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The Road from Teheran, a Two-Way Street

As news emerges of Iranian agents in Gaza, Stratfor suggests Israeli agents may be active in Teheran.

Rather than getting ready to bomb Iran … as lot of people, excluding me and Stratfor, seem to expect them to do … Israeli may be practicing brain surgery instead. Specifically, a lobotomy of Iran’s nuclear program. Covert assassination operations intended to derail Iran’s nuclear program and influence Iran’s behavior:

French President Jacques Chirac started quite the uproar with his apparent faux pas … an Iranian nuclear weapon would not be much of a threat because “Tehran would be razed to the ground” if it ever tried to deploy such a device.

… Israel, however, does not care to gamble on the rationality of the Iranian regime, and does not intend to see an Iranian nuclear weapons program come to fruition.

The Israelis, therefore, have their own ways of dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat.

…. The death of a high-level Iranian nuclear scientist, Ardeshir Hassanpour, was announced by Radio Farda and Iranian state television Jan. 25 — a week after his death occurred. The Radio Farda report implicitly related the cause for Hassanpour’s death to exposure to radioactive rays, though the details were murky. Stratfor sources close to Israeli intelligence have revealed, however, that Hassanpour was in fact a Mossad target.

Hassanpour is believed to have been one of Iran’s most prized nuclear scientists. Some reports claim he was named the best scientist in the military field in Iran in 2003, that he directed and founded the center for nuclear electromagnetic studies since 2005 and that he co-founded the Nuclear Technology Center in Isfahan, where Iran’s uranium-conversion facilities are located.

Decapitating a hostile nuclear program by taking out key human assets is a tactic that has proven its effectiveness over the years, particularly in the case of Iraq. In the months leading up to the 1981 Israeli airstrike on Iraq’s Osirak reactor — which was believed to be on the verge of producing plutonium for a weapons program — at least three Iraqi nuclear scientists died under mysterious circumstances.

… Mossad’s latest covert assassination campaign falls in line with Israel’s psychological warfare strategy to undermine Iran’s confidence in pursuing its nuclear agenda. The longer the Iranians are forced to second-guess Israel’s intent to launch a pre-emptive strike, the more pliable Iran becomes in negotiating with the United States toward a political agreement on Iraq.

Tehran wants, ideally, to secure a Shiite buffer zone in Iraq while also reaching the point of no return in its nuclear program; but the Iranian regime must move carefully on the nuclear issue to avoid inviting airstrikes on its soil. Israel and the United States are betting for now that Iran’s concerns over Iraq will override its pursuit of nuclear power — which, however, leaves Tehran in a prime position to use the nuclear controversy as a major bargaining tool in extracting concessions from the United States over Iraq.

Meanwhile, the news from Gaza: Fatah has just arrested five to seven Iranian agents, reportedly including an Iranian general, who were supplying Hamas with weapons and expertise: Adnki , Ynet 

Those Iranians get around.  Gaza. Lebanon. Baghdad.  Very busy. But that route is a two-way street.

Prior: All roads lead to Teheran. Dadmanly and his Iraq vet pals’ observations on recent helicopter shootdowns and where those shoulder-fired SAMs are coming from.  

Topics: Iran, Israel

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 2:05 pm on Friday, February 2, 2007

4 Responses to “The Road from Teheran, a Two-Way Street”

1. Don Surber » Blog Archive » Where Arkin screwed up Says:
   February 2nd, 2007 at 3:45 pm

   [...] 3. Jules Crittenden: “Speaking of Iran, Fatah has just arrested five to seven Iranian agents in Gaza, including an Iranian general, who were supplying Hamas with weapons and expertise: Adnki, Ynet. Those Iranians get around. Gaza. Lebanon. Baghdad. Very busy.” [...]

2. Bill's Bites Says:
   February 2nd, 2007 at 5:37 pm

   The Road from Teheran, a Two-Way Street

   The Road from Teheran, a Two-Way Street Jules Crittenden Rather than getting ready to bomb Iran … as lot of people, excluding me and Stratfor, seem to expect them to do … Israeli may be practising brain surgery instead. Specifically,

3. RebeccaH Says:
   February 2nd, 2007 at 9:54 pm

   All I can say is, Go Mossad.

4. NoisyRoom.net » Blog Archive » The Road from Teheran, a Two-Way Street Says:
   February 3rd, 2007 at 10:13 pm

   [...] Courtesy of Jules Crittenden: As news emerges of Iranian agents in Gaza, Stratfor suggests Israeli agents may be active in Teheran. [...]

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