From Zero Hedge, nine months ago:
On Tuesday an Israeli television channel aired leaked video footage it obtained exclusively showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasting that he had personally convinced President Trump to abandon the Iran nuclear deal. The statements were made at a small dinner event where he addressed senior members of his Likud party.
From EJ Magnier:
The US is failing to intimidate Iran and force it to the negotiation table. The US demands, composed of 12 points, are and will remain impossible for Iran to meet or to come close to.
US Military Placed on High Alert over Iranian ‘Threats’ in Iraq
The Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees from the US Embassy in Baghdad and the US Consulate in Erbil, with normal visa services temporarily suspended at both locations…
Prior to these claims, the U.S. admnistration alleged that Iran was behind the ‘sabotage’ attacks on four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
From EJ Magnier:
Iran will consider itself at war with every country in the Middle East that allows the US to use it as a base for its military campaign against Iran, the day Trump decides to go to war.
Top British Commander In Rare Public Dispute With US Over Iran Intelligence
“No – there’s been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria,” British Army Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, a deputy head of the US-led coalition, asserted confidently.
From MoA:
On May 10 the U.S. warned that Iran might target commercial vessels. That, together with the lack of information and of visible damage on other ships, points to a false flag incident initiated to slander Iran.
From MoA:
An invasion and occupation of the mountainous Iran would require over half a million soldiers just for the start. Even an invasion of only the oil rich areas on Iran’s west coast and on its border with Iraq’s would require a force of some 300,000 men. Without a draft the U.S. army is unable to sustain such a large operation for more than two or three months.
From EJ Magnier:
Over the next 60 days – the deadline announced by Iranian president Hassan Rouhani for European signatories of the nuclear deal to respect the commitments they made before partially withdrawing from the deal – the level of tension will grow. After the 60 days are over, Trump will have either to deescalate (which is unlikely), impose even more sanctions, allow the Europeans to deal with it, or consider a war option.
Iraqi Parliament To Vote On Bill That Would Ban US Military Troops From Iraq
From The Saker:
The Iranians are world-class and most sophisticated players, especially their superb analytical community. They fully understand that a B-52 anywhere near the Iranian airspace is a sitting duck and that if the Americans were planning to strike Iran, they would pull their aircraft carrier far away from any possible Iranian strikes. As for the B-52, they have long range cruise missiles and they don’t need to get near Iran to deliver their payloads…
So all this sabre-rattling is designed to show that Mr MAGA has tons of hair on his chest, it’s all for internal US consumption…
Oscar Wilde (and George Clemanceau) had it right: “America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between“…
IF the US really plans to attack Iran, then it would make perfect sense for Pompeo to talk to Lavrov and open channels of communications between the two militaries to agree on “deconfliction” procedures. Regardless of whether the Russians accept such deconfliction measures or not (my guess is that they definitely would), such a trip is a “must” when deploying large forces so near to Russian military forces.
From EJ Magnier:
Iran doesn’t want to negotiate; its phone is out of order and can only be fixed when Trump returns to the JCPOA nuclear deal…
Iran’s allies are hitting US allies and oil is the target.
Bad Republic 