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US Preparing To Bomb Iran's Nuclear Capabilities As Soon As Next Month: Report
Zero Hedge
Thu, 07/26/2018
As the White House convenes a
policy meeting on Iran Thursday involving senior Pentagon officials and cabinet advisers under national security adviser John Bolton, and after a week of intense saber-rattling by President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani,
a new bombshell report by Australia's ABC says the White House is drawing up plans to strike Iran's alleged nuclear facilities as early as next month.
Senior figures in the Australia's Turnbull government have told the ABC they believe the US is prepared to bomb Iran's nuclear capability. The bombing could be as early as next month.
—ABC report
Crucially,
Australia is part of the so-called "Five Eyes" global intelligence partners which includes the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and plays in a key role in hosting top-secret facilities that guide American spy satellites.
According to the breaking report,
ABC [Australian Broadcasting Corporation] has learned the following based on statements of key
senior defense and intelligence officials:
- Senior Government figures have told the ABC they believe the Trump administration is prepared to bomb Iran
- They say Australian defence facilities would likely play a role in identifying possible targets
- But another senior source, in security, emphasizes there is a difference between providing intelligence and "active targeting"
The report cites high level Aussie government officials who say that secretive Australian defense and intelligence facilities would likely cooperate with the United States and Britain in
identifying targets in a strike on Iran.
One particular facility,
the Pine Gap joint defense facility in the Northern Territory, would play a significant targeting role in joint US-led strikes on Iran, according to
the report, it's "considered crucial among the so-called 'Five Eyes' intelligence partners... for its role in directing American spy satellites."
And further, other agencies are expected to play a role:
Analysts from the little-known spy agency Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation would also be expected to play a part.
Canada would be unlikely to play a role in any military action in Iran, nor would the smallest Five Eyes security partner New Zealand, sources said.
However, though officials speaking to
ABC on condition of anonymity say intelligence plans for targeting suspected Iran nuke sites have begun,
Australia's foreign ministry is still seeking to avoid war through intense diplomatic efforts.
"Australia is urging Iran to be a force for peace and stability in the region," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told ABC's AM program on Thursday.
The report comes after President Trump's all caps twitter tirade on Sunday which
warned Iran to "
NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE..."
developing...
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Major General Soleimani sharply reacts to Trump’s recent military threat
Vineyard of The Saker
July 26, 2018
Iran’s Major General Qassem Soleimani has sharply reacted to the recent “cabaret owner-style” military threat by US President Donald Trump against the Islamic Republic, saying he takes the position to respond “as a soldier” since it is beneath the dignity of Iran’s president to do so.
Addressing Trump, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said, “You threaten us with an action that is ‘unprecedented’ in the world. This is cabaret-style rhetoric. Only a cabaret owner talks to the world this way.”
He was reacting to Trump’s
all-caps tweet addressed to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in which he threatened the Islamic Republic with actions “the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before.”
The tweet came after President Rouhani warned the US against its hostile approach against Iran, saying America should know that peace with Iran will be the mother of all peace while war with the country will be the mother of all wars.
“It is beneath the dignity of our president to respond to you. I, as a soldier, respond to you,” Soleimani further said.
You already did all you could!
The senior general further reminded the United States of its failures in its invasions of Iraq and
Afghanistan.
“What was it that you could do over the past 20 years but you didn’t? You came to Afghanistan with scores of tanks and personnel carriers and hundreds of advanced helicopters and committed crimes there. What the hell could you do between 2001 and 2018 with 110,000 troops? You are today begging Taliban for talks,” Major General Soleimani said.
The Iranian commander added, “Afghanistan was a poor country, what the hell could you do in this country that you are currently threatening us?”
“You arrogantly attacked Iraq with 160,000 troops and multiple times [military equipment] compared to what you used in Afghanistan, but what happened? Ask your then commander who was the person that he sent to me and asked ‘Is is possible for you to give us time [and] use your influence so that our soldiers would not be attacked by the Iraqi fighters in these few months until we exit this country?’ Have you forgotten that you provided adult diapers for your soldiers in tanks? Despite that you are currently threatening the great country of Iran? With what background do you threaten [us]?”
“We are near you, where you can’t even imagine. We are the nation of martyrdom, we are the nation of Imam Hossein, you better ask. Come; we are ready. We are the man of this arena. You know that this war would mean annihilation of all your means. You may begin the war, but it is us who will end it,” he said.
In
Yemen, Soleimani said, the US-backed coalition of Saudi Arabia and its allies has been incapable of making any gains against the country’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, which is both running state affairs and defending the nation against the Riyadh-led aggression.
“A mere organization is standing against you in Yemen, but it has emerged victorious in the face of the most advanced of your military equipment. What have you achieved over the past four years? You stripped the Red Sea – which used to be a safe sea – of security. You brought under fire Saudi Arabia and [its capital] Riyadh – which had not seen a single rocket fired at them for 100 years.”
The senior general further warned Trump against insulting the Iranian nation and president.
“Trump! You must not threaten our nation and must not insult our president… You must know what you are talking about; ask your predecessors and take advantage of their experiences,” General Soleimani emphasized.
The senior military official also censured the US for supporting the most hated anti-Iran terror group, called the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), saying Washington failed to achieve anything by doing so.
The commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force said, “America had some grandeur in the past [and] when its fleet moved out, a nation fell apart. Have you now become attached to the Monafeqeen, who have been thrown in the trash bin of Iran’s history? You have become attached to a vagrant woman, and show her in all [your news] networks; is your hope pinned on this? Is this all your power? You are aware of our power in the region and capability for [launching] asymmetrical war?”
