Tag: iran

Where Is Iran’s Uranium? Top Secret Leaked US Intel Says Core Nuclear Components ‘Intact’

Where is Iran’s Uranium? Truce Highlights Mystery Over Stockpile… that’s Bloomberg’s latest headline over the ‘biggest mystery’ that remains in the war. There’s also the pressing question of whether Trump’s massive airstrikes from B-2 bombers actually truly destroyed the facilities and these stockpiles. 

The Iranians aren’t dumb, and likely took drastic steps to further protect, conceal, or likely move these enriched stockpiles – some 400kg according to most reports – as wave after wave of Israeli warplanes hit Iran, significantly before the US sent its bombers this past weekend. It appears core components are still intact – though Iran has long maintained it is merely for peaceful nuclear energy development. 

The NY Times is currently reporting that the US operation merely set Iran’s nuclear program back by a few months. And further:

US BOMBS DIDN’T COLLAPSE UNDERGROUND IRANIAN NUKE BUILDINGS: NYT

Big media allegations, based on US officials and an intel assessment, that the Iranians moved their enriched uranium.

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Iran’s IRGC Quds Force Leader Shows Up In Tehran Streets After Reports Of His Death

A week ago there were widespread reports and rumors that Israeli airstrikes and targeted assassinations in Iran had killed Esmail Qaani, who in 2020 had succeeded the top Iranian IRGC Quds Force general Qassem Soleimani, killed by a US strike in Baghdad.

But on Tuesday Qaani appeared before crowds in Tehran, as Iranians take to the streets to support the military and assert their defiance following Israeli and US bombs falling on the country during the current ceasefire.

“Several news outlets affiliated with Iran-allied groups, including the Houthis’ Al Masirah TV, have shared footage they say shows Esmail Qaani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force, among the rallying crowds in Tehran,” Al Jazeera writes.

“If confirmed, the videos would dispel reports that Qaani was assassinated by Israel,” the report concludes.

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Report: Initial US Intelligence Assessment Says US Didn’t Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Sites

CNN reported on Tuesday that an initial US intelligence assessment has found that the US bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites didn’t destroy the core components of the sites and likely set back the nuclear program by only a few months.

The assessment was prepared by the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was based on a battle damage assessment from US Central Command, and it could change as the US gathers more intelligence. “So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops,” a source told CNN.

The report also said that the US strikes didn’t destroy Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, and the centrifuges were largely “intact.” The assessment contradicts President Trump’s claims that the bombing of the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites “totally obliterated” the facilities.

The White House confirmed the existence of the assessment but said it didn’t agree with the findings. “This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration,” Leavitt added.

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Where is Iran’s Uranium? Top Secret Leaked US Intel Says Core Nuclear Components ‘Intact’

Where is Iran’s Uranium? Truce Highlights Mystery Over Stockpile… that’s Bloomberg’s latest headline over the ‘biggest mystery’ that remains in the war. There’s also the pressing question of whether Trump’s massive airstrikes from B-2 bombers actually truly destroyed the facilities and these stockpiles. 

The Iranians aren’t dumb, and likely took drastic steps to further protect, conceal, or likely move these enriched stockpiles – some 400kg according to most reports – as wave after wave of Israeli warplanes hit Iran, significantly before the US sent its bombers this past weekend. It appears core components are still intact – though Iran has long maintained it is merely for peaceful nuclear energy development. 

The NY Times is currently reporting that the US operation merely set Iran’s nuclear program back by a few months.

And early emerging satellite open-source intelligence also points to the stockpile having not been destroyed, which contradicts the current ‘victory lap’ claims being made by President Trump and some of his top officials. Below is fresh CNN reporting based on an assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA):

The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes, one of the sources said.

The analysis of the damage to the sites and the impact of the strikes on Iran’s nuclear ambitions is ongoing, and could change as more intelligence becomes available. But the early findings are at odds with President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also said on Sunday that Iran’s nuclear ambitions “have been obliterated.”

One unnamed defense official quoted in the report says centrifuges are largely “intact.” And more based on the apparently ‘Top Secret’ leaked DIA intel report:

“So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops,” this person added.

The White House acknowledged the existence of the assessment but said they disagreed with it.

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IDF Chief Says ‘Campaign Against Iran Not Over’ But Focus Will Shift to Gaza for Now

Eyal Zamir, the chief of staff of the Israeli military, said on Tuesday that while a “chapter” in the conflict with Iran is over, Israel’s “campaign” against the country is not and that for now, the IDF will focus on the destruction of Gaza.

“We have concluded a significant chapter, but the campaign against Iran is not over. We are entering a new phase, one that builds upon the achievements of the current operation,” Zamir said after a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran began to hold.

“Now, the focus returns to Gaza, to bringing the hostages home and toppling Hamas rule,” Zamir added. During the 12 days of Israeli attacks on Iran, the Israeli military continued its genocidal onslaught in Gaza, killing dozens of Palestinians each day.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also said that Israel will now turn all of its “strength” on Gaza. “Now [we turn] with all our strength to Gaza, to complete the task: to destroy Hamas and return our hostages and to ensure, with God’s help, many years of security and growth from strength for the people of Israel,” he said.

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Top Trump official calls US airstrikes on Iran ‘pointless,’ suggests ‘deep state’ swayed prez

A top staffer in the federal agency overseeing personnel for the Trump administration has denounced the US strikes on Iran as “pointless” and suggested the decision was made by members of DC’s “deep state.”

Andrew Kloster, who serves as general counsel at the Office of Personnel Management, tweeted — and then deleted — a string of posts ripping the US for having sent “handouts” to Israel in the past and for previously downplaying the threat of Tehran getting a nuclear weapon.

Within a half-hour of President Trump announcing successful US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities Saturday night, Kloster wrote on X, “I apologize and will never again doubt the power of the deep state.”

In a response to an X user saying that “Iran’s nuclear sites being crushed seems a long-term benefit for the US,” Kloster wrote, “I think it was just kind of pointless.”

He also boosted a post from Vish Burra, disgraced former New York Rep. George Santos’ ex-director of operations, that referred to Israel’s conflict with Iran as a “tribal squabble” after Tehran broke a cease-fire Trump secured Monday night.

The posts — still visible as of Tuesday morning — have since been deleted.

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Iranian army sniper and Hezbollah-linked ‘terrorist’ arrested in US as Trump warns of violent sleeper cells

An Iranian army sniper and a suspected terrorist with ties to Hezbollah are among illegal migrants living in the US who have been arrested by ICE since Sunday. 

Ribvar Karimi, who served as an Iranian Army sniper from 2018 to 2021, was arrested in rural Alabama, where he has been living with his American wife. 

When ICE agents found in him in the town of Locust Fork Sunday, he had an Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card, DHS claimed. 

Karimi entered the country legally on a K-1 visa, for foreigners engaged to be married to Americans, in October under the Biden administration. 

He married his bride, Morgan Gardener, in January this year. However, Karimi failed to adjust his status, making his presence in the US illegal.

In Minnesota, agents nabbed Mehran Makari Saheli, 56, a former member of off the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with admitted connections to Hezbollah, according to the Department of Homeland Security today. 

He already had a conviction for felon in possession of a firearm and served 15 months in prison.

Despite being ordered out of the country by a judge in June 28, 2022, he evaded authorities.

Both men are now in ICE custody pending removal. 

Karimi’s American wife insists he loves America and is a proud immigrant. 

‘This man loves America, the first purchase he made when he got here was an American Flag,’ Morgan Gardner told a local station. 

‘If he was here on bad intentions, he wouldn’t have done that, he wouldn’t be willing to walk around with a flag, knowing he could get deported and sent back to a country where he could be killed for that.’ 

She is seven months pregnant with their first child and fears she’ll have to give birth alone. 

Also arrested over the weekend was Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand, who had been ordered to leave the US 12 years ago by an immigration judge. 

He had also been convicted of threatening a law enforcement officer and being an alien in possession of a firearm. 

Eidivand entered through the southern border in June 2012, DHS said, and he was arrested in Tempe, Arizona Sunday.

Armed with a 9mm pistol when ICE agents caught up to him, Behzad Sepehrian Bahary Nejad was arrested in Texas.

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“They Don’t Know What The F**K They’re Doing” – Furious Trump Slams Israel As Fragile Ceasefire Crumbles

President Donald Trump unleashed a fiery statement to the press just moments before boarding Marine One.

Trump declared, “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*ck they’re doing. You understand that.”

The president then swiftly turned and walked toward Marine One.

The president also unleashed a fiery statement on his social media platform, Truth Social.

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The Strait of Hormuz – Incoming Global Energy Crisis?

Supply chain constraints are inevitable during wartime. Shippers are actively avoiding the Strait of Hormuz that connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea amid the Iranian nuclear tensions. This is a significant disruption as around 20% of global oil is funneled through this passageway.

Oman’s Musandam Peninsula hosts a narrow passageway with Iran that is only 30 miles wide but large enough for mass oil tankers to navigate. These strategic route allows for the shipment of around 21 million barrels per day. One-third of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) primarily from Qatar, rely on this crucial route. An estimated $1.7 billion of oil can pass through this channel on an average day, and any disruption has the ability to cause ripples throughout the global economy.

The United States, India, China, Japan, and South Korea are among the many developed economies that rely on this strait for its energy needs. Even a temporary pause in shipments would cause oil prices to skyrocket and disturb international trade. Iran has repeatedly used this passageway as leverage in negotiations. The Iranian government is well aware of the power it wields and have threatened to prevent passage during times of unrest and sanctions.

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The Fog (Machine) Of War

The Fog of War is perhaps better described as The Fog Machine of War, for everything presented to the public is some version of Narrative Control, the purpose of which is to establish a context and story that’s beneficial to whomever is presenting “facts,” “news,” “information” and “commentary.”

The other motivation for flooding global media with “news,” “information” and “commentary” is to maximize profits via serving the insatiable appetite for “what’s really going on.” What’s really going on is of course a closely held state secret, the very last thing that would ever be released to the public.

Since everything is Narrative Control and exploiting crisis for profit, there’s little value in any of what’s presented to the public other than what it suggests on a meta-level, that is, what isn’t being revealed and promoted as “what’s really going on.”

It seems to me there is only one way to assemble a jigsaw that approaches the goal of discovering “what’s really going on.” The first step would be to obtain fly on the wall unfiltered intelligence summaries (unfiltered meaning not yet massaged for the political leadership) from the intelligence agencies of the three combatants: Iran, Israel and the United States. This is of course impossible.

The second step would be to obtain the unfiltered intelligence summaries from regional players, for example, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, etc., who have their own sources.

The third step would be to obtain the unfiltered intelligence summaries from Major Power players with a keen interest in figuring out “what’s really going on,” for example, China, Russia and the European Union intel agencies.

The fourth step would be to survey mid-level officers conducting actual operations. It would also be helpful to have access to those actually conducting post-operation damage assessments.

You discern the meta-thinking here: valuable information tends to get filtered out (or lost) between each level of information gathering, summary and presentation to the next level of the hierarchy.

At the highest level, the military leadership tends to be under pressure to control the narrative of what’s presented to the political leadership. This can play out in any number of ways: the military leadership might exaggerate the direness of the situation to obtain permission for a risky operation, or it may gloss over the situation to avoid being sacked.

What strikes me as interesting is how long this situation has been brewing. Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been front and center for a great many years, and so intelligence and operational planning have been going on for many years.

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