Editor’s Note: Yossi Melman is a feature writer and columnist for Haaretz, specializing in strategic issues. He writes about Israel’s intelligence community, nuclear matters and terrorism.
By Yossi Melman – Special to CNN
With the dramatic news of the prisoner swap with Hamas due to take place next Tuesday (where one Israeli soldier will be exchanged for 1027 convicted Palestinian terrorists), Israeli media, politicians, security officials and the public at large barely noticed the news from Washington about the alleged Iranian plot.
According to the U.S. Administration and media reports, the Iranian government was behind the plan to kill the Saudi Ambassador to the United States and to attack Israeli embassies in Washington DC and Buenos Aires.
The conspiracy involved the Al Quds Force - a super secretive arm within Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) - a force which is responsible for maintaining contacts with pro-Iranian (usually Shiite) groups around the globe.
The 15,000 Al Quds force, led by Major General Qassem Suliemani is practically an army within an army. It is trained to conduct special operations. Its cadre of operatives train and supply weapons and explosives to the Lebanese Hezbollah and to Shiite groups in Iraq. Al Quds has been involved in building secret networks in the Gulf Emirates, Sudan, Somalia, West Africa, the Far East and South America, especially Venezuela.
Therefore, for those Israelis who were paying attention, the news of the alleged Iranian plot did not come as much of a surprise. Israel has been a target of repeated Iranian efforts and failed conspiracies to bomb its embassies and installations abroad. Thus, Israelis, unlike many in the USA who shed doubts whether Iran was indeed behind the plot because of its amateurish nature, tend to think the accusations are believable.
In 1992, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), acting via its Hezbollah proxy, approved a bomb plot against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. More than two years later, it approved another plot to destroy Amia, the Jewish community center in the Argentinean capital, killing 86 people and wounding dozens more. This was Iranian-Hezbollah retaliation for the Israeli assassination of the Hezbollah Secretary General.
The cold but violent war between Israel and the Iranian mullahs has intensified in the last five years. In June 2006, Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. Israel responded by invading Lebanon and conducting a 35-day military campaign against Hezbollah. The Shiite organization retaliated by launching 4,000 Iranian-made and supplied rockets and missiles against Israeli towns and villages.
Less than two years later, Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's "Defense Minister" was assassinated by a powerful bomb in Damascus in February 2008, in an operation attributed to the Israeli spy service, Mossad. Hezbollah and Iran swore to avenge his killing. Since then, Israeli intelligence uncovered several plots against Israeli embassies and other targets in Azerbaijan, Egypt and a West African nation.
So a plan to attack the Israeli embassy in Washington DC is not a farfetched idea. It even makes sense. Such a plan could have had a few advantages for Iran. First, it could have avenged the killing of Hezbollah's number two, who maintained close links with the Al Quds force. It would also have embarrassed the Obama administration and showed Israel that it can't find a safe haven even in its closest strategic ally.
The same advantages could accrue from an Iranian attack on the Saudi Ambassador. The two countries are already waging a cold war of harsh words and behind-the-scenes secret operations. The rivalry between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia has accelerated in recent years. Iran, via Al Quds intelligence officers, is stirring trouble for the Saudis in the Gulf Emirates, especially in Bahrain and in Yemen. Saudi Arabia countered Iran by sending its tanks to defend the Sunni ruling family of Bahrain. Its army and intelligence also rushed to support the Yemeni regime. Riyadh is very much concerned about Tehran having nuclear weapons and senior Saudi officials were cited in U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks as expressing their desire that either the U.S. or Israel attack and destroy Iran's nuclear facilities.
Publicly, however, Saudi officials are very cautious. The Kingdom's officials said Thursday that they are still considering their response to the reports. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal was more forthcoming, saying during his visit to Austria,"We hold them [Iran] accountable for any action they take against us…. Any action they take against us will have a measured response from Saudi Arabia." He also noted that this was not the first time Iran had been suspected of similar operations.
Nevertheless, it is hard to explain why Iran acted so foolishly and amateurishly. In many prior incidents, Iran did a better job concealing its finger prints. But, over the past two decades, Iranian agents and officials with established links to MOIS and/or Al Quds were caught red handed in Berlin, Vienna and other European capitals. In fact, the poorly planned and executed plot could indicate that Iran was desperate to carry out the operation but lacked a suitable infrastructure in the United States. Without this, Iran lacks credible deniability.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of Yossi Melman.
© 2011 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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"Why Israelis aren’t surprised by the alleged Iranian plot"?
Because most likely they cooked it up. a suggestion, next time spend a little more money and buy a good script rather than picking up a rejected B movie script from a trash bin of a hollywood studio.
everyone knows all the children and babies in israel are the ones who "cooked this up"
so they should be killed first, right?
You have a dangerous motive, dear.
What kind of logic is that Mycology? He said the GOVERNMENT of Israel is the one who cooked up this plot, so why you are you dragging children and babies of Israel into the discussion? Was the article saying why children and babies of Israel aren't surprised about this plot?
Can anyone name this logical fallacy?
Logician... Sorry to burst your bubble but he ("Mir") said that "they (ISRAELIS) cooked it up". Do you have any reason to believe that ALL Israelis are members of Israeli GOVERNMENT?
Of course, it doesn't hurt to believe the story.
The author wrote that "Iranian agents and officials with established links to MOIS and/or Al Quds were caught red handed in Berlin, Vienna and other European capitals". I can't recall any incident of significance, that involved the aforementioned in Europe.
wrong.
Where was Bidden when Israel's Mossad forged passports and assassinated a Hamas leader in Saudi last year? Bidden didn't even make a peep!
Are you really complaining about the killing of a terrorist leader who intentionally sought to kill innocent civilians?
Well, we know where you anti-israel folks' hearts are at now...
here come the Israelis, spinning their falsehoods into reality. israel has been the belligerent one in the Middle East egging on a war between the US and Iran. it is more believable to me this was an act of mossad. ordinary americans are finally catching on to you Israelis, your privileged relationship with the US is coming to an end.
All fingerprints of this affair suggest that it was Iran behind this plot and none suggest that it was Mossad. Of Clyde, some people still believe that the Earth is flat despite all the evidence to the contrary...
Oh, purleeeeze Do put a sock in it with your dopey conspiracy theories. I suggest you stop watching equally dopey spy movies. Grow up.
Because the Mossad were the ones who orchestrated the whole thing in the first place. CNN please stop spreading Zionist propaganda to get us involved into another one of Israel's unjust wars. People aren't buying it!
The Mossad were the ones who orchestrated the whole thing in the first place... and, of course, you can PROVE it, can not you? Or PROVING your accusations is an unknown practice in the world where you live?
It's Iran who refer to America as the "Great Satan". They hate you with a passion.
Israel are your friends [when the winds in the right direction for America that is!]
So. Using reason and logic who do you REALLY think wants to give America a bloody nose. Apart from half the world?
Of course they aren't surprised, it was a false-flag operation BY ISRAEL!
Why don't you show us some evidence to support your accusations, 'Thomas'? Or, at the very least, some logical explanation for them? Something more substantial than "I hate Israel and the Jews"?
Why don't you show us some real proofs about this Iran Gorvernment's assasiantion, Thinker23? From from my POV, the only country which does not obey the international laws and does not hesitate to assasin a scientist is ISRAEL! Can you deny that?
Faara... You should ask the US Administration and its security services for the proofs, not me. It would be extremely stupid for the President and his administration to make bold announcements about the Iranian plot, arrest the perpetrators, bring them to court and then admit that it can not prove its case. On the other hand, as far as I know NO ONE was ever proven to be guilty in assassination of a scientist in court and no evedence was ever found that scientists were assassinated by Israel. This being said, however, feel free to SHOW ONE INTERNATIONAL LAW that was violated by Israel but complied with by the Palestinians and the Arab states. Good luck!
I still don't understand how the US can call it an "Act of War" when even the Saudis haven't. Is every one sure the intended target wasn't an American ambassador?
Attempted attack on an ambassador or embassy is an act of war BY DEFINITION.
@Thinker – apparently you didn't regard it as an act of war BY DEFINITION when the Egyptians stormed the Israeli Embassy.
It's ALWAYS different for you Americans isn't it?
Illegally entering Pakistan was an act of war BY DEFINITION
Sending drones into umpteen countries at peace with America and killing teir civilians is an act of war
But mention anyone looking sideways at America and you all wet your pants and leave a vapour trail to the nearest cellar! Saddos.
Semper Fidelis... I did not regard the attack of the Egyptian mob on Israeli Embassy for a good enough reason: the Egyptian police PROTECTED the building from the mob. The attack on the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC was ORGANIZED by Iranian government forces.
A new Turkish satellite has Israelis eyieng the end of a U.S.-backed blackout on high-resolution commercial photography of their turf from space.The GokTurk satellite due in orbit by 2013 will sell images of objects more detailed than 2 meters across currently the finest grain available when it comes to pictures of Israel, thanks mainly to U.S. legislation from the 1990s. Turkey's leap into the aerospace market treads on Israeli security sensitivities given the former allies' recently strained ties. Unlike with other nations that have fielded commercial satellites, Israel has little leverage over Ankara. We try to ensure that we are not photographed at high resolutions, and most [countries] accommodate us, a senior Israeli defense official said. Should we request this of the Turks? We won't ask for it. There is no one to talk to. ..Turkey, whose Islamist-rooted government froze relations with Israel after its deadly raid on a Gaza aid ship last year, has shown no interest in veiling the Jewish state from GokTurk. We decide how to use the images taken by our satellite, an unnamed Turkish official told the newspaper Today's Zaman .The Israeli official said such measures helped prevent sensitive material falling into the hands of terrorists . Israel also frets about its nuclear facilities and other secretive projects becoming too open to public scrutiny
The BS propaganda that comes from US gamer-brains to control, or to start another world confrontation,iwith Zionist overtures collaborating, is utterly sickening.
This latest one is OH So Obvious. Iran has never affronted the U.S. But oh how the US and Israel 'pester-fester'
Iran.
If it had no oil, and was not in compettion with the TAPI pipeline, the U.S. would not even know how to
spell the word Iran.i
What IS sickening is the stream of empty accusations against Israel with not a shred of evidence to support them. Not a single post containing such accusations here, including yours, offered anything at all as evidence of Israel's involvement.
Thinker 23, you are ridiculous. We have the whole bloody criminal history of the zionist enterprise which tells us Israel is the most likely culprit. Quit your genocide and maybe you wouldn't have so many enemies. Israel is its current form is a crime against humanity and is the biggest threat to world peace.
It was a 'beautiful design'! Just the type of things Mossad and the Israeli University that creates War-Play spin, for
the purpose of strategizing how the cards of world human reaction will fall, has been well explained in articles
in Asia Times Online.
Do we all seem such idiots as not to be able to figure how stooges were used/made, money transferred for the
express purpose of saying "We can follow the money". Of course you can, you designed the fake scheme
The lady of the US State Dept. that said she had a meeting with the Iranians, couldn't even be sure if it was
Tuesday or Wednesday, of this week. Such brilliant minds. Then when asked where was the meeting,
she went red in the face and said nothing.
Dubai was still successful, no one has ever been charged with the murder, as it happened in real time, Dubai saw nothing unusual. Now if there had not be the international reactions, there would have been more to come. Poison was chosen, to remind Mashaal. The operation came from Mossad to the PM not the other way around as people think. It was a dual mission hit logistics, gain information on Shalit, send a message to the leadership, no one is safe anywhere. Iran was holding up the Shalit deal, Ahmadi kept saying what is the rush, this deal could have been done last year. For those who think Iran is not foolish, look at Syria for one Jew.
Israel and United State needed a casus belli but as it was not forthcoming they helped themself by fabricating one. It was apparent that both countries are isolated – going by fellers from the UN – by their position on Palestine and so desperately seek to divert attention. Israel in collaboration with US have been successful in this art for long, but it is once too many. This fatuous piece by Yossi displays how Jews and Zionist apologists hold the rest of the world in intellectual contempt. The plutocracy in US is fast being demystify with the concomitant reprisal that is to follow for AIPAC and Israel ominous. Who is actually desperate? The usually persnickety Israel but sloppy now or the buffeted Iran?
I wonder wheher you bothered to give a similar comment when Israel was accused by Egypt of releasing a shark into the red sea, or when Israeli doctors helping survivors in Haiti were accused of stealing organs, when Asad blamed Israel for being behind the riots in his country (surely it could not be the Sunni majority...)
The fact of the matter is that nobody knows whether the US's claim is correct and it will not be until they release more details that anyone would be ina position to at least judge and decide whether they believe it or not. But one thing is for sure. When blaming Israel, one does not need evidence, because most, just like Dr. Bello, would not bother to comment or give it a second thought, while for every accusation of Iran there are at least 3 conspiracy theories.
MiddleEastInterpreter
MiddleEastInterpreter.wordpress.com
Mr. Melman forgot to note about Israel's recent assassination of 4 Iranian nuclear scientists . I am sure Israel officials know better than anyone else that if Iran wanted really to assassin anyone they wud do it far cleaner. A lose fabricated plan to press Iran.
Do you have anything to PROVE that the Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated by Israel? Especially considering your statement that Iran would do it "far cleaner"? It seems to me that it were Iranian agents who assassinated these scientists to press Israel... and it were the Iranian and NOT Israeli agents behind the assassination attempt of the Sausi ambassador.
I'm somewhat confused by other commenters' accusations against Israel. Lacking evidence, it makes no sense that Mossad would attack a country that isn't openly belligerent, on the territory of its closest friend. One of the U.S.' closest allies in the Middle East is the Saudis, so why would they let any Saudis come into harm's way? If you have proof, then state it. But if you don't, baseless accusations don't help anyone.
Bravo, Kar! I sincerely appreciate your post above.
i don't believe it. it was made up by eric holder to get our minds off of fast+furious and solyndra.
One of the points Mr. Melman failed to mention about the Iranian-Saudi relationship is that a few months ago, Saudi Arabia suggested to the oil cartel to increase production rate, in order to lower the price of oil, so that the sanctions imposed on Iran start biting. Unfortunately no other member of the cartel agreed and Iran is still benefiting from selling oil to the likes of Turkey.
If wikileaks has taught us one thing it is that all the regional leaders truly believe in Iran's nuclear weapon program and are very much afraid of it (they have access to intelligence that isn't always shared with the entire public). The smiles and Muslim hegemony is just a front, hiding the under-currents.
MiddleEastInterpreter
MiddleEastInterpreter.wordpress.com
Iran is going to push America to far one day..
*too
To poster 'Alec'
Alec, you might only imagine the mess the US makes with drug deals. Do you truly forget Iran-contra, and the Repubs
Bush I.,Olly NOrth, Jennifer Flowers?" Get with some reality, man. The US is the most corrupt nation on Earth.
Bushy was flying Ciocaine out of Columbia as fast as Pablo Escobar could make it, into Panama where their
playboy Noriega, whom they used to party with, would reload it onto DC3';s to the Bahamas, sell it, use the
money paid to Adnam Khashogi, who would give them Iranian arms for El Salvador and Nicaraugua, where
Nancy Reagan was ensuring that ALZHEIMER HUBBY not diminish their freinds in High Places that owned
the large estancias, that the peasants needed to farm.
Wake up to Capitalistic Greed 101, aka U.S. dog-dirt messes surrounding the Globe.
Be sure to read this, ALL of YOU:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MJ15Ak02.html
APAC and its cronies in the government pushing for an other war with Isreal enemy... They do'nt care if the US go bankrupt 100 times over as long as they achive their only Goal to have greater Israel... We can not afford an other
war Our massage to APAC and its cronies is " GO TO HELL" and stop cooking up stories...
i love how all the redneck anti-semites come out of their trailers to say all their sh!t about Jews, Israeli, and AIPAC....when all you deeek weeds would do the same thing in Israel's position
You hate Muslims. You hate Jews. You hate Arabs. You hate Israel. And here I thought America wasn't so racist
way to give the US a bad name. thx!