Iran Has Stopped Channeling Funds To A Number Of Palestinian Groups

Palestinian Authority public servants wait to receive their salaries via an automated teller machine (ATM) outside a bank, in Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 3, 2020. (photo credit: REUTERS/RANEEN SAWAFTA)  

Jerusalem Post: Iran halts funds to Palestinian terror groups, sparking crisis - report 

The crisis has affected the factions both in the Gaza Strip and abroad to a point where some of them were unable to pay their monthly bills. 

Iran has stopped channeling funds to a number of Palestinian factions, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds revealed on Sunday. 

The paper quoted unnamed informed sources in Lebanon as saying that the factions are currently suffering from a financial crisis because of the Iranian move, which was taken three months ago. 

The sources did not name the factions that have been affected by the move.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor:It looks like Hamas has also  had its funding cut-off.

Mossad Claims To Have Foiled Numerous Planned Attacks By Iran

Daily Mail: Mossad claims it has recently foiled numerous planned attacks by Iran on Israeli embassies in Europe and elsewhere

* Israel's spy agency claims to have foiled 'terrorist' plans in Europe and elsewhere
* Report by Hebrew-language broadcaster said that Iran was behind the plots
* Iran has suggested Israel was behind mysterious fire at a nuclear facility

Israeli spy agency Mossad claims it has recently thwarted a series of planned Iranian attacks on Israeli embassies around the world.

The intelligence bureau has halted 'terrorist' plans in Europe and elsewhere, according to a report by Hebrew-language broadcaster Channel 12 which said that Israel's arch-enemy Iran was behind the plots.

'Frustration is growing fast in Iran,' the report said, according to the Times of Israel.

Iran has suggested that Israel was behind a mysterious fire at one of its nuclear facilities last Thursday, a claim which Israel has not fully denied.

Read more ....

Update #1: Mossad said to foil Iranian attacks on Israeli embassies in Europe, elsewhere (Times of Israel)
Update #2: Mossad thwarted multiple attacks on Israeli embassies: report (NYPost)

WNU Editor: The low-level war between Israel and Iran continues.

Iran Foreign Minister: 'Iran Has Signed A Historic Nuclear Deal – Now It's Israel's Turn'

Iran's Foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Politico: Iran’s foreign minister: Israel should disarm, too

Now that Iran has agreed to curb its nuclear program, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif says it’s time for Israel to follow suit and abandon its long-rumored nuclear arsenal.

“Iran’s push for a ban on weapons of mass destruction in its regional neighbourhood has been consistent,” Zarif wrote in an editorial for the Guardian. “And while Iran has received the support of some of its Arab friends in this endeavour, Israel — home to the Middle East’s only nuclear weapons programme — has been the holdout.”

The nuclear deal signed in Vienna by Iran and the P 5 + 1 countries earlier this month, which dismantles much of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and allows for an inspections regime to monitor the Islamic republic’s compliance, should be “symbolically significant enough to kickstart [a] paradigm shift,” Zarif said.

Update: Iran's foreign minister calls for world's nuclear weapons states to disarm -- The Guardian

WNU Editor: The Iranian foreign minister published these remarks in the Guardian. The complete text is here .... Iran has signed a historic nuclear deal – now it’s Israel’s turn (Javad Zarif, The Guardian)

Did President Bush Stop Israel From Attacking Iran's Nuclear Facilities?

Bushehr nuclear power plant ... John Bolton says both the US and Israel are capable of disrupting Iran's nuclear program. (File photo) (AFP: AFP PHOTO STR)

U.S. Rejected Aid for Israeli Raid on Iranian Nuclear Site
-- New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran’s main nuclear complex and told the Israelis that he had authorized new covert action intended to sabotage Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, according to senior American and foreign officials.

White House officials never conclusively determined whether Israel had decided to go ahead with the strike before the United States protested, or whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel was trying to goad the White House into more decisive action before Mr. Bush left office. But the Bush administration was particularly alarmed by an Israeli request to fly over Iraq to reach Iran’s major nuclear complex at Natanz, where the country’s only known uranium enrichment plant is located.

The White House denied that request outright, American officials said, and the Israelis backed off their plans, at least temporarily. But the tense exchanges also prompted the White House to step up intelligence-sharing with Israel and brief Israeli officials on new American efforts to subtly sabotage Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, a major covert program that Mr. Bush is about to hand off to President-elect Barack Obama.

Read more ....

Update: New York Times: U.S. spurned Israel plan for Iran reactor attack -- Haaretz

My Comment: The New York Times is recycling an old news story from last year. Bottom line .... there are too many Iranian facilities that would need to be destroyed in order to have any appreciable impact on Iran's nuclear program. To be successful, Israel would need the cooperation of the United States to assist in destroying Iran's nuclear program .... but the U.S. has made it very clear that the costs for such an attack would be too high, and would not support it.

This dead and unreliable story is only going to inflamed a bad situation in the Middle East to something that is even worse. Shame on the New York Times (again).

Israel 'Prepared To Attack' Iran Nuclear Plants

President Ahmadinejad has defied the West by continuing to enrich uranium
(Hasan Sarbakhshian/AP)

From Times Online:

Israel is drawing up plans to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and is prepared to launch a strike without backing from the US, it has been reported.

Officials in the Israeli Defence Ministry told the Jerusalem Post that while they prefer to act in consultation with the US, they were preparing plans that would allow them to act in isolation.

"It is always better to coordinate," a senior Defence Ministry official told the newspaper. "But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination."

Read more .....

More News On Israel Preparing To Strike Iran's Nuclear Facilities

IDF preparing options for Iran strike -- Jerusalem Post
Israeli army mulls strike against Iran's nuke sites without U.S. green light -- China View
Israel preparing strike against Iran - report -- News.com
Israel preparing for military strike against Iran -- NDTV
Israel may attack Iran without US approval -- Israel Yoday
'Israel plans for solo attack on Iran' -- Press TV

Iran May Have to Abandon Nuclear Program, Israeli President Shimon Peres Says

Israeli President Shimon Peres told FOX News Iran may have to end its nuclear
weapons program because of the plummeting price of oil. FNC

From FOX News:

NEW YORK — Tumbling oil prices will force a weakened Iran to consider abandoning its nuclear ambitions, Israeli President Shimon Peres said in an interview with FOX News senior correspondent Eric Shawn.

"The minute a barrel of oil goes down to its real cost, the Iranians will have to make a choice either to provide bread and butter for their children or to provide enriched uranium for the prestige of their leaders," Peres told FOX News in a wide-ranging interview Wednesday.

"Until now they had enough money to do the two things; no more."

Read more ....

My Comment: I will put this in the file titled "Wishful Thinking".

Bet On Israel Bombing Iran -- A Commentary

From The New York Daily News:

Are we going to have an October surprise, an attack on Iran by either the Bush administration or by Israel to stop the regime from becoming a nuclear power?

It could happen - and alter the dynamics of the presidential race in the blink of an eye - but only if Israel pulls the trigger. Don't expect the United States to drop bombs anytime soon. The reason: Iran has us over a barrel.

According to Britain's Guardian newspaper, Bush earlier this year nixed an Israeli plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Reportedly, the President said no because we couldn't afford Iranian retaliation against our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan or Iran closing down Persian Gulf shipping. Nonetheless, cynical speculation is now swirling in some quarters that with the financial collapse working against McCain - and Bush's legacy coming into focus - the President might reconsider. Could that tail really wag the dog?

Probably not. The fundamental global power dynamics have not changed. Iran has successfully blackmailed us. Iranian Silkworm missiles could close down Gulf oil exports in a matter of minutes, taking about 17 million barrels a day of oil off world markets. Americans could suddenly be looking at the prospect of $10-$12 for a gallon of gas. If the collapse of Wall Street doesn't push us into a depression, that would. And Bush is right: An angered Iran could punish us with thousands of extra casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, as Iranian-trained, armed and funded fighters flow back into the war zones with a vengeance.

Read more ....

My Comment: I am in disagreement with this commentary. The logistics and ordinance necessary for successfully destroying Iran's nuclear infrastructure will take a number of days and rock solid intelligence on what targets to hit .... something that is completely lacking in both Israel and the U.S.

Coupled with the political turmoil in Israel, as well as a U.S. Presidential election occurring right now .... there really is no one of authority today to pursue this project.