Latest news with #WesternIntelligence
LBCI
17-06-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Hard target: Israel eyes Iran's impenetrable nuclear stronghold in Fordow
Report by Toni Mrad, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi Nestled deep beneath the rocky terrain near the city of Qom, south of Tehran, the Fordow nuclear facility has become a focal point in the escalating tensions between Iran, Israel, and the West. Far from being just the name of a small Iranian village, Fordow represents what Israel describes as one of the most critical sites in Iran's alleged pursuit of a nuclear weapon. Built into a mountain range and hidden from plain sight, Fordow lies an estimated 80 to 90 meters underground. The site is fortified with thick layers of reinforced concrete and protected by advanced air defense systems, according to Western intelligence reports. These features make any potential strike against the facility a daunting military challenge. Although detailed schematics of Fordow remain classified, experts believe the underground complex includes a uranium enrichment hall, secondary tunnel networks, central monitoring and control rooms, two main entrances, and an emergency exit. The difficulty of striking such a fortified site has led analysts to question whether Israel alone has the military capacity to neutralize it effectively. Western estimates suggest that Israel lacks the deep-penetration weaponry needed for such an operation, which has led Israeli officials to press Washington for support — specifically for bunker-busting munitions only the U.S. possesses. For now, the world's eyes remain fixed on Fordow as speculation mounts over whether the United States will lend Israel the military support necessary for a potential strike. This move could ignite dangerous regional repercussions.
Russia Today
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukrainian attacks on Russian planes ‘Western' intel op
Ukraine's drone strikes on Russian military airfields earlier this month were a 'Western intelligence operation' orchestrated by the CIA and MI6, American public policy analyst Jeffrey Sachs has claimed. In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson released on Wednesday, Sachs accused Western intelligence services of covertly working to undermine peace efforts aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict, acting on orders from the US 'deep state.' On June 1, Ukrainian drones struck several Russian airbases in a coordinated assault across five regions – from Murmansk in the north to Irkutsk in Siberia – which Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky later called Operation Spider's Web. Kiev claimed that around 40 Russian military aircraft were damaged or destroyed, including long-range bombers. Moscow has dismissed the numbers and extent of damage, saying some of the aircraft were damaged, but that it was minimal and will be repaired. It added that most of the drones were intercepted. The attacks were reportedly carried out using commercial trucks rigged with explosive-laden drones smuggled into Russia. Asked whether the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) could have executed such a large-scale attack on its own, Sachs replied, 'of course not.' 'This was a Western intelligence operation. Without question,' he said, adding that the plan was likely prepared in secret by the CIA with help from the British. Sachs was also asked whether US President Donald Trump, who has been actively mediating peace efforts, could have been unaware. He replied that the CIA is 'self-operating' and 'out of control,' and has not been held accountable by Trump or previous presidents for over 50 years. He believes the agency answers to the 'deep state' and military companies that fund its operations. Sachs called the attacks a 'reckless' escalation that risked a direct confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers. 'Whether or not the White House knew, the operation itself is completely reckless and alarming, because attacking part of the nuclear triad in this way is a step towards nuclear Armageddon.' Sachs argued that to prevent the Ukraine conflict from escalating further, the US must cut funding for the 'desperate' Kiev regime and negotiate directly with Russia. 'In the end, we can't control Ukraine, but they can't fight without the US,' he said, noting that Trump has the constitutional authority to end the conflict by changing US foreign policy. Western officials have denied involvement in the attacks. Russian investigators have launched a probe, and the Russian military has since targeted strategic military sites across Ukraine, including weapon design bureaus, repair facilities, and airfields used by Ukraine's tactical aircraft.
Wall Street Journal
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Does Israel Need to Destroy All of Iran's Nukes?
Bennett Ramberg suggests that Israel doesn't have the capability to destroy Iran's nukes (Letters, June 4). We can't speak for the Israelis, but the conversation among them since Oct. 7, 2023, about the utility of strikes against the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites seems to have shifted in favor of raids that needn't destroy the 'totality' of the atomic-weapons program. Partial destruction with the threat of further escalation, which could include Iran's oil industry, could nullify Tehran's nuclear aspirations for years if not forever. This calculation would depend on whether Israeli means are sufficient to damage severely the enrichment sites at Natanz and Fordow. A principal reason Ali Khamenei hasn't yet tested a nuclear device is surely that he fears Israeli or Western intelligence penetration of his atomic program, which could precipitate military strikes. Fear of such penetration doesn't disappear with an Israeli strike. It wouldn't negate renewed, vengeful nuclear ambitions, but it would complicate them. Americans certainly prefer nonmilitary solutions to our foreign problems; Israelis, who often see the Middle East as an array of depressing, bad choices, aim more often for tactical victories that eliminate imminent threats. The Israeli way can lead to egregious mistakes, and the American has repeatedly led us to ignore Tehran's malevolence, including the death of hundreds of Americans.
The Independent
27-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Why Zelensky believes Russia is planning a major new offensive, not a peace proposal
Russia 's foreign ministry says it is drafting a peace proposal for Ukraine, but Kyiv believes Moscow is planning a major offensive. Volodymyr Zelensky claims Ukraine has obtained intelligence and open-source data indicating that Putin does not intend to end the war and is preparing new offensives. Analysts report increased Russian attacks in Ukraine 's eastern Donetsk region, with the fastest rate of advance this year. Analysts say Russia aims for decisive operational success this summer to influence peace negotiations, focusing on capturing territory in the Donbas region. Ukraine faces challenges, including disrupted supply lines, recruitment issues, and troop fatigue, while Russia recruits approximately 30,000 soldiers per month, according to Western intelligence estimates. 'Ample evidence' Russia preparing fresh offensive despite talk of ceasefire, claims Zelensky
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Western countries gave Mossad information used to track and killi Palestinian terrorists in 1970s
A secret coalition of western intelligence agencies supplied Israel with crucial information that allowed the Mossad to track and kill Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks in western Europe in the early 1970s, newly declassified documents have revealed. The support was offered without any oversight by parliaments or elected politicians, and, if not actually illegal, would have caused a public scandal. Israel's assassination campaign, conducted by the Mossad, Israel's principal foreign intelligence service, followed the attack by armed Palestinian militants on the Olympic Games in Munich in September 1972, which led to the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes. At least four Palestinians linked by Israel to terrorism were killed in Paris, Rome, Athens and Nicosia, and another six elsewhere over the rest of the decade. The mission, which was dubbed Operation Wrath of God by some, inspired Steven Spielberg's 2005 Hollywood film Munich. Evidence of support from western intelligence services for the Israeli mission was discovered in encrypted cables found in Swiss archives by Dr Aviva Guttmann, a historian of strategy and intelligence at Aberystwyth University. Thousands of such cables were circulated through a hitherto unknown secret system codenamed Kilowatt, which was set up in 1971 to allow 18 western intelligence services, including those of Israel, the UK, the US, France, Switzerland, Italy and West Germany to share information. The cables circulated raw intelligence with details of safe houses and vehicles, the movements of key individuals seen as dangerous, news on tactics used by Palestinian armed groups, and analysis. 'A lot was very granular, linking individuals to specific attacks and giving details that would be of great help. Perhaps at the very beginning, [western officials] were unaware [of the killings] but afterwards there was a lot of press reporting and other evidence suggesting strongly what the Israelis were doing,' said Guttmann, the first researcher to view Kilowatt material. 'They were even sharing the results of their own investigations into the assassinations with the agency – Mossad – which was most likely to have done them.' Golda Meir, the Israeli prime minister, demanded that the Mossad show her reliable evidence that any targets were connected to Munich or had a role in the wider wave of attacks by Palestinian armed groups on Israeli planes, embassies and airline offices across western Europe and the Mediterranean at that time. Much of that evidence came from western intelligence services and reached Israel through the Kilowatt network. The first killing carried out by the Mossad was of a Palestinian intellectual who worked at the Libyan embassy in Rome. Wael Zwaiter was shot dead in the lobby of his apartment block in the Italian capital just weeks after the Munich attack. Defenders of Zwaiter have always claimed he was wrongly identified as a militant and had no links to terrorism. The Kilowatt cables show Israel had been told several times by western security services that the 38-year-old translator had been providing weapons and logistical support for the Black September Organization (BSO), which was behind the Munich attack and others. A second victim, Mahmoud al-Hamshari, the official representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in France, was killed in Paris in December 1972. Hamshari also featured in the Kilowatt cables, which described his diplomatic and fundraising activities but also claimed he had recruited terrorist cells. The assassination in Paris in June 1973 of a key logistician for terrorist plots by the BSO and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an armed faction then based in Lebanon, was greatly aided by Swiss authorities, the cables revealed. Mohamed Boudia, a veteran of the Algerian war of independence against France who had placed his experience as a clandestine operator at the disposal of the PFLP and the BSO, was high on Mossad's target list. Boudia had organised a series of attacks including an abortive effort to bomb hotels in Israel and the destruction of part of an Italian oil terminal. Other plots targeted Jewish refugees fleeing the Soviet Union and Jordan's ambassador to London. Boudia, also a playwright and theatre director, was tracked by the Mossad after Swiss intelligence officials passed on the details of his car discovered when raiding a safe house in Geneva. An Israeli assassination squad tracked the vehicle and killed Boudia with a landmine on a Parisian street. 'I'm not sure the Israeli [assassination] campaign would have been possible without the tactical information from the European intelligence services. Certainly, it was of huge benefit. But it was also very important for the Mossad to know that they had that tacit support,' said Guttmann, who is publishing her research in a book later this year. In another example revealed by the cables, the British domestic intelligence service MI5 provided the Mossad with its only picture of Ali Hassan Salameh, a key BSO leader who was blamed for the Munich attack. In July 1973, the Mossad believed it had tracked Salameh to Lillehammer, a small Norwegian ski resort, and used the picture supplied by MI5 to identify its target. The man it shot dead turned out not to be the BSO leader, however, but a Moroccan waiter. Several of the Mossad operatives were detained by Norwegian authorities and the resultant outcry led Meir to wind up the Wrath of God campaign. Even afterwards though, western European services continued to supply Israel with detailed intelligence on potential targets, Guttmann said. A former member of the Israeli assassination teams told the Guardian last month that at the time he and other members had no knowledge of the source of the information that identified their targets but insisted he had absolute confidence that it was reliable. Palestinian former militants told the Guardian last year that they 'gave as good as they got' in what was dubbed the 'war of the spooks' between the Mossad and the clandestine networks of the PFLP and BSO that was waged across the Mediterranean and western Europe in the early 1970s. One Israeli agent was killed in Madrid and another badly injured in Brussels by Palestinian armed factions. Guttmann said the revelations in the Kilowatt cables raised important questions for today's war in Gaza, which began after the October 7 2023 surprise attack by Hamas in Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and led to 251 hostages being taken. More than 50,000 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have been killed in the ensuing Israeli offensive. 'When it comes to intelligence-sharing between services of different states, oversight is very difficult. International relations of the secret state are completely off the radar of politicians, parliaments or the public. Even today there will be a lot of information being shared about which we know absolutely nothing,' Guttmann said. Mossad is believed to have been responsible for killing the political head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last year, while other Israeli security agencies have been involved in the assassination of a series of Hamas leaders in Gaza and Beirut. In the last year, Israel also killed the veteran head and dozens of top officials of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Islamist militant organisation.
