Posts
Hezbollah Evacuates Lebanon
Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by Israeli assassins using a remote controlled machine gun left inside a car which then blew up, sources within Tehran have claimed.
Fakhrizadeh was shot at least three times by the gun, positioned in a Nissan pickup that was parked alongside the road he was travelling on, before it blew up, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
The details emerged as Iran held a funeral for the slain scientist, known as the father of the country's nuclear programme, in Tehran on Monday - where leaders continued to vow revenge for his killing.
On Sunday, a hardline Iranian newspaper run by one of the Ayatollah's advisers, called for the Israeli port city of Haifa to be attacked in retaliation - in such a way as to guarantee 'heavy human casualties'.
Senior figures within the Iranian leadership hold Israel responsible for killing Fakhrizadeh. Israel has not acknowledged the killing.
Iran's top security official, Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani of the Supreme National Security Council, said the "operation was very complex, using electronic equipment and no one was present at the scene".
He said that Iranian resistance group The People's Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) were "certainly" involved, along with "the Zionist regime and the Mossad".
The description of the remote-control assassination contradict previous reports in the Iranian press that claimed the Nissan pickup exploded first, before a team of human assassins descended on the convoy, hauled Fakhrizadeh out of his car, and shot him in the street.
Revealing more about the new account of how Fakhrizadeh, sources told Fars that he had been travelling in a bulletproof car with his wife north of Tehran when something hit the car, causing the convoy it was travelling in to stop.
Fakhrizadeh then got out of the car to check what was happening before the remote-controlled gun opened fire, Fars said. The nuclear scientist was shot twice in the side and once in the spine, killing him.
A bodyguard who tried to shield Fakhrizadeh's body was also shot and wounded before the parked car exploded.
'In this operation, which lasted about three minutes, no human agents were present at the scene of the assassination, and the shootings were carried out only with automated weapons,' a source was quoted as saying.
Investigators also claimed to have identified the owner of the Nissan, who they said left the country on Sunday, two days after the attack took place.
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the country's Supreme National Security Council, repeated the line during Fakhrizadeh's funeral, saying that 'electronic devices' were used in the attack.
State TV's Arabic-language channel, Al-Alam, also claimed the weapons were 'controlled by satellite' and added that weapons found at the scene had been identified as 'made in Israel'.
Iran has been caught in a quandary over how to respond to the assassination, with some urging immediate action while others - including President Hassan Rouhnai - urged patience.
Iran is thought to fear that any tit-for-tat attack could force incoming President Joe Biden to backtrack on a pledge to renegotiate a nuclear deal with the country that Trump tore up.
For Iran, the deal would mean the lifting of sanctions which have crippled the country's economy and led to domestic unrest.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed 'definitive punishment of the perpetrators and those who ordered [the attack]' without saying who he believes is responsible.
During the funeral, Defence Minister Hatami added: 'The enemy knows very well that no crime will go unanswered by the Iranian nation, and we will definitely pursue the criminals, and the command of the Supreme Leader will be carried out.
'We are facing an enemy who for 40 years said that the military option is on the table, but did not dare use it and shamefully carried out this attack under the table.
Valley Aware of Eminent Iranian Strike
STRONG INDICATIONS OF
IRAN MISSILE STRIKE
AGAINST HAIFA, ISRAEL -
COMING TONIGHT
30 November, 2020
Intelligence intercepts, air surveillance and satellite recon are ALL pointing to a missile launch by Iran - or its proxies in the Golan Heights - against the Israeli port city of Haifa - TONIGHT.
Iran has vowed to avenge the murder of its top nuclear program scientist.
The remains of the weapon used in the Friday assassination of senior nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh show that it was made in Israel, an informed source told Press TV.
The source made the revelation on Monday, saying the weapon collected from the site of the terrorist act bears the logo and specifications of the Israeli military industry.
Iran's Ministry of Intelligence also said it had obtained "new leads" on the identity of the perpetrators and that the information "will be publicized very soon."
A former head of the Defense Ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, Fakhrizadeh was targeted in an attack involving at least one explosion and machinegun fire in the town of Absard near Tehran.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Sunday that the assassination bears all the hallmarks of the Israeli regime.
The history of Tel Aviv’s sabotage targeting Iran’s nuclear energy program is as old as the program itself.
Many observers believe Israel is not able to carry out such dangerous operations without the prior information and support of the United States which left a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in 2015.
Israel possesses the Middle East’s sole nuclear arsenal estimated to contain at least 200 warheads. The occupying regime maintains a policy of ambiguity concerning its nuclear weapons, neither confirming nor denying publicly that it has the capability.
Unlike Iran, it also refuses to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and does not allow any international inspection of its nuclear weapons program.
UPDATE 3:51 PM EST --
Hezbollah is evacuating their (near Israel) Syrian posts . . . They seem to KNOW an attack is coming.
It’s just after midnight in the region, and things seem to happen between 0200 and 0500
UPDATE 4:22 PM EST --
Many INBOUND airline flights being CANCELLED into Tel Aviv
UPDATE 6:04 PM EST --
Almost ALL Commercial airliners have evacuated Iraq air space in anticipation of either:
1) A large missile launch originating in Iran, AND/OR
2) A large return strike by Israel and/or the USA
Radar Map:
To have this type of activity taking place is a very clear indication that airlines found out THROUGH OFFICIAL CHANNELS to keep planes away . . .
The world should thank Israel for killing prominent Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, gloated a senior official of the Zionist state in an interview with the New York Times.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the senior official who was involved in tracking down the 59-year-old before he was gunned down on route to visit his family, pledged that Israel would continue to act against the Islamic Republic as it saw fit.
Israel has so far declined to comment on the assassination which has been met with outrage and condemnation. Remarks by the anonymous Israeli official to the Times are the closest the occupation state has come to admitting to the killing.
Gloating over what many have denounced as an act of "state terrorism", the Israeli official said that Iran's aspirations for nuclear weapons, promoted by Fakhrizadeh, posed such a menace, that the world should thank Zionist state.
READ: Iran says 'hard revenge awaits' scientist's killers
Not even Israel's allies are buying that narrative and instead the killing has been met with scorn. "This was a criminal act & highly reckless," former CIA Director John Brennan said in a tweet that implied President Donald Trump was somehow involved. "It risks lethal retaliation & a new round of regional conflict. Iran leaders would be wise to wait for the return of responsible American leadership on the global stage & to resist the urge to respond against perceived culprits."
Brennan went on to imply that the killing of Fakhrizadeh was an act of terrorism. "I do not know whether a foreign government authorized or carried out the the murder of Fakhrizadeh," tweeted Brennan. "Such an act of state-sponsored terrorism would be a flagrant violation of international law & encourage more governments to carry out lethal attacks against foreign officials."
Aware that his comments opened him up to the accusation of hypocrisy, Brennan who under the administration of President Barack Obama escalated the US' policy of assassination, explained that the killing of scientists "are far different than strikes against terrorist leaders & operatives of groups like al-Qaida & Islamic State, which are not sovereign states". According to Brennan "as illegitimate combatants under international law, they can be targeted in order to stop deadly terrorist attacks."
Iranian Propaganda Video Showcases IRGC Military Capabilities, Threatens Israel and America
BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:20 P.M.) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday evening that the assassination of Fakhrizadeh was a cowardly terrorist act resulting from Pompeo’s recent visit to the region and the American-Israeli-Saudi meeting in the Kingdom.
The Iranian Foreign Minister said on Instagram that “supporters of the maximum American pressure are seeking in the last days of the Trump administration to create unrest in the region and destroy the atmosphere that may lead to the lifting of sanctions.”
Zarif said on his blog, “With our condolences for the brutal assassination of the prominent nuclear scientist in the country, the martyr Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, I would like to share with you an important point .. As you can see in the news, the founders and supporters of the failed policy these days try to exert maximum pressure on the brave Iranian nation to use the last days of the Trump regime to create unrest and destroy the atmosphere created to lift the repressive sanctions. ”
“Pompeo’s quick trips to the region, the trilateral meeting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Netanyahu’s statements show the conspiracy that unfortunately culminated in a cowardly terrorist act on Friday and the martyrdom of one of the country’s top leaders,” he continued.
“At the same time, a counter-intelligence campaign and a psychological warfare led by the same satanic axis began.”
He added that the Iranian authorities and the smart people “will never be fooled by these recent attacks by international terrorists and notorious Zionist extremists and will maintain their unity with any ideology and profession to ensure the achievements of their heroic resistance to the economic war between Trump and his allies.”
From the Saker
The AngloZionists are trying
to provoke a war with Iran
28 November, 2020
There is really nothing particularly complicated about what just happened: the AngloZionists have murdered a top Iranian scientist in the hope that this murder will trigger a war. The Iranians have promised a retaliation, but have not taken any action, at least so far.
Since there are those who will inevitably conclude that “Iran cannot do anything“, or “Iran is afraid” or even “Iran should strike Israel“, all I want to do today is to mention a few basic things about deterrence and retaliation. Let’s begin by the former: deterrence.
Deterrence: there are two fundamental ways to deter an enemy: denial and punishment. The first case in infinitely more desirable than the second one. Why? Denial simply means that you can counter-act your enemy’s attack plans by preventing your enemy from achieving success. This is what an air defense system does: it destroys the incoming missile before it reaches the target.
In our case, an effective denial strategy would have been executed by effectively protecting Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and his family from any attacks. It is clear that the Iranians miserably failed at this task. Frankly, I have to say that I find no possible excuse for this: everybody knew for years that Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was on the Israeli hit list thus the Iranian authorities had years to prepare to fully defend him. In truth, that is not as hard as it seems. Yet, all they apparently did, was to provide him with two body guards and what looks to me like a non-armored car. It is also obvious that the attackers knew exactly where his car would drive by and when. Again, this is simply inexcusable. If the Iranian counter-terrorist and counter-intelligence services are so sloppy, then that means that there are many more key Iranian officials which could be killed next. Bottom line: the Iranians have proven that they are not capable of denial.
Hopefully, they have now learned their lesson and that more competent and determined specialists will now be in charge of protecting key Iranian figures.
Even worse is the very strong possibility that some Iranian officials might have been recruited by the AngloZionsts to assist in the execution of the assassination plan. Never say never, but I strongly believe that such assassinations are not possible without local accomplices. Again, this is a question which Iranian security services will have to not only answer, but answer for!
If the Iranians are not capable of denial, then this means that their only option to deter such attacks is punishment.
Can the Iranian punish the US and/or Israel?
Yes, of course they can, but only at the risk of doing exactly that which the AngloZionists want to achieve: give the Empire a pretext for war or, at the very least, a non-symbolic strike on key Iranian facilities (and, possibly, officials).
The key factor to consider here is that the aggregate power of Iran is still much weaker than the aggregate power of the AngloZionist Empire. Like it or not, but this is a fact. Even Russia and China are globally weaker than the Empire, so they all share the same problem: how to deter a stronger party?
In fact, there are options other than immediately responding to the attack.
One option is what the CIA calls “plausible deniability” (the Russian equivalent would be “make sure your ears don’t stick out“): you make sure that there is no way to prove that you took any action. That can be done by using proxys and/or by covert operations.
[Sidebar: I read that the Iranians killed two of the attackers and captured one alive; if that is true, then I bet you that these terrorists were neither US nor Israels but locals, meaning terrorists hired either in Iran or elsewhere in the Middle-East. This is how the CIA always operates, just remember how the CIA engaged in a campaign of car bombing in Lebanon in which local CIA assets were used to plant the bombs. In a typical CIA fashion, these attacks resulted in 83 dead on hundreds of wounded, but missed the intended target: Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah].
Another option is what could be called “retaliation by a thousand cuts” – this is what the Iranians are doing to the USA in Iraq: pro-Iranian forces regularly attack US forces and positions, but always below the threshold at which the USA has to take major, public action. This approach can be summed up like so: “surely you will not start a full scale war just over a relatively minor incident?“. Keep the “incidents” “minor” enough and your enemy will be frustrated and unable to articulate an adequate response, especially over time.
Let’s discuss time now. It is said that “revenge is a dish best served cold“. This is true! When the AngloZionists execute a high-risk covert operation they will typically try to get their forces in a higher state of readiness in case of a overt retaliatory strike. But here is the problem: no force or facility can remain at maximum readiness forever. It is too expensive, too complicated, too disruptive of normal operations and, finally, some form or other of boredom sets in. Even better, the primitive attacker will sooner or later conclude that “we dodged that bullet” or “they did not dare attack us“, breathe a sigh of relief and resume normal activities.
Next, comes place/location: if you are the weaker party but you do want to retaliate, not only are you much better off doing that after enough time passes for your adversary to let down his guard, you also can chose to retaliate very far away from where you yourself were attacked. In our case, that means that since the AngloZionist did commit their terrorist act in plain view of the world, you need not to the same thing. Hit them somewhere as far away from their own national territory as possible. The good news is that the AngloZionist Empire has a planet-wide footprint. And, even better, the Empire is really already dead and unable to keep a high state of readiness worldwide. Simply put, there are *a lot* of very easy targets out there, it is quite easy to pick one.
Keep in mind that you do not have to retaliate in kind. If they murder one of your scientists this does not at all mean that you have to murder one of theirs: there are many venues open for retaliation which do not at all require killing anybody: you can retaliate economically, politically and you can also chose to retaliate against any US/Israeli colony out there (of which there are still plenty). How?
For example, the Iranians could retaliate against any so-called any US or Israeli “ally” in the Middle-East and even elsewhere. Remember, the huge footprint of the Empire makes it indefensible and the current political chaos in the USA might be exactly what some of these so-called “allies” need to try to slip from under the US/Israeli control.
In truth, Iran has an options galore!
Yes, Iran will probably not execute and immediate and public action of retaliation similar to what happened following the murder of General Soleimani. Why? Because they don’t have to! The main point of the Iranian counter-strike was to show the world, and especially the US decision-makers, the the US posture in the Middle-East makes it extremely vulnerable to Iranian missile strikes. They don’t need to do this again. In fact, if the logic or the Iranian counter-strike was to show that there would be hell to pay for the US and Israel in case of full scale attack, it would be completely illogical and counter-productive to now do exactly that which could trigger such an attack.
I think that we can be absolutely sure that Iran will retaliate for the murders of Soleimani and Fakhrizadeh, but my guess is that this retaliation will be “served cold” and, probably, in an asymmetrical manner. This has nothing to do with any Iranian “fears” or “weaknesses” and everything to do with the fact that Iranians are superb strategists.
The Saker
PS: those interested in Iranian covert operations could look into PanAm 103 and how the Iranians used Iraqi exiles to deflect the planned AngloZionist attack on Iran to their mortal enemy next door: Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. I just don’t have the material time to write about these now, but follow the leads and you can find out for yourself what actually happened.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.