Pentagon Silent On Alleged Iranian Plot To Kill US General

In 2012, Nelly Lahoud was teaching at West Point when the CIA declassified the first 17 documents captured during the raid. She was asked to lead the analysis of those documents for West Point's Combatting Terrorism Center.

In an interview with 60 minutes on CBS, Lahoud, senior fellow in New America's International Security program and expert on al-Qaeda (AQ) and the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS/ISIL), explained that in November of 2002, U.S. intelligence officials warned al Qaeda might be planning, "spectacular attacks" that could cause "mass casualties."

However, Lahoud also revealed that bin Laden wanted to replicate the 9/11 attacks in the US. “Bin Laden writes that rather than hijack a plane, operatives should charter one for their next attack on the US.” He adds if that's too difficult, they should target US railways.

During the 21-years period after 9/11, Iran maintained a relationship with al-Qaeda and its operatives, mainly driven by an anti-America agenda.

After two decades, the relationship between Iran and the terrorism network , which began in the early 1990s, is still being argued within the counterterrorism community and government officials, according to Asfandyar Mir, senior expert in the Asia Center at the United States Institute of Peace, and Colin P. Clarke, senior research fellow at The Soufan Center.

At the time, al-Qaeda and Iran made a deal that included al-Qaeda members training with Iranian intelligence operatives in Iran and Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

However, Tallha Abdulrazaq, an academic with expertise in Middle Eastern security affairs, explains that Iran has provided shelter to numerous Al Qaeda operatives over the years.

Bin Laden’s son Hamza is believed to be among those to have been harbored in Iran.

Even though mainly Shia Iran claims to be fighting extremism, Tehran has supplied both Sunni and Shia terrorist organizations with advanced weapons such as rockers and improvised explosive devices.

After bin laden moved from Sudan to Afghanistan in 1996, Iran provided al-Qaeda operatives logistical and travel support, as the US bipartisan report from the 9/11 Commission concluded.

“Intelligence indicates the persistence of contacts between Iranian security officials and senior al Qaeda figures after Bin Ladin's return to Afghanistan,” the report said, adding that evidence suggested “8 to 10 of the 14 Saudi "muscle" operatives traveled into or out of Iran between October 2000 and February 2001.”

By 2003, the relationship between Iran and al-Qaeda had grown turbulent, probably due to the terrorist network’s growing presence in Iran.

By 2010, during hard diplomacy and lots of assurances al-Qaeda secured the release of key members and their families in detention, while Iran achievedrelease of Heshmatollah Attarzadeh Niyaki, the commercial attache at Iran's consulate in Peshawar after his kidnap in Pakistan.

Tehran continued to allow al-Qaeda to transfer money via Iran, as well as to transit personnel and resources across conflict zones such as Afghanistan and Syria, according to the 2019 US State Department’s country terrorism report.

Iran’s geographic position neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan also critically helped al-Qaeda to move across key battlefields when under direct US pressure there.

While Iran’s assistance enabled al-Qaeda to continuously challenge the United States and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, the Sunni terrorist group in return refrained from committing attacks inside Iran or against Shia populations in other countries in the region.

According to Shin Bet, the Iranian operator had created the profile under the name of Sara Puppi, pretending to be a young Jewish girl with connections and business in Israel.

The account added thousands of friends in a very short period, and after speaking with targets on Facebook, the operator would get the victims to switch to WhatsApp.

Shin Bet managed to put an operative in the Facebook account posing as a follower.

The Iranian agent asked the Shin Bet operative to gather information about Israeli figures and examined the operative's willingness to harm them. The Iranian tried to push the Israeli agent into accepting his/her offer with emotional and romantic manipulation as well as delivering sums of money equaling thousands of dollars. 

The operator, who transferred funds to the Shin Bet operative using Bitcoins, used business reasons as a cover story for the assigned missions, such as revenge against those who owed him money or harming personal opponents and even a desire to harm LGBTQ+ people in general.

The targets of the missions also included representatives of companies and diplomats from Arab countries working in Israel. 

Shin Bet says the operator also tried to get its operative he thought was working for him to put up signs against Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to harm relations between Israel and Russia.

In February, Twitter and Facebook suspended pages and profiles of an Iranian disinformation unit that was targeting nationalist and ultra-religious Jews in Israel.

Heading a delegation of more than a dozen people, Owji arrived in Caracas on Saturday and visited the Paraguana refining complex in western Venezuela with an official of Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company Petróleos de Venezuela PDVSA, Asdrubal Chavez.

According to the sources who asked not to be identified, the two were expected to sign energy cooperation deals on Monday.

Asdrubal Chavez is the cousin of the late president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and the former president of Citgo a subsidiary of PDVSA, a transporter and marketer of transportation fuels and petrochemicals based in Houston, Texas.

Iran and Venezuela have been slapped with sanctions by the US, which doesn’t currently import oil from either nation, and has in recent years reimposed sanctions on Iranian state entities, including the national oil company NIOC, and in 2019 blacklisted PDVSA.

The two countries strengthened their cooperation in 2020, with Venezuela importing condensate from Iran, key to thin its extra-thick crude oil. Iran has also stepped in to help its South American ally with engineers, refined products and spare parts for its oil industry.

In March, a rare meeting between Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and high-ranking American officials in Caracas prompted speculation that sanction relief was on the table to free up oil supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Prince Turki al-Faisal – who is the former Saudi intelligence chief and a former ambassador to Washington -- made the remarks in a video interview with Saudi newspaper Arab News published on Monday.

"We've had our ups and downs over the years, and perhaps at this time it's one of the downs, particularly since the president of the United States in his election campaign said that he will make Saudi Arabia a pariah and of course he went on to practice what he preached", he said.

Al-Faisal also criticized Joe Biden's decision to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition’s offensive operations in Yemen.

Referring to attacks by the Houthis, he said, "Saudis consider the relationship as being strategic, but (feel) as being let down at a time when we thought that America and Saudi Arabia should be together in facing what we would consider to be a joint, not just irritant, but danger to the stability and security of the area”.

Western diplomats said late in March that Washington has recently increased military support for Riyadh in a bid to mend ties.

Houthis target Saudi energy facilities and civilian areas with drones and ballistic missiles, which Riyadh and other say are provided by Iran while the Houthis say the coalition carries out air strikes against Yemeni civilians in areas under its control. Houthis have launched dozens of cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia since September 2021.

Iranian teachers staged demonstrations across the country on May1, the international Labor Day, organized by the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations.

The number of teachers detained during the protest rallies has reportedly been estimated at between 20 and 70, while some have been released so far. A few union activists had been arrested on the eve of Sunday demonstrations.

According to the council, security officers raided the homes of numerous teachers and activists on Monday and used violence during their arrests.

Reports say at least 30 other the teachers have also been summoned and threatened by the Intelligence Ministry in Tehran or its offices in other cities. At least 30 people have been detained by the Intelligence Ministry officers and taken to undisclosed locations.

Teachers say they will continue their protests until authorities meet their demands including the implementation of decade-old legislation that would bring the salaries and pensions of 750,000 teachers in line with other civil servants as well as the freedom of their colleagues who have been imprisoned for their trade union activities.

People from different walks of life, including teachers, nurses, firefighters, and even staff members of the judiciary department and prison guards, have held regular protest rallies or strikes to demand higher salaries.