Haaretz & Reuters & PressTV – 2012-01-15 01:30:57
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/western-intelligence-sources-tell-time-magazine-israel-s-mossad-targeted-iranian-scientist-1.407322
Western Intelligence Sources Tell Time Magazine Israel’s Mossad Targeted Iranian Scientist
Haaretz and Reuters
(January 14, 2012) — Western intelligence sources told Time magazine on Friday that Israel’s Mossad is responsible for the latest assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist.
A magnetic bomb was attached to the door of 32-year-old Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan’s car during the Wednesday morning rush-hour in Tehran. His driver was also killed. Sources tell the magazine Israel was behind three previous assassinations of scientists.
A senior Israeli official told is quoted in the report as saying “yeah, one more… I don’t feel sad for him.”
On Saturday, Iranian state television said that Iran had evidence the United States was behind the latest assassination. “We have reliable documents and evidence that this terrorist act was planned, guided and supported by the CIA,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a letter handed to the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, state TV reported. “The documents clearly show that this terrorist act was carried out with the direct involvement of CIA-linked agents.”
The Swiss Embassy has represented US interests in Iran since Iran and the US cut diplomatic ties shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Tension has mounted between Iran and the West as the United States and European Union prepare measures aimed at imposing sanctions on the Iran’s oil exports, its economic lifeblood.
The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the nuclear dispute.
Also on Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US has stepped up contingency planning in case Israel launches a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
According to the report, US defense officials are becoming increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to carry out such a strike.
Israeli Official: Report of Mossad Agents Posing as CIA Spies ‘Absolute Nonsense’
Amir Oren / Haaretz
Senior Israeli government official issues complete denial of Foreign Policy report that Mossad agents posed as CIA officers to recruit Pakistani terrorists to carry out attacks in Iran.
TEL AVIV (January 14, 2012) — A senior Israeli government official has called “absolute nonsense” a Friday report in Foreign Policy [See story below] that Mossad agents posed as CIA officers in order to recruit members of a Pakistani terror group to carry out assassinations and attacks against the regime in Iran.
Quoting US intelligence memos, Foreign Policy’s Mark Perry reported that the Mossad operation was carried out in 2007-2008, behind the back of the US government, and infuriated then US President George W. Bush.
Perry quoted a number of American intelligence officials and claimed that the Mossad agents used American dollars and US passports to pose as CIA spies to try to recruit members of Jundallah, a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization that has carried out a series of attacks in Iran and assassinations of government officials.
Israel generally refrains for responding to reports on alleged Mossad activities. However, in the wake of Perry’s report as well as the official US condemnation of the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran earlier this week, Israeli officials were quick to issue a complete denial of the report.
The concern was that leaving Perry’s report without a response would revive tensions that existed between the US and Israeli intelligence communities following the Jonathan Pollard affair in the 1980s. Pollard was sentenced to life in a US prison after being convicted of spying for Israel.
The senior Israeli government official said that if there were any truth the claims in Perry’s report, Meir Dagan, the head of the Mossad at the time of the alleged operation, would have been declared a persona non grata in the US and that “Dagan’s foot would not have walked again in Washington”.
‘Israeli Mossad Agents Posed as CIA Spies to Recruit Terrorists to Fight against Iran’
Barak Ravid / Haaretz
Foreign Policy magazine cites CIA memos from 2007-2008 that the Mossad recruited members of Jundallah terror group to fight against Tehran; US was reportedly furious with Israel and moved to limit joint intelligence programs.
TEL AVIV (January 13, 2012) — Israeli Mossad agents posed as CIA officers in order to recruit members of a Pakistani terror group to carry out assassinations and attacks against the regime in Iran, Foreign Policy revealed on Friday, quoting US intelligence memos.
Foreign Policy‘s Mark Perry reported that the Mossad operation was carried out in 2007-2008, behind the back of the US government, and infuriated then US President George W. Bush.
Perry quotes a number of American intelligence officials and claims that the Mossad agents used American dollars and US passports to pose as CIA spies to try to recruit members of Jundallah, a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization that has carried out a series of attacks in Iran and assassinations of government officials.
According to the report, Israel’s recruitment attempts took place mostly in London, right under the nose of US intelligence officials.
“It’s amazing what the Israelis thought they could get away with,” Foreign Policy quoted an intelligence officer as saying. “Their recruitment activities were nearly in the open. They apparently didn’t give a damn what we thought.”
According to a currently serving US intelligence officer, Perry reports, when Bush was briefed on the information he “went absolutely ballistic.”
“The report sparked White House concerns that Israel’s program was putting Americans at risk,” the intelligence officer told Perry. “There’s no question that the US has cooperated with Israel in intelligence-gathering operations against the Iranians, but this was different. No matter what anyone thinks, we’re not in the business of assassinating Iranian officials or killing Iranian civilians.”
The intelligence officer said that the Bush administration continued to deal with the affair until the end of his term. He noted that Israel’s operation jeopardized the US administration’s fragile relationship with Pakistan, which was under immense pressure from Iran to crack down on Jundallah.
According to the intelligence officer, a senior administration official vowed to “take the gloves off” with Israel, but ultimately the US did nothing. “In the end it was just easier to do nothing than to, you know, rock the boat,” the intelligence officer said.
Apparently, the Mossad operation caused a fiery debate among Bush’s national security team and it was only resolved when US President Barack Obama drastically scaled back joint US-Israel intelligence programs targeting Iran, Perry quotes several serving and retired officers as saying.
The US State Department has vehemently denied any ties to Jundallah and many US intelligence officials remained angry with Israel over the 2007-2008 operation.
“Israel is supposed to be working with us, not against us,” Foreign Policy quoted an intelligence officer as saying. “If they want to shed blood, it would help a lot if it was their blood and not ours. You know, they’re supposed to be a strategic asset. Well, guess what? There are a lot of people now, important people, who just don’t think that’s true.”
The CIA, the White House, and the Mossad failed to respond to the Foreign Policy report by the time it went to press.
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