Tag: iran

DHS Alerts US Public On Iran Retaliation Threat: Just Some ‘Low-Level’ Cyberattacks?

The latest Department of Homeland (DHS) alerts are telling the American public to expect some form of Iranian retaliation in response to this weekend’s major US bombing raids targeting three key Iranian nuclear energy and uranium enrichment sites.

And the Pentagon is preparing for potential attack on US bases in the Middle East, whether in Iraq or Syria where reduced troop presences still remain, or in the Gulf Arab countries – home to major naval and air bases.

But the latest DHS warnings speak of a not-so-new threat (which gets repeated just about every year) of stepped-up Iranian cyber threat activity.

A fresh terrorism advisory bulletin from DHS warns that Iran’s response could include violent actions on US soil as well as increased cyber operations.

The supposed heightened threat environment predicts likely low-level cyberattacks from pro-Iranian hacktivists, but also more serious threats from state-backed Iranian hackers:

“The ongoing Iran conflict is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States,” the DHS said. “Low-level cyber attacks against US networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely, and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government may conduct attacks against US networks.”

But behind the headlines, the reality is that the fear-mongering from US officials will front-run the actual threats and ‘attacks’ – and likely grow louder, according to the all too familiar playbook of the Bush-Cheney era…

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Russia Ready To Help Iran, Says Has ‘Every Right’ To Nuclear Energy Program

The Kremlin has announced Monday that Russia stands ready to help Iran in its ongoing conflict with Israel and the United States in the Middle East, based on specific requests.

Such assistance “all depends on what Iran needs,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained, as quoted in TASS. “We have offered our mediation efforts. This is concrete. We have stated our position, which is also a very important form of support for the Iranian side.”

“Going forward, everything will depend on what Iran needs at this moment,” Peskov continued, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is currently in Moscow, preparing to meet with President Vladimir Putin.

“Just today, the Iranian Foreign Minister [Abbas Araghchi] will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where they will be able to exchange views in the wake of this traumatic escalation,” Peskov stated. That’s when he made clear, “And, in fact, the Iranian side will be able to inform us about its proposals and its vision of the current situation.”

It is highly unlikely that Moscow would actually give any level of direct military assistance, but it could possibly come in the form of safety, containment, or logistical help at now damaged nuclear facilities, following American forces’ weekend bombings of three key sites.

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How Trump’s Weakness Betrayed America’s Interests in Iran

In mid-February 1945, a dying Franklin Roosevelt, on his way home from his final meetings with Stalin and Churchill at Yalta, met with Saudi King Ibn Saud on the deck of the USS Quincy on the Great Bitter Lake in Egypt.

An account of the conversation from the Office of the Historian of the US State Department reads, in part:

His Majesty called attention to the increasing threat to the existence of the Arabs and the crisis which has resulted from continued Jewish immigration and the purchase of land by the Jews. His Majesty further stated that the Arabs would choose to die rather than yield their lands to the Jews.

His Majesty stated that the hope of the Arabs is based upon the word of honor of the Allies and upon the well-known love of justice of the United States, and upon the expectation that the United States will support them.

The President replied that he wished to assure His Majesty that he would do nothing to assist the Jews against the Arabs and would make no move hostile to the Arab people. He reminded His Majesty that it is impossible to prevent speeches and resolutions in Congress or in the press which may be made on any subject.

His reassurance concerned his own future policy as Chief Executive of the United States Government. His Majesty thanked the President for his statement and mentioned the proposal to send an Arab mission to America and England to expound the case of the Arabs and Palestine. The President stated that he thought this was a very good idea because he thought many people in America and England are misinformed.

What Saud was saying, in other words, was: Why should Arabs have to pay the price for Germany’s crimes? Yet even then, the longest-serving president in our history recognized that when it comes to the politics of the Levant, the Lobby rules.

In the 75 years since its founding, Israel has repeatedly undermined the United States and has murdered numerous American civilians as well as 34 members of the crew of the USS Liberty. Still more, Israel poses a unique, continuing and dangerous counterintelligence threat. It acts with impunity because Congress is bought and paid for by money funneled to it from its domestic lobby, AIPAC. It treats US presidents like doormats. Bill Clinton famously asked after his first meeting with Netanyahu in 1996, “Who the fuck does he think he is? Who’s the fucking superpower here?”

Good question.

Americans are increasingly asking themselves with regard to Israel: At what point does it become enough?

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The Constitution Won’t Save US From Trump’s War Idiocy

On June 21, US president Donald Trump ordered airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. You may have heard. As I write this, we’re in the “boasting about how splendid it all is” phase of Trump’s cyclical foreign policy approach.

Phase One: Pretend to be “anti-war” and feverishly “negotiating” to avoid escalation of this or that long-term conflict.

Phase Two:  Escalate.

Phase Three: Brag about what a genius he is.

Phase Four: Backtrack and maybe whine a little when it blows up in his face – or, rather, in the faces of the troops he puts in harm’s way.

It remains to be seen whether we’ll get the usual Phase Four (a la the ignominious but long overdue US surrender in Afghanistan after his “surge,” the Iranian strikes on US bases in Iraq after his operation to murder Iranian general  Qasem Soleimani, etc.), or whether he’ll really screw the pooch and set the Middle East on fire this time when the Iranians retaliate.

In the meantime, let’s talk about the US Constitution.

This morning, I received an email from Defending Rights and Dissent, a pro-Constitution organization with a history stretching back to the era of McCarthyism.  Subject line: “Trump shreds the Constitution. Bombs Iran. TAKE ACTION.”

DRAD wants you to write “your” US Representative and US Senators, urging them to support a “War Powers Resolution” requiring Trump to stand down, on the clear and irrefutable constitutional claim that only Congress has the authority to declare war and that Trump’s actions are therefore illegal.

Okay, yeah, I did that.

But realistically, Congress isn’t any more likely to reassert its power over US war-making this time around than it did with Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and numerous other belligerent actions/involvements.

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Democrats Got Caught in a Huge Lie About Trump’s Iran Strike

The Democrat-media complex got caught red-handed peddling yet another false narrative, only to have it blow up in its face when the facts came crashing down. 

The latest chapter in the Democrats’ never-ending war against the Trump administration centers on the successful strike against Iran’s nuclear sites. As you’ve likely seen, Democrats and their media allies wasted no time launching a coordinated campaign of phony outrage. 

Their claim? The White House recklessly bypassed congressional leadership — specifically Democrats — before the operation, supposedly violating the Constitution. It’s a laughable accusation, especially considering that they had no such concerns when Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden launched military strikes without congressional approval or proper notification.

CNN tried to stir controversy by reporting that while House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune were briefed ahead of time, Democrat leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries were only informed shortly before the public announcement, after the operation had already taken place. But as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained on Fox News, this was nothing more than a misleading narrative designed to distract from a major American victory. Leavitt didn’t just push back; she dismantled the lie piece by piece.

“We did make bipartisan calls,” Leavitt stated, setting the record straight from the outset. “Thomas Massie and the Democrats — he should be a Democrat ’cause he’s more aligned with them than with the Republican Party — were given notice. The White House made calls to congressional leadership. They were bipartisan calls.”

The White House, contrary to the manufactured narrative, conducted its due diligence and reached out to leaders on both sides of the aisle. The administration’s outreach efforts were comprehensive, but in a detail that speaks volumes, the top Democrat in the House was apparently unavailable to take a call of such national security importance. 

Leavitt revealed the specifics of the outreach, exposing the disingenuous nature of the complaints.

“In fact, Hakeem Jeffries couldn’t be reached,” she explained. “We tried him before the strike and he didn’t pick up the phone, but he was briefed after, as well as Chuck Schumer was briefed prior to the strike.”

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The Dangerous Consequences of the US Attack on Iran

On June 21, the United States committed an act of war, attacking a sovereign nation that had neither attacked nor threatened it without the approval of the Security Council. Iran’s nuclear facilities were severely damaged. But that is not all that was damaged. The aggression has potentially left international law in ruins.

America’s consistent appeals to the rules-based order instead of international law has long left the impression in much of the world that the U.S. selectively applies the rules when it suits them and exempts itself from the rules when it does not. That impression will be strengthened by the inconsistency of simultaneously condemning Russia for violating Ukrainian sovereignty by an act of war while the U.S. violates Iran’s sovereignty by dropping some of the largest bombs in the world on Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities.

Prior to the U.S. attack, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi pleaded that “It’s up to the international community to condemn this, to prevent this. Otherwise, there will be nothing left of international law.”

And it is not only the architecture of international law that has been damaged by the bombing, it is also the foundations of diplomacy. The U.S. has undermined its credibility as a diplomatic nation and irreparably damaged its credibility in this and future negotiations.  The U.S. did not just violate an agreement as they did when they pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement with Iran as they did in 2018. This time around, Trump used diplomacy as cover for his war plans. The promise of a next round of talks in two days was, according to Trump advisors, “a headfake,” and the talk of two weeks to decide was a “misdirection.” In using diplomacy as a cover for war, Araghchi said, “the U.S. betrayed diplomacy. They betrayed negotiations.”

“We were in the middle of talks and negotiation with Europeans [that] happened only two days ago in Geneva, when this time, Americans decided to blow it up…. They have proved that they are not men of diplomacy.” “What conclusion would you draw?” Araghchi asked.

It is not just Iran, but other nations that will draw this conclusion, jeopardizing important future negotiations.

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How the US and Israel Used Rafael Grossi To Hijack the IAEA and Start a War on Iran

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), allowed the IAEA to be used by the United States and Israel – an undeclared nuclear weapons state in long-term violation of IAEA rules – to manufacture a pretext for war on Iran, despite his agency’s own conclusion that Iran had no nuclear weapons program.

On June 12th, based on a damning report by Grossi, a slim majority of the IAEA Board of Governors voted to find Iran in non-compliance with its obligations as an IAEA member. Of the 35 countries represented on the Board, only 19 voted for the resolution, while 3 voted against it, 11 abstained and 2 did not vote.

The United States contacted eight board member governments on June 10th to persuade them to either vote for the resolution or not to vote. Israeli officials said they saw the U.S. arm-twisting for the IAEA resolution as a significant signal of U.S. support for Israel’s war plans, revealing how much Israel valued the IAEA resolution as diplomatic cover for the war.

The IAEA board meeting was timed for the final day of President Trump’s 60-day ultimatum to Iran to negotiate a new nuclear agreement. Even as the IAEA board voted, Israel was loading weapons, fuel and drop-tanks on its warplanes for the long flight to Iran and briefing its aircrews on their targets. The first Israeli air strikes hit Iran at 3 a.m. that night.

On June 20th, Iran filed a formal complaint against Director General Grossi with the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council for undermining his agency’s impartiality, both by his failure to mention the illegality of Israel’s threats and uses of force against Iran in his public statements and by his singular focus on Iran’s alleged violations.

The source of the IAEA investigation that led to this resolution was a 2018 Israeli intelligence report that its agents had identified three previously undisclosed sites in Iran where Iran had conducted uranium enrichment prior to 2003. In 2019, Grossi opened an investigation, and the IAEA eventually gained access to the sites and detected traces of enriched uranium.

Despite the fateful consequences of his actions, Grossi has never explained publicly how the IAEA can be sure that Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency or its Iranian collaborators, such as the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (or MEK), did not put the enriched uranium in those sites themselves, as Iranian officials have suggested.

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Israel Says They “will Respond with Force” to Iran Attack

Israel has announced plans to “continue the intensive operation to strike Tehran” after both sides apparently ignored the ceasefire agreement that President Trump announced yesterday. 

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Iran bombed Israel on Tuesday morning after a ceasefire was agreed to on Monday.

This comes after the US dropped bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend amid an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, and Iran responded with a coordinated attack on a U.S. airbase in Qatat but gave advanced notice.

The response from Iran, President Trump said, was “very weak,” but “they’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE.” He added, “I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” calling on Iran and Israel to “proceed to peace and harmony.”

Trump later  announced that Israel and Iran had agreed to a total ceasefire “upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World.”

“During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL,” the President demanded.

However, Iran’s attacks came in response to Israel launching the first attacks on Tehran last night after the ceasefire was announced by President Trump on Monday evening.

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World War is on the Horizon

Have you noticed how the Trump-hating media is praising Trump to the high heavens for his gratuitous, reckless, military aggression against Iran, an act of war without a declaration?  This tells us something.  Trump has deserted MAGA-America and joined the ruling establishment.  In return the establishment is presenting their man as a great success.  

The establishment now has Trump at war.  The power and profit of the military/security complex is secured.  Trump’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities was no more successful than Israel’s.  If Iran continues to hold together, Iran, if its government is competent, will use its missile advantage to continue to punish Israel. Within two weeks Israel could be out of missiles and forced to sue for peace.  But that time is unlikely to come. Israel’s plight and Israel’s control over the US government will bring Trump in to save Israel from humiliating defeat.

Remember, Iran is on the list of Muslim countries to be destroyed by the US for Israel.  Here is 4-star general Wesley Clark, former commander of NATO on TV explaining that on 20th September 2001 he was informed by a general in the Pentagon that the US had decided to take out 7 Muslim countries in 5 years. It has taken longer, but 5 of those countries have been destroyed.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo6u9DpASp8

Norman Podhoretz, editor of Commentary had called for this action, and it became the essential component of the neoconservatives’ policy. We watched it, if we paid attention, unfold in the “Dubya,” Obama, Biden, and Trump regimes.

Iran’s parliament has voted to close the Strait of Hormuz except for oil delivery to China.  The final approval has to come from the Supreme Leader.  Iran should simply wait and let Washington close the Strait, allegedly to punish Iran by blocking oil sales, but really to punish China by denying China its oil supply. Iran should let Trump, who has sold out MEGA-America, and the American Establishment execute themselves.

If the Strait is closed, what would be the price of gasoline in the United States?  Could it be $8 a gallon?  Or would the Kremlin rush oil to the US to save Americans from the consequences of their own policy? The Kremlin often seems more concerned to rescue its enemies than to stand by its allies and to protect Russia.

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Democratic security chief claims Kamala Harris lacked the ‘courage’ to bomb Iran like Trump

A Democratic national security aide to Joe Biden and Bill Clinton has come forward to praise Donald Trump‘s ‘bold’ decision to bomb Iran, and says Kamala Harris lacks the ‘courage’ to have done the same. 

The official, former NSC official Jamie Metzl, is no Trump fan – calling him out for ‘dangerous and undemocratic’ actions. But he says the president took a needed step to try to wipe out Iran’s nuclear program.

‘I voted for Kamala Harris and have been a vocal critic of many dangerous and undemocratic actions taken by President Trump. But I’m not a blind tribalist and am perfectly comfortable praising President Trump for bold and courageous actions in support of America’s core national interests, as he took last night,’ Metzl posted online after the military carried out the attack on Trump’s nuclear facilities on orders from President Trump.

The Democrat wrote about his bonafides and said Trump deserved credit for giving the order despite previous ‘undemocratic’ actioins.’ 

‘I served on the National Security Council under President Clinton. I was Joe Biden’s Deputy Staff Director of the Senate foreign Relations Committee. I voted for Kamala Harris and have been a vocal critic of many dangerous and undemocratic actions taken by President Trump. But I’m not a blind tribalist and am perfectly comfortable praising President Trump for bold and courageous actions in support of America’s core national interests, as he took last night,’ he wrote Sunday.

‘Although I believe electing Kamala Harris would have been better for our democracy, society, and economy, as well as for helping the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world, I also believe VP Harris would not have had the courage or fortitude to take such an essential step as the president took last night,’ he wrote.

He landed a booking on Fox News hours after the posting.  

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