Mike Pompeo demoniseert Iran vanwege het zich niet houden aan de Iran-nucleaire deal... ha! ha! ha! ha!

Ongelofelijk hoe de VS denkt alles en iedereen te kunnen manipuleren en dan op de kop staat als andere landen zich niet houden aan haar hersenspinsels....... Afgelopen week 'lanceerde Iran een satelliet' naar 465 kilometer hoogte en zoals te verwachten de VS stond op de kop, immers de VS heeft zich de ruimte toegeëigend met haar Space Force (USSF), overigens een actie van de psychopathische Trump administratie, die recht ingaat tegen daarover gesloten verdragen......

Oorlogsmisdadiger en topploert Pompeo, minister van buitenlandse zaken voor de VS, had het gore lof volledig uit z'n psychopathische kop te gaan over de lancering van die Iraanse satelliet. De schoft stelt plompverloren dat Iran zich met die lancering niet houdt aan de Iraanse nucleaire deal, ofwel de P5+1 nuceaire deal....... ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Pompeo had zelfs de moeite genomen om het artikel in dat verdrag te zoeken waarin stond dat Iran dit soort acties niet mocht ondernomen..... 

Pompeo was 'even vergeten' dat Trump de Iran-nucleaire deal heeft verscheurt, de VS heeft teruggetrokken uit die deal en Iran illegaal zware sancties heeft opgelegd....... Door die sancties is het land extra hard getroffen door het Coronavirus, nadat er vóór de Coronacrisis al veel ouderen, chronisch zieken en kinderen zijn overleden door tekorten aan medicijnen en medische apparatuur, juist vanwege de illegale VS sancties, ondanks dat heeft Iran veel meer succes met het bestrijden van het virus dan de VS, waar men nog steeds achter de feiten aanloopt... (zo meer daarover)

Iran is volgens Pompeo en de rest van de Trump administratie een groot verspreider van terreur, ook al een meer dan belachelijke beschuldiging, daar de VS verreweg de grootste terreurentiteit op aarde is, een land dat alleen deze eeuw al ruim meer dan 2,5 miljoen mensen heeft vermoord: -in illegale oorlogen, -in geheime militaire missies o.l.v. de CIA, -middels drones, waarbij meer dan 90% van de slachtoffers niet eens werd verdacht, dus veelal vrouwen en kinderen, -door opstanden georganiseerd door de CIA en tot slot -in staatsgrepen uitgevoerd in landen die de VS niet welgevallig zijn...... Aan dat soort grootschalige en barbaarse terreur kan Iran bij wijze van spreken nog niet in duizend jaar tippen.......

Dat was het nog niet beste bezoeker: Pompeo beschuldigt Iran er ook nog eens van het Coronavirus niet serieus te nemen en in te zetten op de lancering van een satelliet...... De enorme schoft vergat voor het gemak te melden, dat door de sancties van de VS er in Iran een groot tekort is ontstaan aan medische middelen, medicijnen en medische apparatuur en er zoals gezegd al voor de Coronacrisis een groot aantal doden was te betreuren in Iran (in feite alweer een massamoord op het conto van de VS....).... 

Nogmaals: als er één land is dat wat betreft het Coronavirus volkomen achter de feiten aanloopt (waar Nederland heel dicht in de buurt komt) is het de VS wel, meer dan 50.000 Crononadoden, honderden miljarden dollars voor: -het bedrijfsleven, -de aandeelhouders en -de welgestelden, terwijl massa's mensen werkloos zijn geworden, niet verzekerd zijn en geen geld hebben om bijvoorbeeld een chemokuur te betalen, waardoor in 'het land van de ongekende mogelijkheden' mensen overlijden daar ze simpelweg te arm zijn om medicatie en therapie te betalen......

Het volgende artikel werd geschreven door Finian Cunningham, waarin hij verder op deze zaak ingaat, eerder gepubliceerd op Sputnik en door mij overgenomen van Information Clearing House (onder het artikel kan je klikken voor een 'Dutch' vertaling, dat neemt enige tijd in beslag): 

Iran Launches US Fury

By Finian Cunningham

April 24, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - No wonder the US reacted with fury this week when Iran launched a satellite 465 kilometers into space. In baseball terms, the Iranians just hit the US ball out of the park.

Mike Pompeo, America's top diplomat, is demanding more sanctions against Iran over what he claimed was a violation of UN resolutions outlawing Iranian military missiles in space. He called on the "Iranian regime" to prioritise resources in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and to end its campaign of global terror".

You have to hand it to Pompeo for his total lack of awareness of America's own absurdity. 
Pompeo cited UN Resolution 2231 which pertains to the 2015 international nuclear accord with Iran – the same accord that the Trump administration dumped in May 2018. So, Washington wants Iran to abide by resolutions relating to a treaty that is non-existent, as far as the US is concerned.

In any case, Iran says that its communication satellite does not violate UN resolutions because it is not for an offensive military purpose. Russia has reportedly backed the Iranian viewpoint.

Pompeo points to the involvement of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the launch as somehow indicative of malign intent ignoring the fact that military and space technology are historically deeply entwined. None more so than in the US space ventures, which originated from Nazi V2 rocket science. 


A first military satellite named Noor is launched into orbit by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, in Semnan, Iran April 22, 2020

The US lecturing to Iran about a military satellite comes only weeks after President Trump has ordered the establishment of a new Space Force which opens up weaponization of space – in contravention of an international treaty forbidding such development.

Pompeo's call on Iran to "prioritise resources" to meet the "demands of the Iranian people" (an oblique reference to the COVID-19 crisis) is made while the US leads the world in the number of infections and deaths from the disease. 

The abject fiasco of Washington not being able to better contain the pandemic is a result of chronically underfunded health services in the US. This is while the US sends warships to the Persian Gulf – 10,000 kilometers from its shores – to carry out naval maneuvers threatening Iranian security and the security of the wider region. Just who is waging a global terror campaign?

Pompeo's piffle about "prioritising resources" comes from a regime in Washington that spends more than $750 billion on the military every year. That's nearly 57 times the estimated $13 billion that Iran spends. And, by the way, five times more than China, and more than 10 times Russia's military budget. 


[De psychopathische massamoordenaar Mike Pompeo, die als Trump, Obama en Clinton (de vrouwelijke variant) vervolgd zou moeten worden door het Internationaal Strafhof (ICC), dit voor oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid] Photo: Reuters

American citizens' demand for better healthcare could be easily met if its monstrously profligate military expenditure was redirected. The failure of the US public health system is made all the more apparent by the current COVID-19 crisis.

The US pandemic death toll is this week heading above 50,000 compared with Iran's figure of 5,300. Considering the respective population numbers of 330 and 80 million that suggests Iran is doing a much better job at containing the virus. On a per-capita basis, according to publicly available data, Iran's mortality rate is less than half that of the US. 

This is while the US has sanctioned Iran to the hilt. American sanctions – arguably illegal under international law – have hit Iran's ability to import medical supplies to cope with COVID-19 and other fatal diseases, yet Iran through its own resources is evidently managing the crisis much better than the US. 

To top it all, Iran this week was able to launch its first satellite into space. The Iranians deserve applause for their technological achievement-based entirely on their own resources and ingenuity of their scientists. 

What's really motivating Washington's ire is that its criminal and barbaric sanctions policy is shown – spectacularly – to be an abysmal flop. Even with so many resources at its disposal, the US has failed to thwart the Iranian nation. 

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Presidency on April 15, 2020 shows Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wearing a face mask during a cabinet session in the capital Tehran

This is why Pompeo is blustering now about appealing to other nations to impose more international sanctions. The US sanctions alone and its campaign of bullying and terrorism have failed, and it is desperately trying to dragoon others to join its heartless policy – under the guise of UN resolutions. 

It would also explain Trump's crazed order this week to the US navy to "shoot down" Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf. 

Washington’s presumed global empire is all washed up. Its disgraceful dereliction towards American public health is abundantly clear. Its bullying of China, Russia, Venezuela, and others is futile. Its navy is impotent from COVID-19 sick sailors aboard billion-dollar warships. And Iran, hammered by US sanctions, is able to make a landmark satellite achievement while beating the US in terms of managing a pandemic. No wonder the Americans are livid.

Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. - "Source"

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Voor meer berichten over Pompeo, P5+1 nucleaire deal, Iran, Venezuela, US Space Force en/of het Coronavirus, klik op het betrffende label, direct onder dit bericht.

Scott Ritter, voormalig VN-wapeninspecteur: Iran verdient de eer voor het verslaan van ISIS

In het hieronder opgenomen artikel, geschreven door voormalig VN-wapeninspecteur Scott Ritter en eerder gepubliceerd op The American Conservative, stelt hij dat niet de VS, maar vooral Iran de eer toekomt van het verslaan van IS in zowel Irak als Syrië.....

Ritter verhaalt over het ontstaan van IS en alle daarbij behorende gore spelletjes van de VS, waarbij hij de VS in feite beschuldigt van het beschermen van en samenwerken met IS, al was het alleen om Assad af te kunnen zetten en nu als stok tegen Iran te gebruiken........ Intussen heeft IS al een paar aanslagen gepleegd in Iran (met de hulp van de CIA). Over de CIA gesproken: de VS heeft toegegeven dat het al jaren bezig is om de oppositie in Iran te steunen en op te zetten tegen de regering....... Zo zijn ook de zogenaamde opstanden die de laatste jaren in Iran plaatsvonden (uiterst gewelddadige 'opstanden'), georganiseerd door de CIA.....

Scott Ritter was VN-wapeninspecteur voorafgaand aan de illegale oorlog van de VS tegen Irak in 2003. Keer op keer liet hij de VN, de reguliere (massa-) media en politici weten dat Irak niet langer de beschikking had over 'massavernietigingswapens en dat dit uit en te na was onderzocht door hem en z'n team, waarbij Ritter uiteindelijk zijn gelijk haalde..... Lullig genoeg haalde hij z'n gelijk, pas lang nadat de VS Irak aanviel....* Deze illegale oorlog van de VS betekende de dood van meer dan nu al 1,5 miljoen mensen (in feite is de oorlog in Irak nog steeds gaande....)..... Ach ja, de VS: de grootste terreurentiteit op onze kleine aarde.......

Lees het volgende uitstekende artikel van Scott Ritter en oordeel zelf:

Iran Deserves Credit for the Ruin of ISIS

But is the U.S. now allowing its last remnants to survive in Syria to spite Tehran?

By SCOTT RITTER • October 17, 2018

Michael Wick / Shutterstock

Until recently the United States viewed the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, as a major threat to regional stability in the Middle East. Barack Obama made it a mission to roll back ISIS’s territorial and propagandistic gain, and Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to “kick ISIS’s ass.” The United States expended considerable effort, both military and political, in a campaign to defeat the terror group in Iraq and, to a lesser extent, in Syria.

But there is also no doubt that the bulk of the effort came from Iran, not the United States. Without Iranian involvement, ISIS would still have a formidable presence in both Iraq and Syria.  

ISIS was born out of the ashes of the American invasion of Iraq. Their rise was the logical extension of a process that saw the fabric of secular Sunni society torn asunder by an American occupier unwilling to further empower a Sunni ruling elite that had been loyal to Saddam Hussein. Washington failed to understand the resentment engendered within the Sunni community when Iraq’s Shia, some of whom were beholden to Iran, came to power.

Traditional Sunni tribal power structures were eviscerated as a result, only to be replaced with radicalized Sunni youths beholden to only themselves. Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) was al-Qaeda in name only—its mission wasn’t to export jihad to the West, but to free Iraq from the grips of an American and Iranian occupation.  

America’s campaign against AQI never resulted in that movement’s destruction. Instead, the United States, in an effort to free itself of the burden of war created when it invaded Iraq in the first place, withdrew from Iraq in 2012, leaving the final phase of AQI’s destruction in the hands of the Iraqi government. This period coincided with the start of the civil unrest in Syria and the creation of a radicalized Islamist opposition to Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. The willingness to cede large swaths of Syrian territory to Islamist forces as a means of destabilizing Assad created the conditions for the birth of ISIS in the deserts of both central Syria and western Iraq.

When ISIS advanced on the Iraqi cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, the American-trained and -equipped Iraqi army was unable to halt its advance. Soon the major city of Mosul fell to ISIS, and its forces pushed down the Tigris River valley to the outskirts of Baghdad.

The story of Iraq’s struggle to form a viable resistance to ISIS in the aftermath of the fall of Mosul is little known, and even less appreciated, by the United States. The formation of so-called “Popular Mobilization Forces,” or PMF—organized at the behest of Iraq’s senior Shia leadership, and trained, equipped, and led by Iran—was the single most important factor behind the halting of ISIS’s drive on Baghdad and its eventual eviction from Iraqi territory.

Western media have paid a disproportionate amount of attention to the actions of a select few American-trained Iraqi security forces, which, with ample support from U.S. airpower and advisors, helped end fighting in and around Mosul. All the while, they’ve ignored that the lion’s share of the fighting was done by the Iranian-directed PMF. This fact was not lost on the Iraqi people, many of whom (though not many of the Sunnis) hold the PMF in the highest regard. This sentiment has propelled many of the senior leadership of the PMF into political prominence in Baghdad.

For Iran, the ISIS phenomenon is not limited to Iraq. It is seen as part and parcel of a concerted effort undertaken by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf Arab nations to overthrow Assad in Syria, diminish the power and influence of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and roll back Iranian influence in both Syria and Iraq. ISIS’s geographic presence in Syria, concentrated as it was in the central and northeastern deserts, made it a secondary target compared to the al-Qaeda affiliates operating in and around Aleppo and Damascus.

As the Syrian government, with the assistance of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, gained the upper hand in the fight against the American- and Saudi-backed al-Qaeda groups, however, the importance of ISIS as a source of anti-regime resistance grew. While ISIS never had the power to challenge Damascus directly, the efforts undertaken by the Syrian coalition to defeat ISIS diverted resources needed in the larger fight. As such, the continued existence of a viable ISIS presence on Syrian soil was deemed an acceptable outcome by the United States as it sought to contain Iran’s presence on Syrian soil.

ISIS in Syria lingers on, despite the fact that U.S. military power could ensure its almost immediate elimination. The reason for the stay of execution is not entirely clear, but it could well be that the U.S. sees ISIS as a useful foil against Iran. Efforts by the United States to roll back Iran’s presence inside Syria have recently become more volatile in the wake of fiery rhetoric from senior Trump administration officials and actions undertaken by Iran to harden their positions. The American policy of Iranian rollback includes the re-imposition of economic sanctions and support for opposition groups opposed to the Iranian theocracy.  

The latter point is very sensitive. This sensitivity has only been heightened by remarks from Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman suggesting that any struggle for influence between Riyadh and Tehran ought to take place “inside Iran, not in Saudi Arabia,” and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s encouraging Iranian Arab minorities to rise up in opposition to the Iranian government.

When gunmen linked to ISIS attacked a military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, killing and wounding dozens, the Iranian government was quick to blame the United States and Saudi Arabia, among others, and promise retaliation in kind. This prompted National Security Advisor John Bolton to declare to Iran that “there will indeed be hell to pay” if Iran or its proxies attacked the U.S. or its allies.

A few days later, Iranian rockets were launched, not against American targets in Basra, but locations in Syria linked to ISIS. While the Iranian strike was in clear retaliation for the Ahvaz attack, the rockets were emblazoned with slogans hostile to the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. This made it clear that the strike was meant for a broader audience. Among those who took notice were the American forces located a mere three miles away from the targets struck by the Iranians.  

Rising tensions and strong rhetoric, if not carefully managed, could easily lead to an unintended—and dangerous—escalation of hostilities. This could test President Donald Trump’s uncertain appetite for direct conflict. Moreover, the American effort to stir up an Iranian opposition could do more to unite competing power factions within Iran’s leadership, and unite Iranians behind that leadership, than to divide and weaken the Iranian polity. The Trump administration seems to operate under the delusion that Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and  Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, are operating in different spheres with somewhat disparate interests. U.S. efforts to drive a wedge between Rouhani and Khamenei will not only  prove fruitless, but backfire, closing the door to any potential negotiations and cementing a hardline response that will have Rouhani, the IRGC, and the supreme leader united in their opposition.

The United States is engaged in a dangerous double game with ISIS that is not only hypocritical in the extreme—given the 9/11 attacks on American soil that precipitated this whole sorry affair—but counterproductive to American national security interests. It has both empowered and legitimized the very Iranian theocracy it seeks to contain.

Rather than relying on ISIS as a foil to blunt Iranian influence in Syria and terrorize its citizenry at home, the Trump administration should recognize the positive role that Iran has played in defeating ISIS. It should build upon that recognition to craft a wider regional peace process that both recognizes the realities inherent in Syria today and reduces the tensions that prompt Iran to lean forward in such an aggressive manner. Unfortunately, such thinking seems beyond the capabilities of Mike Pompeo and John Bolton. As such, America will continue to pursue poorly thought out policies with no chance of success without any thought to either cost or consequence.

Scott Ritter is a former Marine Corps intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union implementing arms control treaties, in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm, and in Iraq overseeing the disarmament of WMD.

==================================
* Onbegrijpelijk maar waar, ondanks dat deze oorlog meer dan 1,5 miljoen doden heeft gekost, zijn er nog steeds politici die stellen dat deze oorlog gerechtvaardigd was, zoals CDA onderknuppel de Hoop Scheffer, die voor zijn steun aan deze illegale oorlog door de VS als zetbaas van de NAVO werd aangesteld........ De reguliere westerse massamedia hoor je niet meer over de beginjaren van de oorlog tegen Irak, media die de leugens van de VS over de massavernietigingswapens hysterisch hebben uitgevent en de eerste jaren van de illegale oorlog tegen Irak, pal achter de VS bleven staan, waarbij ze een hele berg 'fake news' brachten, aangevuld met gezwets en leugens van opiniemakers....... Een smerig spel dat zoals gezegd was gebaseerd op leugens en bedrog, waarmee ze het grootste deel van het westerse volk achter deze schandalige illegale oorlog wisten te houden......... Vergeet niet dat ook wij Nederlanders via de belasting fiks hebben meebetaald aan deze oorlog, daar Nederland niet alleen in aanloop van deze illegale oorlog met een onderzeeboot inlichtingen verzamelde voor de VS, maar vervolgens gaf Nederland naast politieke steun, ook militaire steun aan deze oorlog, ofwel militairen op de grond..... Ook Nederlandse F16's hebben lang steun verleend aan deze vuile oorlog, wat zeg ik: Nederland verleent nog steeds steun aan die oorlog met F16's en met het trainen van het Iraakse leger......

Iran, de protesten en wat de media je niet vertellen.........

De protesten in Iran worden met grote graagte door de westerse media en politici uitgedragen als een welkome opstand tegen de fundamentalistische heersers, zonder rekening te houden met de huidige gematigde regering. Iran is fout punt uit!

Door deze eenzijdige reactie van het westen, krijgen juist de fundamentalistische heersers op de achtergrond de wind in de zeilen, immers het westen is allesbehalve een vriend van Iran of haar burgers. De roep om ingrijpen in Iran klinkt al jaren keihard, niet bepaald in de laatste plaats door de VS en het grootste deel van de NAVO leden. Daar deed de handreiking van Obama weinig aan af, een handreiking die intussen al weer is teruggedraaid door de Trump administratie......

De VS heeft trouwens al veel langer gewelddadige activisten in Iran gesteund, dit om de regering ten val te brengen (waarin ook Nederland een rol speelde) en reken maar dat de CIA zelf ook actief is in Iran........

De huidige demonstranten zijn bepaald niet vreedzaam, zoals dit wel het geval was tijdens het grootste deel van de 'Groene Revolutie' in 2009, ze zijn gewapend en brengen grote vernielingen aan, zoals het in brand steken van gebouwen...... De aantallen demonstranten zijn een stuk minder groot dan men aanneemt in het westen. Politiebureaus en wapendepots zijn door demonstranten overvallen om zo aan meer wapens te komen....

Zoals gezegd: de kans is weer levensgroot dat een deel van de demonstranten in Iran is gekocht door de VS, die een reputatie hebben op het gebied van opstanden organiseren, opstanden die dan moeten uitlopen in het afzetten van een VS onwelgevallige regering....... Voorbeelden van het organiseren van dit soort opstanden door de VS (CIA), opstanden die in een coup moesten uitmonden en wat meestal lukt: Libië, Oekraïne, Syrië (in dit land mislukte de coup tegen Assad) en voor Zuid-Amerika Honduras, Brazilië en Venezuela (let wel: dit zijn de laatst bekende voorbeelden). In het volgende artikel kan u lezen dat Rex Tillerson, de VS minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, e.e.a. toegeeft wat betreft Iran, zo bleek uit een uitgelekt memorandum.....

Ook in het volgende artikel (van Darius Shahtahmasebi) o.a. de stelling dat de conservatieve krachten in Iran baat hebben bij deze protesten om zo de gematigde president Rohani onder druk te zetten...... Dat de VS zelfs deze krachten zou steunen is niets nieuws, als de VS een regering ten val wil brengen, schijnt alles geoorloofd te zijn (zelfs samenwerking met terreurgroepen als IS en Al Qaida...)......

Everything the Media Isn’t Telling You About the Protests Rocking Iran Right Now

January 2, 2018 at 12:53 pm

Written by Darius Shahtahmasebi

(ANTIMEDIA Op-ed) — Over the past week, Iran has been hit with series of protests, reportedly in relation to the country’s current economic climate. Where this particular narrative is headed is of major concern because of the current atmosphere in the Middle East and its deadly dynamics.

Approximately two weeks ago, the truth about U.S. foreign policy was revealed in a leaked memo that purportedly coached Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on how to use human rights as a pretense to attack America’s adversaries

“Allies should be treated differently — and better — than adversaries. Otherwise, we end up with more adversaries, and fewer allies,” stated the memo, which was written by Tillerson’s influential policy aide, Brian Hook. Approximately two weeks ago, the truth about U.S. foreign policy was revealed in a leaked memo that purportedly coached Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on how to use human rights as a pretense to attack America’s adversaries

As part of the U.S. foreign policy playbook, in June 2017, Tillerson himself confirmed that official U.S. policy towards Iran included a regime change strategy. He said:

“We continually review the merits both from the standpoint of diplomatic but also international consequences of designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in its entirety as a terrorist organization. As you know, we have designated the Quds [Force]. Our policy towards Iran is to push back on this hegemony, contain their ability to develop obviously nuclear weapons, and to work toward support of those elements inside of Iran that would lead to a peaceful transition of that government. Those elements are there, certainly as we know.” [emphasis added]

Around the same time, the Trump administration appointed Michael D’Andrea, the CIA’s “Dark Prince,” to head the CIA’s “Iran operations.”  Given the CIA overthrew Iran’s democratically elected government in 1953, relying almost completely on one die-hard agent to do so, this program’s trajectory should be clear.

Barely days after D’Andrea’s appointment, Iran was coincidentally rocked by an ISIS-inspired attack. Republican congressman Rep. Dana Rohrabacher suggested the attack was “a good thing.”

In December, CIA director Mike Pompeo admitted he sent a letter to General Qassem Soleimani, a stalwart leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), saying he will hold Iran and Soleimani “accountable” for any attacks on Washington’s interests in Iraq. This is the same IRGC commander who announced Iran would begin supporting Palestinian forces in the Gaza strip after Trump’s infamous Jerusalem debacle.

Unsurprisingly, U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly just gave the green light to Israel to assassinate this commander, a clear act of war.

The timing of the current protests has coincided with reports that the U.S. and Israel formulated a joint plan to specifically target Iran. This coincides with Nikki Haley’s grandiose anti-Iran performance, which has been full of deceit and hawkish propaganda. Further, Israel hopes these protests will be an opportunity to take the Iranian government’s attention away from Israel, according to a top intelligence expert.

Even without Iranians taking to the streets, it is clear that the Trump administration and its regional allies have been planning to take the fight to Iran.

Discerning the Truth About the Recent Protests

What should we make of the recent protests sweeping the country?

Even according to the mainstream media, the protests are not exactly what they seem. Iran’s president acknowledged that Iranians have a right to peaceful protest and that the protesters are not necessarily guided by foreign elements as “a number of them are the people who came to the streets because of their (economic) problems.”

“Criticism is different [from] violence and destroying public property,” he also reportedly said.

According to Haaretz, the protests were initially riled up by Iran’s conservative hard-line opposition to put pressure on the current Iranian president, who is considered a moderate. The protesters are not necessarily the democracy-seeking students the media has portrayed them as.

The mainstream media further acknowledged that the Iranian authorities are actively trying to avoid a massive crackdown. From Slate:

“It seems clear that Iranian leaders are trying to avoid a massive crackdown of the surprisingly large protests for now, worried that any huge repression could lead to a crisis similar to what took place in 2009.”

As Reuters explained:

“Iranian moderates are appealing for caution even though some hardliners are calling for an iron fist to crush one of the gravest threats to Iran’s clerical leaders, who came to power in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“Those divisions are making it hard for the authorities to defuse spontaneous demonstration, especially as there are no apparent protest leaders who can be identified and rounded up.”

The media is still treating the videos of anti-government protesters shouting “Death to the dictator!” as “unconfirmed,” meaning they haven’t been properly verified. Or consider this recent Reuters report, which stated the following:

“Mohsen Nasj Hamadani, deputy security chief in Tehran province, said about 50 people had rallied in a square but most had left after being asked to by police, while a few who refused were ‘temporarily detained,’ the ILNA news agency reported.”

Carl Bildt, former Swedish prime minister and co-chair for the European Council on Foreign Relations quickly took to Twitter to state that there were “[r]eports of signals of international satellite TV networks jammed in large cities of Iran. Would be sign of regime fear of today’s protests spreading.” However, the only reports that can be found online of jammed international TV networks are from at least five years prior to the current unrest. Not surprisingly, Wikileaks cables suggested Bildt served as a U.S. government informant when he was just 27 years old.

In other words, it would pay to be overly meticulous when following the reports on this intricate topic.

To be clear, the protests are not nearly as concerned with Iran’s foreign policy as much as some media outlets are claiming they are. As the Atlantic explained:

“Unlike what President Trump suggests, the protests aren’t about Iran’s broader behaviour and foreign policy. And they’re not about the regime’s support for terrorism…their main concern lies in the price of day-to-day items and goods, such as poultry and eggs, as well as unemployment and access to services.”

The death toll in the protests and the authorities’ inevitable response quickly grew to at least 12 — a damning statistic for the Iranian government. However, whether the following allegations are true or not, the mainstream media has acknowledged that deaths occurred as a result of confrontation, specifically, the claim that armed protesters began storming military bases and police stations. Other government compounds were stormed, as well, with protesters lighting fires in government offices.

These are no longer students who are complaining about the price of eggs or the right to dress in modern clothing (in a remarkable coincidence, just before the protests erupted, Tehran’s police stated they would no longer arrest women for violating the Islamic dress code). Overrunning military bases and police stations with arms doesn’t make you a protester, it makes you a militant. As journalist Ben Norton wrote on his Facebook page, “If ‘armed protesters’ (quite a phrase) tried to overrun military bases and police stations in the US, it would declare martial law.”

Things may not be so dire in Iran to require an armed uprising just yet (just take a look at the thousands of pro-government supporters who have rallied the streets of Iran’s major cities). It would be disingenuous to pay sole attention to the anti-government protesters while ignoring the thousands of those who do support their government. This is not to say that Iranians do not have genuine cause to take to the streets and protest, but it certainly gives good cause to the international community that perhaps — just this once — it would do well to mind its own business.

Even according to some of the biggest corporate media outlets, there is likely foul play if people are taking arms against the Iranian government in the current circumstances. As the New York Magazine acknowledged:

“As The Guardian and New York Times point out, small protests focused on economic issues are normal in Iran, but politically charged protests across the country where people feel safe chanting ‘death to the dictator’ — a knock on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — are not. The protests will undoubtedly be an important test for the relatively moderate Rouhani, who has not been spared as a subject of chanting at the rallies; in his remarks on Sunday, Rouhani was clearly trying to walk a delicate line. There is also apparently suspicion among members of his administration and other reformers about what forces may be behind the unrest.” [emphasis added]

The West’s Hypocrisy is Staggering

Despite this, Donald Trump was quick to take to Twitter to condemn Iran and voice his support for the protesters. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert also said in a statement that the U.S. urged “all nations to publicly support the Iranian people and their demands for basic rights and an end to corruption.”

This is the same administration that banned the Iranian people from merely visiting the United States.

Even Hillary Clinton voiced her support for the Iranian people currently protesting against the government. Apparently, Clinton has forgotten about the video of her where she broke into hysterical laughter while talking about the U.S.’ desire to launch a war against Iran, which would undoubtedly kill hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iranians.

We would also do well to remember that after Donald Trump was elected U.S. president at the end of 2016, America was inundated with anti-Trump protests. Los Angeles police arrested at least 462 people at the time. America’s NATO ally Turkey arrested, detained, suspended, and fired tens of thousands of teachers, lawyers, military officers, and court officials (with at least 249 deaths in total) – and yet Donald Trump has only appeared to praise the Turkish government’s crackdown.

America’s Middle Eastern darling, Israel, has also been rocked by thousands of protesters participating in anti-corruption marches specifically targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel also infamously locked up a young teenage girl who was brave enough to slap an Israeli soldier who had invaded her home.

For the sake of argument, let’s all agree that Iran’s protests are genuine. That fact alone isn’t grounds for an illegal regime change operation given the international standards the rest of the world has been operating under for years. Allowing Trump to take the protests for a ride to serve his own ludicrous foreign policy agenda also undermines the intellect and history of Iran and its people, as the Atlantic explains:

“Iranians aren’t ‘finally’ waking up and ‘getting wise,’ as Trump suggests. Instead, Iran has a dynamic and active civil society, which has created and embraced opportunities for reformation and progress for decades…And many Iranians have paid for these ideals with their lives.”

Don’t buy into the hypocrisy. Donald Trump does not care about ordinary Iranians, and he certainly doesn’t care about Iran’s access to democracy. If Donald Trump cared about the Iranian people’s economic concerns, the simple solution would be to stop unilaterally slamming the country with economic sanctions on a routine basis.

In the words of the Atlantic, Donald Trump “barely understands the country he’s repeatedly demonized.”

We’ve been here before. The groundwork is being laid for a direct confrontation with Iran, and we are naïve at best if we decide to take the bait. America’s footprint in the Middle East was never rooted in any concerns for human rights, and believe it or not, America’s interests and desires are always rooted in money.

The last thing Iran needs right now in order to move towards a more democratic and economically viable country is the direct interference of the United States, a country that has reportedly killed over one million Muslims since the 9/11 attacks.

If the Iranians want to exact change; they can and will do it themselves. As stated by the Tudeh Party of Iran, an Iranian communist party formed in 1941:

“It should be noted that under the critical conditions of the current dangerous regional tensions, the regional reaction – supported by the Trump administration in the US and the right-wing government of Netanyahu in Israel – is seeking to distinctly impact the developments in our country and to replace the current reactionary regime with another reactionary regime.

“The support of these forces…for the Iranian monarchists and those political groups whose agenda is to cooperate with the most reactionary regimes of the region and to persuade the European states to impose sanctions on Iran’s economy – thereby exacerbating the misery for the destitute and disadvantaged people of our country – and to encourage foreign states to interfere militarily in Iran, leaves no room whatsoever for any optimism regarding the future designs of such ‘opposition’…We should not let the past repeat itself whereby the heroic struggle of the nation for freedom, democracy and social justice is hijacked by a bunch of reactionary opportunities who do not believe in the people’s rights or democratic freedoms.”

Correction: A previous version of this article stated the Trump administration was behind the arrests of protesters in Los Angeles after his election in November 2016. It has been corrected to reflect that while police arrested protesters, they did not do so at the direction of the Trump administration as he had not yet taken office. Protesters at his inauguration, however, were arrested and have gone on to face charges this year.

Op-ed / Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

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