Iran Feature: Israel's Mossad, Posing as CIA Officers, Recruited Anti-Regime Insurgents (Perry)

Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi, executed June 2010Buried deep in the archives of America's intelligence services are a series of memos, written during the last years of President George W. Bush's administration, that describe how Israeli Mossad officers recruited operatives belonging to the terrorist group Jundallah by passing themselves off as American agents. According to two U.S. intelligence officials, the Israelis, flush with American dollars and toting U.S. passports, posed as CIA officers in recruiting Jundallah operatives -- what is commonly referred to as a "false flag" operation.

The memos, as described by the sources, one of whom has read them and another who is intimately familiar with the case, investigated and debunked reports from 2007 and 2008 accusing the CIA, at the direction of the White House, of covertly supporting Jundallah -- a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization.

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Palestine Music Feature: The CD Highlighting Israel’s Imprisonment of Children

Long Live Palestine - Lowkey

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A new benefit album has been released to highlight the plight of Palestinian children jailed by the Israeli regime.

The CD was spurred by the case of Mohammad Sameh Hashash. In 2005, Mohammed was en route to tour Scotland, Ireland, and England with Aidoun, a Palestinian youth theatre company from the Balata Refugee Camp in the West Bank. Detained at the crossing to Jordan, Mohammed was interrogated for two months before being charged with "conspiracy against Israel and associating with 'wanted' persons". He is scheduled for release next year.

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Iran Analysis: Re-Assessing the Explosion at the Revolutionary Guards Base

On 12 November, an explosion at the Malard base of Iran's Revolutionary Guards killed between 17 and 37 people and damaged a number of buildings at the complex west of Tehran.

Questions immediately surfaced and have yet to be answered: what was the exact cause of the blast? Who, if anyone, was behind it? How significant was the effect on Iran's military programmes?

An article published by David Sanger and William Broad of The New York Times, "Explosion Seen as Big Setback to Iran's Missile Program", offers some clues. It needs to be read, however, not as investigative journalism but as an outlet for US and Israeli officials to put out both their assessments and their political manoeuvres around the event.

Those officials bring us no closer to the answer of whether Washington, West Jerusalem, or internal Iranian groups caused the explosion. You would not expect the sources to admit US-Israeli involvement, and the American officials settle for the line of "an accident".

What is significant, however, is the apparent conclusion of the officials that the blast was a serious blow to Iran's research and development of missiles, killing a senior commander overseeing the programme.

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Iran Feature: Explaining the Israeli "War Talk" --- Look to the Domestic Politics...And Who Wins (Zilber)

Israeli posturing is for the benefit of the international community, to increase pressure on Iran.  The only difference this time is the heightened intensity of the internal debate within the Israeli security establishment, which is leaking out in torrents.

The benefits to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak of this media campaign are immense, and are not just limited to the upcoming International Atomic Energy Agency report and potential UN Security Council action

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Israel-Palestine Feature: Another Flotilla Tries to Reach Gaza

UPDATE 1650 GMT: Israel Defense Forces use water cannon and then board the mini-flotilla:

UPDATE 1435 GMT: Israel Defense Forces have put out a statement:

A short while ago, Israel Navy soldiers boarded the vessels which were en-route to the Gaza Strip, attempting to break the maritime security blockade that is in accordance with international law.

The boarding was carried out following numerous calls to the activists onboard and during different points at sea. Following their unwillingness to cooperate, and after ignoring calls to divert to the port of Ashdod, the decision was made to board the vessels and lead them there.

The Israel Navy soldiers operated as planned, and took every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of the activists onboard the vessels as well as themselves.

Upon arrival of the vessels at the Ashdod port, the activists will be transferred to the custody of the Israel Police and immigration authorities in the Ministry of Interior.

The IDF said there were no injuries during the operation.

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Iran-Israel War Talk: "Do We Always Have to Be Taken In By This Transparent Ploy?" (Sick)

We have been around this track many times before, with exactly the same level of manufactured hysteria, peaking with a campaign of sanctions and then just as mysteriously vanishing. 

How can you tell this is not the real thing? Well, if Israel were actually considering a highly dangerous strike on a well-armed enemy, would they be kicking the idea around for everyone to see?

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Iran-Israel Opinion: Why Jerusalem Is Making War Noises

Israel and Iran are in the news again.

An anonymous source in the Israeli government told Ha'aretz yesterday that President Benjamin Netenyahu is trying to persuade the Israeli cabinet to authorize an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Although the same source claimed that the majority of the cabinet is against the idea, is it still a worrying sign?

Not quite.

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The Latest from Iran (3 November): Threats, Threats, More Threats

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2135 GMT: Ahmadinejad Watch. More on the alleged Presidential assault on his rivals from the pro-Ahmadinejad site Dolate Ma --- the President reportedly said he could reveal 10% of his information now and 25% in the future, but it was "not advisable" to disclose the rest.

Ahmadinejad added that the "day of regret is near" and said his foes are going to "apologise for accusing the Government": "The current situation is not normal; we are approaching the final showdown."

As for the current financial scandal, including the $2.6 billion bank embezzlement, the President said "people were dissatisfied" with those who "came barefoot from the south of town [the south of Tehran is the poorer section of the capital] and are billionaires now".

Ahmadinejad continued, "If you allow me to handle them in my way, I will rebuke [the political wrongdoers in 1 month. Even Europe and the US together can't bring the Government to its knees."

And now the sting in the tail, of interest to those who specialise in following the in-fighting in Tehran. Ahmadinejad said, "In 2009 'they' wanted to congratulate the opposition [on victory in the Presidential election]."

And who does Ahmadinejad mean by 'they'? Well, soon after the election, it was claimed --- by the camp of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and later by other politicians --- that Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani had told Mousavi on Election Day that he won the vote. Other reports said the head of judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, also sent the message.

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Israel-Palestine Feature: Why a UNESCO Vote Is Key To Palestinian Statehood

UPDATE 1745 GMT: State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland has told journalists, "We were to have made a $60 million payment to UNESCO in November and we will not be making that payment."

UPDATE 1245 GMT: The New York Times has produced an overview --- a slanted overview, in my opinion, sniping at UNESCO while putting the unsupported assertion that "the Obama administration and Unesco had tried to avert the approval" of Palestine's bid. This paragraph, however, is notable:

Legislation dating back more than 15 years mandates a complete cutoff of American financing to any United Nations agency that accepts the Palestinians as a full member. Unesco — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — depends on the United States for 22 percent of its budget, about $70 million a year.

Lara Friedman has more on the US legislation mandating withdrawal of funding.

UPDATE 1230 GMT: Palestine has been accepted by UNESCO by a vote of 107-14, with the US objecting. There were 52 abstentions.

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Iran Feature: A "Son of Stuxnet" Attack Against Tehran's Computers? (Sale)

Facing mounting concern about Iran’s nuclear program, a top U.S. and Israeli technical team has developed a computer “malworm” designed to take down all of Iran’s computer software.

Leaders of the three major software companies, Sergey Brin at Google, Steve Ballmer at Microsoft and Larry Ellison at Oracle have been working with Israel’s top cyber warriors and have now come up with new version of a Stuxnet-like worm that can bring down Iran’s entire software networks if the Iranian regime gets too close to a breakout, according to U.S. intelligence sources. Google, Microsoft and Oracle had no comment on the issue.

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