Beating the war drums for the Nov. 27 assassination of 63-year-old Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s hard-line newspaper called for the Islamic Republic to strike Israel’s port city of Haifa, which houses a major power plant and densely populated Mediterranean resort. Iran blames Israel for Fahkrizadeh’s death, prompting calls from Iran’s parliament for retaliation. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khaemenei called for punishment of the perpetrators, acting like Iran, under his leadership, was not at war with Israel. Iran supplies Hamas terrorist in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Beirut arms and cash, especially rockets, ballistic missiles and predator drones to attack Israel. Iran’s proxy wars supplying-arms-and-cash to Houthi rebels in Yemen to fight Saudi Arabia and supplying Hamas and Hezobollah terrorists to attack Israel prompted Turmp to cancel the Iranian Nuke Deal.
Negotiated for two years by former President Barack Obama and his former 76-year-old Secretary of State John Kerry, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] gave Iran $1.6 millions in cash and $150 million in sanctions relief. Iran took the cash and proceeded to run amok fighting proxy wars against Saudi Arabia and Israel. Khamenei wants an excuse to attack Israel but won’t act until 74-year-old President Donald Trump is out of office. Iran’s 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khaemnei fears a response from Trump that could significantly degrade Iran’s oil infrastructure. When Khamenei ordered the Jan. 8 attacks of U.S. soldiers at the Ayan al-Assad Airbase outside Baghdad, it injured over 100 U.S. troops. Trump said he would reserve the right to respond at a time of his choosing. Iran responded to the Jan. 3 predator drone attack on Al-Qud’s chief Qassem Solemani.
Sunday’s op-ed in Iran’s Aytollah-backed newspaper calls for inflicting maximum casualties on Israel. Khamenei knows that any attack on Israel would be with fierce retaliation by Israel and the United States. Khamenei finds himself in the worst economy crisis since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Iran’s rial currency has been massively devalued, promoting hardship around the country. Street protests suppressed by the Ayatollah’s Basij militia called for the end of Khamenei’s mullah rule that his left the economy in ruins. Any attack on Israel or any U.S. target would be met with a devastating response by Trump, prompting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to call on Iran to carefully plan any retaliation. Preparing for possible retaliation, Netanyahu ordered Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, commander of Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] to travel to the Lebanon and Syrian frontiers.
Kohavi wants to detect whether there’s any movement by Hezbollah to position a new wave of rocket attacks from Lebanon or Syria. “I came here to evaluate the current state of security, with an emphasis on the Iranian entrenchment in Syria,” Kohavi said. “Our message is clear: We will continue to act as vigorously as necessary against the Iranian entrenchment in Syria, and we will remain fully prepared against any manifestation of aggression against us.” Iran’s threats coming from Ayatotllah, the parliament and now the conservative Kayhan newspaper raise Israel’s alert for a possible military strike. Iran has not attacked Israel directly, preferring like they do to attack Saudi Arabia to use surrogates like Hamas and Hezbollah. Fakhrizadeh headed Iran’s AMAD nuclear weapons program, something U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] said was disbanded in 2003.
Netanyahu and other Western intel sources think AMAD was never really disbanded but was camouflaged by Iran in its secret military sites, off-limits to IAEA inspectors under provisions of the JCPOA. Iran’s so far out of compliance with the JCPOA, it prompted German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to say Nov. 22 that Iran must stop enriching uranium. President-elect Joe Biden expressed a willingness to rejoin the P5+1, including the U.S., France, Russian, China and Germany, if Iran returns to compliance in terms of its uranium enrichment limits. Iran has 12 times the amount of 4/5% enriched uranium, showing that Iran abandoned the July 15, 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal. Whatever happens between now and the inauguration, Biden must decide whether or not to rejoin the JCPOA. Biden’s foreign policy team led by 58-year-old Secretary of State Tony Blinken signaled he wants to rejoin the Nuke Deal.
Whatever happens with Iranian retaliation for the Nov. 27 death of Iranian nuclear scientists Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the P5+1 can’t sit idly by while Iran violates its agreement under the JCPOA. Already out of compliance by tons of enriched uranium, Iran is a hot-step-and-away from a crude nuclear device. Whether the AMAD nuclear weapons’ programs was every really disbanded is anyone’s guess. What’s known for sure is that Iran want to avenge the death of Fakhrizadeh, just now sure how and when to do it. Amos Yadin, former head of Israel’s intelligence service isn’t sure that Iran ever stopped it AMAD nuclear weapons program, other than camouflage it in Iran’s secret military sites. “I highly recommend to the officials to keep their mouths closed and not leak anything. They’re already spoken too much,” Yadin said about Netayahu’s public remarks to supporters.
