Iran’s war games could force U.S. into aggression, oil price

[styky]

Panetta: USS Enterprise Carrier Group to Transit Hormuz in March

http://debka.com/article/21671

[styky]

US Carrier Enters Gulf After Iran Tones Down Threats
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News ... ?id=254715

Ahmadinejad: We'll Confront Anyone Who Threatens Us
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151990

[styky]

Peter Goodspeed: If sanctions against Iran fail, war may be inevitable

Peter Goodspeed Jan 24, 2012 – 12:23 AM ET | Last Updated: Jan 24, 2012 12:34 AM ET
The European Union joined the United States Monday in launching an economic war against Iran to force it to abandon a suspected nuclear weapons program.

By imposing an embargo on Iranian oil exports and freezing assets of its central bank, EU members hope to cut so deeply into government revenues Tehran will agree to accept international safeguards on its nuclear program.

But the sanctions themselves may be the penultimate step before a possible military attack.

Western leaders like Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, have insisted stiff economic sanctions are necessary to avert a possible war with Iran...........http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... nevitable/

[styky]

Oil near $100 as Middle East tension simmers
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... 924669cb61

[styky]

Could Iran close the Strait of Hormuz? 23.01.12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KsHzMn8 ... r_embedded

[styky]

Britain, US and France send warships through Strait of Hormuz
Britain, America and France delivered a pointed signal to Iran, sending six warships led by a 100,000 ton aircraft carrier through the highly sensitive waters of the Strait of Hormuz. ...................http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ormuz.html

[styky]

What Will Happen With Iran?
By JR Nyquist01/23/2012


Will there be a war in the Persian Gulf in 2012? Will America provoke Iran, or secretly encourage an Israeli attack? There is a way to answer these questions with a high degree of confidence.

For the last several years there has been a persistent rumor that Washington plans to preemptively strike Iran (to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power). Despite all the hand-wringing, no attack has occurred – and for good reason. ...............http://www.financialsense.com/contribut ... -with-iran

[styky]

Iran preparing now for Armageddon
Select fighters being described as 'Soldiers of Imam Mahdi'
http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/iran-prepari ... rmageddon/

[styky]

War Of Attrition Brewing With Iran Over Gulf Oil Routes
http://www.debka.com/article/21687

U.S. Outrage As Egypt Bars Americans From Leaving
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/ ... QC20120126

[styky]

Israel Senses Bluffing in Iran's Threats of Retaliation
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/world ... wanted=all

[styky]

Massive US Military Buildup on Two Strategic Islands: Socotra and Masirah
http://www.pacificrimcoins.com/pacrim/c ... nd-masirah

[styky]

Navy wants commando ‘mothership’ in Middle East
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nat ... story.html

Iran Moving Closer To Stage Where It Will Be Too Late To Destroy Nuclear Facilities, Israel Warns
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... warns.html

[Ogopogo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nat ... l_national

Iran, perceiving threat from West, willing to attack on U.S. soil, U.S. intelligence report finds

View Photo Gallery —  A string of volatile incidents have occurred between the two countries in the past few months.

By Greg Miller, Updated: Tuesday, January 31, 9:59 AM

U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Iran is prepared to launch terrorist attacks inside the United States in response to perceived threats from America and its allies, the U.S. spy chief said Tuesday.

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. said in prepared testimony that an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington that was uncovered last year reflects an aggressive new willingness within the upper ranks of the Islamist republic to authorize attacks against the United States.

Intelligence shows that Iran received foreign assistance to overcome key hurdles in acquiring technology that could lead to a nuclear weapon, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.


That plot “shows that some Iranian officials — probably including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — have changed their calculus and are now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime,” Clapper said in the testimony, which was submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee in advance of a threat assessment hearing Tuesday. “We are also concerned about Iranian plotting against U.S. or allied interests overseas.”

The assessment signals a potentially dire new direction in the adversarial relationship between the United States and Iran, at a time when there are indications that a covert campaign is already underway to thwart Iran’s alleged ambition to develop a nuclear weapon.

Clapper’s warning about Iran was delivered as part of the U.S. intelligence community’s annual overview of the nation’s most serious national security concerns. As the hearing got underway, Clapper signaled that the United States is seeking to avoid a violent confrontation with Iran, instead pushing for more and more sanctions while also monitoring the possibility of a preemptive strike by Israel.

“Our hope is that the sanctions ... would have the effect of inducing a change in Iranian policy toward their apparent pursuit of a nuclear capability,” Clapper said. “Obviously this is a very sensitive issue right now. We’re doing a lot with the Israelis.”

Clapper’s testimony also calls attention to a heightened concern over cyber-related threats, as well as the diminished but persistent danger to the United States posed by al-Qaeda.

This year’s assessment is the first to evaluate al-Qaeda’s capabilities since Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. commando raid in May. That blow, combined with the toll taken by subsequent strikes and raids, has destroyed al-Qaeda’s core.

As a result, Clapper said in the testimony, the United States is entering a “critical transitional phase for the terrorist threat,” in which smaller-bore strikes from regional nodes are more likely than elaborate, mass-casualty plots.

If the pressure on al-Qaeda can be maintained, “there is a better-than-even chance that decentralization will lead to fragmentation,” Clapper said. The terrorist group “will seek to execute smaller, simpler plots to demonstrate relevance to the global jihad.”

The group’s affiliate in Yemen continues to be seen as the most likely source of plots targeting the United States. But the death of U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in a CIA drone strike in Yemen last year has at least temporarily eroded the affiliate’s ability to mount international attacks.



The indications of al-Qaeda’s declining potency were offset by the grim new concern about the potential for terror attacks from Iran.

In October, U.S. officials accused Iran of being behind the disrupted plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador Adel al-Jubeir. The convoluted scheme was to rely on assassins from a Mexican drug cartel to carry out the killing at a restaurant in Washington.


Intelligence shows that Iran received foreign assistance to overcome key hurdles in acquiring technology that could lead to a nuclear weapon, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.


Highlights from a series of potentially volatile incidents

U.S. officials said the plot was devised by an Iranian American with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. But the plan was foiled when the Iranian American mistakenly hired a paid informant of the Drug Enforcement Administration to carry it out. Iranian officials have denied any role in the plot.

At the time, Obama administration officials said they were unclear on “how high up” in the Iranian leadership approval of the alleged plan extended. Clapper’s reference to Khamenei marks the first time that U.S. officials have mentioned Iran’s supreme leader in connection with the plot, signaling new belief that the alleged willingness to authorize such attacks comes directly from the top.

The view of U.S. intelligence agencies on Iran’s nuclear intentions has not shifted since last year. Clapper said that Iran still appears to be “keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons,” but that “we do not know” what the republic will decide.

Iran has blamed the United States and Israel for a series of mysterious developments, including the apparently targeted killing of yet another Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran on Jan. 11, as well as a crippling cyberattack on the country’s largest uranium enrichment facility.

In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama raised the threat of military intervention to halt Iran’s alleged pursuit of an atomic bomb, saying he would “take no options off the table to achieve that goal.”

But the administration insists that it has refrained from violent measures so far. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton denied “any United States involvement in any kind of act of violence inside Iran.”

[styky]

Iran Now a ‘Top Threat’ to U.S. Networks, Spy Chief Claims
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/01 ... hief-says/

US 'Bunker-Buster' Not Powerful Enough Against Iran
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... ker-buster

Iran Says It Has Laser-Guided Artillery Rounds
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_sa ... s_999.html

Mossad Chief Holds Secret U.S. Meetings On Iran Nuclear Threat, Senate Panel Reveals
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-d ... s-1.410233

[styky]

Iranian Websites Publish Threats against U.S. Targets in Gulf
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6047.htm

Could the world handle an Iranian oil crisis?
‎http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/how-the-world-would-deal-with-an-iranian-oil-crisis/2012/02/01/gIQAtuI8hQ_blog.html