is no escaping this reality,” Nasrallah said during a televised speech honoring “Martyrs’ Day.”……. “Iran is strong, united and has a one-of-a-kind leader and it will retaliate harshly,” he said in his speech, which was delivered in Beirut’s southern neighborhood ………..”

“Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called on the US administration and the Zionist entity to understand very well that a war against Iran and Syria will not stay inside Iran and Syria, but will roll instead and spread out to the entire region.…….. “

Hassan Nasrallah is sticking by the Syrian regime, even as the Iranian patrons are (very) slowly moving away. Perhaps the Iranians can see some writing on the wall, or hedging their bets as all politicians (by definition) do. Clearly one does not expect Nasrallah to see eye to eye with Secretary Clinton on Syria, certainly on Lebanon, but diverging from a possible Iranian view is unusual. Of course he diverges only from the views expressed by President Ahmadinejad, which are not necessarily the views of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not these days.
Meanwhile a consensus is emerging that the Assad dynasty rule is about to expire. Things are getting interesting in Syria, but they will get even more interesting after the fall of the Ba’ath party.
Cheers
mhg


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Ali Khamenei, Iran, Middle East Nuclear, nuclear Iran, Sanctions, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Game of Chess: Sanctioning Central Bank of Iran, Sanctioning Grocers of Natanz……………..

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“The legislation requires the US president to impose sanctions on Iran’s central bank if he determines it is facilitating terrorism or the development of nuclear weapons, or supporting Iran’s elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “I believe the central bank of Iran is not only engaging in those activities; I believe it is the ultimate engine of those activities,” said the author of the central bank provision, Representative Howard Berman, a Democrat. The sanctions would effectively block from the US economy any foreign bank involved in significant transactions with Iran’s central bank. The legislation was approved by the House panel …………..”

There are many institutions and individuals in Iran that contribute to their nuclear program:

  • The Central Bank of Iran, by virtue of operating in Iran, supervising banks and the balance of payments and maintaining the exchange rate and monetary policy in general helps the nuclear program.
  • An Iranian doctor, by virtue of working in Iran helps the nuclear program (he may treat some nuclear scientist or a procurer of ‘yellow cake’ from Niger).
  • A street sweeper in Tehran (there are many of them since Iranians like their cities clean) helps the nuclear program by virtue of improving the quality of life of nuclear scientists and procurer of ‘yellow cake’ from Niger.
  • A grocer in any Iranian city almost certainly feeds some workers on some not-so-secret nuclear plants, let’s call him the green grocer of Natanz.
  • A home vintner in North Tehran, by virtue of supplying some secret party that some nuclear scientist or some clerk at a nuclear plant might attend, is helping the nuclear program.
  • A baby sitter or a housemaid in Tehran, by virtue of……..


You get the drift. It could be a virtual declaration of war, to which the Iranians will most likely only respond in kind, with virtual retaliation. That is how the Iranians, including the dogmatic mullahs, operate in the game of chess their ancestors invented. That is why the alleged Saudi ambassador plot sounds so ridiculous, regardless of all the “weighty” Western leaders who endorsed its veracity. It does not fit the pattern of a game of chess.
(one good thing is that the bill leaves it up to POTUS to decide if the Central Bank is engaged in such activities, The bad news is also that it leaves it to POTUS).

Cheers
mhg


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Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, US Foreign Policy, Weapons deals

Gulf Arms Race: UAE JDAMS Bunker Busters, Bunkers of Sharjah and Fujairah……

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“The U.S. government may soon announce plans for a large sale of precision-guided bombs to the United Arab Emirates, a source familiar with the arms sales plans said late on Thursday, as tensions mounted with Iran over its nuclear program. The Pentagon is considering a significant sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions made by Boeing Co, adding to other recent arms deals with the UAE. These include the sale of 500 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles about which U.S. lawmakers were notified in September. The sale of Boeing-built “bunker-buster” bombs and other munitions to UAE, a key Gulf ally, is part of an ongoing U.S. effort to build a regional coalition to counter Iran. No comment was immediately available from the Pentagon’s press office or the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arms sales. Boeing has sold thousands of JDAM bombs to the United States and its allies in recent months as they have replenished their arsenal of the popular precision-guided bombs……….”

The Unit Arab Emirates claims to have almost 1 million citizens (the rest are temporary foreign laborers, housemaids, gardeners, doctors, bankers, mercenaries, etc). There are opinions that the actual number is much less than one million. The absolute oligarchy of the UAE has been in a tough arms race, no not with Iran, but with the rival absolute tribal princes of Saudi Arabia. For several years they were the second biggest importers of weapons in the whole wide wonderful world. Last year the Saudis moved to number one and the Abu Dhabi potentates were threatened with being relegated to number two (no pun intended here). Now they are trying to catch up with the al-Saud in terms of weapons imports, and coincidentally in terms of bribes commissions that the potentates and their retainers receive.
The UAE already has American F-16 fighters that are capable of carrying JDAMS bunker busters. It is not clear why the shaikhs of the UAE want JDAMS bunker busters, and whose bunkers they might want to bust. Nobody is likely to want to attack them, not even the shaikhs of Bahrain. The Iranians most likely are concerned with bigger fish, like the Americans or the Israelis. Besides, who is going to use all these sophisticated weapons? They can keep borrowing personnel from Pakistan, or maybe even train some humorless Jordanians. Or maybe they can train their new mercenary security legion headed by Blackwater veterans and manned by Colombians, Australians, white South Africans and others.
Either way, it is not clear whose bunkers these Abu Dhabi shaikhs want to bust. Hopefully not the bunkers of Sharjah or Fujairah.
Cheers
mhg


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Iran, nuclear Iran, Racism, U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

Iran to Sue American Lawmakers, about Alan Dershowitz, 1968…………

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“Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says Tehran will definitely take legal action against the US administration over calls for the assassination of Iranian officials. Salehi told IRNA on Sunday that American statesmen are so brazen that they formally discuss assassinating Iranian military figures in the US House of Representatives and the Senate. He stressed that Tehran would pursue the case through all legal and judicial channels. Salehi said that the US administration’s anti-Iran bids comes as Washington has been leveling baseless accusations against the country alleging that Tehran was involvement in a plot to kill the Saudi envoy to Washington. On October 11, the US Justice Department accused Iran of plotting to assassinate Saudi Arabian Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir with help from a suspected member of a Mexican drug cartel. Tehran says the media hype created by Washington is an attempt to deflect international attention from the anti-corruption and anti-corporatism protests currently rocking the country. ………….”

It is interesting that the Iranian leaders are becoming Americanized in at least one respect: they are becoming trigger happy in matters of lawsuits. For all I know they could also be watching Jersey Shores or Desperate Housewives (I have never watched any episode of either). I wonder if Alan Dershowitz, if he is asked, would refuse to represent the mullahs on principle. Or maybe he would rise to the challenge.
What these Iranian mullahs don’t understand is that violent protests, even strong protests, don’t work in the USA. The 1960s protests (especially the Chicago events which were arguably violence committed by the police) led to the election of Richard Nixon in 1968.  That was no doubt the opposite effect of what the protesters wanted (helped along by the not-so-soft racism of Nixon’s Southern Strategy)
Cheers
mhg


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