Decision to Attack Iran Is ‘Far Off,’ Israel Says, By ISABEL KERSHNER and RICK GLADSTONE, New York Times,  January 18, 2012: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-program-sanctions-russia-israel-attack.html?_r=1&nl=afternoonupdate&emc=aua2  “JERUSALEM — Israel moved to calm the increasingly tense discourse over Iran’s nuclear program on Wednesday, with the Israeli defense minister asserting that any decision on a possible pre-emptive military strike on Iranian targets was “very far off.”  The assertion by Defense Minister Ehud Barak was at least the third indication from the Israeli government in the past few days that it was not considering armed confrontation over the nuclear issue with Iran anytime soon, and it came amid signs that Iran and Western powers led by the United States might resume talks that have been stalled for a year.  …This week, Israel and the United States announced they were postponing joint military exercises in the Middle East.  A slightly softened tone toward Iran was also sounded in Washington, where Obama administration officials confirmed that they had recently warned Iran’s leadership through diplomatic back channels against blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway, but that they also had indicated a willingness to resume diplomatic talks. … … Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi of Iran, in a visit to Turkey, said Wednesday that his country was ready to resume negotiations with the outside powers … He said negotiations were under way about the site and date, … and that the talks “will most probably be held in Istanbul.”

The Myth of “Isolated” Iran, By Pepe Escobar, Nation of Change, January 18, 2012: http://www.nationofchange.org/reader/4872  “In December 2011, impervious to dire consequences for the global economy, the U.S. Congress – under pressure from the Israel lobby .. foisted a mandatory sanctions package on the Obama administration (100 to 0 in the Senate and with only 12 “no” votes in the House)  The ultimate target? Regime change -- what else? … “The goal of the U.S. and other sanctions against Iran is regime collapse, a senior U.S. intelligence official said  … Besides, even the Iranian opposition supports a peaceful nuclear program.  It’s a matter of national pride. … Though few in the U.S. have noticed, Iran is not exactly “isolated,” though Washington might wish it.  Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani has become a frequent flyer to Tehran. … Pipelineistan, the Iran-Pakistan (IP) natural gas pipeline -- is now a go. Pakistan badly needs energy and its leadership has clearly decided that it’s unwilling to wait forever and a day for Washington’s eternal pet project -- the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline -- to traverse Talibanistan. … (I)t has the majority of the global South on its side.  … China, India, Japan, and South Korea, together, buy no less than 62% of Iran’s oil exports. … The Chinese have already clinched a juicy deal for the development of Iran’s largest oil field, Yadavaran. …  Russia … favors a rollback of the existing U.N. sanctions and has also been at work on an alternative plan that could, at least theoretically, lead to a face-saving nuclear deal for everyone.”

Stop the Madness: Despite all the hype, Iran's nuclear program has yet to violate international law. It's time to calm down, think, and above all halt the rush to war, by Yousaf Butt, Foreign Policy, JANUARY 19, 2012: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/19/stop_the_madness?page=full  “Even U.S. officials have conceded that they have no proof that Iran is actively pursuing a nuclear bomb. Following the release of the classified National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) in 2011, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper confirmed in a Senate hearing that he has a "high level of confidence" that Iran "has not made a decision as of this point to restart its nuclear weapons program." And earlier this month, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta weighed in: "Are they [Iranians] trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they're trying to develop a nuclear capability. And that's what concerns us." … … If the United States and Iran hope to escape these sadly familiar episodes of heightened tension and warmongering, they need to reach a simple grand bargain that will cut through the sanctions' impossible conditions. ... If Iran agrees to more intrusive inspections under the IAEA's Additional Protocol, both the unilateral and U.N. Security Council sanctions will be dropped.”

National Day of Action against war on Iran, February 4^th -- 2012  BUILD FEB. 4 EMERGENCY DEMONSSTRTION TO STOP U.S. WAR AGAINST IRAN NO WAR! NO SANCTIONS! NO INTERVENTION! NO ASSASSINATIONS, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28773: A broad spectrum of U.S.-based anti-imperialist and anti-war organizations, including the IAC, agreed on a Jan. 17 conference call to hold coordinated protests across the country on Saturday, Feb. 4. The demands will be: “No war, no sanctions, no intervention, no assassinations against Iran.”

Uproar after Jewish American newspaper publisher suggests Israel assassinate Barack Obama -  Op-ed in Atlanta Jewish Times says the slaying of the president may be an effective way to thwart Iran's nuclear program, By Chemi Shalev, 21 January 2012, Haaretz.com: http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/uproar-after-jewish-american-newspaper-publisher-suggests-israel-assassinate-barack-obama-1.408429  “NEW YORK - The owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, Andrew Adler, has suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu consider ordering a Mossad hit team to assassinate U.S. President Barack Obama so that his successor will defend Israel against Iran. … The American Jewish Committee in Atlanta last night issued a harsh condemnation of Adler’s article, saying that his proposals are “shocking behond belief.””

Tehranis Blame Regime for EU Sanctions, Parvavaneh Vahidmanesh, InsideIran.org, January 24th, 2012: http://www.insideiran.org/featured/tehranis-blame-regime-for-eu-sanctions/  “Editor’s Note: The following article is based upon interviews conducted with Iranians living inside Iran, but written by an author outside the country. The names stated in the article are pseudonyms. ”  “The average Iranian’s reaction to the unstable and chaotic market varied from panic to depression to anger. … The average Iranian’s reaction to the unstable and chaotic market varied from panic to depression to anger. …(P)eople are really afraid now. …”Everyday in my office I translate a lot of documents for university students who are racing each other to leave the country.” …”The situation is hopeless. We are reverting back to the worst days of the Iran-Iraq War.” … “This is my question for Mr. Khamenei, why have you let a madman like Ahmadinejad waste the wealth of a nation?”

 

Iran in the Shadow of War, by BEHZAD YAGHMAIAN, Counterpunch, January 24, 2012: http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/24/iran-in-the-shadow-of-war/  “As the prospect of a deadly confrontation between Iran and the United States increases, the fate of 78 million Iranians remains absent in the calculus of war on both sides. Invisible in the current war discourse, Iranians are caught between a repressive government with a reckless and dangerous foreign policy, and an outside world largely uninterested in their voices and their lives. “The rhetoric of war is radicalizing the foreign policy environment in the United States, and empowering the hawks on both sides of the conflict. Promising military action to stop Iran has become a central campaign strategy by Republican presidential contenders. Toughness and readiness to wage war is becoming a prerequisite for victory in 2012, pushing the Obama Administration towards a riskier approach towards Iran.”

Europe agrees to Iran oil embargo, by Henry Chu and Paul Richter, Tribune Washington bureau, January 24, 2012: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2017316250_iran24.html  “LONDON — Europe slapped a boycott on Iranian oil Monday (Jan. 23), signaling that the Islamic Republic's second-largest market is likely to dry up as part of a U.S.-led campaign of sanctions that already has inflicted serious damage on Iran's economy and sharply increased tensions. … European governments have embraced tougher measures now partly out of frustration over Iran's unwillingness to negotiate, but also because they fear Israel, the U.S. or others could turn to military action to stop Iran's nuclear program if economic pressure fails. … Russia slammed the EU's move as a serious error. "Under such pressure, Iran will make no concessions and no correction of its policy," the Foreign Ministry said.”

WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE -- AND IT SUITS ISRAEL THAT WE NEVER FORGET 'NUCLEAR IRAN' - ** The Ayatollah ordered the entire nuclear project to be closed down because it was the work of the devil ** By Robert Fisk, Independent (London) January 25, 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-weve-been-here-before--and-it-suits-israel-that-we-never-forget-nuclear-iran-6294111.html  “When did it start?  The Shah. The old boy wanted nuclear power.  … Only when Saddam invaded Iran -- with our Western encouragement -- and started using poison gas against the Iranians (chemical components arriving from the West, of course) was Khomeini persuaded to reopen it. … The trouble is that Iran has won almost all its recent wars without firing a shot.  George W. and Tony destroyed Iran's nemesis in Iraq.” 

 

Reflections on Obama's State Of The Union Address By Kam Zarrabi, Jan. 25, 2012, Intellectual Discourse: http://sz0166.ev.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/mail?app=mail#69  “The President did finally get to the foreign policy issues. … (H)e did not shy away from making equally boisterous threats (in comparison to his Republican rivals) against Iran, but with a telling and quite significant caveat. He said, "Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal." (Zarrabi’s emphasis)

An Alternative to War with Iran, By Richard Silverstein, Foreign Policy In Focus (IPS), January 25, 2012: http://www.fpif.org/articles/an_alternative_to_war_with_iran  “Relations between Iran and the West, fraught with tension and conflict for decades, have in the past few months reached a fever pitch. There is talk of war on a daily basis from both sides. Hundreds of millions, if not billions, have been spent both to fuel the Iranian missile and nuclear program and the counter-measures taken by the West to frustrate it. Leaders on both sides have worked themselves into paroxysms of rage regarding the alleged homicidal intensions of the other side. The situation is volatile and the danger of war real. But the premise of the Western approach to Iran has dangerous shortcomings. … But by all appearances, the Western approach is solely designed to achieve Iranian capitulation to Western demands that it dismantle its nuclear research program. … Under the circumstances, containment is the only remaining option that doesn’t lead to regional war, stalemate and deeper dysfunction.”

PENTAGON SEEKS MIGHTIER BOMB vs. IRAN, By Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes,
Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2012: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203363504577187420287098692.html  “WASHINGTON -- Pentagon war planners have concluded that their largest conventional bomb isn't yet capable of destroying Iran's most heavily fortified underground facilities, and are stepping up efforts to make it more powerful, according to U.S. officials briefed on the plan. The 30,000-pound "bunker-buster" bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, was specifically designed to take out the hardened fortifications built by Iran and North Korea to cloak their nuclear programs.  But initial tests indicated that the bomb, as currently configured, wouldn't be capable of destroying some of Iran's facilities, either because of their depth or because Tehran has added new fortifications to protect them.”

Will Israel Attack Iran? By RONEN BERGMAN, New York Times Magazine, January 29, 2012: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/magazine/will-israel-attack-iran.html?_r=1&nl=afternoonupdate&emc=aua2&pagewanted=all  “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 12 other members of Israeli’s inner security cabinet, (face) the most important decision of his life — whether to launch a pre-emptive attack against Iran. …Netanyahu and (Defense Minister Ehud) Barak have both repeatedly stressed that a decision has not yet been made and that a deadline for making one has not been set. As we spoke, however, Barak laid out three categories of questions … all of which require affirmative responses before a decision is made to attack: 1. Does Israel have the ability to cause severe damage to Iran’s nuclear sites and bring about a major delay in the Iranian nuclear project? And can the military and the Israeli people withstand the inevitable counterattack? 2. Does Israel have overt or tacit support, particularly from America, for carrying out an attack? 3. Have all other possibilities for the containment of Iran’s nuclear threat been exhausted, bringing Israel to the point of last resort? … (A)t least some of Israel’s most powerful leaders believe that the response to all of these questions is yes. … After speaking with many senior Israeli leaders and chiefs of the military and the intelligence, I (Ronen Bergman) have come to believe that Israel will indeed strike Iran in 2012. (Ronen Bergman, an analyst for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, is the author of ‘‘The Secret War With Iran’’ and a contributing writer for the magazine.)