Interview with Bob Grenier: Bracing for Iranian retaliation after Israel's assassination in Tehran
In Robert Grenier’s first days at the CIA, the last Shah of Iran fled the country. Relations between Washington and Tehran would never be the same again. And Bob could not have known it then, but Iran would become a major focus of his career by the time he became the director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center.
We spoke this week as Washington awaits Iran’s retaliation for Israel’s bold assassination. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political wing, had gone to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, a former heart surgeon who wants to revive talks with the U.S. so that sanctions may be lifted. A helicopter crash in May killed President Ebrahim Raisi, forcing the country to choose a new leader (with the supreme leader’s endorsement, of course).
Now Haniyeh is dead, perhaps because of a bomb secretly planted in his guesthouse months before. A ceasefire in Gaza, which he supported, appears even further away. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps accuses the U.S. of supporting Israel’s assassination, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. played no role in. And President Joe Biden is faced with a complicated question: how to defend an ally — and one with so very few allies at that — when it is conducting a war in a way that many do not condone, a war that could ultimately pull in Americans?
The fact that days have passed since Haniyeh’s death suggests that Tehran is still calculating how far it wants to go — and gives the U.S. time to prepare to defend Israel, a former senior intelligence official told me on the condition of anonymity.
But the Iranians’ searing humiliation cannot be underestimated, Bob tells me. And the Israelis “could have the impression that if they launch a substantial attack against Iran, that they can draw the Americans directly into the fight.”
Run time: 26 minutes
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“But the Iranians’ searing humiliation cannot be underestimated, Bob tells me. And the Israelis “could have the impression that if they launch a substantial attack against Iran, that they can draw the Americans directly into the fight.”
Bibi is a friend to no one, least of all to Israel and the United States. He, and his cabal of right-wing religious zealots will be the death of both nations, as they lead us down another endless rabbit hole.
It’s time to lay down the law. We need to stop emboldening Israel, and stop the shipments of offensive weapons, until a ceasefire is achieved.
I’m Jewish and I support Israel, but this is a suicide pact with a morally bankrupt sociopath. Time to cut the umbilical cord; we’re the United States of America, not the United States of Israel.
Bibi wants a war, that much is clear. He is holding on to power by a thread, and faces criminal prosecution once his Prime Ministership is over. He knows that his cabal of messianic Jewish fascists will abandon ship if he signs a ceasefire deal, because they want to rid Gaza and The West Bank of at least one million Palestinians in each territory. Not to mention, even Bibi’s military and intelligence chiefs all agree that riding Gaza of Hamas is an unrealistic expectation or goal.
That said, it doesn’t matter that a forced refugee crisis would destabilize the entire Middle East. These people are just as insane as MAGA, but far more dangerous because they currently control the reins of power in Israel, and are holding both Israel and the US as hostages in this dangerous, high stakes game of Liar’s Poker.
IMHO…:)
I think young Iranians are tired of the constant world mischief and internal societal problems created by their ayatollahs. The American version of the ayatollahs — the Christian Supremicists — are no different except for one huge thing: the Christian Supremicists are not in control here. Not yet, anyway.