Eighteen people were killed when a bomb exploded next to a bus owned by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the southeast city of Zahedan, the official IRNA news agency reports. "In this act 18 Zahedan citizens have been martyred," said Qassim Rezai, a local military commander. "Rebels and those who create insecurity martyred these people in a terrorist act by laying a trap close to a bus." It is not clear if those killed were members of the Guards. (Bloomberg, Feb. 14)

Michael R. Gordon's Feb. 10 New York Times story, "Deadliest Bomb in Iraq Is Made by Iran, US Says," backs up some administration claims: "The most lethal weapon directed against American troops in Iraq is an explosive-packed cylinder that United States intelligence asserts is being supplied by Iran... In interviews, civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies provided specific details to support what until now has been a more generally worded claim, in a new National Intelligence Estimate, that Iran is providing 'lethal support' to Shiite militants in Iraq. The focus of American concern is known as an 'explosively formed penetrator,' a particularly deadly type of roadside bomb being used by Shiite groups in attacks on American troops in Iraq. Attacks using the device have doubled in the past year... Because the weapon can be fired from roadsides and is favored by Shiite militias, it has become a serious threat in Baghdad. Only a small fraction of the roadside bombs used in Iraq are explosively formed penetrators. But the device produces more casualties per attack than other types of roadside bombs." Note the usual suspects: "The link that American intelligence has drawn to Iran is based on a number of factors, including an analysis of captured devices, examination of debris after attacks, and intelligence on training of Shiite militants in Iran and in Iraq by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and by Hezbollah militants believed to be working at the behest of Tehran."

We have already noted rampant conspiracy theories in the fluctuating oil prices. We'll here's more grist for the mill. From NBC News, Jan. 26:

Oil traders and others believe that the Saudi decision to let the price of oil tumble has more to do with Iran than economics.

We have noted internal divisions in Iran over the nuclear issue. This story from the Jan. 23 New York Times provides another piece of the puzzle, and greater nuance than the corporate media generally display on the Tehran regime:

TEHRAN — Iran is barring 38 nuclear agency inspectors from entering the country in retaliation for a United Nations resolution aiming to curb Iran’s nuclear program, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Monday.

Israeli historian Benny Morris, once seen as a post-Zionist dissident, produces a terrifying piece of war propaganda. Far be it from us to be optimistic, but this scenario strikes us as a long shot. Is Ahmedinejad likely to still be in power five years hence, even if the fear-mongers do not succeed in prompting military intervention against his regime? Even if he is, and even if he really is lusting to exterminate the Jews (rather than shrewdly playing a card to solidify his internal support), would he really be so sanguine about committting genocide against Muslims (even Sunnis)—and going down in history as the man who destroyed the al-Aksa Mosque? And even if the answer to all those questions is "yes," is he so fanatical as to risk massive US retaliation, which strikes us as a certainty? (The fact that Morris can describe the current hyper-interventionist posture of the US as "isolationist" indicates how far out of wack he is.) In fact, Israel would likely launch a pre-emptive strike as soon as Tel Aviv figured out what he was planning—and, despite his protestations that Israel would be paralyzed and the US apathetic, a pre-emptive srtike seems to be what Morris is really arguing for. Which brings us to the most salient point: Doesn't Morris realize that aggression by Israel would only make its own destruction that much more likely? Talk about creating what you fear... Originally published in German by Die Welt, Jan. 6 (translation received via e-mail):

A telling story by Marc Perelman for New York's Jewish weekly The Forward Jan. 12 (links and emphasis added):

A campaign to convince Iran’s 25,000 Jews to flee the country has stalled, with most opting to stay in their native homeland despite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial and anti-Israeli speeches.

We've argued repeatedly that strategic imperatives related to global control of oil are propelling the US towards intervention in Iran. But it is looking more and more like Israel could throw the first punch. Tragically, the bellicose Israelis seem to believe that this will be in Israel's national interest—seemingly blind to the inevitable global backlash and escalation of nightmarish chaos throughout the Middle East. Worse still, pro-war Israeli commentators seem to view airstrikes against Iran as an assertion of Israeli independence from Washington—again blind to how they will merely be doing US imperialism's dirty work. Brigadier General (Res.) Oded Tira, the former Israeli Defense Forces chief artillery officer writes in a Dec. 30 commentary for Israel's YNet (emphasis added):

Scott Ritter is the latest to join the fast-growing chorus that would exculpate the petro-elites by blaming the Iraq adventure—and now the looming Iran intervention—on the Israel lobby. Supposed progressives like Democracy Now! are lapping it up. We will point out, even if nobody else does, that if Ritter's predictions were accurate, the US would have started bombing Iran in June 2005. A Dec. 29 book review by Nathan Guttman from New York's Jewish weekly The Forward: