Iran has provided no information about cause of explosion in Isfahan that injured at least nine workers
A factory that makes Iranian drones has suffered a major explosion days after Israel had claimed that Iran was providing drones to Hamas in Gaza.
The blast at the weekend injured at least nine workers at the petrochemical factory in Isfahan. The Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (Hesa), which produces a variety of aircraft and drones for Iranian and pro-Iranian forces, is located in the complex owned by Sepahan Nargostar Chemical Industries.
Coast guard vessel takes action after 13 Iranian fast boats come within 150 yards in strait of Hormuz
A US coast guard ship fired about 30 warning shots as a group of 13 Iranian fast boats sped toward US navy vessels in the strait of Hormuz, in what the Pentagon called “unsafe and unprofessional” maneuvers by the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGCN).
The incident marked the second time within the last month that US military vessels have had to fire warning shots because of what they said was unsafe behavior by Iranian vessels in the region, after a relative lull in such interactions over the past year.
The coup attempt that unfolded on January 6, 2021, in Washington D.C., took me back to the summer of my youth in Tehran, Iran in 1953. My grandfather held my hand firmly as we walked to the Majlis (the parliament) in early August of that year to hear Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq debate the nationalization of Iranian oil.
Grandfather, a distinguished jurist of Iran’s High Court and former governor general of the province of Khorasan, was a charismatic raconteur and a man of impeccable taste. He had been invited by the prime minister to witness the debate over the future of Iran’s oil, which was then in the hands of the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.
Tension was palpable on Tehran’s crowded streets. On our way to the Majlis, we passed by grandfather’s favorite newspaper offices which were being ransacked by Shaban Jafari, aka Shaban the Brainless, and his votaries. Shaban the Brainless, a favorite thug of the monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was on the payroll of CIA operative, Kermit Roosevelt.
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In his book, “Counter Coup: The Struggle for the Control of Iran,” Roosevelt explains how he was tasked by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and CIA Director, Allen Dulles to overthrow the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mossadeq. From the bowels of the sprawling U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Roosevelt set up his command post to carry out the CIA’s Operation Ajax.
Shaban the Brainless and his men were paid by Roosevelt to recruit insurrectionists and to harass and beat the prime minister’s supporters. Grandfather and I saw them at the Majlis gate, intimidating visitors. Fearing for my safety, grandfather swooped me into his arms; and for the first and last time in my life, I saw tears in his eyes. He later explained those tears. In his own beautiful way, he said, I brought you here (Majlis) to celebrate democracy and I am afraid we will now have to mourn for it.
The U.S.-British plot to control Iranian oil bent the arc of Iran’s burgeoning democracy toward despotism. Authoritarianism was resurrected when the coup plotters returned the Shah to the throne. With U.S. backing, he resumed power in August 1953 and became the anchor of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
How little Washington knew of Iran was revealed in President Jimmy Carter’s 1977 New Year’s Eve toast in Tehran where he said, “Iran, because of the great leadership of the Shah, is an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world.”
One week later, Iranians began to participate in massive demonstrations that eventually culminated in one of the 20th century’s greatest and most consequential revolutions.
Iran is still recovering from the U.S.-British orchestrated coup that interrupted its nascent democracy. Both the United States and Iran continue to suffer the unintended and long-term consequences of America’s misguided policy of regime change.
U.S. pundits have been quick to point out that the January 6 violent attack on the nation’s Capitol was an aberration—“it’s not America” they say. But in reality, it is woven tightly into the fabric of America.
In pursuit of its political, economic and military interests, the United States has toppled governments around the world since overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893. The CIA’s success in Iran emboldened it to topple the Guatemalan government in 1954 and led to the invasion of scores of other countries; including Lebanon, Vietnam, Panama and most recently Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya.
The mob attack on Iran’s parliament that I witnessed as a tyke has been forever seared in my memory. It was also seared into the Iranian nation’s memory. It took Iran more than a quarter of a century to redress their grievances by overthrowing the Shah and seizing the embassy from which the CIA hatched its coup.
At this time in America’s history, it behooves us to recall the words of T.S. Eliot:
“Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future,And time future contained in time past….Time past and time futureWhat might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.”
(c) 2021, Dr. M. Reza Behnam
Dr. M. Reza Behnam is a political scientist whose specialities include American foreign policy and the history, politics and governments of the Middle East.
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“I wouldn’t put it past these lunatics to be plotting something evil at the 11th hour,” said one policy analyst.
Foreign policy experts are sounding the alarm that U.S. President Donald Trump could launch an assault on Iran in the final weeks of his administration, potentially provoking a full-blown war just days before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Fears of a military confrontation are mounting in the wake of the Pentagon’sannouncementSunday that the USS Nimitz would remain in the Middle East — a reversal of Friday’sdecisionto signal a de-escalation of hostility toward Tehran by redeploying the aircraft carrier out of the region prior to this past weekend’s one-year anniversary of the Trump-ordered assassinationof Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
The intensification of tensions between the U.S. and Iran also coincides with Trump’s efforts to retain power despite losing his reelection bid in November 2020.
The right-wingcoup attempthas grown increasingly desperate ahead of Wednesday’s expected certification of Biden’s victory by Congress, with many observerscalling forTrump to be criminally prosecuted following the emergence of evidence that the president on Saturday tried tointimidateGeorgia’s top election official into overturning the results.
“Trump may be planning his biggest — and likely most disastrous — stunt yet,”Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft,wrotelate last week. “Whatever his calculation may be, there is clearly a risk that the last three weeks of Trump’s presidency may be the most perilous.”
Parsi’s concerns are shared by Danny Postel, assistant director of the Center for International and Area Studies at Northwestern University. “Trump is a very wounded and very cornered animal in an end-game scenario. He’s got a few weeks left, and we know that he is capable of extremely erratic behavior,” PosteltoldAl Jazeerain an interview this past weekend. “It may be the case that his most erratic, most reckless lashing out is yet to come.”
Parsi said Sunday night that a former U.S. military official told him that Trump starting a war with Iran is “probable.”
According to what the former official told Parsi, “It will relieve the pressure from the Georgia recording leaks.” Trump’s aggression also comes amid what Parsicalled“a showdown in the Senate on Jan. 6 with demonstrations and potential for violence in Washington, D.C.”
Frmr US military official tells me Trump starting war w/ Iran is “probable”:
‘It will relieve the pressure from the Georgia recording leaks & also lines up the 5-6 Jan internal politics. If nothing else, it leaves a mess for Biden. Hopefully, Iran shows some tactical patient…’
In his attempted justification of the Pentagon’s about-face on redeploying the warship Nimitz, Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Millercitedalleged “threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other U.S. government officials.”
“No one should doubt the resolve of the United States of America,” Miller added ominously.
As Parsiexplainedlast week, “Trump has made more threats of war against Iran than any other country during his four years as President.”
“As late as last month, he ordered the military to prepare options against Iranian nuclear facilities,” Parsi wrote. “Though theNew York Timesreported that Trump’s aides derailed those plans, U.S. troop movements in the past few weeks may suggest otherwise.” He continued:
Officially, all of these military maneuvers are aimed at “deterring” Iran, even though Israel assassinated an Iranian official in Iran and not the other way around… Not surprisingly, Tehran has interpreted the measures as threats and provocations, similar to how the United States would perceive Iranian warships posturing off Florida’s coast.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif claimed Thursday that he is aware of intelligence suggesting the Trump administration is engaged in a “plot to fabricate a pretext for war” during its final days in power, asCommon Dreamsreportedlast week.
War with Iran could be Trump’s final punishment on the American people for rejecting him & a massive act of sabotage against Biden for defeating him.https://t.co/BdddruvIhA
In an apparent reflection of the seriousness of the president’s threats to democracy in the U.S. as well as to diplomacy with Iran, all 10 living former defense secretaries — including former Trump officials James Mattis and Mark Esper, along with Iraq War architects Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld — on Sunday penned an op-ed rebuking Trump.
The very worrisome question is why all 10 living former Secretaries of Defense, including Trump officials Esper and Mattis, chose to speak out now. What is the scenario they are worried about?
“Could Trump seek to start a military confrontation with Iran in hopes of creating enough chaos as to prevent Joe Biden from taking office in January?”askedParsi. “There is no reason to believe such a gambit would work, yet the insanity of the idea is not a convincing reason as to why a desperate Trump wouldn’t try it.”
Tehran says it will defend itself forcefully as tensions rise ahead of anniversary of Suleimani killing
Iran fears that Donald Trump is preparing to order a military attack on its regional interests in the final three weeks of his administration and has warned it would retaliate against US bases in the Middle East.
Concerns have increased in Tehran over the past week that the US president could authorise a strike against Iranian proxy groups operating in Iraq, or a more extensive attack against Iran, a foe his government has attempted to break through nearly four years of economic sanctions and military muscle.
I’ll admit it, I was skeptical of the Iran conspiracy two months ago when it was first disclosed by DNI John Ratliffe. I assumed he was trying to downplay Russian election interference. My bad.
Turns out an FBI investigation has connected Iran to online efforts earlier this month to target violence against FBI Director Chris Wray, cybersecurity chief Chris Krebs, and dozens of state election officials who refuted claims of widespread voter fraud. They were also actively pushing conspiracy theories about voting machine companies. Via the Washington Post:
FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and ousted Homeland Security Department official Christopher Krebs were among more than a dozen people whose images, home addresses and other personal information were posted on a website titled “Enemies of the People.” Crosshairs were superimposed over the photos.
Many of these officials in one way or another have attested to the security of November’s election, saying they had not seen evidence of widespread fraud — a conclusion at odds with Trump’s baseless claims that the election was rigged.
“The following individuals have aided and abetted the fraudulent election against Trump,” the website falsely claimed.
Back in August, intelligence officials said Iran would focus on online influence and disinformation — which they apparently did:
The Pentagon predictably described the maneuver as defensive, even though it was the U.S. that pushed the two nations to the brink of war repeatedly over the past several years.
On November 27, Israel assassinated Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top nuclear scientist. International law expert Richard Falk called it “an outrageous act of state terrorism.”Although the Israeli government has not claimed credit for the illegal killing, there is little doubt of its culpability. Trump implicitly praised the assassination, retweeting a commentby Israeli journalist and intelligence expert Yossi Melman that the killing was a “major psychological and professional blow” to Iran. This was an “implicit approval if there ever was one,”according to SinaToossi, a senior research analyst at the National Iranian American Council.
The Israel Defense Forces have been ordered to prepare for a possible U.S. military attack on Iran before Trump’s term ends,senior Israeli officials told Axios. They expect “a very sensitive period” leading up to Biden’s inauguration.
In mid-November, Trump requested plans to attack Iran’s Natanz nuclear power facility but was reportedly talked out of it.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu metwith Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia andstrategized about Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israel, the West Bank, the Golan Heights and several countries in the Gulf to discuss Iran.
During Pompeo’s visit to the Gulf, the U.S. Central Command announced that B-52 strategic bombers carried out a “short-notice, long-range mission into the Middle East to deter aggression and reassure U.S. partners and allies.”
“All options are on the table,” State Department officials who were traveling with Pompeo told reporters.
Trump Appears to Have Outsourced His Iran Policy to Israel
Israeli leaders think Iran poses an existential threat to Israel’s existence, in spite of the fact that Iran has never attacked Israel or any other country in the last 200 years. In fact, Israel is the only Middle East country that has nuclear weapons and it refuses to join the new UN International Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
The Iran nuclear agreement is embodied in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated during the Obama administration between Iran, the U.S., France,U.K., Russia, China, Germany and the European Union. Iran, which has consistently maintained that its nuclear program is only intended for peaceful purposes, agreed to restrict its uranium enrichment and other nuclear activities.In return, it received relief from the punishing U.S. sanctions.The UN International Atomic Energy Agency certified several times that Iran was complying with its obligations under the agreement. Nevertheless, Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reimposed the sanctions against Iran.
One year after the U.S. withdrawal, Iran began to pull back from its commitmentsunder the JCPOA, whichallows a party to abandon its obligationsif another party is in noncompliance. Trump intensified the sanctionsthat have devastated Iran’s economy, impoverished 82 million Iranians and hindered its ability to respond to the pandemic.With his campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran, Trump has waged economic warfare against the Iranian people.
In mid-November, Trump requested plans to attack Iran’s Natanz nuclear power facility but was reportedly talked out of it.
Trump spent his entire presidency enabling Israel’s illegal oppression of the Palestinians, withself-identified evangelicals Pompeo and Mike Pence driving Trump’s Israel policy. Christian Zionists believe there will be no second coming of Jesus until the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt, and that is more likely to happen if the Temple Mount remains under Jewish rather than Palestinian control.
It is becoming clear that Trump aims to cater to Israel’s agenda until he leaves office.
U.S. and Israel Try to Bait Iran to Retaliate and Lead to Middle East War
Hopefully, Iran will resist the apparent U.S.-Israeli attempt to provoke it into retaliating for Fakhrizadeh’s assassination and thereby provide Trump witha pretext to launch a retaliatory strike,which would ignite a war in the Middle East. The U.S. military already has more than 40,000 troops in the region on high alert.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhanipledged to respond to the assassination of Fakhrizadeh at the “proper time.” Rouhani said, “The Iranian nation is smarter than falling into the trap of the Zionists. They are thinking to create chaos.”The day after the assassination,Iran’s parliament unanimously voted to end future UN inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites.The inspections had confirmed that Iran was in compliance with the JCPOA. Terminating them could spell an end to the nuclear deal.
We must pressure Congress to prevent Trump from attacking Iran. The consequences to the Middle East and the entire world would be catastrophic.
Nevertheless, Zarif hopes Biden will improve relationsbetween Iran and the United States. But hard-liners, who won recent elections and are slated to pick up additional seats in Iran’s parliament in February, could doom any rapprochement with the United States. CODEPINK’sMedea Benjamin and Ariel Gold notethat this leaves only a four-month windowfor negotiations after Biden is inaugurated.
“US & Israel efforts to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program have now morphed into Trump & Netanyahu sabotaging the next US President,” tweeted Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council. “They are trying to goad Iran into provocations & accelerating nuclear work-exactly what they claim to oppose. Their real fear is US & Iran talking”
Much to Netanyahu’s chagrin, Biden has said he wants to return the United States to the Iran nuclear deal, albeit with preconditions. Tony Blinken, Biden’snominee for secretary of state, indicated the incoming administration will pursue a policy of uncritical support for Israel.In spite ofthe mandates in the Leahy Law and the Arms Export Control Act, Blinken stated that Biden “would not tie military assistance to Israel to any political decisions that it makes.Period.Full stop.” The U.S. government supports Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory with $3.8 billion in annual military aid, in spite of Israel’s war crimes.
It is becoming clear that Trump aims to cater to Israel’s agenda until he leaves office.
Blinkenmade that statement in a briefing to the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMI), a U.S.-based advocacy group that pushes the Democratic Party to adopt pro-Israel policies. “DMI was manufactured to ensure that Democrats would not stray too far from the pro-Israel party line,” Richard Silverstein wrote at Tikun Olam.“The group has regularly acted as an enforcer within the Party when candidates espouse positions considered anti-Israel.”
It is up to Congress, as well as civil society, to preventthe Biden administration from continuing the U.S. policy of caving to Israel’s demands — a practice that not only deepens the oppression of the Palestinians but could also activelyimperil the national security of the United States.
Meanwhile, we must pressure Congress to prevent Trump from attacking Iran. The consequences to the Middle East and the entire world would be catastrophic.
Scott Ritter
By killing Fakhrizadeh, Israel is doing its best to ensure that, for Biden, that military action is the only viable option available
