I would say a deal is about to be made (like with Korea), but I saw Aaron Cohen, a 17-year Israeli security expert who trains U.S. military and police, on Fox & Friends (Trump is a known fan of the channel) this morning saying this is the beginning of regime change. That's what Helsinki was all about.
"US demands Iran change its behavior around world" by Carol Morello Washington Post May 21, 2018
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday launched a sweeping broadside against the Iranian government, vowing to use all US financial and military might to destroy its economy and ‘‘crush’’ its foreign operatives if it doesn’t change its behavior.
It's not regime change, though.
In his first major foreign policy address as secretary of state, Pompeo listed a dozen demands on Tehran. If Iran agrees to those demands, he said, the United States will lift all sanctions, reestablish diplomatic relations with Tehran, and provide it access to advanced technology.
Pompeo said he will work with the Defense Department and regional allies — a group that includes Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states — to ‘‘deter Iranian aggression.’’
‘‘We will ensure freedom of navigation on the waters in the region,’’ he said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, a conservative think tank with views that have been embraced by the Trump administration. “We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hezbollah proxies operating around the world and crush them. Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East,’’ Pompeo said.
How did they get that anyway?
Oh, right, Saddam Hussein was overthrown by a U.S. invasion.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani promptly rejected Pompeo’s assertion. ‘‘Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?’’ he was quoted saying by the Iranian news agency ILNA.
The suggestion of a further US military role in the region was striking, since President Trump has said he seeks to draw down the American troop presence in Syria, where Iran provides training and arms to militiamen.
Colonel Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said the military is looking at potential actions to push back against Iran’s regional military influence as part of a larger US government response. He declined to provide specifics.
State Department officials say the aim of the speech was to outline a path forward after Trump announced he would withdraw the United States from the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose sanctions. The decision put the United States in breach of its commitments.
The Treasury Department already has reimposed sanctions on the head of Iran’s Central Bank and other companies and groups.
See: US intensifies pressure on Iran, sanctioning central banker
They called him a terrorist!
‘‘The Iranian regime should know that this is just the beginning,’’ Pompeo warned.
‘‘After our sanctions come into full force, it will be battling to keep its economy alive,’’ he added. ‘‘Iran will be forced to make a choice: either fight to keep its economy off life support at home or keep squandering precious wealth on fights abroad.’’
Many European officials, including those who negotiated the Iran agreement alongside the United States, have chafed at the Trump administration’s positions on Iran, the Paris climate accord, moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and trade tariffs.
The secretary of state, in his fourth week in office, made clear that the United States is also prepared to square off with Europe, using secondary sanctions against companies that do business in Iran.
‘‘We understand our reimposition of sanctions and the coming pressure campaign on the Iranian regime will pose financial and economic difficulties for a number of our friends,’’ Pompeo said. ‘‘But you should know that we will hold those doing prohibited business in Iran to account.’’
‘‘The list of requirements of the Iranians asks for everything but conversion to Christianity and reads more like a demand for unconditional surrender than an actual attempt at negotiation,’’ said Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Pompeo said the administration is seeking a full treaty with Iran, not just ‘‘fixes’’ to the nuclear deal. Rather, he demanded Iran’s complete capitulation on 12 points.
Among the items on Pompeo’s wish list is a full acknowledgment of Iran’s previous attempts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran has denied ever wanting to build nuclear arms. US negotiators tried unsuccessfully to get Iran to admit it tried to build one in the early 2000s.
Other demands include stopping uranium enrichment and ballistic missile tests, and allowing international inspectors access to all sites, including military locations where critics suspect clandestine research. Currently, inspectors must outline the basis for their suspicions.
Related:
"The Trump administration on Tuesday embraced Israel’s claims that Iran entered a nuclear deal with the world’s major powers under false pretenses, a stark divergence from its European allies, who said the disclosures broke little new ground. The White House cited Netanyahu’s theatrical presentation — based on documents taken from an Iranian warehouse in a nighttime raid in January — as further proof of the agreement’s flaws. A senior Israeli official said Yossi Cohen, the chief of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, first informed Trump of the operation in January, during a visit to Washington. Netanyahu briefed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the details in Tel Aviv on Sunday as US intelligence agencies and outside experts pored over the 55,000 pages and 183 compact discs of Iranian files, and Israel is not finished with its lobbying campaign. Officials there said they planned to share much of the data they had harvested from the secret archive with the International Atomic Energy Agency — including data on some previously unknown nuclear sites in Iran. Israel’s intention appears to be to force the organization, a UN agency, to demand that the Iranians allow inspections of those sites, even though some may have been closed or dismantled years ago. Since Iran considers many of these military sites, the Israelis, and some US officials, expect the Iranians to balk at the demand....."
And THERE is your CASUS BELLI for WAR (they did the same thing next door, remember?), for if Iran refuses to allow inspections of sites identified by the stolen archive, it could well touch off an inspection crisis. If there is a standoff, the upshot of the Israeli strategy, in concert with the United States, appears to be to force the Iranians into the first violations.
The one demand that Iran could assent to is the release of all US citizens imprisoned on a variety of charges, as well as citizens of countries allied with the United States such as France and Britain. At least six Americans are imprisoned or unaccounted for.
Pompeo stopped short of calling for regime change, but he urged Iranians to think of Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as part of a corrupt, venal, and dangerous regime. Previous US officials and the Europeans consider them relative pragmatists who are less dogmatic than the radical theocrats.....
If that is the standard for regime change, then both Israel and the U.S. need one.
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The same issue also tells me that Iranian and Russian interference are responsible for U.S. "failures" in Afghanistan (I quote the word failures because when the goal is to stay in perpetuity due to its proximity to both, that's what you do. You create armed insurgent groups that will justify your need to stay. It would be laughable were it not so deadly serious).
Btw, if you are serious about charges of treason, there is John Kerry. Sure looks like a shadow government to me (even Joe Lieberman agrees).
You do have to give Kerry credit for one thing: they broke his leg and he still went ahead with the deal.
Related:
"Netanyahu said the documents provided evidence that Iran attempted to develop a nuclear bomb in the 2000s. The United Nations’ atomic watchdog previously reported such efforts and said it has ‘‘no credible indications of activities in Iran relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device after 2009.’’
"Netanyahu said Israel is sharing a trove of confiscated Iranian nuclear documents with the six world powers that signed the deal, as well as other countries, in hopes of mounting further opposition. He will head to Moscow later this week for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, where talks will focus on the Iranian nuclear program and Iran’s involvement in neighboring Syria. Netanyahu last week showed off what he said was a ‘‘half ton’’ of Iranian nuclear documents dating back to 2003. A senior Israeli intelligence official said there were more than 100,000 pages of documents that gave Israel new insight into how far the Iranian nuclear program progressed. The official said the program was more ‘‘comprehensive and robust’’ than previously thought....."
He has Vlad's trust, and a picture is worth a thousand words (came with the printed article):
Turns out it is all ‘‘fake news.’’
"Trump believes that once the current agreement is destroyed, Iran will come to the table to negotiate a new one. It is unclear how Iran will react, and it is possible that Tehran may choose to stay within the accord, at least initially. That would separate the United States from its European allies, who have made clear they will not follow Washington and reimpose sanctions. Rouhani indicated Monday that Iran would be willing to keep the deal even if the United States pulls out....."
Of course, the Iranians say they won't renegotiate, and why should they?
Here is a quick review:
"The Iran deal was initially unpopular — and was never ratified by Congress, which would have made it harder for Trump to leave the deal — but over time it has gained support, according to public polling. A CNN poll released on Tuesday found that 63 percent of Americans believe the United States should remain in the agreement, while 29 percent said it should withdraw. Republicans largely hailed Trump’s decision, but Democrats — even those who were initially skeptical of the Iran deal — criticized Trump. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump for his “courageous leadership.”
Deranged disingenuousness!
Also see:
Iran May Step Up Nuclear Program, Supreme Leader Says
The New York Times confirms that Iran is keeping its commitments and that Trump wants regime change.
Clashing Views on Iran Reflect a New Balance of Power in the Cabinet
I'm told John Bolton is emerging as an influential figure, with a clear channel to the president and an ability to control the voices he hears, while DefSec Mattis is now isolated.
"Bolton warns sanctions possible for businesses dealing with Iran" by Ryan Beene Bloomberg News May 13, 2018
WASHINGTON — European countries and companies that continue to do business with Iran could face US sanctions, national security adviser John Bolton said Sunday.
Part of the flaw with the Iran deal that President Trump rejected was it enticed Europe and the United States into economic relations with Iran that would work against holding the country accountable for violations of the accord, Bolton said.
‘‘Why would any business, why would the shareholders of any business, want to do business with the world’s central banker of international terrorism?’’ Bolton said on ABC’s ‘‘This Week.’’
Speaking on ‘‘Fox News Sunday,’’ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said withdrawing from the 2015 accord wasn’t aimed at Europeans, but he didn’t rule out the United States imposing sanctions on entities that continue to do business with Iran, even as efforts continue to strike a new deal.
Depends on the circumstances.
‘‘I am hopeful in the days and weeks ahead we can come up with a deal that really works, that really protects the world from Iranian bad behavior,’’ Pompeo said.
Changing the regime in Iran is ‘‘not the policy of the administration,’’ Bolton said on ABC. In a separate interview on CNN’s ‘‘State of the Union,’’ he said Iran’s economic condition is ‘‘really quite shaky,’’ so the impact of sanctions ‘‘could be dramatic.’’
‘‘The consequences of American sanctions go well beyond goods shipped by American companies,’’ Bolton said. ‘‘Because of our technology licenses to many other countries and businesses around the world, as those sanctions kick in, it will have an even broader effect.’’
Former defense secretary Robert Gates said while the Iran deal was ‘‘a flawed agreement’’ because of a lack of unfettered inspections and other problems, leaving the deal isolates the United States and Trump should have extended it for at least another six months to work with allies.
‘‘We could have pushed the Europeans a lot harder, to work with us,’’ Gates said on ‘‘Face the Nation.’’ ‘‘And then in six months, basically if they hadn’t done that, then you would be in a much stronger position. But as it is now, at least for the time being, we’re the country that’s isolated.’’
WHAT?
In his CNN interview, Bolton also praised Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, as a fair public servant but he stopped short of offering an apology for a remark by a White House aide about the senator’s battle with brain cancer.
Then he is a two-faced bastard.
Bolton said he was not present when the aide, Kelly Sadler, told other communications aides at a closed-door staff meeting that McCain’s opposition to Gina Haspel as CIA director did not matter because ‘‘he’s dying anyway.’’
Related: Haspel and Haley
Looks like a pretty good presidential ticket, 'eh?
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Related:
Iran signs oil deal with UK group as France’s Total exits
So much for Macron's sucking up to Trump.
Russia and allies to sign trade pact with Iran
Europeans in Iran Bitterly Denounce the U.S
It's about exerting power, and what matters most is the oil.
US pressing allies to end Iran oil imports by Nov. 4, official says
So is someone else:
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is heading to Europe this week in a bid to rally support from key allies for amending the international nuclear deal with Iran and for pushing Iranian forces out of neighboring Syria. He has found a welcome ally in President Trump. Oded Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to the European Union and senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said, ‘‘There’s no secret that the prime minister wants to completely change the agreement and replace it with an agreement that covers the issues that are missing.’’
I don't think he wants a deal at all, and we were told he was going to hear it about Gaza.
"Ministers from three European countries said Iran should not be cut out of the SWIFT system for international money transfers. Many companies from Europe and the United States have been steadily building up their investments in Iran in the past few years, particularly in the fields of pharmaceuticals, banking, and oil. Any sanctions could be damaging, especially if they affect their business interests in the United States....."
Proving the reach of raw U.S. power.
Even I am in awe.
And they keep on kicking:
"In Cambridge, World Cup brings a jubilant reprieve for local Iranians" by Danny McDonald Globe Staff June 16, 2018
CAMBRIDGE — For the more than 100 Iranians who packed Phoenix Landing, an Irish pub located about 5,900 miles from Tehran, questions about Iran’s political and economic future abound.
Friday’s match offered a two-hour reprieve from that tumult for the local Iranian community, but even on the pitch, Trump’s decision was inescapable: Nike had previously said it could not outfit Iran’s national soccer team with cleats for the World Cup because of new US sanctions, something the country’s fans were acutely aware of.
“It’s a shame,” said Dee Toop, a 29-year-old who lives in Jamaica Plain and holds dual Iranian-American citizenship.
Toop spent some of his youth in Boston but moved to Tehran for middle school in 1998, arriving shortly after the Iranian national team defeated the United States in the World Cup. Soccer, he said, was a way for him to connect to Iranians when he moved.
Being Iranian in the United States can be frustrating at times, he said. People often ask about the origin of his name and whether he is Muslim. He thinks the World Cup has the power to break down stereotypes.
“I think if Iran does well in the World Cup, it can change a lot of politicians’ views, stances, and attitude towards Iranians. If they see them having fun,” he said. “Iranians like to have fun. We don’t just wear black and mourn. We like to drink beer and dance and celebrate.”
Friday certainly found the crowd inside the Central Square bar in a festive mood. Morocco looked the dominant side for stretches during the game, but the Iran supporters erupted at any sniff of a scoring chance for their squad. There were occasional chants, some fans wore Iran jerseys or waved Iranian flags, and someone honked sporadically on a vuvuzela. When Morocco striker Aziz Bouhaddouz headed in an own-goal in the fifth minute of injury time to give Iran a 1-0 victory, the place went nuts.
Yousef Kamancheiy, a 30-year-old PhD student at Harvard from Tehran who has lived in the United States since 2010, said thoughts of sanctions and the political situation in his homeland are omnipresent, before acknowledging: “When you’re watching the game, you’re watching the game.”
He called Trump’s decision to impose harsh sanctions misguided.
“I think it hurts ordinary people and strengthens the government,” he said.
Alhan Fadiani, a 29-year-old pharmacist, said her family fled religious persecution in Iran 14 years ago. Her family, who are members of the Bahai faith, sought asylum in the United States. She lives in Newton. She lays the blame for sanctions and the current state of the country squarely on the shoulders of the Iranian government.
Related:
"In contrast to Iranian Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians, tolerated minorities who even have their own representatives in Parliament, the Bahais have been persecuted in Iran ever since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Their belief in another prophet after Muhammad is anathema to Shi’ite Muslim clerics, who consider Muhammad the final messenger of God. There are five million to seven million Bahais worldwide. Their headquarters is in Haifa, Israel, another reason Iran’s establishment distrusts them. “The leader of their cult is Zionism,” the head of Iran’s paramilitary Basij organization, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naghdi, said Monday. “Supporting them means being a lackey of the Zionists,” because they are considered impure."
Looks like a Holy War coming, huh?
Whatever happened with that YouTube shooting anyway?
“I’m not going to blame other countries because the government is so brutal to the people,” she said.
Even if there were no sanctions, “people in Iran are miserable,” she said.
“There are so many people, they have no freedom and the economy is terrible,” she said.
Roozbeh Raoufi, a 32-year-old who lives in Watertown and is a doctoral student in engineering at Northeastern University, said that in the wake of Trump’s announcement, no one is quite sure what is going to happen next. He said he has no plans to return home “given the current situation” because he’s concerned he won’t be able to return. Of Trump, he said, “All Iranians hate him.”
Well, at least he has brought somebody together!!
Homan Mohammadi, a 26-year-old recent graduate of Harvard Business School who lives in Cambridge, said the Iranian diaspora is far from cohesive. Iranians have different political and social views. He said he thinks most Iranians are opposed to the sanctions because their families will be affected, but there are also many Iranians who are fed up with their government and are willing to put up with the economic pressure of the sanctions if they prompt internal change in the country.
Yeah, sure. If so, then we Americans have something in common with them.
Why did the web version edit out that printed part?
“I think Iranians are looking for something to come together around,” he said. “The people are pretty divided on most issues. Football is definitely one of those things that can bring people together.”
At least they all hate Trump.
After the game, Mahdi Hagzhadeh, a 32-year-old engineer, said Iranian expats all have their own reasons for leaving their country, but there are still things that resonate.
“Sport is one of them,” he said.
After the game, on the sidewalk outside the bar, Amir Namin, a 33-year-old who lives in Boston, talked about future unknowns. His visa expires in August, and his entire family lives in Iran. He was unsure if he was going to be able to go back to visit them, he said. He then turned his attention to the game.
“People in Iran need this,” he said. “It’s a release.”
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Turns out the Globe hates soccer.
Related:
"The Krafts, whose team helped launch MLS in 1996, have searched for a stadium site for years — including in Somerville, Roxbury, and Dorchester, among other places. So far, it’s failed to score. But why? Blame it on Boston’s costly and complex real estate market, its thorny neighborhood politics, and the economics of stadiums in a city where taxpayer-funded subsidies are a tough sell....."
Unless it's GE, Hollywood, or some other corporate conglomerate or elite interest.
Iran protests over water scarcity
You know, managing water is the government’s “most important policy challenge,” and the fact that the Jewi$h War Pre$$ tells us it wasn’t immediately clear who led the unplanned demonstration that came a day after protests forced two major shopping centers to close amongst widespread unease in Iran means it is all too clear who is behind this latest Color revolutIon Attempt.
"Trump says there ‘might be an escalation’ between US, Iran" by Matthew Lee Associated Press July 12, 2018
BRUSSELS — President Trump on Thursday forecast an unspecified ‘‘escalation’’ between the United States and Iran following his withdrawal from a landmark deal that provided sanctions relief for Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
Trump’s remarks came as his administration pressed European nations at a NATO summit to cut off all funding that Iran may use to foment instability in the Middle East and beyond.
Trump asserted that Iran was now treating the United states with more respect, although there’s no evidence to support that, and predicted Tehran will seek negotiations as reimposed sanctions bite.
‘‘At a certain point, they’re going to call me and they’re going to say, ‘Let’s make a deal,’ and we’ll make a deal,’ ’’ Trump said at a news conference in Brussels.
After the NATO summit ended Thursday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with European officials to make the case for clamping down on Iranian ‘‘terrorism and proxy wars.’’
‘‘We ask our allies and partners to join our economic pressure campaign against Iran’s regime,’’ Pompeo said in a tweet before the talks.
‘‘We must cut off all funding the regime uses to fund terrorism and proxy wars. There’s no telling when Iran may try to foment terrorism, violence & instability in one of our countries next.’’ The tweet was accompanied by a map accusing Iran of sponsoring at least 11 terrorist attacks in Europe since 1978.
And how many ISIS attacks since then?!!!!
So what are we getting, Mike, a mushroom cloud over Chicago?
In another post, Pompeo said ‘‘Iran continues to send weapons across the Middle East, in blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Iran’s regime wants to start trouble wherever it can. It’s our responsibility to stop it.’’
The U.S. far and away leads the world in weapons sales.
Other US officials have fanned out around the globe to warn foreign governments to stop buying oil from Iran or face sanctions. Pompeo also has accused Iran of using its embassies to plot terrorist attacks in Europe.
Ours are CIA stations!
‘‘Just this past week there were Iranians arrested in Europe who were preparing to conduct a terror plot in Paris, France. We have seen this malign behavior in Europe,’’ Pompeo said in an interview on Tuesday with Sky News Arabia in Abu Dhabi.
He was referring to the arrest of an Iranian diplomat posted to Vienna who allegedly was involved in the plot to bomb an Iranian opposition group rally in France on June 30. The envoy’s arrest in Germany came after a couple with Iranian roots was stopped in Belgium and authorities reported finding powerful explosives in their car.
Looks like a set-up.
Related: Rudy Giuliani calls for Iran regime change at rally linked to extreme group
At least he got paid.
Btw, even Iranians who are unhappy with the mullahs don't want those Shah-era crazies back, and isn't that interfering in another nation's politics?
Iran denies involvement and contends the allegations against its diplomat are intended to damage its relations with the European Union.
The diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, was charged in Germany on Wednesday with activity as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit murder.
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Here is another staged and scripted provocation:
"Israel details raid for Iran nuclear data; Blowtorches used to extract reports from 32 safes" by David E. Sanger, New York Times | July 16, 2018
TEL AVIV -- The Mossad agents moving in on a warehouse in a drab commercial district of Tehran knew exactly how much time they had to disable the alarms, break through two doors, cut through dozens of giant safes, and get out of the city with a half-ton of secret materials: six hours and 29 minutes.
The morning shift of Iranian guards would arrive around 7 a.m., a year of Israeli surveillance of the warehouse had revealed, and the agents were under orders to leave before 5 a.m. to have enough time to escape.
Once the Iranian custodians arrived, it would be instantly clear that someone had stolen much of the country's clandestine nuclear archive, documenting years of work on atomic weapons, warhead designs, and production plans.
The agents arrived that night, Jan. 31, with torches that burned at least 3,600 degrees, hot enough, as they knew from intelligence collected during the planning of the operation, to cut through the 32 Iranian-made safes, but they left many untouched, going first for the ones containing the black binders which contained the most critical designs. When time was up, according to the Israeli government officials who requested anonymity, they fled for the border with 50,000 pages and 163 compact discs of memos, videos, and plans.
In late April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the results of the heist, after giving President Trump a private viewing at the White House. He said it was another reason Trump should abandon the 2015 nuclear deal, arguing that the documents proved Iranian deception and an intent to resume bomb production.
They didn't meet in the room alone, did they?
A few days later, Trump followed through on his longstanding threat to pull out of the accord -- a move that continues to strain relations between the United States and European allies.
Last week, at the invitation of the Israeli government, three reporters, including one from the New York Times, were shown key documents from the trove.
They had no problem being propaganda tools of the Israeli government, huh?
Many confirmed what inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, in report after report, had suspected: Despite Iranian insistence that its program was for peaceful purposes, the country had worked in the past to systematically assemble everything it needed to produce atomic weapons.
"It's quite good," Robert Kelley, a former agency inspector, said in Vienna, after being shown some of the documents. "The papers show these guys were working on nuclear bombs."
There is no way to independently confirm the authenticity of the documents, most of which were at least 15 years old, dating from the time when an effort called Project Amad was ordered halted and some nuclear work moved deeper under cover.
You mean, like what Israel did at Dimona?
Not only that, the NYT is trying to imply that Iran is still working on a bomb.
Have they no shame?
The Israelis hand-picked the documents shown to the reporters, meaning that exculpatory material could have been left out. They said some material had been withheld to avoid providing intelligence to others seeking to make weapons.
(Blog editor just shakes his head)
The Iranians have maintained that the entire trove is fraudulent -- another elaborate scheme by the Israelis to get sanctions reimposed on the country, but US and British intelligence officials, after their own review, which included comparing the documents to some they had previously obtained from spies and defectors, said they believed it was genuine.
Like I'm going to believe anything US and British intelligence officials have to say after the Dodgy Dossier and the Skripals.
PUH-LEEZE!!!!!!
From what the Israelis showed to the reporters a few things are clear.
The Iranian program to build a nuclear weapon was almost certainly larger, more sophisticated, and better organized than most suspected in 2003, when Project Amad was declared ended, according to outside nuclear experts consulted by the Times.
The documents detailed the challenges of integrating a nuclear weapon into a warhead for the Shahab-3, an Iranian missile. One document proposed sites for possible underground nuclear tests and described plans to build an initial batch of five weapons.
None was built, possibly because the Iranians feared being caught, or because a campaign by US and Israeli intelligence agencies to sabotage the effort with cyberattacks and disclosures of facilities, took its toll.
I'm sorry, what was that last part about cyberattacks?!
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Yup, that's the smoking gun, all right!
Now we are being told Iran has purchased 400 tons of so-called yellowcake uranium from Kazakhstan and Russia, and that they are increasing enrichment. They are nowhere near enriching the stuff to the 90 percent capacity to make a bomb and the IAEA has verified their compliance with the nuclear deal, but don't let that stop you from rushing into another war for the Jews because we will crush them.
"Iranian officials accuse Trump of ‘psychological warfare’" by Erin Cunningham Washington Post July 23, 2018
ISTANBUL — Iranian officials accused the White House of waging ‘‘psychological warfare’’ and vowed Monday to resist any US efforts to destabilize their government.
The United States is expected to reimpose sanctions on Iran within two weeks.
The late-night missive from Trump was in response to earlier remarks from Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, in which he said that war with Iran would be ‘‘the mother of all wars.’’ He also said the United States ‘‘must realize that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace,’’ Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.
If all he ever fires off at them is tweets, I'll be happy, and my ma$$ media never reported the second half of that last night!
You know, the peace part!
Trump fired back in a Twitter message written entirely in capital letters. He said that if Iran threatens the United States again, it would ‘‘suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before.’’
That's scary because I would suspect that only the Japanese have experienced such a thing.
The Trump administration has announced new efforts to try to undermine Iran’s government, including social media messaging and a Persian-language broadcast channel.
But we are NOT INTERFERING!
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the initiative Sunday night during a speech to Iranian Americans in California. In the past, US-funded media efforts in Iran have had little impact and reached only a small audience.
Then it is a waste of money.
I wonder which well-connected friend is getting the contract.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, said Monday that Pompeo’s speech, in which he likened Iran’s rulers to the Mafia, ‘‘was hypocritical and absurd,’’ but the harshest words came from Iran’s hard-liners, including Revolutionary Guard commanders.
Then is that old American joke: the government is organized crime and organized crime is the government.
Military experts have long warned that Iran could use such militias to attack US troops in places such as Iraq and Syria. Skirmishes this year between Israel and the Revolutionary Guard and its proxies have raised the specter of war.
Another military commander, Kiomars Heidari, reiterated late Sunday Iran’s threat to block the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for about 30 percent of the world’s oil tanker traffic, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.....
Oh, another Gulf of Tonkin then, only this time it's a real false flag and not a fiction.
So when is an Israeli sub going to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf?
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And then awaaaaayyyyy we go as war bursts into open. The planned strike is imminent. Israel has activated its missile defense system, which creates the possibility of a dangerous regional conflict between Israel and Iran that will drag in the U.S. They have just been biding their time, and as for abandoning the Kurds, they should be used to AmeriKa doing that by now.
I expect the Iranians will rally (they have already threatened Tel Aviv and Haifa) and you know what? The next time a terrorist drives a truck into a crowd of people maybe should do what Iran does. That ought to make 'em hit the brakes.
