Link: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/news/2012/02/09/food-prices-soaring-in-iran-as-us-sancti

Every new round of sanctions takes a toll on the civilian economy of Iran and, increasingly, soaring food prices.Corn and rice shipments are down, This has fueled inflation, unemployment.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29183

The volatile situation in Syria generated by the Saudi-Qatar-funded Wahhabi armed group known as the Free Syrian Army and backed by the West is now an accident waiting to happen.To this end, the events in Syria must be so choreographed that they should lead to the overthrow of Assad regime and consequently "result in a strategic debacle for the Iranian government."

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29196

Russian ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin held a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels and, as quoted by Novosti, maintained that: “Russian intelligence had obtained information indicating that the Georgian military infrastructure could be used for logistical support of U.S. troops if they launched an attack on Iran.‘This is another reason why Washington values Saakashvili’s regime so highly,’ Rogozin said, adding that the United States had already started ‘active military preparations on Georgia’s territory’ for an invasion of Iran.‘Georgia’s president is ready to make his nation a virtual hostage of a risky military gamble,’ he said.”

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29153

44 US military bases surrounding Iran... Washington has made tremendous preparations for a military assault on Iran. There is speculation that Washington has called off its two longest running wars--Iraq and Afghanistan--in order to deploy forces against Iran. Two of Washington’s fleets have been assigned to the Persian Gulf along with NATO warships. Missiles have been spread amongst Washington’s Oil Emirate and Middle Eastern puppet states. US troops have been deployed in Israel and Kuwait.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/iran-f08.shtml

The danger of a US/Israeli attack on Iran was made clear in comments by US President Barack Obama to NBC News on Sunday. Obama not only repeated the mantra that “all options are on the table,” but added that the US was working with Israel “in lockstep as we proceed to try to solve this

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29149

According to an unconfirmed statement by a senior Iranian military official, reported by the Middle East and Israeli press, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard special forces (Quds) Kassam Salimani, was in Damascus on February 6 for top level consultations regarding military support as well as the possible dispatch of Quds Special Forces to Syria. e Russian and Iranian missions focussed on curbing the armed insurrection, the armed insurrection, which is covertly supported by foreign powers.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29123

The officialUS/UK/French/Israeli line is that the “Arab Spring” has finally reached Syria. There are the legal authorities of Syria, and there are armed terrorist throngs taking advantage of genuine social grievances and unleashing violence throughout the country, which in turn triggers police repression.In Syria, such groups are in all likelihood profusely armed, trained, financed and abetted by foreign players.Russia and China are not ready to tolerate a re-run of Iraq and Libya.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9062454/Iran-vows-to-hit-any-country-that-stages-attack.html

Iran will target any country where an attack against it is staged, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander warned on Sunday, the latest threat amid growing tensions over its nuclear programme and Western sanctions.

Link: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2012/02/07/iran-a-manufactured-threat#more14562

Iran attacked no other country in over 200 years. It threatens none now.America's business is war, permanent war for unchallenged global dominance., Since Iran's 1979 revolution and US hostage crisis, Washington's been spoiling for a fight. The Carter administration considered invading and seizing its oil fields. US media reports exclude those facts. Instead they generate fear and hostility against nonexistent threats.

Link: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/

Washington's longstanding policy is regime change in Iran and Syria. At issue is replacing independent regimes with client ones and securing unchallenged control of valued Middle East resources.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29108

Many hand-made signs pointed to Wall Street and the banks as the real danger, not Iran.The corporate media have been reporting for weeks that the Israeli regime is weighing an attack on Iran aimed at dismantling its nuclear program. Yet even former U.S. intelligence officers point out that Iran's nuclear development is entirely peaceful; it is not building any nuclear weapons.unsubstantiated claims to the contrary form the basis on which Israel, which itself has a large nuclear arsenal and has been armed and financed by the U.S., is now publicly claiming its right to launch a military attack on Iran.

Link: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4185684,00.html

European diplomat based in Islamabad says Israeli strike would force Pakistan to support Iranian retaliation, while EU official says 'political and economic consequences of attack would be catastrophic for Europe'He said this could lead to "messy defaults" by countries like Greece and Italy, and possibly cause a collapse of the already-wobbly euro.

Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30452.htm

. Consider this revealing “thought” as expressed recently in Alert, the voice of AIPAC to its membership: “Some Americans believe if the Israelis strike Iran, the U.S. will pay the political costs anyway, so it would be better for the Americans to do the job and do it properly. Has it come to this, that unnamed Israeli spokespeople, voicing AIPAC’s policies, determine what nation the U.S. should invade without consultation with the representatives of the American people?

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/world/middleeast/white-house-moves-to-tighten-sanctions-on-iran.html?_r=1

The White House moved to enforce tightened sanctions against Iran on Monday because of the country’s suspect nuclear program, freezing all property of the Central Bank of Iran, other Iranian financial institutions and the Iranian government in the United States. The administration has been trying to persuade Iran’s oil customers to shift to other suppliers,China and India,to keep buying Iranian oil.

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/224797.html

US Senate's latest package of sanctions against Iran seeks to shut out the Iranian financial sector form a global banking system used to transfer money between banks across the world. The new bill would also give the US legal authority to sanction foreign companies that buy oil from Iran.
In addition, the new legislation would penalize US companies that conduct business with Iran

Link: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/

If Israel does attack Iran, it will not simply be “a surgical strike” that destroys Iran’s key nuclear facilities. Any Iranian retaliation will be used by the US as a pretext for a massive air war aimed at destroying the country’s military and infrastructure.

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/iran-f04.shtml

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak argued again on Thursday that military action had to be taken soon.Israeli moves toward attacking Iran are driven by other considerations, not least of which is to maintain an unchallengeable military superiority in the Middle East.

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096488/Iran-moves-cut-oil-exports-countries-Europe.html

Iran has vowed to cut oil exports to some European countries in retaliation over the bloc's recent decision to ban oil imports from the Islamic Republic.
It has not named the countries which will be affected, but officials insist it is a decision made in response to the EU deciding to stop importing Iranian crude oil as of July 1.

Link: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/231199#.TzDce3pTDGh

Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle said on Saturday that Europe is determined to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran but is warning against military action.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29052

Interview with Gennady Yevstafyev, retired Lieutenant-General of Russia’s Foreign IntelligenceWe know that in the Gulf there are two flattops surrounded by several dozens of American ships. And yesterday or the day before yesterday the nuclear submarine Annapolis, which is a very big one, and accompanied by several of the most advanced corvettes, entered the area.the amount of naval forces they keep there is really spectacular.It is not Iran which is prepared to launch an attack against the United States.

Link: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152399#.Ty4sFHpTDGg

Iran's state news agency IRNA said the satellite was launched Friday. It is reportedly designed to collect data on weather conditions and monitor for natural disasters.Iran's space program has raised concerns because the same technology that allows missiles to launch satellites can be used to fire warheads.

Link: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152393#.Ty4q6HpTDGg

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said on Thursday he has concerns there could be a military conflict with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.Clegg said Britain had been attempting to demonstrate “that there are very tough things we can do which are not military steps in order to place pressure on Iran.”He would not speculate on whether “Britain would participate” if the standoff eventually led to a military response.

Link: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152411#.Ty4pG3pTDGh

The officials interviewed said that the attack will be led by the Israeli artillery, which will use Jericho 2 missiles that have a range of 2,500 kilometers. The report also says the artillery will be assisted by F-15i aircraft and Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).Another important note made by the NBC report is that all the officials interviewed agreed with recent reports that Israel will not notify the White House a long time in advance of the attack.

Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/02/panetta-says-israel-could-strike-iran-in-spring/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story%29

BRUSSELS — US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a “strong likelihood” that Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear installations this spring, the Washington Post said Thursday in an editorial.“Israel indicated they’re considering this (a strike), we’ve indicated our concerns,” he added.The Post columnist said Panetta “believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June before Iran enters what Israelis described as a ‘zone of immunity’ to commence building a nuclear bomb.”
President Barack Obama and Panetta are “said to have cautioned the Israelis that the United States opposes an attack, believing that it would derail an increasingly successful international economic sanctions program and other non-military efforts to stop Iran from crossing the threshold,” he said.
“But the White House hasn?t yet decided precisely how the United States would respond if the Israelis do attack.”

Link: http://lonestarwatchdog.blogspot.com/2012/02/reason-for-war-with-iran-follow-funny.html

The reason why we have an unstable world and a goverment out of control is because we have the International Bankers in control.These are the people who cause famines wars and misery. These are the people who impoverish nations and kill leaders who do not play ball with the moneychangers. This reason to go to war with Iran is insane to do in the first place. Iran has not attacked any country ever. Israel and the United States needs a fabled enemy to justify its police state at home while attacking nations into submission to set up a private central bank under the control of the European bankers. We have become a rogue state antagonizing the world as the bullies for the bankers. The saber rattling beating the war drum to bomb Iran is nothing more than the European bankers using the American Military as a hired gun to bomb nations into submission to accepting a private central bank to put the people into debt slavery and for the Military industrial complex so they can keep making bombs. When there is no wars, that is not good for business for the defense contractors. This impending war is about the bankers gaining control of the issuance of the currency. The rest of the propaganda is just a cover story to sell the public to justify a war. Follow the money and you will see that the bankers are pushing this war. Weapons of mass destruction or not. The enemies of humanity must be taken down or we all be working for funny money as debt slaves.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/world/middleeast/israel-warns-iranian-missiles-might-threaten-us.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss

JERUSALEM — A senior Israeli official said Thursday that the missile testing site near Tehran that was destroyed in a huge explosion three months ago was developing missiles with a range of about 6,000 miles that could reach the United States. RelatedThe assertion went far beyond what rocket experts have established about Iran’s missile capabilities, and American officials questioned its accuracy.

Link: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/news/2012/02/02/petrodollar-pumping-us-policy-on-iran-ba

As tensions between the US and Iran heat up, author Michael T. Winter believes the main reason behind America’s harsh stance is Tehran’s move to seek an alternative to the dollar as an oil currency. - Economic sanctions, spearheaded by the US and, less willingly, the EU could have a disastrous effect on both of their respective economies. If Iran cannot sell their oil to Europe, there are plenty of customers waiting in the wings, and if they come bearing not petrodollars, but gold and sovereign currencies, then all the better for Iran. These sanctions, if enforced, will in effect place a serious dent in the power of the petrodollar. Any rhetoric regarding Iran’s nuclear program and the insistence on crippling it is nothing more than a US attempt to force regime change for one more receptive to maintaining the hegemony of the petrodollar.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29019

During a broadcasted meeting of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, CIA Director, panel Chairperson indicate they met Tamir Pardo in Washington this week; U.S. official: Iran willing to attack U.S. targets if threatened. Mossad chief Tamir Pardo held secret talks with top U.S. officials in recent days, cursory comments made during a public Senate hearing indicated on Tuesday.The clandestine Washington visit was exposed during a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which was participated by CIA Director David Petraeus, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate panel. During the meeting, Feinstein asked Clapper whether or not Israel intended to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, with the top U.S. intelligence official answering that he would rather discuss the issue behind closed doors. Feinstein then indicated that she had met Mossad chief Pardo earlier in the week in Washington, with Petraeus adding that he too met Pardo and cited what he called Israel's growing concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions. The CIA chief also said that it was important to note that Israel considered a nuclear Iran as an existential threat. The entire exchange was broadcasted live on American television.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29032

[A] concentration of military forces in the Gulf creates an explosive situation in the region. One accidental shot would be enough to trigger fire on both sides.All countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization share Russia’s concern. China is yet another major international player opposed to a military campaign against Iran. Unfortunately, neither protests from China, nor warnings from Russia have had any effect on the allies as they step up preparations for a new Middle East conflict. The United States, Britain and France have begun to deploy troops in the Gulf in a move which experts say suggests preparations for a war with Iran. The first strikes could be carried out at the beginning of the summer, media reports say.According to reports, troops are arriving at the Masirah Island in Oman which is located south of the Strait of Hormuz where a US air base is deployed. Two American strike groups are currently stationed in the Gulf. Some reports say that the grouping will be reinforced with one more aircraft carrier, the destroyer Momsen and the nuclear submarine Annapolis. The US is also enhancing its presence in Israel and Kuwait. British troops and troops from the United Arab Emirates have been arriving in Saudi Arabia. The main target is Iran, whose nuclear program has long been an issue of particular concern in the West. Reports have been leaked to the press that hundreds of penetration bombs capable of destroying heavily fortified underground bunkers have been delivered to an American base on the British Island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29042

The experts are sure that precisely Iran will become the main issue of discussions in Washington as the US intends to use Georgian territory for actions against Iran. And it is not accidental that the US provide much money for military airports in Vaziani, Marneuli and Batumi. “I do not accept Saakashvili participating in an anti-Iranian campaign in return for keeping his position”, ex-Georgian President Eduard Shevarnadze considers. “It may become a real catastrophe for our country. War against Iran must not be led from our territory.” Today, on January 30 Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili will meet his American counterpart Barack Obama. According to experts, Georgia’s possible participation in the military operation against Iran will be the main issue of the discussions. Mr. Saakashvili seems to be ready to make Georgian territory available for the conflict against Tehran and he will explain its readiness with the necessity to be protected from the “Russian military danger,” Russian kommersant.ru writes.

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/clap-f02.shtml

Provocative testimony by US officials at a January 31 US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing has become the focus of a media campaign, accusing Iran of posing a terrorist threat to the United States.
The US is already waging a campaign to impose an oil embargo on Iran and backing a covert campaign of bombings and assassinations, apparently carried out by Israel, against Iran’s nuclear program. It is now further turning up pressure on Tehran, reviving accusations that were earlier abandoned by Washington last October that Iran plotted to assassinate Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir in Washington, DC.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28999

Pentagon acknowledges Scenario of Heavy Combat Casualties
It is common knowledge that a short victorious war usually raises the country’s leader’s popularity to the skies. The current US president needs this badly as his rating is rather low at present. However, a war against Iran is unlikely to be short and victorious. Iran is a much stronger enemy than Iraq or Afghanistan, where the wars have already lasted for 10 years. Incidentally, the US invaded Iraq on the same charges it is using against Iran now. No nuclear weapons have been discovered in Iraq, so Washington has to think again.

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jan2012/iran-j31.shtml

Despite claims that its focus is on diplomatic and economic sanctions against Iran, the Obama administration is making barely disguised preparations for military strikes to back its threat to use “all options” to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.The article pointed out that “some Pentagon planners believe conventional bombs won’t be effective against Fordo and that a tactical nuclear weapon may be the only military option if the goal is to destroy the facility.” Discussion of the possible use of nuclear weapons against Iran underlines the recklessness of US foreign policy and Obama’s oft-repeated mantra that “all options are on the table.”

Link: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jan2012/pers-j31.shtml

The New York Times on Sunday published a lengthy article in its weekly magazine that sympathetically and clinically lays out the arguments of Israeli policy makers in favor of a military attack on Iran sometime this year.Appearing in the context of newly announced US and European sanctions against Iranian oil exports and a buildup of US naval forces in the Persian Gulf, the article serves a definite and sinister purpose: to provide the pretexts and condition public opinion for a preemptive and unprovoked war of aggression that will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Iran and the Middle East and ultimately for the entire world.One can imagine similar articles appearing in the German press in the run-up to the Nazi invasion of Poland, calmly laying out the matters of self-defense obliging the Third Reich to subjugate its neighbor to the east.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28968

No War on Iran Banner
In 48 Cities -
FEB 4 MASS ACTIONS Demanding:
NO War! NO Sanctions! NO Intervention! NO Assassinations on IRAN
IN NYC, NY 1pm North end of Times Square - Duffy Square. March to the US & Israeli missions to UN.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28953

Wall Street Journal reports (1/28) the Pentagon has notified Congress that it will divert an additional $82 million to refine the Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP). (The MOP is a 30,000-pound “bunker-buster” bomb “specifically designed to take out the hardened fortifications built by Iran and North Korea to cloak their nuclear programs.”)These latest military maneuvers come on the heels of an announced U.S. troop build-up in the region revealed earlier this month. As the Los Angeles Times first reported (1/12), the build-up, including the stationing of 15,000 U.S. troops in Kuwait, is “intended as a quick-reaction and contingency force in case a military crisis erupts in the standoff with Tehran over its suspected nuclear weapons program.”

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28934

To simplify things India wants to use gold in exchange for oil, a very simple and novel idea.What does all this add up too? The basic common denominator is a growing existence of the US dollar and of the world financial system. What Washington has done has expedited the end of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Worse yet for the dollar deals like this are in the works all over Asia.

Link: http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/tehran-pushes-to-ditch-the-us-dollar-4591/

There is another downside, a potential threat now lurking in the shadows. The value of the US dollar is determined in large part by the fact that oil is sold in US dollars. If that trade shifts to a different currency, countries around the world won't need all their US money. The resulting sell-off of US dollars would weaken the currency dramatically.Everybody says the US goes to war to protect its oil supplies, but doesn't it really go to war to ensure the continuation of the petrodollar system? Iran may be isolated from the United States and Western Europe, but Tehran still has some pretty staunch allies. Iran and Venezuela are advancing $4 billion worth of joint projects, including a bank. India has pledged to continue buying Iranian oil because Tehran has been a great business partner for New Delhi, which struggles to make its payments. Greece opposed the EU sanctions because Iran was one of very few suppliers that had been letting the bankrupt Greeks buy oil on credit. South Korea and Japan are pleading for exemptions from the coming embargoes because they rely on Iranian oil. Economic ties between Russia and Iran are getting stronger every year.Iran's energy resources are a matter of national security for China.

Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28863

The US government is so full of self-righteousness that it has become a caricature of hypocrisy. Leon Panetta, a former congressman who Obama appointed CIA director and now head of the Pentagon, just told the sailors on the USS Enterprise, an aircraft carrier, that the US is maintaining a fleet of 11 aircraft carriers in order to project sea power against Iran and to convince Iran that “it’s better for them to try to deal with us through diplomacy.” If it requires 11 aircraft carriers to deal with Iran, how many will Panetta need to project power against Russia and China? But to get on with the main point, Iran has been trying “to deal with us through diplomacy.” The response from Washington has been belligerent threats of military attack, unfounded and irresponsible accusations that Iran is making a nuclear weapon, sanctions and an oil embargo. But it is in the War Crimes Arena where Washington shows the greatest hypocrisy. The self-righteous bigots in Washington are forever rounding up heads of weak states whose countries were afflicted by civil wars and sending them off to be tried as war criminals. All the while Washington indiscriminately kills large numbers of civilians in six or more countries, dismissing its own war crimes as “collateral damage.” Washington violates its own law and international law by torturing people.

Link: http://debka.com/article/21673/

India is the first buyer of Iranian oil to agree to pay for its purchases in gold instead of the US dollar, debkafile's intelligence and Iranian sources report exclusively. Those sources expect China to follow suit. India and China take about one million barrels per day, or 40 percent of Iran's total exports of 2.5 million bpd. Both are superpowers in terms of gold assets. By trading in gold, New Delhi and Beijing enable Tehran to bypass the upcoming freeze on its central bank's assets and the oil embargo which the European Union's foreign ministers agreed to impose Monday, Jan. 23. The EU currently buys around 20 percent of Iran's oil exports.