U.S. Intelligence on Alert for Israeli Strike on Iran
The Pentagon is watching for the possibility that Israel could use the occasion of an alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States as a pretext for launching a long-anticipated attack on Iran's nuclear sites, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
The source, who is in a position to monitor Israeli defense activities, said the U.S. is watching "an indicator and warning matrix" in which the U.S. can "go so far as to plot the illumination tables to pick out what nights would be best" for such an attack.
The intelligence source said that there is "a green light" for the Israelis "to do a strike."
The source said that the concern among some U.S. analysts is that an attack could be "imminent."
For some time, Israel has sought to get the U.S. to launch an attack on Iran's nuclear-enrichment facilities sprinkled throughout the country. Until now, however, the U.S. has sought to impose more stringent sanctions against the Islamic republic, even though Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and it has a "right" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty to engage in enrichment for its reactors.
The indicators and warning, or I&W, are being watched closely following an arrest last month and an indictment this week in a New York federal courthouse in Manhattan of an Iranian-American, Mansour Arbabsiar, allegedly for conspiring to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubier. Arbabsiar was arrested in a sting operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The U.S. alleges that Arbabsiar, a used-car salesman living in Texas, had conspired with individuals in Iran said to be linked to Iran's Quds Force. The Quds Force is an arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps that undertakes foreign operations.
According to the indictment, Arbabsiar allegedly had contacted a member of a Mexican drug cartel who was an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to carry out the assassination at a Washington restaurant frequented by al-Jubier.
Arbabsiar allegedly was to funnel some $1.5 million from the Quds Force to the Mexican drug cartel contact. Prior to the arrest, two payments adding up to $100,000 allegedly were sent from Iran as a down payment, with the rest to be paid once al-Jubier was killed.
A total of $5 million potentially was to be paid out for other operations, which allegedly were to include attacks on the Israeli and Saudi embassies in Argentina following al-Jubier's assassination.
The U.S. intelligence source said while some analysts believe an Israeli attack may be imminent, close I&W monitoring of Israeli defense posture indicated that only their civil defense had been "spun up" at the moment.
"You can't launch a strike where the possibility of massive retaliation is very high and not have anything activated," he said.
"One curious thing is that we're taking a lot of imagery of the (Israeli) defense sites – more than usual," he added. "You might see one report every few weeks on something (but) there were five just today."
Even President Obama has stated that "nothing is off the table" when it comes to responding to Iran.
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