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Released on 2012-10-16 17:00 GMT

Email-ID 3969122
Date 2011-10-13 20:56:12
A lot of what the US is claiming sounds strange. A false flag is an
interesting possibility but it comes with implications if it were true.

On 10/13/11 12:00 PM, Colby Martin wrote:

first, i am thinking outside the box. i am not arguing any theory as my
own, but i am arguing possibilities.

On 10/13/11 11:43 AM, Tristan Reed wrote:

is pretending to act on behalf of another nation. thank you for the
definition of a false flag, but i have actually heard it used in other
contexts. What do you mean by the false flag was meant to look
amateurish? Were you describing the assasination plot or pretending to
be Iranian? Under what context are you stating false flag? Saying a
false flag was meant to look amateurish, means the actual acting
organization intended to half ass pretend it was Iran, meaning less
chance of success that anyone would blame Iran and would greater
chance to identify the acting organization. no, it doesn't mean they
"half ass pretended." plus, your entire premise that it lowers the
chances to blame Iran is proved wrong by the fact the US blamed Iran.
Exactly, I'm saying a false flag would be easily identifiable at this
point for the intelligence community, so if it were a false flag then
the US is intentionally setting Iran up which is always a possibility.
The US told Obama in June about the terrorist plan. Meaning they were
monitoring everything they had on this operation for at least 4
months, say what you will about intel failures by the USG, but if the
USG knows the personalities and exact location of those personalities
and has compromised their comms, there's not much those personalities
can hide. right, so why blow it up now? why not keep those taps and
intel flows open? they weren't even close to pulling off the op (it
seems) so what is gained by, after 4 months, rolling up the entire
network? if this is the iranian gov, why not wait until you have them
solid? Sound like the plotters were getting suspicious and about to
close up shop on the DEA asset. The US could have continued gathering
intelligence by not letting it be known the operation was compromised,
but at some point the US would have to stop the operation and perhaps
they decided this was the most opportune time. This wasn't a impulsive
decision to blame Iran's govt, the US had time to understand at least
the origin of the attack and choose to call out Iran for strategic
reasons. exactly, so why is it so crazy to think someone else had
strategic reasons for causing this? If the US is intentionally
diseminating disinformation then I would agree that a false flag is a
plausible scenario. If it was a set up to make Iran look bad, then it
was still coming from someone internal to the Iranian govt. Again, MeK
would have stepped up to the elite table if they managed to trick the
US into believing Iran planned this.someone who understood the
political environment could easily have done this. i don't think
sitting at the big boy table is a pre-req. The USG has SIGINT, tasked
Iranian assets, and a array of other methods to identify who Arbabsiar
was working with. There is also Iranian counter-intel operations as
well as their intel operations on MeK. An organization staging a false
flag would have to address all those capabilities when covering their
tracks and staging Iran as a culprit, such as recruiting operator's
inside Iran, superb comsec to evade not only the USG but Iranian
government (though I can see Iran letting this go if they think the
false flag would ultimately fail), fool US SIGINT capabilities, and
ensure the money trail stops in Iran. Those are difficult tasks, even
for a state. If the false-flag was staged by someone outside of the
Iranian govt, then their capabilities with covert operations are
advanced beyond even some state actors. Also, MeK would be taking an
enormous risk by ordering an operation on US soil and would be more
vulnerable to the US than Iran.

govt. planned this operation.


down more pressure onto the Iranian government and leader(s), which
would strategically make since for MeK. false flags get used for
many reasons, although manipulation of assets as a usual focus makes
sense. Gulf of Tonkin comes to mind.


False flags are more for recruiting assets than fooling nations
(ofcourse it happens, but it's definitely more for manipulating
wealth of information they received from monitoring this failed
op. A successful false flag operation would have turned this from
an amateurish operation to a very technical, well planned
operation something I don't think MEK would be capable of. MEK
would not only have to fool US counter-intel operations, but also
Iranian counter intel. If this is a false flag operation, than the
US knows and does not want us to find out yet.


the point is something happened, and someone was making the
quds was behind it, could he have done so without khamenei's
to make the Iranians look stupid, but I don't see how we can say
all totally made up, then ok.


As I said yesterday that would be overkill and way too risky
from the pov of nat'l interest.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T


From: Colby Martin <>
To: CT AOR<>
ReplyTo: CT AOR <>
Ahmadinejad as disconnected from alleged plot
look bad? vice versa?


Iranians see Ahmadinejad as disconnected from alleged plot

TEHRAN - As Iranians struggled Wednesday to comprehend an
alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to
Washington, analysts here agreed that even if U.S. charges
of official Iranian involvement were true, President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and his government likely had nothing to do with
the scheme.

The security organizations that the United States says were
behind the alleged plot - the Revolutionary Guard Corps and
its elite special operations branch, the Quds Force - are
well beyond Ahmadinejad's influence. And leaders associated
with them have played key roles in attacking Ahmadinejad
during his recent rift with powerful Shiite Muslim clerics
and commanders who helped bring him to power.

Amid new levels of infighting within Iran's opaque
leadership, Ahmadinejad at present wields no influence over
the country's two main intelligence and security
organizations: the Ministry of Intelligence and the
Revolutionary Guard Corps. They are firmly under the control
of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Even against the backdrop of this power struggle, Iranian
dissidents and analysts are hard-pressed to come up with
reasons for any of Iran's leaders to undertake such a risky
plot. Even if carried out successfully, it probably would
have been quickly blamed on Iran, the analysts noted.

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday accused "elements of
the Iranian government" of conspiring to kill the Saudi
ambassador. In addition to an Iranian American who was
arrested in New York, officials named two alleged Iranian
conspirators as Quds Force officials: Gholam Shakuri and
Abdul Reza Shahlai. Shakuri, who was identified as a deputy
to Shahlai, was charged in the case. Both remain at large.
U.S. officials declined to say how high in the Iranian
leadership they think the conspiracy goes.

Iranians interviewed Wednesday suggested various possible
culprits in the alleged plot, ranging from the CIA to
Revolutionary Guard elements to a rogue faction within
Iran's power structure.

"There are those within the Guards with some degree of
independence," said Sadegh Zibakalam, a political scientist
critical of the government. "But I cannot point any fingers
in this bizarre plot that only hurts Iran."

What is clear, analysts said, is that the Islamic Republic's
security organizations are currently a black hole for the
Ahmadinejad government, which is increasingly under fire
from Intelligence Ministry officials as well as
Revolutionary Guard commanders and hard-line Shiite clerics.

These critics recently called Ahmadinejad's chief of staff
and main adviser, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a "tumor" that
needs to be cut out of the government. They have also
threatened to launch impeachment proceedings against
Ahmadinejad if he refuses to cut ties with advisers they
describe as a "deviant current" bent on undermining the
influence of the country's ruling clerics.

Ahmadinejad publicly fell from grace in April when he tried
to fire Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi, a Shiite
cleric, but was forced to back down when Khamenei, the
supreme leader, reinstated him.

Replacing Moslehi with someone from Ahmadinejad's inner
circle would have strengthened the president's hand in the
ministry. Now Ahmadinejad is facing public attacks from his
former hard-line backers, who accuse him, among other
things, of planning to restore relations with the United

Some analysts speculate that the bizarre alleged plot to
kill the Saudi ambassador was engineered by the
Revolutionary Guards - but was meant to be discovered by
U.S. intelligence - in order to sabotage any possible
back-channel talks between Ahmadinejad's representatives and
the United States.

Others dismiss that theory, saying that the Iranian
hierarchy's control of foreign policy is clear. Khamenei
makes the important foreign policy decisions, and extensive
surveillance by political commissars leaves little room for
rogue elements.

With Iran's regional role in flux, some Iranians wonder
whether the alleged plot could be related to developments
closer to home.

Iranian officials admit privately to genuine worries over
losing Syria as a strategic partner and say popular
uprisings in the Middle East pose challenges, as well as
opportunities. The ouster of entrenched rulers in the region
is seen as reducing Iran's role as a leader of oppressed

Hamas trading prisoners with the Israelis," one analyst
said, referring to the Palestinian militant group. "Maybe
they felt the need to make a great impact on their enemies."

Others strongly disagreed, arguing that none of Iran's
security organizations would stake so much now on such an
ill-conceived plot. "Iran's leadership would never risk
being involved in hitting someone on U.S. soil," Zibakalam
said. "Why would they endanger Iran in this way? This is
really not logical."

American Muslim acting on behalf of the new revolutionary
government in Tehran assassinated Ali Akbar Tabatabai, a
monarchist living in exile in the Washington area, before
fleeing to Iran.

As Iranians puzzle over the latest alleged plot, a
realization appears to be setting in that, true or not, the
allegations herald a dangerous period of increased tensions
between Iran and the United States.

determined to create an international front against Iran,"
said Saeed Laylaz, a political analyst who was imprisoned in
a crackdown on anti-government protests following
Ahmadinejad's disputed 2009 reelection. "The U.S. is
gradually paving the way for a confrontation with Iran," he

Clint Richards
Global Monitor
cell: 81 080 4477 5316
office: 512 744 4300 ex:40841


Chris Farnham
Senior Watch Officer, STRATFOR
Australia Mobile: 0423372241

Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst

Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst

Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst

Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst