Iran War: Resource Info

 

by Sarah Meyer
Index Research

(24 Jan 2007)

 

Imam Mosque, Esfahan, Iran

It is impossible to assess what is truthfully happening between the USA, Iran - and Israel. There is zero media discussion. There are no comparative assessments of international news. How many people know exactly what war preparations are now in place, and what future plans are being made? Following is an (incomplete) collection of international news articles concerning a potential World War III. I have taken most earlier articles relating to Iran from PNAC: Rebuilding America's Defenses - A Biopsy on Imperialism; Part II: "Special Interests" - The Persian Gulf and collated them with more recent articles.

1. Imperial Hypocrisy
2. Petro-Dollar Warfare with Iran
3. Iran and Gas
4. Iran / Iraq
5. Iran / Israel
6. Russia
7. Warnings, Blaming and Scolding - Bribery?
8. Sanctions in Iran
9. UK Weapons to Israel
10. US: $s and weapons to Israel
11. Nuclear War for Oil in Iran? |The Buildup to War
12. Now What?
13. Footnotes
 

IMPERIAL HYPOCRISY


If one compares the engineering of the crisis which led to the war of aggression against Iraq with the current engineering of crisis to justify aggression against Iran, one is not likely to identify differences. The lies and the language are the same. The path to peaceful resolution is deliberately replaced by the path to war of aggression. The motive is to manipulate public opinion and justify war of aggression against another Muslim nation. Ghali Hassan.

The American hypocrisy, presently focused mainly on Iran, is grounded in the US endorsement of the Iran Nuclear Program which was initiated during President Ford's administration, reports Ed Haas. Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfovitz held key positions at this time. Read this story here.

Terence Gatt, in November '05, wrote in The Enduring Threat, A Brief History. "The American harsh stand reflects a longstanding mutual suspicion that has characterized relations between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution ...The controversial issue of Iranian ambitions for a civilian nuclear energy project ironically began with the assistance of the United States during the reign of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi ... Iran purchased a research nuclear reactor from the United States that was put into operation in 1967."

In January '06, Paul Rogers wrote in Open Democracy: "The United States and its British ally are planning to modernise their nuclear-weapons arsenal while castigating Iran for its nuclear-power programme." More

Enver Masud said that Israel was not a signatory to the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. "... it is no secret that (Israel) has been threatening strikes on Iran's Bushehr nuclear electric power plant - just as it launched an unprovoked and illegal attack on Iraq's Osirak nuclear electric power plant in 1981." AFP announced that Israel Will Not Allow Iran To Obtain WMDs. According to a Times article, Israel's special forces are trying to find Iran's secret enrichment sites. These forces are based inside Iraq, with the approval of Americans. In this same article is a discussion of NATO's possible involvement in a military strike against Iran.

On 24 January, Julian Borger wrote in the Guardian: "George Bush yesterday committed the US to the defence of Israel against threats from Iran, saying he would not allow the world to be 'blackmailed' by an Iranian nuclear weapon."

Bush said, "We're committed to the safety of Israel." So much so that the US is financing Israel's armament industry. Last year, the United States delivered 500 "bunker-busting" bombs to Israel. The conservative total for U.S. aid to Israel is $91b. The world owes Israel $23b, says YnetNews.1

M La Rosa noted: "At present, there is only one country in the Middle East with "secret" and ambiguous stockpiles of nuclear weapons" in an article entitled The Most Dangerous Double Standard in the Middle East.

In January '06, the US tried to blackmail India: "The Americans have warned India that its nuclear deal signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's last trip to Washington will die in Congress if it doesn't back the US on Iran." The US is said to now have a new nuclear agreement with India, which would enable New Delhi to "expand atomic weapons production."2 WorldWatch, in its report, 'China and India', says that renewable energy sources "would be more practical energy solutions." The report also says: "It's going to be tough to argue that Iran and North Korea should be denied nuclear technology while India--which has failed to even join the Non-Proliferation Treaty--is given the same technology on a silver platter."

The US has nothing against nuclear power. With a new plan called the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership announced with the Fiscal Year 2007 budget earlier this month, Bush said, "Under this partnership, America will work with nations that have advanced civilian nuclear energy programs, such as France, Japan, and Russia."

Nor has Bush criticized China. The commercial satellite photos from 2000 - 2004 provide a new look at China's nuclear forces and bases."

The worst hypocrisy of all was committed on February 23, when the US and the UK conducted a joint subcritical nuclear test at the US test site in Nevada.

On 4 March '06, Walter Pincus reported in the Washington Post: "The Bush administration is developing plans to design and deploy refurbished or replacement warheads for the nuclear stockpile, and by 2030 to modernize the production complex so that, if required, it could produce new generations of weapons with different or modified capabilities."

In August '06, S. O'Neill wrote in an article entitled The Hypocrisy of Corporate Wars in Axis of Logic: "Wars of conquest over the past centuries, or even millennia, have been fought not to add to the comfort of the people who were represented in the invading armies or their families at home, but for the increased feeling of power of the emperors, kings or presidents."

Video: How the US Learned to Love the Bomb (Again)

"Audacious in its shameless and extreme hypocrisy. The man who has led the world in violence during the first years of the 21st century could pay homage to the world's leading practitioner of nonviolence during the first half of the 20th century". Normon Solomon, Mahatma Bush.

Lying Like It's 2003
21.01.07. Frank Rich, NYTimes / Truth Out. The latest lies are custom-made to prop up the new "way forward" that is anything but. Among the emerging examples is a rewriting of the history of Iraq's sectarian violence. The fictional version was initially laid out by Mr. Bush in his Jan. 10 prime-time speech and has since been repeated on television by both Mr. Cheney and the national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, last Sunday and by Mr. Bush again on PBS's "NewsHour" on Tuesday. It goes like this: sectarian violence didn't start spiraling out of control until the summer of 2006, after Sunni terrorists bombed the Golden Mosque in Samarra and forced the Shiites to take revenge. But as Mark Seibel of McClatchy Newspapers noted last week, "the president's account understates by at least 15 months when Shiite death squads began targeting Sunni politicians and clerics." They were visible in embryo long before that; The Times, among others, reported as far back as September 2003 that Shiite militias were becoming more radical, dangerous and anti-American. … In reality we're learning piece by piece that it is the White House that has no plan.
 

PETRO-DOLLAR WARFARE WITH IRAN

Discussion about the Iranian Bourse has never been Top of The Pops for either the US government or Mainstream Media. Instead, Iran's nuclear energy development leading to future (10 years?) theoretical (only) nuclear bombs in Iran is the Pentagon's propaganda rotating shovel, mirroring Saddam's non-existent WMD fables. Once again, no questions are being asked. Is MSM as guilty of deception as the governments they parrot?

In October '04, William Clarke wrote an article, The Real Reasons Why Iran is the Next Target. "The Iranians are about to commit an "offense" far greater than Saddam Hussein's conversion to the euro of Iraq's oil exports in the fall of 2000" (see above). "Numerous articles have revealed Pentagon planning for operations against Iran as early as 2005. While the publicly stated reasons will be over Iran's nuclear ambitions, there are unspoken macroeconomic drivers explaining the Real Reasons regarding the 2nd stage of petrodollar warfare - Iran's upcoming euro-based oil Bourse."

Clarke wrote a further article in August '05, Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil Bourse Media Monitors. One can hear Mr. Clark's 28 January '06 talk on the petrodollar here

Krassimir Petrov also wrote an outstanding article, The Proposed Iranian Oil Bourse, in January '06. The key Petrov points can be read here.

Mike Whitney also says that 'Iran's Oil-exchange threatens the Greenback.' "This is why Bush and Co. are planning to lead the nation to war against Iran. It is straightforward defense of the current global system and the continuing dominance of the reserve currency, the dollar."

Other articles on Iran's Bourse are: E. Rutledge, alJazeera (03.11.05) : Iran - a threat to the petrodollar? and Linda Heard (25.01.06) : Iran's new bourse may threaten the dollar

The Iran Oil Bourse is scheduled to open on March 20th, using euro as a trading currency.

The Dollar vs. the Euro

US controls price of crude oil
18.09.06. English People.

Euro Faces Huge Change If Others Follow Iran, Says UBS's Baweja
06.12.06. Bloomberg.

Iran to replace dollar with euro
18.12.06. jazeeranet.

Iran turns from dollar to euro in oil sales
22.12.06. Times on Line.

U.N. votes for trade sanctions on Iran's “nuclear” work
23.12.06. Reuters. Nuclear - or Iran euro for oil’ revenge?

Euro Displaces Dollar in Bond Markets
14.01.07. Oakley / Tett, Financial Times.

Is Energo-Fascism In Your Future?
17.01.07. M. Klare, Tom Paine.

Euro May Rise 12 Percent Against Dollar, HSBC Says
22.01.07. Bloomberg.

The Plan for Economic Strangulation of Iran
12.01.07. Dr. Abbas Bakhtiar, ICH. “While people are concerned with Iraq and the gathering armada in the Persian Gulf, United States has been quietly carrying out a not so covert economic war against Iran. … It is difficult to see how United States expects Iran to cooperate on Iraq and Afghanistan while being threatened militarily and suffocated economically. It may also all be a negotiating tactics. First show the guns and then negotiate. But in my opinion this is neither a bluff nor a negotiating tactic. Bush administration is behaving like a gambler that has lost everything except his house. Now in one last desperate attempt it is raising the bet to all or nothing. Let us hope that the Democrats will stop Bush before he accidentally or by design start another war in an already volatile region.” Excellent reference list.
 

IRAN AND GAS

In January '06, the Financial Express reported that India fears Iran may extract a high price for piped gas. In February, the Asia Times noted that India has been pursuing discussions about a Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. The United States would prefer Pakistan and India to build a gas pipeline linking them to Turkmenistan - instead of Iran. Will Mushareff, who has been given bases in exchange for F16s, give up this pipeline?

Meanwhile, Iran and Georgia strike a gas deal.

"Apparently, Anglo-Americans are using democracy as a political argument to violently expand their economic global hegemony." Gilad Atzmon.
 

IRAN / IRAQ

PNAC: Rebuilding America's Defenses - A Biopsy on Imperialism; Part II: "Special Interests" - The Persian Gulf
(See Iraq)

UPDATE 1-Iraq, Iran to sign deal on shared oilfield-Shahristani
12.09.06. Reuters.

The “Surge” Is A Red Herring
12.01.07. P. Craig Roberts, ICH
Bush can tell blatant propagandistic lies, because Congress and the American people don’t know enough facts to realize the absurdity of Bush’s assertions.

Why is Bush telling these lies? Here is the answer: Bush says, “We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.”

In those words, Bush states perfectly clearly that victory in Iraq requires US forces to attack Iran and Syria. Moreover, Bush says, “We are also taking other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and protect American interests in the Middle East. I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region.”

Top Iraqi condemns US over Iran
17.01.07. BBC.

Video. BBC Report: Cheney Rejected Iran's 'Help.' 1 min.37.
17.01.07. BBC, Newsnight. Newsnight has uncovered an extraordinary letter written after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 where Tehran offers to withdraw military backing for Hamas and Hezbollah as well as give open access to their nuclear facilities, but Vice-President Dick Cheney's office rejected the plan, the official said.

Iran offers to train Iraqi troops
18.01.07. AFP / uruknet. Iran says it is ready to help train and equip Iraqi security forces to combat what it calls terrorism.

Speaking after talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Iranian ambassador Hassan Kazemi has demanded to be shown "any shred of evidence that Iran is working to destabilise Iraq," as the US alleges.

"We are working for, not against, security in Iraq, because we know that insecurity justifies maintaining foreign troops in the country," he said.

"Iran is disposed to helping to train and equip Iraqi security forces to combat terrorism."

U.S. Launches Armed Force to Block Iranian Influence in Iraq
18.01.07. USNWR / ICH. ‘The U.S. military has launched a special operations task force to break up Iranian influence in Iraq, according to U.S. News sources. The special operations mission, known as Task Force 16, was created late last year to target Iranians trafficking arms and training Shiite militia forces. The operation is modeled on Task Force 15, a clandestine cadre of Navy SEALs, Army Delta Force soldiers, and CIA operatives with a mission to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives and Baathist insurgents in Iraq.’
 

IRAN / ISRAEL

Israel seeks pipeline for Iraqi oil
20.03.06. E. Vuillamy, Observer. US discusses plan to pump fuel to its regional ally and solve energy headache at a stroke

Israel praises U.N. Security Council decision to impose sanctions on Iran
23.12.06. AP.

Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran
07.01.07. Sunday Times. ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.

Israel’s plans to Wage Nuclear War on Iran: History of Israel's Nuclear Arsenal
15.01.07. Michael Carmichael. Global Research.ca. This article expands upon an earlier text published by Global Research. Hundreds of nuclear warheads under the control of Israel's defense establishment. In 1986, an Israeli civil servant who worked in the state-owned nuclear industry flew to London where he was invited to meet with reporters working for The Sunday Times. In these press briefings, Mordechai Vanunu revealed Israel’s top secret - the Israelis had gained control of a growing stockpile of nuclear warheads. … “During his confirmation hearings last month, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates responded to a question about potential US military intervention against Iran. Mr. Gates stated that such an attack could have, “devastating consequences,” for America and her friends in the region.

Mr. Gates was right. The reality is stark. If Israel attacks Iran, she will be playing Russian roulette on a grand scale. The retaliation from a broad spectrum of nations and multinational militias in the Middle East could bring about a concerted series of devastating hard power attacks against both Israeli and American forces arrayed in a dense cluster from Iraq to Kuwait, Qatar and the Persian Gulf.”

Iran: Thinking the Unthinkable
15.01.07. C. Hannilan, Foreign Policy in Focus. ‘recent statements by top Israeli officials and military figures -- along with recent White House threats against Iran and Syria and a shuffling of American commanders in the Middle East -- suggest that the possibility is real.’

Israel's Plans to Nuke Iran
16.01.07. Michael Carmichael, Baltimore Chronicle.

A Powerful Voice: An Interview with Ilan Pape
17.01.07. uruknet. Liam Bailey. “Yes the manipulation of the Holocaust memory is to allow the policies I have described above to be carried out without interruption. But I do think the fear in Israel is not from a nuclear attack from Iran, it is clear that the worst that can happen is deterrence policies such as the ones that took place in The Cold War. The fear is from a serious challenge to Israel's absolute military hegemony in the area.”

AIPAC is pushing us to war with Iran for Israel
18.01.07. mparent7777. Incorporating Huffington Post, Media Matters and bloggingheads. video.

Israel Calls for harsher Iran Sanctions
18.01.07. herald sun.

Israeli Spying: The Mother of all Scandals
20.01.07. What Really Happened. For two years, the FBI has suspected AIPAC of spying for a foreign country, and for those two years (and for decades before) that group suspected of spying for Israel has been reshaping the US Congress for the benefit of a foreign government

Israelis prepare public for conflict with 'genocidal' Iranian regime
22.01.07. Anne Penketh, Independent

'Israel is a nuclear threshold state'
22.01.07. A. Pfeffer, Jerusalem Post.

Signs of Emerging U.S., Israeli, Sunni Arab Alliance against Iran
23.01.07. Sick / Gwertzman interview, Council on Foreign Relations. Gary G. Sick, a former National Security Council adviser on Iran, says an “emerging strategy” is developing that brings the United States, Israel, and Sunni Arab states in an informal alliance against Iran. He does not believe the United States would launch a military attack on Iran at this time because it lacks the military ability to be in Iraq and Iran at the same time.

Israel raises nuclear stakes with Iran
25.01.07. A. Penketh, Independent. ‘ "The Jewish people, with the scars of the Holocaust fresh on its body, cannot afford to allow itself to face threats of annihilation once again," Mr Olmert said in a speech to a high-level security conference in Herzliya. "No nation has the right even to consider its position. It is the obligation of every country to act against this will all its might." "We can stand up against nuclear threats and even prevent them," he said. ‘

RUSSIA

Russian Admiral Says U.S. Navy Prepares Missile Strike on Iran
15.01.07. Mosnews/Legitgov. U.S. Navy nuclear submarines maintaining vigil off the coast of Iran indicate that the Pentagon’s military plans include not only control over navigation in the Persian Gulf but also strikes against Iranian targets, a former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Eduard Baltin has told the Interfax news agency.

RUSSIA COMPLETES SAM DELIVERY TO IRAN
23.01.07. MENEWS.

Iran receives Russian air defense missiles, defense minister says
24.01.07. AP / IHT. Iran has received a Russian air defense missile system, the Iranian defense minister said Wednesday.

Russian defense minister bristles at U.S. missile defense plans
24.01.07. V. Isachenkov, sign on San Diego. Russia's defense minister on Wednesday harshly criticized U.S. plans to deploy missile defense sites in central Europe, saying that Moscow doesn't trust American claims that they are intended to counter missile threats posed by Iran and North Korea.

Belarus

Belarus, Iran sign memorandum of understanding on defense
24.01.07. Rian/ru.

WARNINGS, BLAMING, SCOLDING - BRIBERY?

U.S. pursues financial strategy against regimes it can't otherwise corral
26.12.06. Anne Gearan, AP. “Frustrated over languishing diplomatic campaigns against Iran and North Korea, U.S. officials are finding their backup strategy of financial sanctions has been surprisingly effective against those remaining members of President Bush's “axis of evil.”

Over the past year, the Bush administration has persuaded bankers across Europe and Asia to choke off some Iranian and North Korean access to the world financial system, using the taint of terrorism and corruption as leverage. … Their success so far owes more to the self-interest of banks than to the foreign policy goals of Washington, which accuses both nations of rogue behavior from counterfeiting U.S. money in Pyongyang to hiding a nuclear weapons program in Tehran. U.S. officials say banks have more to lose from rubbing shoulders with foreign banks, trading companies or governments linked to criminal behavior or terrorism. …
The United States alone can't prevent a foreign entity from doing business with alleged bad guys. But by taking relatively small steps to blacklist two banks that do business with North Korea and Iran, the Bush administration has introduced a whiff of scandal to transactions with those banks or governments. There is a powerful unspoken message in the U.S. presentations, too. In effect, foreign banks have been warned that their access to the vast U.S. banking system may be at risk if the administration eventually bars all U.S. transactions with overseas institutions that do business with groups tied to terrorism.

The financial moves have gained in appeal because the United Nations has a spotty record of applying meaningful sanctions, and because U.N. action is often laborious and slow. Although the Security Council acted swiftly to retaliate after North Korea tested a nuclear device in October, it has taken nearly a year to produce a weak sanctions resolution on Iran.

The solo U.S. financial strategy is more flexible than international diplomacy, requiring no approval from Congress or other countries. And though there are risks, particularly in the case of Iran, the strategy has worked better than its designers had hoped. … In the case of Iran, the United States banned U.S. banks from performing an indirect electronic maneuver that allowed a large state-owned bank to broker the sale of oil or other exports overseas in dollars. Oil is traditionally traded in dollars, although U.S. firms are generally barred from doing any business in Iran because of long-standing U.S. sanctions. Following the North Korean example, the United States targeted only Tehran-based Bank Saderat. Making the announcement in September, Levey listed four Mideast terror groups the bank is accused of serving. Iran denied the allegations but it hardly mattered. For months, U.S. officials had been showing bankers across Europe what they claim is evidence that Iran's central bank used the international financial system to funnel money to terrorists elsewhere.

Even before the Saderat move, the Swiss bank UBS cut off all dealings with Iran, and European banks HSBC and Credit Suisse scaled back their business there. …”

U.S. Embassy Is Warning Beijing on Iran Gas Deal
28.12.06. NY Sun.

Defense Secretary, in Afghan Capital, Scolds Iran
15.01.07. NY Times. Gates said that the United States was building up its forces to demonstrate its resolve to remain in the Persian Gulf. (that's honest, for a change?)

Israel warns Russia on Iran arms sale
17.01.07. Turkish Weekly. Voicing extreme concern over Russia's recent sale of advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, senior diplomatic and defense officials warned Moscow Tuesday that the deal could have serious security implications that would even "get back to Russia."

US lacks 'explosive' evidence against Iran
17.01.07. G. Porter, ICH. For 18 months, the administration of US President George W Bush has periodically raised the charge that Iran is supplying anti-coalition forces in Iraq with arms. … Previously, high administration officials have always admitted that they had no real evidence to support these claims. Now, they are going further. The Bush administration made a decision to start blaming its new problem in Iraq on Tehran. On August 4, 2005, Pentagon and intelligence officials leaked the story to the National Broadcasting Co (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System that US troops had "intercepted" dozens of shaped charges said to have been "smuggled into northeastern Iraq only last week".

U.S. has few bargaining chips in Iran disputes: Gates
18.01.07. A. Gray, Washington Post. The United States has little reason to negotiate with Iran now because the government in Tehran does not want anything from Washington, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.

Gates seeks Saudi help to end Iran's nuclear work
18.01.07. Daily Star. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates touched down in Saudi Arabia Wednesday, angling for support in confronting Iran's nuclear ambitions as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Kuwait at the end of her Mideast tour.

U.S. seeks to blame Iran for failure in Iraq: official
20.01.07. Tehran Times. The United States seeks to justify its failure in Iraq and blame the situation on Iran, a member of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Mohammad Jaafari said on Thursday.

US luring Arab states into anti-Iran role: experts
International news. Determined to halt the Iranian nuclear programme, the United States has sought to lure its largely Sunni Arab allies into adopting positions that are likely to antagonise Shia- dominated Iran, Arab analysts believe.

Israel warns Russia on Iran arms sale
Voicing extreme concern over Russia's recent sale of advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, senior diplomatic and defense officials warned Moscow Tuesday that the deal could have serious security implications that would even "get back to Russia."
Jerusalem Post. (What about US arms sales to Israel?)

Texan Poker Bluff and Persian Chess Moves
22.01.07. K Gajendra Singh, ICHblog. Like Iraq , some fancy schemes are on the anvil in the Pentagon .To ward off the threats to the world economy if Tehran curtailed oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the US has reportedly made contingency plans for the indefinite takeover of Iranian territory in Chah Bahar, which would deny Tehran its strategic leverage with Hormuz.

U.S. warns Iran to back down
23.01.07. J. KRANE, AP. A second U.S. aircraft carrier strike group now steaming toward the Middle East is Washington's way of warning Iran to back down in its attempts to dominate the region, a top U.S. diplomat said here Tuesday. … "Iran is going to have to understand that the United States will protect its interests if Iran seeks to confront us," Burns continued.

DAVOS-Arab League's Moussa warns U.S. against Iran attack
24.01.07. Reuters.

Example of Spin

At the very moment when US/UK oil companies are signing an agreement to take Iraqi oil under their imperial wings, this story appears: Report:-Iran (sic) -eyeing-southern-Iraqs-oil
16.01.07. Daily India/playdfuls. British military intelligence officials are concerned Iran is building its influence in the southern oil-rich Iraqi city of Basra, The Telegraph said Tuesday.

SANCTIONS IN IRAN?

In 1997, the former director of the CIA, and the former US Ambassador to Iran, Richard Helms stated that sanctions had "not changed Iranian behaviour" and that they were "too crude a device for such a complex nation of different groups and languages."

On the 18th of January '06, the Hindustan Times said that Israel, the EU and US were preparing sanctions against Iran. The Israeli defense and civilian agencies' proposals for sanctions, presented to European and American officials, included " an oil embargo, a ban on Iran's football team from participating in this summer's World Cup, a denial of entry visas to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and officials involved in Iran's nuclear programme, a halt to the International Atomic Energy Agency's technical cooperation with Tehran on nuclear issues and a restriction on the country's civilian aircraft landings."

Professor Abbas Edalat is a founding member of the newly formed Campaign against Sanctions and Intervention in Iran (CASMII). He recently traveled to the US and spoke at MIT and San Francisco about war and sanctions and the coming hostilities against Iran.

Hans Blix "thinks the West has not offered Iran enough. Compared to what has been offered to North Korea, U.S. offers to Iran have been 'rather miserable.' "

Meanwhile, Iran and Cuba have signed a banking agreement, expanding cooperation in various commercial, banking, agriculture, health and cultural fields. And China and Iran are near an oil field deal.

What are the hidden stakes in the Iran crisis? Thierry Meyssan writes: "the US have military control of part of the Caspian basin and of a corridor enabling them to link this area with the Indian Ocean (Afghanistan and Pakistan). They have also taken control of the key areas of the Gulf (Saudi Arabia and Iraq). At the end of this operation, Washington should have complete control over the world's main hydrocarbon production and reserves. It will control the world economy without the need to share power."

Rice: More Iran sanctions may come
21.01.07. Gulf News.
 

UK WEAPONS TO ISRAEL

British arms exports to Israel doubled last year
25.07.06. Islamic Republic News Agency. The report revealed that 120 Standard Individual Export Licenses, worth Pnds £23.5 million (Dlrs 43 m) were issued to British companies applying to sell military equipment to Israel in 2005.

MPs attack government for breaking its own guidelines on arms sales to Israel
03.08.06. Richard Norton Taylor, Guardian. ‘In a hard-hitting report, MPs from four Commons committees say arms sales are regularly approved to countries the government itself.

 

US: $s AND WEAPONS FOR ISRAEL

 

Found In Lebanon 08.06

Pro-Israel PAC Contributions to 2006 Congressional Candidates

21.10.04. Eyeing Iran Reactors, Israel Seeks U.S. Bunker Bombs
Reuters / Common Dreams. The United States plans to sell Israel $319 million worth of air-launched bombs, including 500 "bunker busters" able to penetrate Iran's underground nuclear facilities, Israeli security sources said on Tuesday.

Who's Arming Israel?
26.06.06. Berrigan / Haertung, Foreign Policy in Focus. “The United States is the primary source of Israel's far superior arsenal. For more than 30 years, Israel had been the largest recipient of U.S. foreign assistance and since 1985 Jerusalem has received about $3 billion in military and economic aid each year from Washington. U.S. aid accounts for more than 20% of Israel's total defense budget.

Over the past decade, the United States has transferred more than $17 billion in military aid to this country of just under 7 million people….

During the Bush administration, from 2001 to 2005, Israel received $10.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing—the Pentagon's biggest military aid program—and $6.3 billion in U.S. arms deliveries. The aid figure is larger than the arms transfer figure because it includes financing for major arms agreements for which the equipment has yet to be fully delivered. The most prominent of these deals is a $4.5 billion sale of 102 Lockheed Martin F-16s to Israel.”

In July ’06, during Israel’s war against Lebanon, more arms were rushed to Israel, some through UK airports. The ‘hazardous cargo’ caused problems for the UK government. A news blackout was then imposed.

Israel Asks U.S. to Ship Rockets With Wide Blast
11.08.06. David Cloud, NY Times / ICH.

Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports to the USA -Top 15 Countries
14.08.06. AZTLAN.

Military Surplus Parts Illegally Find Their Way to Iran, US Officials Say
22.01.07. S. Theimer, AP. Fighter-jet parts and other sensitive US military gear seized from front companies for Iran and brokers for China have been traced in criminal cases to a surprising source: the Pentagon.

See also Index on Illegal US Weapons in Lebanon and Appendix to Weapons in Lebanon.

NUCLEAR WAR FOR OIL IN IRAN?

"by 2010 we will need on the order of an additional fifty million barrels a day. So where is the oil going to come from? ... While many regions of the world offer great oil opportunities, the Middle East with two thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies, even though companies are anxious for greater access there, progress continues to be slow."
Dick Cheney, then Halliburton CEO, 1999

In May, 2005, Michel Chossudovsky wrote that there was a "Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran."

William Rivers Pitt stated in January '06 that an attack on Iran was a Looming Folly.

In February '06, Michael Keefer wrote an important analysis, 'Petrodollars and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation: Understanding the Planned Assault on Iran'. Iran, he said, had "been in the gun-sights of George W. Bush and his entourage from the moment that he was parachuted into the presidency in November 2000 by his father's Supreme Court." He references the Israeli Threat Factor, saying that "the United States and Israel 17 were working out the targeting details of an aerial attack in June '05." He talks about "deliberate arms trafficking with Turkey, whom the US needs to consent to the 'aggression' against Iran." He refers to the Teheran Oil Bourse, which "poses a threat to the status of the U.S. dollar as the principal world reserve currency."

Keefer recommends reading the following: Philip Giraldi, Deep Background, William Arkin, Not Just a Last Resort, and Early Warning.

Two further excellent Chossudovsky articles: Nuclear War against Iran, and The Dangers of a Middle East Nuclear War, in which he talks about those Americans who are convinced that "mini-nukes are safe for the surrounding civilian civilization."

Jorge Hirsh, who discusses the nuclear hit men behind the 'Nuclear Deployment for an Attack on Iran.' Jorge Hirsch has since written another highly referenced, strong article, America and Iran: At the Brink of the Abyss.

The Iran Plans
04.08.05. Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker. "The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack."

The Buildup to War

US and UK send extra ships and aircraft to Gulf in provocative ’signal’ to Iran
21.12.06, NY Times

The UK media finally print this news. Allies 'go after' Iran as beefed-up naval force sails for Gulf (16.01.07, Times on Line.) "Two Royal Navy Minehunters have arrived in the Gulf to reinforce a naval frigate on patrol in the area. ... Britain’s contribution is two minehunters HMS Blyth and HMS Ramsey, which will remain in the Gulf for an unusually-long two-year mission to keep shipping routes open in the event that Iran attempts to block oil exports. ... The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier group entered the Gulf in December. ... It will be joined by the USS John C. Stennis carrier group. This is the first time since the invasion of Iraq four years ago that the US has deployed two carrier strike groups in the Gulf at one time.

In addition, President Bush has ordered the deployment of an air defence battalion equipped with Patriot missile batteries to protect America’s Gulf Arab allies from possible air attack from Iran.

Target Iran
21.12.06 Scott Ritter / Seymour Hersh, Democracy Now broadcast, 50 min. The aircraft carrier Eisenhower and its strike group entered the Persian Gulf on Dec. 11. Another aircraft carrier, the Stennis, is expected to depart for the Gulf within the next month. The military said it is also taking steps to prevent Iran from blocking oil shipments from the Gulf.


Map Major Iranian oilfields (Univ. of Texas)
click to enlarge


U.S. puts squeeze on Iran's oil fields
07.01.07. LA Times. As Washington wages a very public battle against Iran's quest for nuclear power, it is quietly gaining ground on another energy front: the oil fields that are the Islamic Republic's lifeblood.

Distracting Congress from the Real War Plan
10.01.07. Paul Craig Roberts, ICH. The US Congress and media are focused on President Bush’s proposal for an increase of 20,000 US troops in Iraq, while Israel and its American neoconservative allies prepare an assault on Iran. … The Bush administration has recently doubled its aircraft carrier forces and air power in the Persian Gulf. According to credible news reports, the Israeli air force has been making practice runs in preparation for an attack on Iran.

Incirlik Air Base


US sends warplanes to Turkey's Incirlik military base
11.01.07. Kuwait News Agency. U.S. F-16 jet-fighters arrived Thursday in Incirlik Air base in southern Turkish city of Adana after, the first time in three years. ... According to Local Cihan News Agency, at least 16 F-16 jets joined by early warning system AWACS airplane, as well as tanker airplanes landed here at Incirlik coming from an American base in Germany.

This is odd, because in April 2004, in spite of ! an offer of a nuclear reactor, Turkey refused a US request to allow an attack on Iran from a Turkish base.
In June ’06, the question of 90 US nuclear bombs at Incirlik was being brought before the Turkish parliament. WHAT WAS THE RESULTING DECISION?

US denies Iran attack plans
13.01.07. newscom.au. (Will Israel drop the bombs on Iran on behalf of the US?)

Tensions rise as Washington accuses Iran over militias
14.01.07. A. Buncombe, Independent. Tensions between the US and Iran were set to escalate last night after it was revealed that President George Bush had signed an executive order several months ago, authorising American troops to undertake wide-ranging military action against Iranian operatives active inside Iraq.
Now read this:
Media Distortions: Preparing us for War with Iran
19.01.07. F. Rudmin, Globalresearch.ca. The difference between "a" and "the" can be the difference between no war and nuclear war. But it was all false. The supposed facts were fiction. We were fooled by public relations lies, by repeated propaganda, by so-called experts and authorities, and by rhetorical tricks, including clever use of "the". Media distortions in the Independent (14.01.07) revealed.

Gates Says U.S. Resolved to Remain in Persian Gulf
15.01.07. D. Cloud, NY Times. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that Iran was “acting in a very negative way” in the Middle East and that the United States was building up its forces to demonstrate its resolve to remain in the Persian Gulf. … President Bush announced last week, in his speech laying his new Iraq strategy, that he was also sending a second aircraft carrier and several Patriot anti-missile batteries to the Persian Gulf.

“The United States has had a strong presence in the Gulf for a long time,” Mr. Gates. “We are simply reaffirming that” with the buildup, he said.

Iran: Thinking the Unthinkable
15.01.07. C. Hannilan, Foreign Policy in Focus. ‘recent statements by top Israeli officials and military figures -- along with recent White House threats against Iran and Syria and a shuffling of American commanders in the Middle East -- suggest that the possibility is real.’

Escalation Against Iran
16.01.07. Col Sam Gardiner, Counterpunch. The Pieces Are Being Put in Place. ‘The pieces are moving. They’ll be in place by the end of February. The United States will be able to escalate military operations against Iran. ... The second carrier strike group leaves the U.S. west coast on January 16. It will be joined by naval mine clearing assets from both the United States and the UK. Patriot missile defense systems have also been ordered to deploy to the Gulf.’

Britain and US turn screws on Iran
17.01.07. News.com

The Coming Wars
17.01.07. Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker. 'The Bush Administration is looking at this as a huge war zone," the former high-level intelligence official told me. "Next, we're going to have the Iranian campaign. We've declared war and the bad guys, wherever they are, are the enemy. This is the last hurrah-we've got four years, and want to come out of this saying we won the war on terrorism." '

US military strike on Iran seen by April ’07; Sea-launched attack to hit oil, N-sites
17.01.07. Arab Times.

Attacking Iran: What’s In It For Bush?
17.01.07. Paul Craig Roberts, ICH. Suddenly the media is full of Bush Regime propagandistic assertions designed to make the American public believe that Iran is the enemy that is fighting against our troops in Iraq. To facilitate this deception, the Bush Regime staged a propaganda event by invading an Iranian government liaison office in Northern Iraq, kidnapping the Iranian officials and declaring them to be involved in plans to kill US troops.

Bush's tough tactics are a 'declaration of war'
12/21(?).01.07. A. Penketh, Independent. American forces stormed Iranian government offices in northern Iraq, hours after President George Bush issued a warning to Tehran that was described as a "declaration of war". The soldiers detained six people, including diplomats, according to the Iranians, and seized documents and computers in the pre-dawn raid which was condemned by Iran. A leading UK-based Iran specialist, Ali Ansari, said the incident was an "extreme provocation". Dr Ansari said that Mr Bush's speech on future Iraq strategy amounted to "a declaration of war" on Iran. … "We will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq," (Bush) said.

Asked for her view of an Israeli military operation in Iran should diplomacy fail, (Condi) replied: "Well, I think that even talk of such just shows how very serious it would be to have Iran continue its program unabated." Condoleeza Rice , Reuters, 14.01.07. (no mention of US or Israeli nukes, then?) And, (10.01.07), Scoop (legitgov) reports that Companies Refusing To Reveal Biotech Research "Some 113 university, government, hospital and corporate laboratories engaged in research often with potential to be used for germ warfare have refused to disclose their operations to the public as required by Federal rules, a nonprofit watchdog agency has charged."

Perle: Bush Will Green Light Iran Attack
21.01.07. K. Nimmo. Richard Perle, more accurately referred to by his moniker, the Prince of Darkness, tells us from Herzliya, Israel, that Bush will eventually give the order to kill Iranians. see also Prominent lobbyist Perle: U.S. will attack Iran if it obtains nukes (22.01.07. Haaretz)

Iran Plans to Conduct Missile War Games
21.01.07. N. Karimi, My Way

The Unthinkable: The US- Israeli Nuclear War on Iran
21.01.07. M. Chussodovsky, Global Resarch. Selected Global Research Articles

Iran prepares the public for possible military confrontation with U.S. amid discontent over prices
22.01.07. AP/IHT.

Iran Bars 38 IAEA Inspectors
22.01.07. VOA.

The American hostility towards Iran
24.01.07. P. Reynolds, BBC. ‘One of the notable features of President George Bush’s State of the Union was its hostile attitude towards Iran.’

Former C”IA chief expects force with Iran
24.01.07. UPI/Washington Times.

War Pimp Alert

Israel faces nuclear Holocaust warns Gingrich
23.01.07. Ynetnews (ICH).
 

NOW WHAT?

Don't Mourn: Annotate
18.01.07. Foreign Policy In Focus. Today we face a different barrage of words from Washington, but one also drafted in the service of a grand ideological battle. Mindful of the tyranny of images, President Bush attempted in his prosecution of the war in Iraq to imprint pictures of success on the public mind: a hated statue pulled down, a haggard Hussein captured, a victory banner on an aircraft carrier. But those few pictures of putative success have been overtaken by more powerful and more pervasive images. The photos from Abu Ghraib have become iconic. The morning newspaper features more faces of the fallen. A cell phone captures grainy shots of a mishandled execution. On the battlefield of the image, the United States has lost the Iraq War. .. So, to rescue his failed Iraq policy with more boots on the ground, the president has had to resort again to words.

Lawmakers seek to bar U.S. attack on Iran
18.01.07. Reuters / legitgov.

Stop the Next War
19.01.07. J. Raimondo, anti-war. All these legislative initiatives deal with Iraq, with only one – House Joint Resolution 14 – confronting the key issue on the war-and-peace front: Iran. This is a binding resolution that forbids the President from ordering an attack on Iran absent military action against U.S. forces, or a demonstrably imminent threat of attack.
Congress has long ago abdicated and delegated to the president its constitutional responsibility to initiate wars.’

Congress Can Stop the Iran Attack, or Be Complicit in War Crimes
20.01.07. J. Hirsh, anti-war. ‘President Bush is invoking his "command

There is no War on Terror
24.01.07. Clare Dyer, Guardian. "The director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, put himself at odds with the home secretary and Downing Street last night by denying that Britain is caught up in a "war on terror" and calling for a "culture of legislative restraint" in passing laws to deal with terrorism.
Sir Ken warned of the pernicious risk that a "fear-driven and inappropriate" response to the threat could lead Britain to abandon respect for fair trials and the due process of law."


Footnotes


[1] In 2003, the UK government issued licences for sales of military goods to Israel worth in excess of £11.5 million, in addition to open licences whose value is not available. For 2005 CAAT report, see: Arms Exports and Collaborations: the UK and Israel (pdf)

[2] Bolton said "the way India and Pakistan had obtained nuclear arms was legitimate."

This article will be futher updated.

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Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the UK

The url to Iran War: Resource Info is: http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2007/01/iran-war-resource-info.html

This article was first published at http://www.brusselstribunal.org/Meyer/iran.htm