Middle East Running Iranian threat news and discussion thread

[Husky_Khan]

A fake University website in order to steal e-mail passwords. Almost seems passe...

The attackers used a Gmail addresses designed to look like they belonged to genuine academics at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), exploiting trust in the names of real staff.

The attackers operating the email address sent messages to prospective targets, inviting them to an online conference on "The US Security Challenges in the Middle East", including the offer to speak to the target on the phone to discuss details, which is unusual.

Eventually, the attackers sent a personalised "registration link" to their targets, sending them to what looked like a SOAS webinar platform.

This was hosted on a legitimate but compromised website belonging to University of London's SOAS Radio – a website SOAS says is separate from the main SOAS website and not part of the official domain - which asked the user to sign in to the platform via an email address, with options of different links to click on depending on the choice of email hosting provider of the victim.

Options included Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, iCloud, Facebook and others – and if the user clicked on the link, they'd be taken to a spoofed version of the email provider's login page, which the attackers could use to steal the username and password with the intention of espionage and additional phishing attacks.

These Iranian hackers posed as academics in a bid to steal email passwords

A state-backed hacking operation working out of Iran compromised a university website as part of its phishing campaign.

www.zdnet.com

 

[ATP]

The whole point of US isolationists is that they should all be withdrawn. And to fight that war there would need to be more sent.

Yup. Its not the army they need to worry about, its the Iran controlled and trained Shia militias in Iraq.
Turkey lost some Leo 2's to militias in their little foray into Syria, and those probably weren't even the nastiest ones...

That's the point, the EU fumbles about when nothing big is happening, but when Iran starts getting shit done, the EU will fall flat on its face and won't know how to get up.

1.Iranian army could be good,but air forces not so.Few dozens of american planes would stop any army on dessert.
2.True,but if Mekka would be target,Turks would stop thinking about loses.Their must be next Caliph,not Iranians.They really hate each other longer then USA existed.
3.UE would fall on its face no matter what happen.Unless they would be "fighting for democracy" in Poland,that only thing they manage lately.

 

[GoldRanger]

Biden's schizophrenic policy on Iran.

On the one hand:

Biden admin weighs lifting sanctions on Iran's supreme leader

If Biden removes the mostly symbolic sanctions, critics will likely accuse Biden of appeasing the Iranian regime.

www.nbcnews.com

On the other:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/14/iran-journalist-kidnapping-alinejad/

Iranian intelligence agents plotted to abduct an Iranian-American journalist living in Brooklyn and spirit her away to the Middle Eastern country, possibly via a daring sea evacuation, the Justice Department alleged in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday.

Sure, Iran only tried to abduct a journalist on US soil, they're teddy-bears really, lift those sanctions!

 

[Husky_Khan]

Why contemplate lifting sanctions when you can already issue waivers on oil sanctions and free up some of those sorely needed monies for the Iranian regime and generate sympathy when you beg to re-enter the JCPOA.

Biden to lift some Iranian oil sanctions

The US President Joe Biden's administration will reportedly lift some sanctions on Iran’s oil trade.

iranpress.com

Official: U.S. still wants to revive nuclear deal, despite Iran kidnap allegations

Prosecutors have charged five people, including four Iranian intelligence operatives, in the alleged plot to kidnap an American journalist.

www.politico.com

And look the half year long friendship offensive is already paying dividends.

Iran says US claim of kidnapping plot is 'baseless, ridiculous'

www.jpost.com

Rouhani says Iran can enrich uranium to 90%, equivalent to weapons-grade

Iran’s president has said his country has the capacity, if authorities there deem it necessary, to enrich uranium up to 90%, nearly 25 times greater than the level stipulated in the JCPOA ‘Iran Nuclear Deal.’

www.rt.com

Maybe more concessions and taking of more American hostages for ransom will bring them around.

 

[ATP]

Biden's schizophrenic policy on Iran.

On the one hand:

Biden admin weighs lifting sanctions on Iran's supreme leader

If Biden removes the mostly symbolic sanctions, critics will likely accuse Biden of appeasing the Iranian regime.

www.nbcnews.com

On the other:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/14/iran-journalist-kidnapping-alinejad/

Sure, Iran only tried to abduct a journalist on US soil, they're teddy-bears really, lift those sanctions!

Iranian tried to kidnap one american.Israel attacked american warship 50 years ago - and USA keep donating it Israel budget.
So,if USA help country which attacked them,they why not kidnappers,too?
And Israel have 200+ nukes.Why Iranian should not made some,too ?

 

[Sir 1000]

Where did I "blame all Palestinians and/or muh white nationalists"? Put up or shut up.



Umm, I don't know how to say it, but newsflash, Iran supports terrorists too, on a much larger scale than SA even: Iranian Links to International Terrorism: The Khatemi Era

And it's not like they have any issues with killing journalists either.



A source for what? That Saudi Arabia had nothing to do with 9/11? I mean, Osama bin Laden, the Taliban leader in Afghanistan, took responsibility for the attack, to which the US responded with an invasion of Afghanistan. Do you need a source for that? Maybe you're the one who needs to provide a source that SA did 9/11 because you're the one that's making a claim that goes counter to established history?

You personally maybe not ,but the pro Israel group most certainly gas no problems with blaming entire ethnicities for the actions of a few.

So both kill journalists and neither side is better in that regard? Good to know.

We don't need the Saudi government to take credit for involvement, it's the same as some left winger shooting up Amazon because they won't use unions. We know where the ideology comes from.

 

[Sir 1000]

It's not "plans", it's an actual ongoing conquest by force of terror proxies.

Proxies compared to the direct force of the illegal,racist and apartheid Israeli military action in palestine. I feel so terrible for the poor widdle Israelis🤣

 

[GoldRanger]

Proxies compared to the direct force of the illegal,racist and apartheid Israeli military action in palestine. I feel so terrible for the poor widdle Israelis🤣

The difference is that your name calling is just empty buzzwords not any different than woke "racism-sexism-misogeny-fascism" nonsense (since in reality Israel is neither racist, nor illegal, nor engages in apartheid), while Iran is actually, really an evil theocratic expansionist regime that's killing more people in the middle east and across the world than Israel ever did, and for much more immoral reasons.

 

[GoldRanger]

You personally maybe not ,but the pro Israel group most certainly gas no problems with blaming entire ethnicities for the actions of a few.

Haha yeah sure, whatever.

So both kill journalists and neither side is better in that regard? Good to know.

In this regard? No. In other regards SA is miles better than Iran, especially in the one that actually matters for international politics, and that's expansionism and respecting the sovereignty of their neighbors.

We don't need the Saudi government to take credit for involvement, it's the same as some left winger shooting up Amazon because they won't use unions. We know where the ideology comes from.

Even if the ideology "comes from" SA (a big if that you need to prove) it still has little to do with the SA government, and stopping cooperation with them will do exactly nothing in that regard, especially since the alliance with the west is known to be a moderating force on them (they still have a long way to go, but the important thing is that they're getting there). The same is not true of Iran, Iran's sins are an explicit, very directed, intentional and thought-out government policy.

 

[Battlegrinder]

Iranian tried to kidnap one american.Israel attacked american warship 50 years ago - and USA keep donating it Israel budget.

1. The USS Liberty incident was a regrettable case of friendly fire, nothing more, and suggesting otherwise while turning a blind eye to dozens and dozens of other similar incident where US troops have fired on allies and vice versa implies that you have other motives.

2. Israel has to spend the majority of US "aid" buying weapons from US defense contractors. Congress funds them as an exercise in corporate welfare for US firms.

3. This entirely false equivalency you have set up here is transparently disingenuous.

And Israel have 200+ nukes.Why Iranian should not made some,too ?

Because Iran would use them in an unprovoked first strike and Israel won't.

 

[GoldRanger]

It's also pretty stupid to obsess over an incident 50 years ago (especially one that was resolved amicably and compensation paid by Israel) and compare it to things happening right now.

 

[Zachowon]

1. The USS Liberty incident was a regrettable case of friendly fire, nothing more, and suggesting otherwise while turning a blind eye to dozens and dozens of other similar incident where US troops have fired on allies and vice versa implies that you have other motives.

2. Israel has to spend the majority of US "aid" buying weapons from US defense contractors. Congress funds them as an exercise in corporate welfare for US firms.

3. This entirely false equivalency you have set up here is transparently disingenuous.



Because Iran would use them in an unprovoked first strike and Israel won't.

People keep saying Irsn needs them to defend against western aggression. They won't use them against Isreal

 

[GoldRanger]

People keep saying Irsn needs them to defend against western aggression. They won't use them against Isreal

Best case scenario, they would simply continue taking over the middle east, with all the dire consequences this entails for the entire world, while being completely immune to any counter-attack against them.

Worst case scenario (aside from sudden nuke on Tel Aviv) is kicking off an arms race, the entire ME getting nukes (Egypt, KSA, gulf states, Jordan), and the first regime that falls due to the inherent instability of regimes in the ME will pass the nukes on to one flavor or another of a terrorist organization. These middle eastern countries are not Russia or China, and even not Pakistan or North Korea. They have revolutions, coups and civil wars every tuesday (relatively speaking)

 

[King Arts]

The difference is that your name calling is just empty buzzwords not any different than woke "racism-sexism-misogeny-fascism" nonsense (since in reality Israel is neither racist, nor illegal, nor engages in apartheid), while Iran is actually, really an evil theocratic expansionist regime that's killing more people in the middle east and across the world than Israel ever did, and for much more immoral reasons.

That is open to debate.
You can make a decent argument that Israel is racist. It specifically has the law of return the state of Israel allows people who are Jewish(but not others) to move into Israel and become citizens. You could make an argument that is racist. What if a nation did the same but replace Jews with whites or Christians. People would denounce it as racist.

People calling Israel illegal is eye roll worthy yes, legal is simply what those in power say it is, Israel is in power thus as long as they stay in power the state of Israel is not illegal.

As for apartheid again this is debatable, since there is separation and benefit given to Jews that other people would not get in Israel.

Because Iran would use them in an unprovoked first strike and Israel won't.

Yeah, I have extreme doubts, even if Iran is a theocracy you have to show that they are irrational just saying it without proof means nothing.

 

[Battlegrinder]

Yeah, I have extreme doubts, even if Iran is a theocracy you have to show that they are irrational just saying it without proof means nothing.

They have a decades long policy of constantly announcing they want to and intend to wipe Israel off the map, a rethotical posture that's entirely consistent with them launching a nuclear first strike. They certainly can't carry out that plan via conventional means.

 

[GoldRanger]

That is open to debate.
You can make a decent argument that Israel is racist. It specifically has the law of return the state of Israel allows people who are Jewish(but not others) to move into Israel and become citizens. You could make an argument that is racist. What if a nation did the same but replace Jews with whites or Christians. People would denounce it as racist.

People can make this argument, sure, but they'll be wrong. The law of return is basically Jus Sanguinis, which is practiced by 47 countries worldwide, including the US, UK, Canada, France, Italy, Germany and plenty more.

Also, anyone has a path to citizenship by converting to Judaism, so there's no actual racial component. You can't do the same by "becoming white".

As for apartheid again this is debatable, since there is separation and benefit given to Jews that other people would not get in Israel.

It's "debatable" only in the sense that someone being a nazi for refusing to call a trans person by xir's favorite pronoun is "debatable". In practice, there is absolutely nothing "debatable" here when the ethnicity that is supposedly the victim of "apartheid" has government representation and holds ministerial positions in the ruling coalition.

The Palestinians, however, can be strongly argued to be an apartheid society (or one in the making) since they outlaw any sale of land to a Jew, and the offense carries capital punishment. But that's not relevant to the thread's topic, so I'd rather stop here (unless you insist on pushing this nonsense).

 

[ATP]

The difference is that your name calling is just empty buzzwords not any different than woke "racism-sexism-misogeny-fascism" nonsense (since in reality Israel is neither racist, nor illegal, nor engages in apartheid), while Iran is actually, really an evil theocratic expansionist regime that's killing more people in the middle east and across the world than Israel ever did, and for much more immoral reasons.

1. The USS Liberty incident was a regrettable case of friendly fire, nothing more, and suggesting otherwise while turning a blind eye to dozens and dozens of other similar incident where US troops have fired on allies and vice versa implies that you have other motives.

2. Israel has to spend the majority of US "aid" buying weapons from US defense contractors. Congress funds them as an exercise in corporate welfare for US firms.

3. This entirely false equivalency you have set up here is transparently disingenuous.



Because Iran would use them in an unprovoked first strike and Israel won't.

1.If Liberty was friendly fire case,then it would be attacked once.It was attacked few times by both planes and torpedo boats on ship wawing big american flag.So,they wanted them dead.
2.Then why not gave the same money to other american allies,which never tried to sunk any american ship?
3.Of course - Iran tried to capture one american citizen,Israel killed many.You could not compare that.

Iran is lead by muslim clergy - but not idiots.They would not use them for the same reason,why commies,which were real genociders,never use it - becouse they would die,too.
And fanatical muslims leaders could send other to death,but rarely die themselves.Such suprise....

P.S About Israel - in normal states you have citizenship of such state,for example german.In Israel you could not become Israeli,only jew,arab or other minority.

Which mean,that Israel is racist state - but in Africa it is norm.Compared to oters they are good boys,but still racists.

 

[Battlegrinder]

1.If Liberty was friendly fire case,then it would be attacked once.It was attacked few times by both planes and torpedo boats on ship wawing big american flag.So,they wanted them dead.

And since when did you become an expert on preforming AARs? Because all the people that are and have actually looked at the incident in detail have concluded it was an accident, even when it was rereviewed decades after the fact where there would be no reason to hide any misconduct, since everyone responsible for the incident was long out of power.

2.Then why not gave the same money to other american allies,which never tried to sunk any american ship?

By your standards, we have no such allies, because literally every single one of them has tried to sink american ships at one point or another.

3.Of course - Iran tried to capture one american citizen,Israel killed many.You could not compare that.

Do you actually believe that drawing an equivalence between an incident between military forces from 60 years ago and a plot from today that was targeting an innocent civilian is any way a defensible comparison?

Iran is lead by muslim clergy - but not idiots.They would not use them for the same reason,why commies,which were real genociders,never use it - becouse they would die,too.
And fanatical muslims leaders could send other to death,but rarely die themselves.Such suprise...

"Religious fanatic" and "willing to perform a sucidal action" are.....not exactly incompatible traits.

 

[ATP]

And since when did you become an expert on preforming AARs? Because all the people that are and have actually looked at the incident in detail have concluded it was an accident, even when it was rereviewed decades after the fact where there would be no reason to hide any misconduct, since everyone responsible for the incident was long out of power.



By your standards, we have no such allies, because literally every single one of them has tried to sink american ships at one point or another.



Do you actually believe that drawing an equivalence between an incident between military forces from 60 years ago and a plot from today that was targeting an innocent civilian is any way a defensible comparison?



"Religious fanatic" and "willing to perform a sucidal action" are.....not exactly incompatible traits.

1.Yes,i am amateur.And as a amateur i could say that one attack on the same target could be mistake,but few are enemy action.Unless all leaders were real idiots,but i do not belive that Izrael gave command to idiots.

2.None of them when they were allies.And South Korea and Poland never tried that.

3.incident after which USA financed part of Israel budget all that years.If killing your country sailors led to gaving money to attacker,then kidnaping should lead to giving Iran money,too.

4.Those fanatics do not perform suicidal actions.They send others to do so.They have enough faith to stomach death of enemy,including cyvilians,their soldiers,iranian cyvilians...but their deaths ? NOOOOO ,we are too important to die....
I fear,that you gave them too much credits.Chomeini would gladly die in such situation,but current leaders? they are too important for islam future!

 

[Morphic Tide]

Those fanatics do not perform suicidal actions.They send others to do so.

And who, exactly, are they sending to do suicidal actions? What guarantee do we have that the people willing to do those suicidal actions aren't going to end up with the keys to the bombs?