(January 12, 2025)
The hype about Iran’s nuclear program is focused on the enrichment of some uranium at 60% purity, which is still below the 90% needed for weapons-grade. Iran took the step to enrich at 60% in response to an Israeli covert attack on its Natanz nuclear facility in 2021.
Iran is also a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, unlike Israel, which never signed the NPT and has a covert nuclear stockpile that’s not officially acknowledged by the US.
(January 10, 2025)
Kelly: Iran, which had a pretty lousy 2024, weakened internally, mounting pressures externally. We interviewed Jake Sullivan, the national security, the national security adviser at the White House the other day. He told me the big question on his mind is, given the losses Iran has sustained, will it make it more likely, more likely that Iran tries to go for a nuclear weapon? Director Burns, will it?
Burns: It‘s something we watch very intently, because you‘re right, Iran has it‘s strategic position has suffered considerably over the course of the last six or seven months. You know, two failed efforts to launch significant ballistic missile strikes against Israel, the collapse of its leading proxy, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the severe degradation of Hamas in Gaza, and then the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. All of that, I think, strategically puts the Iranian regime in a much weaker position. And so Jake Sullivan was right to express the concern that, you know, the Iranian regime could decide in the face of that weakness that it needs to restore its deterrence as it sees it and, you know, reverse the decision made at the end of 2003 to suspend their weaponization program. We do not see any sign today that any such decision has been made, but we obviously watch it intently.
The Artesh exercises tested the manned and unmanned aircraft as well as the following air defense systems, according to Iranian state media:[3]
– Rad missile. An Iranian-made, short-range, anti-tank missile designed for T-72 tanks, fired from a 125 millimeters (mm) caliber barrel, and with a target distance of four kilometers (km).[4]
– Majid missile. An Iranian-made, short-range, shoulder-fired, electro-optical-guided missile with a maximum target range of 15 km.[5]
– Talash missile. An Iranian-made, long-range, mobile surface-to-air air defense missile system, capable of hitting all altitude targets with a a maximum range of 200km.[6]
– Misagh-3 missile. An Iranian-made, short-range, shoulder-fired system with a laser fuse and a maximum range of five km and flight altitude of 3,500 meters (m).[7]
– Khordad-15 system. An Iranian-made, long-range air defense system with a detection range of 85 km and target range of 45 km.[8]
– Shahid Jalilvand radar system. An Iranian-made, medium-range, phased array radar system able to detect small flying targets with low cross-sections in three dimensions and a 24-hour operational continuity.[9]
– Samavat radar-controlled artillery system. A short-range Iranian version of the Swiss low-altitude Skyguard radar system with a range of 4 km and uses an anti-aircraft 35mm Oerlikon caliber barrel gun.[10]
– Seraj radar-controlled air defense artillery system. Iranian-made artillery system with a 35mm caliber barrel gun, radar, and a new optical system.[11]
(January 10, 2025)
Israeli military sources claim that its strikes inside Iran (precipitated by an Iranian missile assault on Israel) dismantled much of its air defense systems. These security officials note that this was a key mission: to eliminate Iran’s air defenses in preparation for a future all-out assault on its nuclear program. The sources estimate it will take a year or more for Iran to repair the current damage and restore its capabilities.
„Als Gegenleistung für ihre Unterstützung und ihr Geld, so sagte mir der Israeli, würden die Vereinigten Staaten der saudischen Führung ein erweitertes Verteidigungsabkommen anbieten, das Saudi-Arabien in ihren nuklearen Schutzschirm einbeziehen würde – für den Fall, dass der Iran, Israels letzter verbliebener Feind, in den Besitz einer Atombombe gelangen sollte. “
(…)
„Der Israeli sagte mir, dass das saudische Paket einen zusätzlichen Anreiz enthält: Die Saudis würden wegschauen, wenn die Israelis Bombenangriffe durchführen, einschließlich der Bombardierung militärischer Ziele im zerrissenen Syrien, und würden Israel Zugang zu einem Flugplatz innerhalb der saudischen Grenzen gewähren. Auf diese Weise könnten israelische Bomben, die zumeist von den Vereinigten Staaten geliefert werden, innerhalb von Minuten, nicht Stunden, auf wichtige iranische Ziele abgefeuert werden.“
(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.
In return for its support and money, the Israeli told me, the Saudi leadership would be offered an expanded defense treaty by the United States that would include Saudi Arabia in its nuclear umbrella—its zone of protection—in case Iran, Israel’s last standing enemy, were to acquire a nuclear bomb.
(…)
There is an added inducement in the Saudi package, the Israeli told me: the Saudis would look the other way as the Israelis conduct bombing raids, including bombing of military targets inside fractured Syria, and would give Israel access to an airfield within Saudi borders. This would bring Israeli bombs, most supplied by the United States, within minutes, and not hours, of key Iranian targets.
(December 18, 2024)
Israel and Saudi Arabia have reached a breakthrough in talks around normalising relations, Haaretz reported on Tuesday, adding that the normalisation could be related to an elusive ceasefire deal that would bring about an end to Israel‘s war on Gaza.
Sources familiar with the negotiations told Haaretz that rather than Israel agreeing to Saudi Arabia‘s demand for the recognition of a Palestinian state, the two sides agreed that Israel would give a vague commitment on a „path towards Palestinian statehood“.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria was a „historic day in the… Middle East“ and the fall of a „central link in Iran‘s axis of evil“.
Netanyahu said the events are „a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, Assad‘s main supporters. It has triggered a chain reaction across the Middle East, empowering those seeking to break free from this oppressive regime.“
He spoke on a visit to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
(November 2, 2024)
The daily continued to criticise the stances of these two countries, comparing them to some European nations that have tense relations with Iran.
As western sanctions against Iran have increased in recent years, Tehran has strengthened economic ties with Moscow and Beijing, with one key outcome being the sale of cheap oil to China.
On Sunday, in a unanimous decision, the Arab Parliament approved an Iraqi proposal to take legal action against Israel.
According to a parliamentary source speaking to Shafaq News Agency, the approval occurred during a general session held at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo.
The proposal, presented by Ahmad al-Jabouri, Vice President of the Arab Parliament and member of the Iraqi Parliament, calls for the formation of a parliamentary team to approach the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and file lawsuits against Israel.
Al-Mandlawi warned, according to the statement, of „the attempts of the Zionist occupation to expand the scope of the conflict in the region and the continuation of the bloodshed and targeting the killing of civilians, to escape the bitter reality and repeated defeats after more than a year of Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa,“ stressing „the need to take courageous positions in addressing and resolving the issue of Iraqi airspace.“
In a statement, Al-Sumaida‘i condemned „Zionist violations,“ stressing the need for “a firm response.” He expressed surprise at the Iraqi government’s stance and the air defense forces‘ spokesman‘s declaration that they are „on alert and under full Iraqi control.“
“Such statements cast doubt on Iraq’s position,” the Mufti announced, affirming that the current situation makes the country seem “weak and hesitant.”
He further called on Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani to intervene immediately to prevent any leniency in dealing with these violations, stressing that “Iraq must take decisive measures to preserve its dignity and sovereignty against any aggression.”
In a statement broadcast on Iranian state television, the Iranian Armed Forces Communications Center said, “We inform the brave and honorable Iranian people that hostile Zionist aircraft, in a blatant violation of international law, used airspace provided by the American terrorist army in Iraq early this morning to launch multiple long-range, air-launched missiles from 100 kilometers away from the Iranian border.” The statement was followed by calls to Iran’s media and experts to rely solely on official sources amid circulating rumors.
The missiles, reportedly fitted with warheads one-fifth the size of Iranian ballistic warheads, targeted radar systems in the provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan, and areas near Tehran, the statement noted.
“Thanks to timely intervention by Iran’s air defense, the damage was limited; several radar systems sustained minor damage, with some already repaired and others undergoing restoration.”
Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has seized on Biden’s challenges in the Middle East, framing his own administration as one that delivered “peace in the Middle East.”
Speaking in Michigan, Trump told voters, “They want strength in the Oval Office, law and order, and common sense.” Trump’s comments resonated with many Arab American voters, a demographic with significant concerns over the ongoing violence.
US President Joe Biden on Saturday (Oct 26) expressed hope that Israel‘s recent strikes on Iran could mark „the end“ of the months-long period of escalations. He said to reporters, „It looks like they didn‘t hit anything other than military targets.“
„I hope that this is the end,“ stated Biden, adding that Israel had given him a heads-up about the attack.
(October 23, 2024)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday „now is the time“ to end the conflict in Gaza, and urged Israel to avoid further escalation with Iran.
The airstrikes “should be the end of this direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran,” a senior US administration official said after the attacks.
Earlier, security sources said the loud sounds heard by some people in the vicinity of Tehran were due to the activation of air defense systems.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency cited a security source as saying on Saturday morning some of the sounds heard in the capital were caused by “defense activity in Tehran.”
The news agency said there were no reports of incidents that required assistance and that the situation at Mehrabad International Airport and the Imam Khomeini International Airport was “normal.”
IRNA said Iranian air defenses “successfully shot down adversarial targets in the airspace around Tehran province.”
Footage shared online captured what appeared to be interceptions over the Iranian capital.
Das erste Foto bezieht sich auf „Explosion in der Raffinerie in Teheran“ und das zweite Foto bezieht sich auf „Bombenanschlag auf Beirut“.
Das Video hat nichts mit Israels Angriff auf den Iran zu tun. Der Film handelt von den israelischen Angriffen auf Beirut in den vergangenen Tagen.
“The kingdom affirms its firm position in its rejection of the continued escalation in the region and the expansion of the conflict that threatens the security and stability of the countries and peoples of the region,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.
Former rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have repaired relations in recent years, while the kingdom‘s attempts to normalise its relations with Israel have largely collapsed since the beginning of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
The United Arab Emirates, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, also condemned the attack on Iran and voiced „deep concern“ for the „repercussions on regional security and stability“.
Pakistan also condemned the attack, branding it „a dangerous escalation in an already volatile region“, while Malaysia said it was a “clear violation of international law.“
The source informed Shafaq News Agency that the missile landed on an open dirt field in the Makishifa area of Samarra district in the early hours of the morning, with no injuries reported.
Specialized teams have yet to determine the missile’s type or its origin, according to the source, who noted that an investigation into the incident has been opened.
“Nearly at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday, the Israeli enemy launched an air missile aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan and Lebanese territories, targeting some military sites in the southern and central regions.” a Military source told SANA.
The source added that the army air defenses intercepted the missiles and downed most of them, indicating that work is still underway to verify the effects of the aggression.
The statement, released hours after the attacks, confirmed that the two servicemen lost their lives while defending Iranian soil. The Army has promised to release further information regarding the incident as soon as possible.
The servicemen were identified as Hamzeh Jahandideh and Mohammad Mehdi Shahrokhifar.
Iran‘s National Air Defense Headquarters has announced the successful interception of attacks on military sites in Tehran, Khuzestan, and Ilam provinces in the early hours of Saturday.
While acknowledging “limited damage” to certain locations, the headquarters asserted that the attacks were successfully repelled. The full extent of the damage is currently under investigation.
• Israel launched direct strikes against Iran Saturday morning, in a high-stakes retaliation to Tehran’s ballistic missile barrage earlier this month. The Israeli military said it hit “precise” military targets and an Israeli military source told CNN the strikes did not include energy infrastructure.
• Iran has said it is “entitled” to defend itself following the attacks. Iranian media appears to be downplaying the strikes, saying military sites in three provinces were hit, but damage was “limited.” The army, though, has said two soldiers were killed.
(Sunday, May 15, 2005)
Global strike has become one of the core missions for the Omaha-based Strategic Command, or Stratcom. Once, Stratcom oversaw only the nation‘s nuclear forces; now it has responsibility for overseeing a global strike plan with both conventional and nuclear options. President Bush spelled out the definition of „full-spectrum“ global strike in a January 2003 classified directive, describing it as „a capability to deliver rapid, extended range, precision kinetic (nuclear and conventional) and non-kinetic (elements of space and information operations) effects in support of theater and national objectives.“
This blurring of the nuclear/conventional line, wittingly or unwittingly, could heighten the risk that the nuclear option will be used. Exhibit A may be the Stratcom contingency plan for dealing with „imminent“ threats from countries such as North Korea or Iran, formally known as CONPLAN 8022-02.
(June 22, 2006)
Dokumentation in zeitlicher Reihenfolge:
“Washington Times”, 31.01.2003,
Bush genehmigt Einsatz von Atomwaffen
Im geheimen “National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD) 17” Dokument genehmigt die US-Regierung den präventiven Einsatz von Atomwaffen, explizit zum Ausschalten unterirdischer Anlagen oder falls Alliierte mit chemischen oder biologischen Waffen angegriffen würden, so die Washington Times.
(…)
Arbeiterfotografie, Frühjahr 2006
“Drohender Kriegsschauplatz Iran
Genug ist genug! – ‘Nur’ Verbrechen gegen die Menschheit oder schleichender Völkermord?
Eine Dokumentation von Ellen Rohlfs zur Situation in Palästina, 2005/2006”
http://www.arbeiterfotografie.com/galerie/kein-krieg/hintergrund/iran-0018.shtml
—
New Yorker, 08.04.2006 (Anm.: 17. April 2006 später vermerkter Erscheinungstermin), Seymour Hersh:
Laut Hersh plant die Bush-Administration und das Pentagon den Einsatz von atomaren B61-11 “bunker busters” gegen Iran´s unterirdischen Einrichtungen wie in Natans (Natanz). Anders seien Anlagen, die wie Natans unter 75 Fuß Erde und Gestein liege, nicht zu zerstören.
Kommentar eines Air-Force-Planers: “Es ist eine harte Entscheidung. Aber wir fällten sie in Japan.”
(OCTOBER 17, 2024)
Iran’s nuclear facilities and ballistic missile bases are deeply embedded underground, in contrast to less-protected targets like oil terminals.
(…)
Foreign sources indicate that Israel has a surface-to-surface missile system, equipped with both conventional and nuclear warheads, known as the Jericho missiles. Despite the hundreds of ballistic missiles Iran has launched towards Israel, the likelihood of Israel using these missiles in a strike appears low. These missiles were initially developed by the French Dassault company, later upgraded by IAI.
(…)
Additionally, Elbit has developed bunker-busting bombs, named 500 MPR, capable of penetrating up to four meters of concrete.
(…)
Another Israeli weapon, known only from foreign reports, is the PopEye Turbo cruise missile, developed by Rafael with a range of 1,500 km. It is designed for launch from Israeli Navy submarines and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads.
(October 11, 2024)
Mehr als 40 000 Menschen wurden im Gazastreifen durch die israelischen Sicherheitskräfte getötet, rund 70 Prozent davon waren Frauen und Kinder. Der Gazastreifen wurde in Schutt und Asche gelegt und gezielt unbewohnbar gemacht. Es wird versucht, die palästinensische Bevölkerung zu vertreiben. Das dürfen Demokraten niemals akzeptieren.
(Beifall beim BSW sowie der Abg. Nicole Gohlke (Die Linke))
Der Internationale Gerichtshof ermittelt wegen des Völkermordes gegen Israel. Und auch die Bundesregierung steht wegen Beihilfe zum Völkermord durch die umfangreichen Waffenlieferungen an Israel am Pranger.
(Andrea Lindholz (CDU/CSU): Unerträglich, ehrlich! – Gitta Connemann (CDU/CSU): Das ist eine Täter-Opfer-Umkehr!)
Mit Ihrer Ankündigung gerade, Herr Bundeskanzler Scholz, erneut Waffen nach Israel liefern zu wollen, setzen Sie Deutschland wieder mit auf die Anklagebank des IGH.
(Christian Dürr (FDP): Unglaublich! – Britta Haßelmann (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN), an die CDU/CSU gewandt: Ihr Koalitionspartner in Thüringen und in Sachsen!)
Laut Auswärtigem Amt wurden seit August Ausfuhren im Wert von 94,05 Millionen genehmigt. (…)
Die neue Zahl geht aus einer Antwort des Auswärtigen Amts auf eine Anfrage der BSW-Abgeordneten Sevim Dagdelen hervor, die der Nachrichtenagentur dpa vorliegt.
Germany‘s arms exports to Israel are much higher than the government said they were, with new numbers showing the government approved exports worth €94 million since August alone.
Last week, Berlin said it had approved €45 million worth of arms exports to Israel for the entire year up to 13 October — a significantly lower sum than before, all amid rumours that the government had stopped approving arms export permits altogether.
The new numbers were made available in response to a query from an MP of the left-wing nationalist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
(October 22, 2024)
A new survey has revealed that 60 percent of Germans oppose arms exports to Israel, with a majority of voters from the country‘s three ruling coalition partners supporting restrictions.
According to a poll by Forsa, 50 percent of Green Party voters opposed weapons sales, while 60 percent of Social Democratic Party supporters and 52 percent of Free Democratic Party voters also rejected continued arms exports.
Opposition was particularly high in the former East Germany, where 75 percent of respondents rejected arms sales to Israel.
(3. August 2021)
4. August 2019: Ich lege mich fest und prognostiziere, dass „Bundeswehr-Marine .. noch vor Weihnachten unter Oberbefehl einer ausländischen Macht in den Persischen Golf entsandt“ wird.
(…)
20. Januar 2020: Monate vor der Ausrufung des bis heute andauernden Ausnahmezustands und bereits im Windschatten von SARS II („Coronavirus“), beschließen die Staatsführungen von Frankreich, Deutschland, Griechenland, Italien, der Niederlande, Belgien, Dänemark und Portugal in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung die „European-led maritime surveillance mission in the Strait of Hormuz“ (E.M.A.S.O.H.), von der Sie und 80 Millionen Andere bis heute nie gehört haben.
The documents also report no sign of any preparations by Israel to activate its nuclear deterrent. (…)
The US has made no secret of its opposition to the targeting of either Iran’s nuclear research facilities or its oil installations.
However, another piece of intelligence is marked as being for the eyes of US and British intelligence only: that Israel has been using a long-range unmanned surveillance drone which is capable of flying covertly over Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East.
The drone, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), is a “covert” drone named RA-01. It was not publicly known about.
A group of approximately 50 Black Muslim leaders have signed a statement urging Black and Muslim American voters to shun Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the White House and instead back candidates who support a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.
The new statement, first reported by Middle East Eye, is the latest effort from Muslim community leaders – from imams to scholars, to activists to politicians – telling voters not to choose Vice President Harris in the upcoming November election over her unwillingness to commit to policy changes that would hold Israel accountable for its ongoing war on Gaza and now Lebanon, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese people.
(21 October, 2024)
The American Arab and Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC) announced last week it has endorsed Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein for President of the United States. This follows closely on the Oct. 7 endorsement of the Abandon Harris campaign and is reflective of the Stein campaign’s growing support in the Arab and Muslim communities.
Dearborn, Michigan, October 17, 2024: The American Arab and Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC) proudly announces its endorsement of Dr. Jill Stein for the 2024 presidential election.
This election cycle presents unique challenges, prompting AMPAC to reassess its traditional support for candidates from the two major parties. After extensive dialogue with both the Harris and Trump campaigns, we found no commitment to addressing the urgent concerns of our community, particularly the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
(21 October, 2024)
The Abandon Harris campaign, which is “dedicated to ensuring that the American people, especially the Muslim-American community, recognize the responsibility we share in standing up against oppression and using all our power to stop genocide wherever it may arise,” announced today it is endorsing the Green Party’s Dr. Jill Stein for president, along with running mate Dr. Butch Ware.
“We are not choosing between a greater evil and a lesser evil,” the group wrote in a statement. “We are confronting two destructive forces: one currently overseeing a genocide and another equally committed to continuing it. Both are determined to see it through. We call on Muslim-Americans and all those who stand firmly against genocide to vote for the Green Party in 2024.”
Harris pursues a policy of death in Gaza, and she expects we will vote for her.
We need to work hard to make sure that she will not be elected to the presidency. Not only will this punish Harris, but it will also send a signal to all politicians that you won’t be rewarded with our votes when you engage in genocide. This movement will transform American politics and bring civil rights into US foreign policy.
It’s like yes asshole, it’s very nice to be living in the imperial core that’s receiving the benefits of mass murder and imperialist extraction, and it’s less nice to live in the countries where the murder and extraction is happening. That’s the entire fucking point here.
It can be nice to live in the western world, but the western world is not nice. Ours is the most savage and thuggish civilization on this planet, and it’s not even close.
The Democratic Party really does look ready to lose yet another easily winnable election by running yet another awful, murderous candidate with awful, murderous policies, and then once again blame their loss on everyone in America who is a better person than they are.
The old world is dying once again, but the US-Israel axis is wrong to suggest it is slaying monsters. It is the monster
Iran’s mission said Hezbollah was behind the attack, but so far, the Lebanese group has not taken responsibility.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday at a press conference that Tehran warned the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about Israel‘s threats of potentially striking the country‘s nuclear infrastructure.
Austin declined to say whether the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD was operational.
(January 14, 2020)
This reckoning is already being billed as Iran’s “Chernobyl” moment, an analogy to the way the 1986 nuclear disaster in the Soviet Ukraine “exposed all the incompetence, state deception and rot in that regime,” according to IranWire, a site for Iranian citizen journalists in the diaspora.”
But whether Iran’s grief and fury could lead to revolution is hard to tell.
Between the lines: The report, if accurate, would suggest very close and detailed surveillance by U.S. intelligence of Israel‘s preparations for an attack on Iran, including the use of satellites to spy on operations carried out at Israeli Air Force bases.
Another US official said that “these two documents are bad, but not horrible. The concern is if there are more.”
It is not clear how the documents became public, nor whether they were hacked or deliberately leaked.
Days after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Pentagon quietly dispatched several dozen commandos to Israel to help advise on hostage recovery efforts, U.S. officials said.
Those troops from the Joint Special Operations Command were quickly joined by a group of intelligence officers, some working with the commandos in Israel and others back at the C.I.A. headquarters in Langley, Va.
„The GCC message to the Iranians is, ‚please de-escalate‘,” Shihabi said, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council that is made up of the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking at the event in Doha, said Iran would be ready to respond and warned against „silence“ in the face of Israel‘s „warmongering“.
Der Bundestag hat das Mandat für den Einsatz deutscher Soldaten im Irak um weitere 15 Monate verlängert. Für die Fortsetzung stimmte eine deutliche Mehrheit von 539 der anwesenden Abgeordneten (Nein: 93, Enthaltung: 2), wie das Präsidium nach namentlicher Abstimmung verkündete.
(October 9, 2024)
On Tuesday State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller told the press that the Biden administration no longer supports a ceasefire with Hezbollah, saying “We support Israel’s efforts to degrade Hezbollah’s capability” instead. Two weeks ago CNN reported that the administration has also essentially given up on a ceasefire in Gaza.
(…)
And we haven’t even talked about Iran yet.
(Updated October 13, 2024 at 7:27 p.m. EDT)
The shipment, which will be delivered at an unknown date, is the latest example of Biden using “carrots” rather than sticks to induce Israel into less aggressive behavior, Mann said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Biden administration he is willing to strike military rather than oil or nuclear facilities in Iran, according to two officials familiar with the matter, suggesting a more limited counterstrike aimed at preventing a full-scale war.
Middle East Eye reported last week that Qaani was alive and unhurt but under guard and being questioned about apparent security breaches surrounding the killing of Nasrallah.
Middle East Eye sources say Iranian authorities have serious suspicions about a major security breach in Qaani’s office, though none of MEE’s sources suggested Qaani was involved. Iranian authorities have not commented on reports that Qaani was questioned.
Harris pursues a policy of death in Gaza, and she expects we will vote for her.
We need to work hard to make sure that she will not be elected to the presidency. Not only will this punish Harris, but it will also send a signal to all politicians that you won’t be rewarded with our votes when you engage in genocide. This movement will transform American politics and bring civil rights into US foreign policy.
(September 30, 2024)
„The Democrats cannot win without the support of the Muslim American community. And that community has left the station and is not coming back unless the Democrats decide that it‘s more important to them to win the election than it is to conduct the genocide,“ Stein said in an interview with Newsweek.
„So they have to do a 180 on the genocide and they don‘t appear willing to do that. They could win those votes back, but it doesn‘t look like that‘s on the cards. So it looks like they are sacrificing several swing states.“ Israel denies it is conducting genocide.
(October 11, 2024)
Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party accepts Abandon Harris endorsement for the 2024 presidential ticket
(October 11, 2024)
“The Kamala Harris campaign is looking for a scapegoat,” Stein said Thursday in an interview, about the Harris campaign’s concern about her candidacy. “They could change their policy right now. The problem is they would rather lose the election than end the genocide.”
Stein is one of three independent candidates who have been registering at least 1 percent in recent public polls, along with the left-leaning scholar Cornel West, who is running on a “truth, justice and love” platform, and libertarian candidate Chase Oliver.
(September 25, 2024)
Democracy Now! speaks with the Green Party‘s presidential ticket, Jill Stein and her running mate Butch Ware, after the Green Party suffered a setback Friday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined a request to put Stein on the ballot in Nevada. The Democratic Party had sued to keep Stein off the ballot for failing to submit the proper forms. In this campaign cycle,
US officials, who were not identified, told NBC there was no indication Israel would target Iranian nuclear facilities or attempt to assassinate specific individuals, but there was no final decision.
In 2007, former Nato commander Wesley Clark recounted a meeting at the Pentagon shortly after the US invasion of Afghanistan. An officer told him: “We are going to attack and destroy the governments in seven countries in five years. We’re going to start with Iraq, and then we’re going to move to Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran.”
Clark added of the neoconservatives: “They wanted us to destabilise the Middle East, turn it upside down, make it under our control.”
As I documented in my 2008 book Israel and the Clash of Civilisations, Israel was supposed to carry out a central chunk of Washington’s post-Iraq plan, starting with its war on Lebanon in 2006. Israel’s attack there was supposed to drag in Syria and Iran, giving the US a pretext to expand the war.
This was what the US secretary of state of the time, Condoleezza Rice, meant when she spoke of the “birth pangs of a new Middle East”.
The plan went awry largely because Israel got bogged down in phase one, in Lebanon. It blitzed cities like Beirut with US-supplied bombs, but its soldiers struggled against Hezbollah in a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
The West subsequently found other ways to deal with Syria and Libya.
(October 2, 2024)
Nasrallah‘s assassination followed two weeks of precise Israeli strikes that have destroyed weapons sites, eliminated half of Hezbollah‘s leadership council and decimated its top military command.
On Thursday, Iranian sources revealed that the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Esmail Qaani, is under investigation on suspicion of espionage, after his chief of staff, Ehsan Shafiqi, was suspected of collaborating with Israel.
Nilforoushan, who had flown into Beirut that evening from Tehran, was taken directly from the plane to the operations room beneath the residential neighbourhood of Haret Hreik, the sources said. He arrived there before Nasrallah.
The strike that targeted the meeting took place shortly after Nasrallah entered the room, the sources said.
“The breach was 100 percent Iranian and there is no question about this part,” a source close to Hezbollah told MEE.
Iranian state media announced Nilforoushan’s death as a “martyr” who died alongside Nasrallah.
Sources close to Hezbollah told MEE that Qaani was in Lebanon and had been expected to attend the Shura Council meeting at Safieddine‘s invitation on the day of the air strike.
But Qaani apologised and backed out of the meeting shortly before it began, they said.
)October 3, 2024)
The revelation from Bou Habib could provide insight into how Israel killed Nasrallah, who has survived multiple Israeli assassination attempts over the decades.
Another report from Reuters published on Wednesday said that Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sent a messenger to warn Nasrallah that Israel was planning to assassinate him. That messenger, senior Iranian commander Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed in the Israeli strike on Friday 27 September.
(January 5, 2024)
In 1988, the Central Intelligence Agency did discover that Riyadh bought SS-2 medium-range missiles from China but only after the deal was sealed. In 2003, when China exported DF-21 ballistic missiles to the Kingdom, the CIA again found out and was even allowed to verify the missiles were not nuclear-capable, but only after the missiles were delivered.
Several years later, when intelligence finally leaked out that China secretly built missile factories for the Saudis, the Trump administration was mum on whether there was an intelligence failure and allowed speculation that it had blessed the transaction. Then, in 2020, when US intelligence confirmed China was helping the Kingdom mill uranium domestically, it did so, again only after the mining and milling were well underway.
This track record of studied inadvertence, then, brings us to the next worry: MBS wants Washington to green-light the Kingdom enriching uranium…
(March 19, 2023)
In general, the Saudis wish to present themselves as Iran’s equals, and if Iran can enrich uranium, say the Saudis, then so can we. In addition, the Saudis want to keep all their nuclear options open, even if they are not intending to work on the development of nuclear weapons immediately.