The assassination of the country’s top nuclear expert raises fears that
the outgoing US president is determined to take further action
The assassination on Friday of Iran’s leading nuclear scientist has >heightened suspicions t hat Donald Trump, in cahoots with hardline Israeli >and Saudi allies, may be trying to lure the Tehran regime into an all-out >confrontation in the dying days of his presidency. Trump’s four-year-long >Iranian vendetta is approaching a climax – and he still has the power and >the means to inflict lasting damage.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/28/was-scientists-killing-the-opening-act-of-a-trump-led-war-on-iran
Speculation that Trump might soon initiate or support some kind of attack
on Iran, overt or covert, kinetic or cyber, had swirled across the Middle >East in the wake of last weekend’s unprecedented meeting in Saudi Arabia >between Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, US secretary of
state, Mike Pompeo, and the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
What the three men discussed remains a closely guarded secret, a fact that >has only served to encourage conspiracy claims. In the absence of an
official statement, it’s suggested they may have agreed to intensify >efforts to provoke and weaken the Tehran regime. Any ensuing retaliation
by Iran might then potentially be used to justify an attack on its nuclear >facilities before Trump leaves office on 20 January.
The meeting in Neom, a city near the Red Sea, and the possibly deliberate >leak revealing it had taken place, served another important purpose. By >presenting a united anti-Iran front, the participants put US
president-elect Joe Biden on notice that his plans to resume dialogue with >Tehran, and revive the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Trump, will face
fierce resistance and may have to be rethought.
If Iran hits back over the assassination, as threatened by its supreme >leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Biden’s hopes of calming the regional >situation could be blown apart – along with Iran’s nuclear facilities at >Natanz and elsewhere. And there’s another danger. Even if the regime holds >back, loyalist Shia militias in Iraq, Syria or Lebanon could take matters >into their own hands.
“We will strike as thunder at the killers of this oppressed martyr and
will make them regret their action,” Hossein Dehghan, a senior military >commander, vowed in a tweet. Yet Iran’s dilemma is excruciating. If it
does retaliate in any obvious way, it could give its enemies the excuse
they want and the opportunity they crave to deliver a crushing blow.
Iran’s leaders have little doubt that Israel, with a probable green light
from Washington, was behind the assassination. President Hassan Rouhani
expressly blamed the “usurper Zionist regime”. Foreign minister Javad >Zarif tweeted that there were “serious indications” of an Israeli role. >“Iran calls on international community – and especially EU – to end their
shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror,” he wrote.
The methods used to kill the scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was gunned >down in a street near Tehran, resembled those used in a spate of similar >killings of nuclear experts between 2010 and 2012 that Iran blamed on
Israel. In 2018, Netanyahu singled Fakhrizadeh out as Iran’s supposed >nuclear weapons mastermind.
The assassination also recalled last January’s lethal ambush of General >Qassem Suleimani, the Iranian Islamic revolutionary guard corps commander, >which was personally ordered by Trump. While Suleimani was regarded as a >national hero, Fakhrizadeh was also a man of high seniority. For Iran, his >death is a body blow.
Trump has shown himself ready to use covert means to punish the Iranian >regime, which he accuses of secretly developing nuclear weapons and >destabilising the Middle East – claims Iran adamantly denies. The US and >Israel are believed to have launched repeated sabotage attacks inside Iran
on Trump’s watch.
In July, the Natanz nuclear fuel enrichment facilities were damaged by a >mysterious explosion. This month, Trump reportedly discussed options for >hitting Natanz and other targets after UN inspectors said Iran’s >low-enriched uranium stockpile was now 12 times higher than permitted
under the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Trump.
For still undisclosed reasons, Trump ordered several nuclear-capable B-52 >Stratofortress bombers to fly 7,000 miles to the Middle East last weekend.
Was the assassination a one-off designed to damage Iran’s nuclear >programme? Or could all this be a prelude to something more strategically >explosive as Trump strives to secure his wished-for legacy as scourge of
Iran and saviour of Israel?
Trump certainly needs a win. His Iran policy to date has mostly resulted
in own goals. His “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign hurt the Iranian >people but left their leaders unbowed. The regime is now closer to
acquiring nuclear bomb-making capability than it would have been had Trump >not reneged on the nuclear deal.
Yet what happens next also depends, up to a point, on Israel and Saudi >Arabia. Netanyahu and Prince Mohammed are keen to send a message to Biden >that what they characterise as appeasement of Iran will not work. If the >nuclear deal is to be resurrected, they want loopholes plugged and new >elements added. Meanwhile, they say sanctions on Iran should continue.
But both men must tread carefully. Netanyahu cannot ignore Biden’s views
or the impact expanding hostilities could have on Israel’s security. As
for the crown prince, he would doubtless like to see Iran given a bloody >nose. But he, too, has to ponder the cost of turning Saudi cities and oil >terminals into targets. For them, the assassination represents a high-risk >gamble.
Iran’s leaders must now decide whether to resist the urge to retaliate – >or lash out and invite a larger conflict at a moment when the country’s >sanctions and Covid-hit economy is on its knees. It’s a fateful moment for >the entire Middle East. Full of brooding malevolence, Trump is waiting to >pounce. After four years of failure, he may be tempted to go out with a
bang.
### - so, they're iran-baiting again eh?
i.e., it was probably israeli secret services that carried this one out >(they're very good at things like that) and if they retaliate in some way >then it's the perfect excuse to clobber them big time, so the whole
thing's just setting a trap for iran to walk into really...
if iran has any sense though they'll wait until after trumpy's gone (not
long to go now lol)
and because the west (and trumpy currently because he's desperate heh)
would probably like nothing better than to level iran completely as the
last bastion of islam; the saudi's - having been seduced by wealth - being >idiots if they really think they too wont then be taken out once iran has >been suitably disabled...
and because then there's only china & russia left standing in our way see?
On Sat, 28 Nov 2020 13:44:32 -0000, slider <slider@anashram.com>
wrote:
The assassination of the country’s top nuclear expert raises fears that
the outgoing US president is determined to take further action
The assassination on Friday of Iran’s leading nuclear scientist has
heightened suspicions t hat Donald Trump, in cahoots with hardline
Israeli
and Saudi allies, may be trying to lure the Tehran regime into an
all-out
confrontation in the dying days of his presidency. Trump’s
four-year-long
Iranian vendetta is approaching a climax – and he still has the power
and
the means to inflict lasting damage.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/28/was-scientists-killing-the-opening-act-of-a-trump-led-war-on-iran
Speculation that Trump might soon initiate or support some kind of
attack
on Iran, overt or covert, kinetic or cyber, had swirled across the
Middle
East in the wake of last weekend’s unprecedented meeting in Saudi Arabia >> between Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, US secretary of
state, Mike Pompeo, and the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
What the three men discussed remains a closely guarded secret, a fact
that
has only served to encourage conspiracy claims. In the absence of an
official statement, it’s suggested they may have agreed to intensify
efforts to provoke and weaken the Tehran regime. Any ensuing retaliation
by Iran might then potentially be used to justify an attack on its
nuclear
facilities before Trump leaves office on 20 January.
The meeting in Neom, a city near the Red Sea, and the possibly
deliberate
leak revealing it had taken place, served another important purpose. By
presenting a united anti-Iran front, the participants put US
president-elect Joe Biden on notice that his plans to resume dialogue
with
Tehran, and revive the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Trump, will face
fierce resistance and may have to be rethought.
If Iran hits back over the assassination, as threatened by its supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Biden’s hopes of calming the regional
situation could be blown apart – along with Iran’s nuclear facilities at >> Natanz and elsewhere. And there’s another danger. Even if the regime
holds
back, loyalist Shia militias in Iraq, Syria or Lebanon could take
matters
into their own hands.
“We will strike as thunder at the killers of this oppressed martyr and
will make them regret their action,” Hossein Dehghan, a senior military
commander, vowed in a tweet. Yet Iran’s dilemma is excruciating. If it
does retaliate in any obvious way, it could give its enemies the excuse
they want and the opportunity they crave to deliver a crushing blow.
Iran’s leaders have little doubt that Israel, with a probable green
light
from Washington, was behind the assassination. President Hassan Rouhani
expressly blamed the “usurper Zionist regime”. Foreign minister Javad
Zarif tweeted that there were “serious indications” of an Israeli role. >> “Iran calls on international community – and especially EU – to end
their
shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror,” he wrote. >>
The methods used to kill the scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was
gunned
down in a street near Tehran, resembled those used in a spate of similar
killings of nuclear experts between 2010 and 2012 that Iran blamed on
Israel. In 2018, Netanyahu singled Fakhrizadeh out as Iran’s supposed
nuclear weapons mastermind.
The assassination also recalled last January’s lethal ambush of General
Qassem Suleimani, the Iranian Islamic revolutionary guard corps
commander,
which was personally ordered by Trump. While Suleimani was regarded as a
national hero, Fakhrizadeh was also a man of high seniority. For Iran,
his
death is a body blow.
Trump has shown himself ready to use covert means to punish the Iranian
regime, which he accuses of secretly developing nuclear weapons and
destabilising the Middle East – claims Iran adamantly denies. The US and >> Israel are believed to have launched repeated sabotage attacks inside
Iran
on Trump’s watch.
In July, the Natanz nuclear fuel enrichment facilities were damaged by a
mysterious explosion. This month, Trump reportedly discussed options for
hitting Natanz and other targets after UN inspectors said Iran’s
low-enriched uranium stockpile was now 12 times higher than permitted
under the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Trump.
For still undisclosed reasons, Trump ordered several nuclear-capable
B-52
Stratofortress bombers to fly 7,000 miles to the Middle East last
weekend.
Was the assassination a one-off designed to damage Iran’s nuclear
programme? Or could all this be a prelude to something more
strategically
explosive as Trump strives to secure his wished-for legacy as scourge of
Iran and saviour of Israel?
Trump certainly needs a win. His Iran policy to date has mostly resulted
in own goals. His “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign hurt the Iranian >> people but left their leaders unbowed. The regime is now closer to
acquiring nuclear bomb-making capability than it would have been had
Trump
not reneged on the nuclear deal.
Yet what happens next also depends, up to a point, on Israel and Saudi
Arabia. Netanyahu and Prince Mohammed are keen to send a message to
Biden
that what they characterise as appeasement of Iran will not work. If the
nuclear deal is to be resurrected, they want loopholes plugged and new
elements added. Meanwhile, they say sanctions on Iran should continue.
But both men must tread carefully. Netanyahu cannot ignore Biden’s views >> or the impact expanding hostilities could have on Israel’s security. As
for the crown prince, he would doubtless like to see Iran given a bloody
nose. But he, too, has to ponder the cost of turning Saudi cities and
oil
terminals into targets. For them, the assassination represents a
high-risk
gamble.
Iran’s leaders must now decide whether to resist the urge to retaliate – >> or lash out and invite a larger conflict at a moment when the country’s
sanctions and Covid-hit economy is on its knees. It’s a fateful moment
for
the entire Middle East. Full of brooding malevolence, Trump is waiting
to
pounce. After four years of failure, he may be tempted to go out with a
bang.
### - so, they're iran-baiting again eh?
i.e., it was probably israeli secret services that carried this one out
(they're very good at things like that) and if they retaliate in some
way
then it's the perfect excuse to clobber them big time, so the whole
thing's just setting a trap for iran to walk into really...
if iran has any sense though they'll wait until after trumpy's gone (not
long to go now lol)
and because the west (and trumpy currently because he's desperate heh)
would probably like nothing better than to level iran completely as the
last bastion of islam; the saudi's - having been seduced by wealth -
being
idiots if they really think they too wont then be taken out once iran
has
been suitably disabled...
and because then there's only china & russia left standing in our way
see?
I think it's obvious what you say above. But Iran is just "Biding"
time until Trump walks, is shoved or is carried out in a straight
jacket. They won't bite.
Biden has no love for the Zionists who have been terrorising the world
since the Kind David hotel atrocity and the bombings and shootings of
the Brits after WW2. The hotel bombing killed heaps of your
countrymen Slider and was part of an insurgency against Britain. Bibi
is still part of that insurgency except the Jews now have nukes.
So expect an atroclity against the Iranians before 12:00 on 20
January. Unless it involves nukes or bacteria, Iran will just wait
the mongrels out.
And the Saudis must be literally shitting themselves. Biden is
pragmatic and more realistic than Trump and nothing is going well for
the Saudis at the moment, not even the war in Yemen.
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