'Here lies a man who wanted to destroy Israel'
I assume that most of you are at least somewhat familiar with the Purim story in which the villain, Haman, suffered his downfall very suddenly but with God's hand clearly behind it. Haman was a conceited individual who felt that no one could touch him - in fact, he tried to set himself up as a God. We have an early Purim story tonight.
Nearly three weeks ago, Hassan Moghadam, the architect of Iran's program to shoot nuclear-armed missiles at Israel, was killed in an explosion outside Tehran. The picture at left is from his funeral (yes, that's Ayatollah Ali Khameni in front) and that's only because I could not find a picture of
his tombstone, which reads as follows:
“Here lies the man who wanted to destroy Israel” – Major General Hassan Moqaddam, head of the IRGC’s Self-Sufficiency and Industrial Research Center, who was killed in the explosion at an IRGC missile base made a request in his will that his headstone be inscribed as follows: Here lies the man who wanted to destroy Israel.
For those who read Farsi, the story is
here. And from the
Google translation of the Farsi:
"Student Press": Imam Shaheed Hassan Tehranian front of goal as he had his final goal. Shahid Tehran in front of his testament was written: "The tomb Qbrm here who wanted to destroy Israel."
Heh.
UPDATE 1:31 AMMore here.
Labels: Hassan Moghadam
Military Intelligence: Iran blast set back missile program
Israel's Military Intelligence says that the explosion two weeks ago at a missile base outside Tehran has set back Iran's ability to produce missiles at that base, but that Iran has
other locations at which it is producing missiles.
"The blast in the site where surface-to-surface missiles were developed can delay or bring to a complete halt the production of the missiles at that site," said head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence Research Section Department Brigadier General Itai baron at a briefing in the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
"However," Baron cautioned, "It must be emphasized that Iran has other development sites other than the one that was destroyed."
The head of the research department also commented on the November 8 report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which determined that Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapons program, saying the report "won't change Iran's course of action.
"The nuclear program will continue to progress despite the mounting pressures in Iran, and the worsening economic situation that might undermine the stability of the regime," Baron noted.
I guess we need a few more explosions in Iran. Heh.
Labels: Hassan Moghadam, Iranian missiles, Iranian nuclear threat
Iran believes Mossad behind Saturday's missile plant explosion
Britain's Guardian reported on its website late Tuesday night that Iran believes that
the Mossad was responsible for Saturday's explosion at a missile plant outside Tehran in which Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the head of Iran's missile program, was killed.
The official account insisted the blast was an accident, but a source with close links to Iran's clerical regime blamed it on an operation by the Mossad, bolstering other reports of involvement by Israel's intelligence and special operations organisation that were attributed to western intelligence services.
If true, the blast would mark a dramatic escalation in a shadow war over the Iranian nuclear programme.
Moghaddam was an engineer by profession, reported to have been trained in ballistic science by China and North Korea. Mostafa Izadi, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps commander, and a close friend, said in his obituary: "Since 1984 he pioneered the IRGC's ground to ground missile system ... the work which has so frightened the world's imperialist powers and the Zionist regime today."
At yesterday's funeral, Hossein Salami, the deputy head of the IRGC, echoed those sentiments in his eulogy. He declared: "Martyr Moghaddam was the main architect of the Revolutionary Guards' cannon and missile power and the founder of the deterrent power of our country."
Moghaddam's violent death, coming in the wake of a series of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists on the streets of Tehran and rising tensions over Iran's nuclear and missile programmes, raised questions about whether the explosion was deliberate sabotage and the latest, bloodiest blow in a covert war.
Iran had blamed the killings of three scientists in the past two years on Israel, but on this occasion, the IRGC public relations department was quick to rule out sabotage while at the same time saying that the investigation into the incident had not been completed.
Speaking to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, however, a former director of an Iranian state-run organisation with close links to the regime, said: "I believe that Saturday's explosion was part of the covert war against Iran, led by Israel."
The former official compared Saturday's incident to a similar blast in October 2010 at an IRGC missile base near the city of Khorramabad. "I have information that both these incidents were the work of sabotage by agents of Israel, aimed at halting Iran's missile programme," he said.
The bases in both cases housed Iran's Shahab-3 missiles, based on a North Korean design. An upgraded variant was said to have a range of 1,200 miles, which would allow it to reach Israel....
The official account of Saturday's blast said it had taken place in an arms depot when munitions were being moved. Other reports said a Shahab-3 detonated while Moghaddam was overseeing its redeployment. Witnesses spoke of hearing one giant blast rather than a series of detonations which might be expected from a blaze in a munitions store.
Time magazine also cited a "western intelligence source" as saying the Mossad was behind the blast and that many more would follow. "There are more bullets in the magazine," the source said.
Western officials would not comment on the claims, but would not rule out Israeli involvement.
Heh.
Labels: Hassan Moghadam, Iranian nuclear threat, Mossad, Shehab-3 missiles
Time Magazine: Israel behind Iranian munitions explosion
Time Magazine is reporting that Israel was behind Saturday's explosion at an Iranian missile plant in which Major General Hassan Moqqadam, the leader of Iran's missile program, was killed. So what, you say. You've seen half a dozen reports claiming that, including one from YNet that I
blogged on Sunday. Well, here's the thing. Every report until now relied upon anti-Israel nutjob Richard Silverstein, who almost immediately accused the Mossad of being behind it. Silverstein has gone overboard many times before, and I and many of my blogging friends have been wondering why the mainstream media seems so eager to link him. This report by Karl Vick (another reporter
not known for his love of Israel)
doesn't rely on Silverstein (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum).
For Israeli readers, the coy implication is that their own government was behind Saturday's massive blast just outside Tehran. It is an assumption a Western intelligence source insists is correct: the Mossad — the Israeli agency charged with covert operations — did it. "Don't believe the Iranians that it was an accident," the official tells TIME, adding that other sabotage is being planned to impede the Iranian ability to develop and deliver a nuclear weapon. "There are more bullets in the magazine," the official says.
The powerful blast or series of blasts — reports described an initial explosion followed by a much larger one — devastated a missile base in the gritty urban sprawl to the west of the Iranian capital. The base housed Shahab missiles, which, at their longest range, can reach Israel. Last week's report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran had experimented with removing the conventional warhead on the Shahab-3 and replacing it with one that would hold a nuclear device. Iran says the explosion was an accident that came while troops were transferring ammunition out of the depot "toward the appropriate site."
In an
earlier post, I wrote:
YNet reported on Sunday that blogger Richard Silverstein is accusing the Mossad of being behind Saturday's explosion in Iran in coordination with an Iranian opposition group. That may well be correct. But if it is, the West should not cry about it: The death of the head of Iran's missile operations, Hassan Moghadam will delay Iran's ability to move its operations underground and will therefore delay the necessity for an Israeli attack. (Emphasis added).
Vick agrees.
But the incident also argued, maybe even augured, against an outright strike. If Israel — perhaps in concert with Washington and other allies — can continue to inflict damage to the Iranian nuclear effort through covert actions, the need diminishes for overt, incendiary moves like air strikes. The Stuxnet computer worm bollixed Iran's centrifuges for months, wreaking havoc on the crucial process of uranium enrichment.
And in Sunday's editions, the Hebrew press coyly listed what Yedioth Ahronoth called "Iran's Mysterious Mishaps." The tallies ran from the November 2007 explosion at a missile base south of Tehran to the October 2010 blast at a Shahab facility in southwestern Iran, to the assassinations of three Iranian scientists working in the nuclear program — two last year and one in July.
At the very least, the list burnishes the mystique of the Mossad, Israel's overseas spy agency. Whatever the case-by-case reality, the popular notion that, through the Mossad, Israel knows everything and can reach anywhere is one of the most valuable assets available to a state whose entire doctrine of defense can be summed up in the word deterrence. But it doesn't mean Israel is the only country with a foreign intelligence operation inside Iran. The most recent IAEA report included intelligence from 10 governments on details of the Iranian nuclear effort. And in previous interviews, Western security sources have indicated that U.S. and other Western intelligence agencies have partnered with Israel on covert operations inside Iran. Sometimes the partner brings specific expertise or access. In other cases, Iranian agents on the ground who might harbor misgivings about Israel are allowed to believe they are working only with another government altogether.
If Israel is behind the attack, that's good news to just about everyone. Including Barack
Hussein Obama.
Labels: explosions, Hassan Moghadam, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Mossad, sabotage, Tehran
Netanyahu and Barak stonewalled Panetta
A week ago, I reported based on 'US sources' that in October, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta sought a commitment from Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak, that they would not act on Iran without coordination with the United States.
That commitment was not given.
This past week, Panetta was in Israel again seeking the same commitment. In fact, he was even willing to take a commitment that said that Israel and would give the US advance warning before attacking Iran. It was a commitment that
Netanyahu and Barak refused to give (Hat Tip:
Memeorandum).
Officially, his brief was restricted to the Middle East peace process, but the most important part of his mission was a private meeting with Mr Netanyahu and the defence minister, Ehud Barak. Once all but a handful of trusted staff had left the room, Mr Panetta conveyed an urgent message from Barack Obama. The president, Mr Panetta said, wanted an unshakable guarantee that Israel would not carry out a unilateral military strike against Iran's nuclear installations without first seeking Washington's clearance.
The two Israelis were notably evasive in their response, according to sources both in Israel and the United States.
"They did not suggest that military action was being planned or was imminent, but neither did they give any assurances that Israel would first seek Washington's permission, or even inform the White House in advance that a mission was underway," one said.
Alarmed by Mr Netanyahu's noncommittal response, Mr Obama reportedly ordered the US intelligence services to step up monitoring of Israel to glean clues of its intentions.
What those intentions might be remains distinctly murky. Over the past fortnight, Israel's press has given every impression that the country is on a war footing, with numerous claims that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Barak are lobbying the cabinet to support the military option.
Two weeks ago Israel tested a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching Iran, its first since 2008. Shortly before, the Israeli airforce took part in Nato exercises in Sardinia that involved air-to-air refuelling, a key component of an aerial strike on Iran. A separate exercise in and around Tel Aviv tested civilian readiness in the event of a missile strike against the city. In a sign of the febrility of the public mood, many beach-goers apparently mistook the air raid sirens for a genuine Iranian attack and fled in panic for their cars. There were similar jitters in Iran yesterday, when a huge but apparently accidental explosion at arms dump outside Tehran killed at least 27 soldiers and shook the city.
Speculation about an imminent Israeli military action has been a regular occurrence over the years, but rarely as fevered as now. Last week, a British official even suggested that an attack could come before Christmas.
Few in Israel believe that is likely and the difficulty of mounting an operation over winter, when cloud cover hampers aircraft targeting systems, means that if military action is being considered it will not come before the spring or summer of next year.
This is something that Obama has brought on himself.
Many observers also believe that the bellicose rhetoric voiced by a number of senior Israeli figures in recent days is largely bluff, designed to goad the international community into imposing sanctions of such severity that Iran would be forced into economic ruin if it persisted with its nuclear ambitions. Israel says that if Iran's central bank were sanctioned and a ban on Iranian oil exports enforced by an international naval blockade, military action would not be necessary.
Mr Barak has already publicly stated that he does not believe the West can overcome Russian and Chinese opposition to the sanctions Israel wants, leaving military action increasingly as the only alternative.
Ehud Barak is right about this. The only way to have a chance to stop Iran short of war is to sanction its oil supplies and its central bank. Thus far, the 'international community' is unwilling to take that action. Israel cannot afford to wait forever. As the article goes on to state, once Iran has its nuclear development deep underground in Qom, a strike becomes impossible.
Read the whole thing. But there's more.
YNet reported on Sunday that blogger Richard Silverstein is
accusing the Mossad of being behind Saturday's explosion in Iran in coordination with an Iranian opposition group. That may well be correct. But if it is, the West should not cry about it: The death of the head of Iran's missile operations, Hassan Moghadam will delay Iran's ability to move its operations underground and will therefore delay the necessity for an Israeli attack.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Hassan Moghadam, Iranian nuclear threat, Leon Panetta
Breaking: Head of Iran's missile program killed in Saturday blast
Israel Television has just reported that Hassan Moghadam, who was responsible for Iran's missile program, was killed in Saturday's blast outside Tehran. DEBKA reported this late on Saturday night.
Here's their story.
Brig. Hassan Moghadam, head of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) missile development and sections of its nuclear program, was killed in one of the two consecutive explosions that hit two IRGC bases 46 kilometers west of Tehran Saturday, Nov. 12. The official fatality figure is 32. Fourteen hours after explosions blasts could still be heard and fires raged. debkafile's exclusive sources report the bases are located in Malard, a town in the Shahryar district. The Moadarres facility was the first to be hit, while the second and bigger blast occurred at Amir-al-Mo'menin.
Their force was such that the Iranian Red Crescent rushed 45 ambulances to the two facilities plus 23 buses converted to first-aid vehicles and a helicopter to evacuate the critically injured.
However, only six rescue workers were given access to the Moadarres base and none were permitted to enter Amir-al-Mo'menin because of the facility's sensitivity.
Fourteen hours after the explosions, the blasts continued and fires raged. Surrounding streets were closed and reporters kept away from the scene.
Our sources report increasing evidence that the first explosion was caused by a failed effort to mount a nuclear warhead on a Shahab-3 intermediate-range missile.
Read the whole thing.
CBS News has now confirmed the story.
The son of the former commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards was found dead on Sunday in a hotel in Dubai.
Hmmm.
Labels: Hassan Moghadam, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Tehran
I assume that most of you are at least somewhat familiar with the Purim story in which the villain, Haman, suffered his downfall very suddenly but with God's hand clearly behind it. Haman was a conceited individual who felt that no one could touch him - in fact, he tried to set himself up as a God. We have an early Purim story tonight.
