Most people have heard the expression “There is more than one way to skin a cat” and that expression couldn’t be more true than with the challenges we face with Iran.  The Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would like to draw America into a war with Iran over suspicion they are building nuclear technology for military purposes (source).  But as I’ve said before HERE – if Israel wants to attack Iran, let them fight their own war.  Only dull minds view the current Iran situation with 2D glasses; America has a whole host of options available at her disposal … and it’s clear that we’re using them.

I’m not going to get into all the reasons it would be bad for Iran to have nuclear weapons but clearly – if given the option between them having them or not … my vote would be for them not to have them.  Additionally – like the NY Times editorial board … I do not recommend America engage in an overt ground war with Iran in order to prevent this.  I much prefer Obama’s current approach.

Let’s look at what America is doing in concert with Israeli intelligence to address the concern of Iran building nuclear weapons.

• Four Iranian nuclear scientists are dead via car bombs etc (source)
• America financially supports terrorist groups like the MEK that attack Iran (source) and it was recently taken off of the State Departments list of terrorist organizations (source)
• The Stuxnet virus which targeted only industrial control systems found in nuclear plants that shut down about 160 Iranian centrifuges (source)
• The most advanced virus in history called “the Flame” was found on several “high-ranking Iranian officials” personal computers (source)
• The U.S. is using drones for recon to gather intelligence (source)
• Sanctions passed by a coalition including Russia, China and Europe led by the U.S. has placed significant tensions on the Iranian economy (source); even the Iranian government admits sanctions are hurting (source).  In fact – inflation has increased to 23.5% over the past 12 months because of American led sanctions (source).
• Iran has discovered mini-explosive devices inside nuclear equipment headed for one of its nuclear facilities (source)

And of course Iran and America are having secret, back-channel discussions that move slowly with zero trust.  So – the American strategy regarding Iran is multi-faceted including diplomacy, covert action and public pressure.  So far – President Obama has been able to persuade China and Russia to go along with him on pressuring Iran for sanctions even though they would never, ever have supported that with George W. Bush and they most certainly won’t with Romney.  Iran is an ally for those two countries but more importantly – they are worried about American hegemony and see Iran as a thorn in our side.

But the bottom line is that President Obama is pushing HARD against Iran’s potential interest in pursuing a nuclear weapon.

Today – the Wall Street Journal is reporting on a statement by the Treasury department tying an Iranian Oil company to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.  They write HERE:

The National Iranian Oil Co., or NIOC, was already subject to U.S. sanctions for being part of the Iranian government, but that only gave the U.S. the power to slap sanctions on Americans or U.S. companies doing business with it. NIOC is owned by the Iranian government through the oil ministry.

Treasury said in a statement Monday that the Iranian oil company is closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, which “has been coordinating a campaign to sell Iranian oil in an effort to evade international sanctions.” The IRGC has long been a target of U.S. sanctions.

Under the current Iranian government, the military’s influence has grown within NIOC, Treasury said, citing the example of the Aug. 3 appointment of Rostam Qasemi, a brigadier general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as petroleum minister.

Foreign financial institutions based in countries that received waivers from the Secretary of State over Iran oil sanctions are exempt from the NIOC determination, Treasury said.

And now – a “spy rock” has turned up which has been intercepting data from the nuclear facility.

Al Arabiyah has the story HERE:

The guards, who had been on patrol to check terminals connecting data and telephone links to the site, reportedly witnessed the disguised spy device exploding when they came into contact with it.

Experts who surveyed the scene of the explosion, according to the newspaper, analyzed remnants of the device and found it had been able to intercept data from computers at the nuclear plant, where uranium is enriched.

News of the explosion was reportedly first kept secret by the Iranians. But last week, Fereydoun Abbasi the Iranian vice-president and the head of the nuclear energy agency, revealed that the power lines between Qom and the Fordo facility were blown-up in August.

If you’re interested in Iran – the most comprehensive and interesting (or not) report you can read on the subject that is public can be found HERE.  The Congressional Research Service put this report together on Iran for Congress and it covers everything on the subject of Iran.  EVERYTHING that’s public.

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