‘Iranian plot’ and war threats

15 October 2011.

This video from the USA says about itself:

War Hawks Seize on Iran Plot

The rhetoric surrounding the alleged terror plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US, is heating up. We’ll tell you what Vice President Joe Biden had to say and other Republican lawmakers have gone even further, declaring this an act of war. The State Department has issued a travel warning for American citizens abroad. So how far could the US go with this? Ali Gharib with ThinkProgress.org discusses.

USA: FBI Account of “Terror Plot” Suggests Sting Operation. Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: “While the administration of Barack Obama vows to hold the Iranian government ‘accountable’ for the alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, the legal document describing evidence in the case provides multiple indications that it was mainly the result of an FBI ‘sting’ operation. The legal document … also suggests that the idea originated with and was strongly pushed by a undercover DEA informant, at the direction of the FBI”: here.

With Official Washington abuzz over a bizarre U.S. accusation that Iran’s Quds spy agency plotted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, it might be worth recalling how American authorities responded to an actual terror bombing in Washington 35 years ago that killed a former Chilean foreign minister and an American co-worker: here.

WASHINGTON, Oct 17, 2011 (IPS) – Officials of the Barack Obama administration have aggressively leaked information supposedly based on classified intelligence in recent days to bolster its allegation that two higher- ranking officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were involved in a plot to assassinate Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir in Washington, D.C.: here.

Used-car salesman as Iran proxy? Why assassination plot doesn’t add up for experts: here.

US May Have Concealed Deterrent Aim of Iranian Plan. Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: “Scepticism about the U.S. allegation of an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador has focused on doubts that high-level Iranian officials would have used someone like used car salesman Monssor Arbabsiar to carry out the mission. But when the scanty evidence in the FBI account about what Arbabsiar actually proposed is interpreted in the context of Iran’s past strategy for deterring external attack, it suggests that Arbabsiar’s mission may have been to arrange for surveillance of and contingency plans for targets to be hit in the event that Iran is attacked by the United States or Israel”: here.

Falling for New Neocon Propaganda. Ray McGovern, Consortium News: “One not-so-funny fact about Washington is that nearly all the news media stars who fell for neoconservative falsehoods about Iraq are still around to fall for new ones on Iran, even some like Richard Cohen who briefly regretted his earlier gullibility”: here.

UK military steps up plans for Iran attack amid fresh nuclear fears: here.

Why I Published US Intelligence Secrets About Israel’s Anti-Iran Campaign. Richard Silverstein, Truthout: “In 2009, Shamai Leibowitz was working secretly for the FBI, translating wiretapped conversations among Israeli diplomats in this country. He passed some transcripts of these conversations to me, which described an Israeli diplomatic campaign in this country to create a hostile environment for relations with Iran. I published excerpts from them in my blog…. I think Americans should salute Shamai Leibowitz and wish him well. I know he has suffered a great deal and getting on with his life will be hard. If anyone deserves a break, he does”: here.

Gareth Porter: Debunking the Iran “Terror Plot”: here.

Report: Israeli company sold surveillance equipment to Iran: here.