Ratcliffe hatte im März 2026 bereits ein Telefongespräch mit dem Chef des russischen Auslandsnachrichtendienstes SWR, Sergei Naryschkin, geführt. Das war der erste Kontakt auf diesem Level seit über zwei Jahren.
Ob es um die Ukraine, den Iran, Geheimdienstfragen oder einen möglichen Gefangenenaustausch geht, bleibt offen. Weder die CIA noch die Regierungen in Washington und Moskau kommentierten den Zweck.
“There is no justification for any country to fear Iran unless that country opens its territory to the United States for aggression against Iran,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday. “It is Iran’s right to target the source and origin of any aggressive action against the Islamic Republic.”
Laut Wilkerson sitzt der eigentliche Treiber dieses Krieges sitzt nicht in Washington, sondern in Jerusalem. Benjamin Netanjahu, so Wilkerson, sei der Einzige, der den Krieg „richtig interpretiert“ habe – nämlich als seine letzte Chance, den Iran endgültig zu erledigen.
Trump, so die Analyse, sei in eine Falle getappt – „komplett fehlinterpretiert“ habe er den Konflikt. Und jetzt sei er gefangen: Netanjahu werde ihn nicht gehen lassen, egal wie sehr Trump einen Rückzug brauche. Schon im März hatte Wilkerson gegenüber Democracy Now gewarnt, Netanjahu sei bereit, eine Atomwaffe einzusetzen, „sollte es so schlimm werden, wie es gerade aussieht“.
Die europäische Dimension: Gekaufte Vasallen
According to the Times, it was registered to a private company whose address was a UPS store mailbox in Virginia, deepening the mystery over who was operating it—and for whom.
“It would be one thing if the US didn’t have an overt maritime strike campaign, but they do, and they’re posting snuff films of boats going up in flames regularly,” Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer who specializes in the laws of war, told the Times.
“And that’s what makes this even more squirrelly,” added Finucane, now a senior adviser in the US Program at the International Crisis Group. “Who are these people that are operating, and under what authority? And they are using a UPS store as their company address? Come on.”
Some American officials suspect the Israeli warning fit a pattern of Jerusalem using intelligence to shape US policy, particularly given its deep concerns about Iran and unease over closer US-Turkey ties. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was briefed on the threat and the ruse but reportedly stayed on the larger Air Force One. Speaking to the Post, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen questioned whether the Israeli information was „independently verifiable,“ calling the episode „a little fantastical.“
(May 14, 2025)
The revelation of the intertwined scandals captivated Americans. Between the fall of 1986 and the fall of 1987, more than seven out of 10 Americans watched some of the televised congressional hearings about Iran-Contra. But once it became clear that Democrats would not impeach Reagan, public interest waned. Unlike Watergate, when a smoking gun tape implicated President Richard Nixon, to many, the 1980s scandal seemed a blur of byzantine Cold War diplomacy, opaque Swiss bank accounts, and a large cast of forgettable middlemen. The country boxed up the ugly affair and stored it in the attic of its memory.
It did so even as the scandal persisted and investigators indicted dozens of administration officials. In 1988, Reagan’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, won the presidency, and throughout his entire administration, those responsible for Iran-Contra dodged the political and legal consequences of their actions.
(December 19, 2025)
Stanley Pottinger, as it happens, was a notable figure in the scandal that became known as Iran-Contra, in which the CIA used Israel as a middleman to move off-the-books weapons to Iran. In the early 1980s, under the CIA’s supervision, Pottinger advised an Iranian banker on shipping embargoed arms to Iran using fraudulent paperwork and overseas “dummy companies”—in the very same period that Pottinger and Epstein worked together selling “tax-avoidance” strategies from a penthouse by Central Park. Pottinger’s system eventually gave rise to a network of covert intermediaries shipping arms around the world; the CIA’s profits became a slush fund used to illegally bankroll the insurgent Contra army, who waged a war against Nicaragua’s leftist government while simultaneously trafficking cocaine to the United States.
(…)
Pottinger escaped prosecution after the FBI’s incriminating tapes of his conversations mysteriously disappeared; he went on to make a fortune on real estate deals in the 1980s, and became a New York Times’ bestselling novelist. His Times obit from last year reports that his final spy thriller remains unpublished. Hashemi died in 1986 after being infected with “a rare and virulent form of leukemia” that was diagnosed only two days before he died. (His death was later alleged to be foul play.)
(July 19, 2026)
Für den einigermaßen wachen Beobachter erscheint es, als ob Mossad, CIA, MI6 und BND in Teheran an der Macht wären und sich einen ihren üblichen grausamen Scherze erlauben.
(March 22, 2026)
Despite the expectations of CIA and Mossad for a traditional New Year’s speech, Mojtaba Khamenei remained out of sight, issuing only a text-based statement on Telegram for Nowruz.
Sources cited by The Jerusalem Post indicate that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) may currently hold the reins of the country, with one source suggesting the Guard is controlling Mojtaba rather than following his lead.
7:11 PM · Jul 21, 2026
12:49 AM · Jul 22, 2026
The House on Tuesday approved a procedural vote to advance the $1.15 trillion 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a section to further integrate the US and Israeli militaries, a plan that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said was his idea.
The rule to allow floor debate and a vote on the NDAA and several pieces of legislation passed in a 214-211 vote, and a final vote on the House’s version of the NDAA is expected to take place on Wednesday. The procedural step came after the House Rules Committee denied a vote on an amendment introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to strip Section 219, the Israeli integration plan, from the bill.
Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked the advancement of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, citing President Trump’s war with Iran, which continues to rage following the collapse of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding.
The NDAA would provide the Pentagon with over $1.1 trillion in funding as part of the White House’s plan for a $1.5 trillion military budget for 2027, a nearly 50% increase from this year. The bill also includes an amendment, Section 1217, to further merge the US and Israeli militaries under a plan being pushed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A procedural vote of 50-46 fell well short of the 60 votes that it needed to advance the NDAA. Every Democrat, except two who weren’t present for the vote — Senators Jon Fetterman (PA) and Alex Padilla (CA) — voted against advancing the sprawling military spending bill.
(July 13, 2026)
The House provision, which has a Senate version known as Section 1217, would also forbid the president of the United States from limiting intelligence collaboration with Israel over its human rights abuses. If the President ever wants to limit such collaboration, he or she must tell Congress and can only cite American national security as a basis.
In other words, these bills would connect the US and Israeli militaries in unprecedented ways and make it exceedingly difficult for any future president to unwind this partnership with a foreign government.
(June 16, 2026)
Buried in the US$1.15 trillion National Defense Authorization Act is a provision that would deepen US military cooperation with Israel while walling that cooperation off from further congressional oversight.
Section 219 (formerly section 224) creates the role of an “executive agent” focused on folding Israeli technology into US weapons programs, and vice versa, including in missile and air defense technologies as well as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cyberwarfare, and autonomous systems. Once implemented, the provision would speed efforts to embed Israeli technologies into US weapons systems in ways almost never codified into law, even for allies. As the protracted experience with unwinding Turkish participation in the F-35 program shows, practically, integration binds the United States to rely on producers in ways that become next to impossible to walk back later, even if lawmakers want to.
(…)
Section 219 also calls for “data fusion.” In defense doctrine, data fusion means combining feeds from many sensors and intelligence sources into a single targeting picture. The United States would be absorbing Israeli data, which may have been collected under problematic mass surveillance programs. Moreover, section 219 would be reinforced by section 622 of the intelligence appropriations bill, which mandates intelligence sharing and would further promote combining US intelligence streams with Israeli ones that could then be used by the Israeli military for targeting.
(March 1, 2026)
The timing of the assassination was determined by information the CIA gleaned about a meeting of top Iranian officials at a leadership compound in the heart of Tehran scheduled for Saturday morning. Most critically, the CIA was able to tell Israeli counterparts that Khamenei would be at the site and the timing of the meeting, according to the New York Times.
Israeli spies had also been tracking Khamenei for many years, building a minutely detailed file on his daily routine and those of his family members, associates, allies and those charged with keeping him safe.
(August 27, 2020)
Jahrzehntelang belauschten BND und CIA die verschlüsselte Kommunikation von über 100 Staaten. Die Operation „Rubikon“ wurde bis heute geheim gehalten. Sie gilt als größter Erfolg des BND.
Opfer des Lauschangriffs waren arabische und südamerikanische Länder, aber auch NATO-Partner. Sie vertrauten der Krypto-Technik eines schweizerischen Herstellers – und wurden betrogen. Welche politischen Folgen hatte das jahrelange Mitlesen geheimer Nachrichten?
Politische Handlungen durch Rubikon
Die „Rubikon“-Papiere belegen erstmals, dass BND und CIA zum Beispiel frühzeitig über den Sturz des chilenischen Präsidenten Allende 1973 und die schweren Menschenrechtsverletzungen durch die argentinische Militärjunta informiert waren. Politische Folgen, etwa in Form von Protesten der Bundesregierung, hatte das nicht.
Auch im Falklandkrieg kamen die für den Sieg der Briten notwendigen Informationen aus der Operation „Rubikon“: Der BND konnte den militärischen Funkverkehr der Argentinier entschlüsseln. Das britische Militär war so über die Bewegungen der argentinischen Streitkräfte informiert. Einer der klar belegbaren Fälle, in denen „Rubikon“ konkrete – und blutige – Konsequenzen hatte.
Kühn und skandalträchtig
Einer der größten Abnehmer für die manipulierten schweizerischen Verschlüsselungsgeräte war der Iran. Jahrzehntelang waren Deutsche und Amerikaner deshalb bestens über die geheimen Regierungskommunikationen des Ajatollah-Regimes informiert und nutzten diese Kenntnisse zum Beispiel in der Geiselaffäre, um die US-Botschaftsangehörigen freizubekommen.
Geheimdienstexperte Prof. Richard Aldrich wertete die dem ZDF exklusiv vorliegenden geheimen Akten aus. Sein Fazit: „Die Operation Rubikon war eine der kühnsten und auch skandalträchtigsten Operationen, denn über hundert Staaten zahlten Milliarden Dollar dafür, dass ihnen ihre Staatsgeheimnisse gestohlen wurden.“
Der Dokumentation liegen langjährige Recherchen von ZDFinfo, „Frontal 21“, der „Washington Post“ und der „Rundschau“ des Schweizer Fernsehens SRG zugrunde.
(Februar 13, 2020)
Die CIA und der BND spionierten mit manipulierten Chiffriergeräten der Schweizer Firma Crypto AG jahrzehntelang mehr als 100 Staaten aus, darunter auch befreundete Länder. Dies belegen Recherchen von SRF Rundschau, ZDF und Washington Post.
m Zentrum steht ein Aktenordner mit explosivem Inhalt: 280 Seiten, bisher unbekannte Papiere der Geheimdienste CIA und BND. Sie belegen eine weltweite Geheimdienstoperation. Die geleakten Papiere werfen ein höchst fragwürdiges Licht auf die Schweiz und auf das Zuger Unternehmen Crypto AG, eine Firma für Verschlüsselungstechnik.
Über manipulierte Chiffriermaschinen der ehemaligen Verschlüsselungsfirma horchten die Geheimdienste CIA und BND jahrzehntelang über hundert Staaten ab. Im Nahen Osten, in Asien, in Südamerika und auch in Europa wurde die geheime Kommunikation befreundeter und feindlicher Staaten abgefangen und ausgewertet. Alle abgehörten Länder hatten ihre Crypto-Chiffriermaschinen im guten Glauben in der neutralen Schweiz gekauft.
Welche Folgen hatte die Überwachungsoperation auf die internationale Politik der Nachkriegszeit? Wie gingen die Geheimdienstleute der CIA und des BND vor? Wie wurden die Schweizer Chiffriergeräte manipuliert? Was wussten die Schweizer Behörden? Und was bedeutet dieser Skandal für die Schweizer Neutralität?
(05.03.2020)
Das Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz arbeitet im „Berner Club“ mit den Auslandsgeheimdiensten Mossad und CIA zusammen. Mit weiteren Behörden tauscht der deutsche Inlandsgeheimdienst Informationen zu „nicht-islamistischem Terrorismus“ sowie „Rechts- und Linksextremismus“. Wegen des „Staatswohls“ hielt die Bundesregierung diese Details bislang geheim.
The resolution, introduced by Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, directs the president to remove U.S. armed forces „from Lebanon“ within seven days of the measure‘s adoption. It failed in a 92 to 324 vote, with two voting present.
„Currently, there are no U.S. servicemembers involved in combat operations or hostilities in Lebanon,“ House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement before the vote.
(August 2, 2025)
Operation Rubicon was a joint covert operation carried out by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the West German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) during the Cold War. The operation involved the acquisition and operation of a Swiss company called Crypto AG, which was a leading manufacturer of encryption machines used by governments, militaries, and intelligence agencies around the world.
Under Operation Rubicon, the CIA and BND secretly purchased Crypto AG and then modified the encryption machines to allow the intelligence agencies to eavesdrop on the communications of foreign governments and intelligence services that used the machines. The operation reportedly began in the 1950s and continued until the early 2000s.
The operation was considered one of the most successful and longest-running espionage operations of the Cold War, allowing the CIA and BND to intercept and decipher sensitive communications from numerous countries, including Iran, Argentina, and Libya. However, the operation was eventually exposed in 2020 through investigative reporting by several news organizations, leading to widespread criticism of the intelligence agencies involved and calls for greater transparency and accountability in intelligence operations.
(January 16, 2026)
CIA director John Ratcliffe met with Venezuela‘s interim President Delcy Rodríguez for two hours Thursday in Venezuela‘s capital, Caracas, to „deliver the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship,“ a U.S. official told CBS News Friday.
The official described the trip as historic, noting that Ratcliffe was the first Cabinet-level official to visit Venezuela since the U.S. military operation to remove the country‘s autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro nearly two weeks ago.
A U.S. delegation led by CIA director John Ratcliffe met with his counterpart at Cuba‘s Interior Ministry in Havana on Thursday, the Cuban government said in a statement, as tensions worsen over a U.S. fuel blockade that has starved the island of fuel and power generation.
(October 12, 2016)
– Marc Turi ‚had plan to get arms to Libyan rebels in 2011 despite UN ban‘
– But he says Clinton stole the idea and she and CIA did it without him
– However the guns ‚then went to Al Qaeda, ISIS and Benghazi attackers‘
– They tried to scapegoat him by saying he sold the arms illegally, he says
– But he claims that he never sold anything in Libya
– The five-year, $10m case was dropped last week by prosecutors
– He says they didn‘t want to press on because it would compromise Clinton
– The trial would have started on November 8 – which is Election Day
– Turi also hinted at information on weapons that disappeared in Benghazi
Dec. 5, 2012
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.
No evidence has emerged linking the weapons provided by the Qataris during the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to the attack that killed four Americans at the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in September.
But in the months before, the Obama administration clearly was worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan militants, concerns that have not previously been reported.
(December 16, 2023)
Israeli leaders believed that Hamas was more interested in governing than fighting. By the time the agents discovered the ledgers in 2018, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was encouraging the government of Qatar to deliver millions of dollars to the Gaza Strip. He gambled that the money would buy stability and peace.
Mr. Levy recalled briefing Mr. Netanyahu personally in 2015 about the Hamas portfolio.
“Not only is it contentious in itself, what remains even more contentious is the fact that no one seems to agree about what everyone agreed about, or didn’t agree about,” Pinfold told Al Jazeera.
“We don’t know what Iran agreed to, we don’t know what both sides think they agreed to,” he added, noting the further complication that various parties which were either attacked or involved in the fighting were not represented.
Iran says they have 10 points. The US says it has 15 points. The problem here is a dilemma that there is no single document that anyone can refer to for what both sides are going to discuss.
„Viele Details der Mossad-Pläne bleiben zwar geheim, doch ein Element beinhaltete die Unterstützung einer Invasion iranisch-kurdischer Milizen aus dem Nordirak. Der Mossad unterhält langjährige Verbindungen zu kurdischen Gruppen, und amerikanische Beamte haben erklärt, dass sowohl die CIA als auch der Mossad in den letzten Jahren Waffen und andere Unterstützung an kurdische Kräfte geliefert haben. Die CIA hatte bereits Befugnisse zur Unterstützung iranisch-kurdischer Kämpfer und hatte schon lange vor dem aktuellen Krieg Waffen und Beratung geleistet. In den ersten Kriegstagen bombardierten israelische Kampfflugzeuge und Bomber iranische Militär- und Polizeiziele im Nordwesten Irans, unter anderem um den kurdischen Streitkräften den Weg zu ebnen.“
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