Top Russian MP hears Iran battle cry

[yankeedoodle]

If they pull off a false-flag, they can start a war that will get shit-for-brains shabbos goy Donnie-boy re-elected in 2020, and give Israhell what it wants: death and destruction.
Bolton's battle cry shows US is preparing for 'military scenario' in Iran - top Russian MP
https://www.rt.com/russia/458498-russia-mp-bolton-iran/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

A top Russian MP has warned of an escalation in the US conflict with Iran after Washington announced that it is sending a carrier strike group and bomber task force to the Middle East 'to send a clear message' to Tehran.

"We can't be idle, we must beat the alarm and take a stand against such behavior from Washington in all international organizations, especially in BRICS," Leonid Slutsky said, after the deployment of the naval force was announced by US National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Though Bolton insisted that the US "is not seeking war with the Iranian regime," he warned that the carrier group that will soon arrive in the Persian Gulf is "fully prepared to respond to any attack" by Tehran.

Slutsky, head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said that Bolton had failed to provide a clear explanation for the move, despite calling Tehran a threat.

"These signals, along with Washington's withdrawal from the nuclear deal and its declaration of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, lead to further escalation," he said.

The MP also slammed the US for its "demolition of international law," claiming that the US is "obviously preparing the global community for a power-projection scenario in the region."

Washington's latest move against Tehran comes just one day after Iranian authorities announced that they would continue to export oil and sell it on the grey market in a bid to counter US sanctions, which are aimed at reducing the country's oil exports to zero.

"We have mobilized all of the country's resources and are selling oil on the grey market,"said Amir Hossein Zamaninia, Iran's deputy oil minister, as quoted by IRNA news agency.

Recently, the US also imposed sanctions against Iran's nuclear power plant at Bushehr, as well as introducing a ban on exports of heavy water and any further uranium enrichment in order to maximize pressure on the Islamic Republic.

[yankeedoodle]

Bolton's Vague Press Release Lays Foundation for Military Attack Against Iran
According to Bolton's statement, an attack launched by a "proxy" of Iran on not just assets but "interests" of the U.S. in the region or "interests" of a U.S. ally in the region, would now be sufficient to trigger a U.S. attack on Iran, even if Iran itself was not directly responsible.

Read here to connect to the many links in the article:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/new-bolton-press-release-deploys-carrier-group-to-mideast-with-threat-of-war-on-iran/258223/

May 06th, 2019
By Whitney Webb Whitney Webb

WASHINGTON — In a late Sunday press release, National Security Advisor John Bolton announced the deployment of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (ABECSG) and a bomber task force to U.S. Central Command as a "clear and unmistakable message to Iran." The press release claims that the move was made "in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings," which were left unspecified.

The statement further claims that "any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force" and that, while "the United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime," the Trump administration is "fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces."

Last month, in a move that many viewed as a set-up for a war with Iran — which has long been sought by Bolton as well as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, even prior to their posts in the current administration — the Trump administration labeled the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran as a terrorist organization. Iran's government subsequently responded in kind, labeling U.S. soldiers of Central Command as terrorists and designating the U.S. government as a state sponsor of terrorism.

While Bolton framed the latest move as a "warning" to Iran, it turns out that the deployment of the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to U.S. Central Command was actually announced last month with no mention at all of Iran. Indeed, a Navy press release published on April 8 stated that "the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (ABECSG) departed Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, April 1, for a regularly scheduled deployment." The fleet has already been stationed in the Central Command region since at least April 15, when the U.S. Naval Institute announced that it was anchored off the coast of Spain.

However, the New York Times subsequently clarified that the strike group had been ordered to move from the Mediterranean Sea to the Middle East in relation to Bolton's announcement. The Times also noted that the validity of the "warnings" of an alleged imminent attack on American or allied assets in the region by Iran or its alleged proxies was unknown because, "as of late Friday, military analysts were not tracking any new, imminent or clearly defined Iranian or Iranian-backed threats against Americans in Iraq or the region."

As MintPress has previously reported, Bolton has an extensive record of distorting or falsifying intelligence if it serves his political ends. Given that Bolton has long been an advocate for regime change by force in Iran as well as the pre-emptive bombing of Iran, the intelligence on these alleged "warnings" should be heavily scrutinized. Yet, because there is no permanent secretary of defense or secretary of homeland security, Bolton has more control over national security policy and intelligence now than at any time since he became national security advisor last April. As a result, this much-needed scrutiny is unlikely to materialize.

A sneeze could trigger war
The real danger of Bolton's announcement is not the framing of the deployment of military assets or the validity of the "threats" it cites, but rather its sweeping vagueness. Indeed, Bolton's press release states that any attack "whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces" would justify an aggressive U.S. military response. Thus, an attack launched by a "proxy" of Iran on not just assets but "interests" of the U.S. in the region or "interests" of a U.S. ally in the region, would now be sufficient to trigger a U.S. attack on Iran, even if Iran itself was not directly responsible.

Given that the Trump administration has defined Iranian proxies rather loosely to include any Shia-dominated militia in the entire region — including those that have no provable connection to Iran — it is hard to interpret Bolton's statement as anything other than a set-up for war.

This concern has only been augmented following statements made by Pompeo about Bolton's recent press release. Pompeo told reporters late Sunday that the deployment of the strike group was "something we've been working on for a little while," continuing:

It is absolutely the case that we've seen escalatory action from the Iranians, and it is equally the case that we will hold the Iranians accountable for attacks on American interests. The fact that those actions take place, if they do, by some third-party proxy, whether that's a Shia militia group or the Houthis or Hezbollah, we will hold the Iranians — Iranian leadership — directly accountable for that."

As MintPress and other outlets have previously noted, even the U.S. government's own documents admit that the Houthis in Yemen are not a proxy of Iran and that Iran has no direction over their military actions. In addition, Pompeo's claim that any actions taken by any "Shia militia group" will be blamed on Iran shows that the Trump administration is now building a foundation to attack Iran for actions that include those over which Iran has no control whatsoever.

Furthermore, given the vagueness of the press release, military action may not even be necessary to trigger a response, as the press release says that "any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force." For instance, if Iran makes good on its promise to blockade the Persian Gulf in response to U.S. efforts to place a total embargo on its oil efforts, such a move could now be interpreted as an attack on U.S. interests or those of its regional allies even though it would not expressly involve an offensive attack.

In addition — given that the Trump administration also considers Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, a proxy of Iran — future hostilities between Hamas and Israel, the U.S.' main ally in the region, could also be interpreted as an "attack" on the U.S. or allied (i.e., Israeli) interests launched by an alleged Iranian proxy. However, in the case of Israel and Hamas, an unnamed U.S. official told the New York Times that the recent strike group deployment was unrelated to the conflict between Hamas and Israel, which saw Israel pound the Gaza Strip with airstrikes over the weekend.

Furthermore, it is also worth considering that the execution of a "false flag" operation attributed to any militia even claiming to be Shia against a target deemed important to U.S. or allied interests could be used to justify war with Iran.

The vagueness of Bolton's press release, as well as subsequent statements made by Pompeo, clearly show that the war hawks in the Trump administration are laying the foundation for an aggressive military attack against Iran, one that will inevitably lead to war with the Islamic Republic and likely engulf much of the Middle East — and potentially much of the world.

[yankeedoodle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRce7OHUqQA

[yankeedoodle]

Two interesting reports from RT popped up at about the same time:
- First, we read that Mossad is directing the US military, which is what we can conclude from this article that describes the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group being moved into position for an attack on Iran on the basis of a "vague Mossad tip-off."
- Then, we read that that fat pompous zio-pig Mike Pompeo, the puppet dummy who is pretending to be Secretary of State, has cancelled a meeting with European leaders, because of "unknown 'pressing issues.'"

Surely, we can speculate that Israhell has a false-flag event planned, which requires the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to be in place, and for zio-pig puppet dummy Pompeo to be well rehearsed and ready with his lies he must deliver in his role as mouthpiece for Israhell.

US acted on vague Mossad tip-off when it sent strike group to Middle East – report
https://www.rt.com/news/458536-mossad-tip-iran-intelligence/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

A US aircraft carrier group and bomber task force were deployed to the Middle East after a tip-off on a "credible threat" from Iran, which came, conveniently vague and timely, from Israeli spy agency Mossad, it has been reported.

At an April 15 meeting in Washington, Israeli National Security Council chief Meir Ben-Shabbat passed along a warning to US National Security Advisor John Bolton, senior Israeli officials told Axios. The information Bolton received was left vague: the attack could hit a US target in the Persian Gulf, or maybe Saudi Arabia, or maybe the UAE.

"It is still unclear to us what the Iranians are trying to do and how they are planning to do it," one of the senior officials said, but added it was "clear" that an unspecified event would take place sometime in the future, which would have unstated consequences.

The Axios report was corroborated by a separate report from Israel's channel 13 journalist Barak Ravid, who claimed that Israel had handed over information to the US about an alleged Iranian plot to target US interests in the Gulf.

However elusive the bait, Washington eagerly dashed to bite, deploying the USS 'Abraham Lincoln' carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East, in a maneuver that just happens to play right into Israel's hands.

Under the Trump administration, the US has been parroting Israel's hardline policies towards Iran, the Jewish state's regional archrival, first withdrawing from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal and then hitting Tehran with fresh rounds of sanctions. Last month, Washington went as far as to formally designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a "terrorist organization." Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu laid bare his relationship with US President Donald Trump, saying the terrorist listing was done at Netanyahu's "request."

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan did not specify from where he received the valuable intelligence, tweeting only that the deployment of the strike group "represents a prudent repositioning of assets in response to indications of a credible threat by Iranian regime forces."

The Mossad doesn't have the most trustworthy record when it comes to intelligence on Iran. It was likely the Mossad who, in 2004, passed fabricated documents to Iranian opposition group the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) which falsely portrayed Iran's civilian nuclear energy program.




Pompeo snubs meeting Merkel & Maas citing unknown 'pressing issues'
https://www.rt.com/usa/458550-pompeo-cancels-meeting-merkel/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has scrapped plans for a Tuesday meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas citing unspecified "pressing issues."

"Unfortunately, we must reschedule the Berlin meetings due to pressing issues. We look forward to rescheduling this important set of meetings. The Secretary looks forward to being in Berlin soon," the US Embassy cited a State Department spokesperson as saying.

Neither Merkel's nor Mass's office have issued a formal statement on the last-minute cancellation yet.

Pompeo attended a meeting of the Arctic Council in Finland where he discussed regional development, "Russian military expansion" and "Chinese investment" among other topics during an address in which he described the Arctic as "an arena of global power & competition."

[yankeedoodle]

The U.S. is squeezing Iran mainly because Israel wants it to. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a de facto alliance with Saudi Arabia, and has warm relations with the other Gulf states and with the Abdel Fattah el-Sisi dictatorship in Egypt. Iran is the only regional power that is deterring him from completely annexing the West Bank. Iran is also a major supporter of Hamas, the resistance movement in Gaza.

Israel wants the Iranian government destroyed, and Netanyahu has been instigating the United States for years to attack Teheran. Now that American foreign policy is in the hands of incompetent, bellicose officials like Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, Israel senses that its hour has arrived. First, it encouraged the Trump administration to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, even though all the inspectors recognized Teheran was fully in compliance with the agreement. This economic assault is the next step. How long until an actual war? 

Israel wants the Trump administration to attack Iran, but U.S. mainstream media ignores Netanyahu's instigating
https://mondoweiss.net/2019/05/administration-mainstream-instigating/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=administration-mainstream-instigating

Why is the Trump administration escalating its economic war against Iran, a dangerous policy that could eventually lead to a shooting war and trigger a world recession? Iran in 2019 is no danger to U.S. interests anywhere. Tehran is not threatening American shipping, or military bases; its allies, like Hizbollah in Lebanon, have not targeted U.S. civilians or soldiers for years.

The U.S. is squeezing Iran mainly because Israel wants it to. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a de facto alliance with Saudi Arabia, and has warm relations with the other Gulf states and with the Abdel Fattah el-Sisi dictatorship in Egypt. Iran is the only regional power that is deterring him from completely annexing the West Bank. Iran is also a major supporter of Hamas, the resistance movement in Gaza.

Israel wants the Iranian government destroyed, and Netanyahu has been instigating the United States for years to attack Teheran. Now that American foreign policy is in the hands of incompetent, bellicose officials like Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, Israel senses that its hour has arrived. First, it encouraged the Trump administration to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, even though all the inspectors recognized Teheran was fully in compliance with the agreement. This economic assault is the next step. How long until an actual war?

The U.S. mainstream press is mostly missing the the Israel angle. Let's start with the New York Times front-page report on the U.S. efforts to tighten the existing boycott and reduce Iran's oil exports to zero by threatening importers like China and India. The word "Israel" appears nowhere in the fairly long article. Not once. The Washington Post made exactly the same omission: no mention of "Israel."

Most mainstream coverage takes at face value Secretary of State Pompeo's contention that U.S. pressure is only meant to make Iran act like a "normal" country. But it fell to the New York Times editorial board to tell the truth that should have been reported in its news pages; back in February, the Trump administration sponsored a conference in Warsaw that attracted officials from many Arab states and Israel. The Times dismissed the administration's stated reason for the gathering. "The goal of their meeting. . . was not peacemaking," the Times said. "It was to rally support for economic and political war with Iran. . ."

That Times editorial went even further. It cited a tweet by Benjamin Netanyahu, since deleted, in which the Israeli prime minister admitted that the Warsaw conference was in truth "an open meeting with representatives of leading Arab countries, that are sitting down together with Israel in order to advance the common interest of war with Iran."

Why aren't the reporters who cover the State Department hammering Pompeo and his mouthpieces with tough questions about Israel's connection to the tightening U.S. pressure on Iran?

Before the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, there was at least a vigorous public debate, even though the Bush administration did sucker most of the U.S. mainstream media. This time around: silence. America could be sleepwalking into another tragedy that is not in our national interest. 

[yankeedoodle]

US deploys '4 B-52 bombers' in Middle East to counter purported Iran 'attack plan'
https://www.rt.com/news/458627-b52-middle-east-iran/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

The Pentagon will reportedly station four B-52 heavy bombers in the Middle East in response to what the White House called a "credible" Iranian attack plan on Americans or US allies in the region.

Two of the warplanes will leave the Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana for Qatar on Tuesday, where the other two will join them some time in the coming weeks, unnamed Pentagon sources told CBS. They will be stationed at the US Central Command's headquarters at the al-Udeid Air Base near Doha.

The move comes after the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group set sail for the Persian Gulf on Monday. White House National Security Advisor John Bolton announced both deployments over the weekend, claiming they are a response to "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" related to an Iranian attack.

Washington wants "to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force," Bolton said.

Though Bolton gave virtually no details about the threat, reports suggest the intelligence came from the Israeli Mossad. They, too, left the matter vague.

A Pentagon official told the New York Times on Sunday that he was unaware of any attack plan, and that the threat may have emerged in the "previous 24 to 48 hours," but the Israeli intelligence was passed to Washington weeks ago.

While such deployment decisions are often made well in advance, hawks in the Donald Trump administration are capitalizing on the so-called "attack plan," portraying the deployment as a rapid, spontaneous response to a foreign threat.

In a mocking tweet, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif slammed the deployments, pointing out that the ship movements had indeed been announced weeks ago.

"If US and clients don't feel safe, it's because they're despised by the people of the region – blaming Iran won't reverse that," Zarif said.

[yankeedoodle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E987g9kvlUk