U.S. 'Concerned' Over Possible Israel Strike on Iran

What happened was that the Pentagon realized through their game scenarios that if they started all-out World War III, 90 percent of humanity would die — including most of them. So they didn’t want to go along with it. The Pentagon has systematically sabotaged these plans. They constantly prevented attacks on Iran. They stopped Israeli air raids. They invaded Georgia to stop an Israeli attack on Iran from there. They didn’t want to start World War III, because they realized it was insanity. [The South Ossetia war… was an Israeli air base that was designed to attack Iran and start this whole thing.] Yet the 'Powers That Be' are still trying to attack Iran. I’ve had reports now that they are planting nuclear bombs in the seabed off the shore of Tokyo to create another tsunami here. One of the enforcement arms that could come into play, now that a wedge has been driven with this lawsuit, is the Pentagon. The good guys in the Pentagon could at some point actually do mass arrests at gunpoint of most of the House of Representatives and the Senate — these guys have private accounts in the Vatican Bank and they have been bribed. - Asian Secret Societies (the Dragon Family) Want Their Gold Back; the Western Secret Societies Blew Up the World Trade Center So That They Wouldn't Have to Give It Back

Iran Says It Received U.S. Letter on Hormuz Strait

Reuters
January 16, 2012

Iran said on Sunday it had received a letter from the U.S. government about the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial oil shipping lane that Tehran has threatened to close if sanctions prevent it exporting oil.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted by news agencies as saying Tehran had not yet decided if it would reply to the letter, the contents of which he did not detail.

"America's message over the Strait of Hormuz reached us through three channels. It was given to our U.N. representative, the Swiss ambassador conveyed it to the Foreign Ministry and also Iraqi President Jalal Talabani gave the message to Iran," Mehmanparast said, according to the ISNA news agency.

"If we deem it is necessary to give a response to America's message, then we will reply to it. The issue is being reviewed by Iran and it will be done in an appropriate way."

Tehran and Washington have had no direct diplomatic relations since 1979 and the Swiss embassy represents U.S. interests in Iran.

Tehran said on Saturday it had sent a letter to Washington with evidence U.S. intelligence services were involved in the assassination of a nuclear scientist last week.

Washington has said it would not tolerate any closure of the strait - the export route for one third of all seaborne traded oil - with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has saying such a move would require a response.

Tensions between the two countries have risen in recent weeks. U.S. President Barack Obama signed a bill on New Year's Eve that, if fully implemented, would make it impossible for most countries to pay for Iranian oil.

In addition to threats about Hormuz, Iran has started enriching uranium at an underground bunker and sentencing an Iranian-American citizen to death on spying charges.

Negotiations between the West and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme stalled one year ago.

U.S. 'Concerned' Over Possible Israel Strike on Iran

AFP
January 14, 2012

The US government is concerned that Israel is preparing to take military action against Iran over US objections, and has stepped up contingency planning to safeguard US facilities in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper said President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top officials have delivered a series of private messages to Israeli leaders, warning about the dire consequences of a strike.

Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military officials in Tel Aviv next week, the report said.

The Journal noted that the US military was preparing for a number of possible responses to an Israeli strike, including assaults by pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq against the US Embassy in Baghdad.

Up to 15,000 US diplomats, federal employees and contractors still remain in Iraq.

To deter Iran, the United States is maintaining 15,000 troops in Kuwait, and has moved a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf area, the paper said.

U.S. Concerned over Israeli Strike on Iran: Report

The Daily Star
January 14, 2012

Washington is increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to attack Iran, and the U.S. is making in plans in case there is such a conflict in the region, reported the Wall Street Journal Saturday.

Top officials, including President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have reportedly sent private messages to Israel, warning leaders of the consequences of a strike, urging them to allow more time for the sanctions to take effect, the daily said.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military officials next week to discuss the matter, the Journal reported.

This comes around two weeks after Iran threatened to respond to increased sanctions by blocking oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz. And Thursday Iran blamed the U.S. and Israel for the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist.

However, tensions appear to be easing between the countries recently with the U.S. having rescued Iranian sailors twice this month.

Israel credits its intelligence for slowing down Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran claims is for peaceful purposes.

While the U.S. and Israel remain close, the United States is sometimes skeptical of Tel Aviv’s intentions, the American newspaper said.

"It’s hard to know what's bluster and what's not with the Israelis,” a former U.S. official told the Journal.

Netanyahu Deputy 'Disappointed' with Obama on Iran

Reuters
January 15, 2012

A senior Israeli official voiced disappointment in the Obama administration on Sunday, saying "election-year considerations" lay behind its caution over tough Iran sanctions sought by U.S. legislators.

While Washington has been talking tougher about Iran's nuclear work and threat to block oil export routes out of the Gulf if hit with harsher sanctions, new U.S. measures adopted on December 31 gave President Barak Obama leeway on the scope of penalties on the Iranian central bank and oil exports.

Moshe Yaalon, Israel's vice prime minister, contrasted the administration's posture to that of France and Britain, which he said "are taking a very firm stand and understand sanctions must be imposed immediately."

"In the United States, the Senate passed a resolution, by a majority of 100-to-one, to impose these sanctions, and in the U.S. administration there is hesitation for fear of oil prices rising this year, out of election-year considerations," Yaalon told Israel Radio.

"In that regard, this is certainly a disappointment, for now."

The Democratic president says he is determined to deny Tehran -- which insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful needs only -- the means to develop an atom bomb. His aides cast their sanctions strategy as a bid to work collaboratively with foreign powers and win over states that import Iranian oil without triggering price-boosting shocks to energy markets.

MIXED MESSAGES

The remarks by Yaalon, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, appeared to jar with praise centrist Defence Minister Ehud Barak offered last month for what he described as Obama's resolve against Iran.

Running for re-election in the face of Republicans who hold sway over big pro-Israel constituencies, Obama has sought to burnish his credentials as a friend of the Jewish state despite having frosty relations with Netanyahu.

In a phone conversation with the prime minister on Thursday, Obama "reiterated his unshakable commitment to Israel's security," the White House said. Both sides said the leaders' discussion dealt with Iran and Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

Reputed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, Israel sees the makings of a mortal threat in Iran's uranium enrichment and missile projects, and has threatened to resort to force if it deems diplomatic isolation of its foe a dead end.

The prospect of Israel worsening regional instability with a unilateral strike has stirred worry in war-weary Washington.

Obama's top military adviser, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey, was due to make his first visit to Israel on Thursday.

Israeli media predicted Dempsey would seek to persuade his hosts not to "surprise" the United States on Iran. The U.S. embassy had no immediate information about the visit's agenda.

Yaalon, himself a former top armed forces commander, said Israel should not "leap forward" to attack Iran.

"But Israel has to be ready to defend itself," he said. "Let's hope we do not arrive at that moment."

Netanyahu sounded sanguine last week about the efficacy of big-power pressure on Iran, telling an Australian newspaper:

"For the first time I see Iran wobble ... under the sanctions that have been adopted and especially under the threat of strong sanctions on their central bank."

Iran Sends Rare Letter to U.S. over Killed Scientist

Reuters
January 15, 2012

Iran said on Saturday it had evidence Washington was behind the latest killing of one of its nuclear scientists, state television reported, at a time when tensions over the country's nuclear program have escalated to their highest level ever.

In the fifth attack of its kind in two years, a magnetic bomb was attached to the door of 32-year-old Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan's car during the Wednesday morning rush-hour in the capital. His driver was also killed.

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton denied responsibility and Israeli President Shimon Peres said Israel had no role in the attack, to the best of his knowledge.

"We have reliable documents and evidence that this terrorist act was planned, guided and supported by the CIA," the Iranian foreign ministry said in a letter handed to the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, state TV reported.

The Swiss embassy represents U.S. interests in a country where Washington has no diplomatic ties.

The spokesman for Iran's Joint Armed Forces Staff, Massoud Jazayeri, said:

"Our enemies, especially America , Britain and the Zionist regime (Israel), have to be held responsible for their actions."

Iran in the past has accused Israel of causing a series of spectacular and sometimes bloody mishaps to its nuclear programme. Israeli officials do not comment on any involvement in those events, although some have publicly expressed satisfaction at the setbacks.

Feeling the heat from unprecedented new sanctions, Iran's clerical establishment has brandished its sword by threatening to block the main Mid-East oil shipping route, starting to enrich uranium at an underground bunker and sentencing an Iranian-American citizen to death on spying charges.

State TV said a "letter of condemnation" had also been sent to Britain, saying the killing of Iranian nuclear scientists began after the head of Britain's MI6 spy service announced intelligence operations against states seeking nuclear weapons.

The West says Iran's nuclear programme is aimed at building a bomb. Tehran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear power.

Tehran has urged the U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to condemn the latest killing.

After years of international sanctions that had little impact on Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama signed new measures on New Year's Eve that, if fully implemented, would make it impossible for most countries to pay for Iranian oil.

Washington is requiring that countries gradually reduce their purchases of Iranian oil in order to receive temporary waivers from the sanctions. The European Union is expected to unveil similar measures next week, and announce a gradual oil embargo among its member states, who collectively buy about a fifth of Iran's exports.

The combined measures mean Iran may fail to sell all of the 2.6 million barrels a day of exports it relies on to feed its 74 million people. Even if it finds buyers, it will have to offer steep discounts, cutting into its desperately-needed revenue.

On Tuesday shipping sources told Reuters Iran was storing an increasing supply of oil at sea - as much as 8 million barrels - and was likely to store more as it struggles to sell it.

Iran denies it is having trouble:

"There has been no disruption in Iran's crude exports through the Persian Gulf ... We have not stored oil in the Gulf because of sanctions as some foreign media reported," oil official Pirouz Mousavi told the semi-official Mehr news agency on Friday.

The sanctions are causing real hardship on the streets, where prices for basic imported goods are soaring, the rial currency has plummeted and Iranians have been flocking to sell rials to buy dollars to protect their savings.

The pain comes less than two months before a parliamentary election, Iran's first since a presidential vote in 2009 that was followed by eight months of street demonstrations.

Iran's authorities successfully put down that revolt by force, but since then the "Arab Spring" has shown the vulnerability of authoritarian governments in the region to protests fueled by anger over economic difficulty.

CLASH THREAT

Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz leading to the Gulf if sanctions are imposed on its oil exports, and has threatened to take unspecified action if Washington sails an aircraft carrier through the strait, an international waterway.

Military experts say Tehran can do little to fight the massive U.S.-led fleet that guards the strait, but the threats raise the chance of a miscalculation that could lead to a military clash and a global oil crisis.

The Pentagon said on Friday that small Iranian boats had approached close to U.S. vessels in the strait last week, although it said it did not believe there was "hostile intent."

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the nuclear dispute. Iran says it would retaliate if attacked.

The tension has caused spikes in global oil prices in recent weeks, although prices eased at the close of last week's trading on the prospect of reduced demand in economically stricken European countries. Brent crude fell 82 cents to settle at $110.44 a barrel on Friday.

The chances for an imminent easing of tension look even more remote as the nuclear deadlock continues because of Iran's refusal to halt the sensitive nuclear work.

Last week Iran began enriching uranium underground - the most controversial part of its nuclear programme - at a bunker deep below a mountain near the Shi'ite holy city of Qom.

Nuclear talks with major powers collapsed a year ago. Iran says it wants the talks to resume, but the West says there is no point unless it is willing to discuss a halt to uranium enrichment, which can be used to make material for a bomb.

Israel Used 'False Flag' Operation to Recruit Anti-Iran Militants, Report Alleges

The Envoy
January 13, 2012

Israeli intelligence officers posed as American spies to recruit members of a Sunni Baluch militant group which has carried out numerous attacks against Iranian security forces and civilians, journalist Mark Perry reported Friday at Foreign Policy magazine.

The allegation of the Mossad "false flag" operation is based on descriptions of memos in U.S. intelligence archives dating to the second term George W. Bush administration, Perry wrote. The memos allegedly detail the CIA's own efforts to understand media reports in 2007-2008 alleging--apparently wrongly--that the CIA was working with Jundullah to foment instability in Iran.

"The memos, as described by the sources, one of whom has read them and another who is intimately familiar with the case, investigated and debunked reports from 2007 and 2008 accusing the CIA, at the direction of the White House, of covertly supporting Jundallah -- a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization," Perry wrote.

"The memos also detail CIA field reports saying that Israel's recruiting activities occurred under the nose of U.S. intelligence officers, most notably in London, the capital of one of Israel's ostensible allies, where Mossad officers posing as CIA operatives met with Jundallah officials," Perry's investigation continued.

The CIA declined through a spokesman to offer comment on the report in response to a request from Yahoo News. An Israeli official did not immediately respond to a query from Yahoo News on it Friday.

An unnamed Israeli government official, however, described the "false flag" report as "absolute nonsense" in an article by Israeli daily Haaretz Saturday.

"The senior Israeli government official said that if there were any truth [to] the claims in Perry's report, [then] Meir Dagan, the head of the Mossad at the time of the alleged operation, would have been declared a persona non grata in the U.S. and that Dagan's foot would not have walked again in Washington," Haaretz's Amir Oren wrote. (Dagan has, instead, become something of a celebrity in Washington policy circles for having publicly advocated against any Israeli preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities since his retirement from Israel's spy service last year.)

Veteran Israeli intelligence observer Yossi Melman suggested that the Mossad officers more likely introduced themselves to Jundullah contacts as "NATO officials"--rather than explicitly as CIA agents.

"If such a meeting"--between Jundullah members and Mossad--"took place, it would be more probable that the people involved--assuming they were Mossad--introduced themselves as NATO officials," Melman told Yahoo News by email Saturday. He added that, in his opinion, "Mossad would not risk its special relationship" with the United States "by stealing their identities and posing as CIA."

Indeed, as Perry's article notes, the late Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi, after his capture by Iranian security forces in 2010, gave a televised interview 'confession' to Iran's Press TV in which he said he had several meetings with western contacts in Casablanca, Morocco who introduced themselves to him as NATO officials.

Still, Rigi said he wondered, "if they are from NATO, why did they not meet with us in Afghanistan--where they have bases and where they can contact us in a much more easy and secure manner? ... When we thought about it, we came to the conclusion that they are either Americans acting under NATO cover or Israelis."

Rigi was executed in Evin prison in June 2010.

Former CIA officers express skepticism that Mossad would have had many reservations about using or implying American cover to conduct operations.

The Mossad "do false flag ops posing as everything you can imagine," a former senior CIA officer who has worked extensively on the region told Yahoo News Friday on condition of anonymity, adding that he found the "false flag" report "very" credible. "They have even recruited Arabs in the U.S. posing as [Central Intelligence] Agency and carrying fabricated credentials."

Several close European allies of Israel openly accused it in 2010 of breaching international diplomatic conventions and their friendship, by forging their nations' passports for alleged use by a Mossad assassination team.

After Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead in his Dubai hotel room on January 23, 2010, furious Dubai authorities painstakingly reconstructed the alleged assassination plot, publicly releasing photos, close circuit television footage and numerous details about the cover identities, passports, credit cards and travel itineraries of the alleged assassination team. Israel's European allies were furious when confronted with the evidence--published in newspapers around the globe---that their citizens' identities and passports had been stolen to infiltrate the alleged Israeli assassination team into Dubai.

The United Kingdom in March 2010 expelled a Mossad official posted to the Israeli embassy in London after a British investigation found evidence that Israel had forged British passports for use in the hit job that killed Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room.

Then British Foreign Secretary David Miliband "laid out the case against Israel in parliament, saying a police investigation found 'compelling reasons' to believe Israel was responsible for the copying of British passports, which were used by the killers of a Hamas leader," the Guardian reported on March 23, 2010.

Poland in June 2010 arrested another alleged Mossad officer accused by Germany of forging a German passport that was used in the Dubai hit job.

The United States, by contrast, did not publicly rebuke its ally over the alleged false-flag operation--though Perry writes the Bush White House "went absolutely ballistic" when it was briefed on it by U.S. intelligence officials.

"The report sparked White House concerns that Israel's program was putting Americans at risk," the intelligence officer told Perry. "There's no question that the U.S. has cooperated with Israel in intelligence-gathering operations against the Iranians, but this was different. No matter what anyone thinks, we're not in the business of assassinating Iranian officials or killing Iranian civilians."

But in the end, "the United States did nothing," Perry wrote.

The United States this week, however, forcefully condemned and distanced itself from a car bomb attack that killed an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran.

"I want to categorically deny any United States involvement in any kind of act of violence inside Iran," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told journalists at the State Department Wednesday.

Iran didn't seem convinced by the American denials--however unusually adamant and categorical they may have sounded to American observers' ears.

On Saturday, Iran's Foreign Ministry handed a letter to the Swiss ambassador in Tehran to deliver to Washington, that reportedly described "evidence" Iran had obtained showing the CIA along with British intelligence had guided the assassination.

"We have reliable documents and evidence that this terrorist act was planned, guided and supported by the CIA," the Iran Foreign Ministry said in the letter, Iran state TV reported, according to a report by Reuters' Parisa Hafezi.