At least 23 people were killed and over 140 injured Tuesday in a suicide bomb attack targeting Iran’s embassy compound in Lebanon. Most of the dead were passersby in the predominantly Shiite southern Beirut neighborhood of Janah, where the embassy is situated. Iran confirmed the death of its embassy’s cultural attaché. An al-Qaeda affiliated group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigade, claimed responsibility for the attack in a tweet by its “spiritual mentor,” Sheikh Sirajeddine Zuraiqat. The Brigade has reportedly vowed to continue such attacks until Iran and Hezbollah, an Iranian-allied Lebanese Shiite militia, cease militarily supporting Syria’s government.

Israel and Saudi Arabia are working on contingency plans for a possible military strike on Iran, a Sunday Times report said.● The British newspaper reported the two countries are working on plans for a possible strike on Iran's nuclear facilities if a a deal struck by the P5 plus1 countries in Geneva later this week fails to significantly curb Iran's nuclear program. Israel's intelligence agency Mossad is reportedly working with Saudi officials on the plans. "Once the Geneva agreement is signed, the military option will be back on the table. The Saudis are furious and are willing to give Israel all the help it needs," a diplomatic source told the newspaper. In the framework of cooperation between the two countries, Riyadh has given Jerusalem a green light to use its airspace in the event of a military strike on Iran, the newspaper said. Both countries are "alarmed" by Iran's nuclear ambitions, the report added.

Stephen Lendman: Anti-Iranian Israeli/Saudi Alliance ■ It's an axis of evil. They're strange bedfellows. They have no formal relations. It's believed Saudi Prince Bandar ibn Sultan visited Israel covertly. Doing so broke a decades long taboo. Both countries have common regional interests. They include toppling Syria's Assad. They want Iran's government replaced. Reports suggest both countries formed an anti-Iranian military alliance. On November 17, the London Sunday Times headlined "Two old foes unite against Tehran," saying: "Convinced that Iran is tricking the world over nuclear weapons, Israel and Saudi Arabia may work together to curb its ambitions." None exist. Both countries know it. At issue is eliminating a regional rival.

Stephen Lendman: US hostility toward Iran over ‘sovereignty’ (PressTV Audio) “The issue is really Iranian sovereignty, it’s not Iran’s nuclear program, but a pretext is needed to beat up on Iran, to vilify the government, to make claims that absolutely have no basis and fact,” Stephen Lendman told Press TV on Sunday. Iran is determined to pursue its inalienable nuclear rights during future negotiations with the six major world powers. However, senior Israeli officials have been storming the Capital Hill to feed false information to American lawmakers in an effort to discredit the White House’s nuclear proposal to Iran and cause the nuclear negotiations with Iran to fail. “It’s not Iran’s nuclear program. If Iran had no nuclear program, another pretext would be found to vilify the country and make outrageous claims. The issue is Iranian sovereignty,” Lendman reiterated.

84.4% of Israeli religious sector supports Netanyahu's stance in disagreement with US; 58.7% of respondents against canceling sanctions. ● A poll by Yisrael HaYom this week reveals that most Israelis think that the IDF is strong enough to begin a military strike against a nuclear Iran - without US support. Over 2/3 of respondents (65%) believe that Israel should oppose a deal - which would reduce Iran's economic sanctions in exchange for a reduction in its nuclear capabilities - between Iran and the P5+1. Only 16.1% support the move. Talks for a possible deal are set to resume on November 20. More than half of respondents (52.1%) support the position of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in disagreements with the US over Iran, a number which jumps to a staggering 84.4% in the religious sector. Overall, Netanyahu's approval rating stands steady this week at 41.5%, with Opposition leader Shelly Yechimovich (Labor) at a distant second of 10%. Regarding an Israeli strike against Iran without US intervention, 52.4% of respondents support the move; 68.8% believe that the IDF has enough military might to succeed on its own.

Israel is lobbying US Congress for new anti-Iran sanctions as the administration of President Barack Obama is trying to convince lawmakers that any new sanctions against Iran would be viewed as “bad faith.” Israel’s Economy and Trade Minister, Naftali Bennett, is currently in Washington, actively lobbying US lawmakers to impose more sanctions on Iran.

Jason Ditz: Kerry: US 100 Percent Behind Israel on Iran ● Faced with growing Israeli anger toward the administration in general and him in particular, Secretary of State John Kerry’s speeches today focused on claiming unquestioned US backing for Israel on all things, but especially Iran. “We stand with Israel firmly – 100 percent,” Kerry insisted, a claim that seems at odds with the two being on opposite sides of lobbying efforts in the US Congress, and the Obama Administration’s criticism of massive settlement expansions.

Xymphora: What are the odds? ■ So the French guys in charge of their Iran negotiations file happen to be Meyer Habib, an outspoken Zionist Jew and close pal of Bibi (with his blood-pouring-from-the-fangs opposition to any kind of peace), and Laurent Fabius, a crypto-Jew passing as a Catholic (in another amazing coincidence much like his American counterpart). Bibi's call to Holland was just notice to unleash the already planned conspiracy (France was the fall back Plan B, as Bibi had assumed that he could bend the will of the Americans but underestimated the importance the Americans now place on a deal with Iran). The obviousness of the conflict of interest in the parties involved would be comical if it wasn't so potentially tragic. Bibi has now bought time to apply AIPAC to Congress and unsettle the scaredy-cat Barry, who was trying to sneak in a fait accompli peace deal (the Jews were a bit flat-footed after not being able to apply themselves consistently on the civilian slaughter plan for Syria).

Kevin Barrett: Nuclear rogue states Israel-France obstruct Iran deal ■ Pushing hypocrisy to new heights, the world's two biggest nuclear rogue states, Israel and France, have obstructed a P5 + 1 deal that would have eased sanctions penalizing Iran for its peaceful nuclear energy program. Israel, the world's worst nuclear outlaw, played the key role. All sources agree that the Israelis pressured the French to torpedo an agreement that was approved by all other parties. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called the P5+1 Iran deal “a mistake of historic proportions” and insisted that it be “rejected outright.” Yet none of the parties paid any attention to Netanyahu - except the French. Why did the French delegation, led by Laurent Fabius, kill the deal?

Sheldon Richman: Netanyahu and the War Mongers ■ The best way to keep Iran from building a nuclear bomb is for the Obama administration and its nuclear client Israel to stop threatening the Islamic Republic. Look at recent history. In 2003 Iraq’s government had no nuclear weapons (or other WMD). The U.S. government invaded, and before long Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hanging from a rope. In 2011 Libya’s government had no nuclear weapons. The U.S. government led NATO on a bombing campaign to help a group of rebels, and before long Libyan Col. Muammar Qaddafi lay dead on a roadside. Today Syria has no nuclear weapons. On the other hand, North Korea has nuclear weapons, and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un appears safe from any regime change sponsored by the U.S. government and NATO. Lesson for foreign leaders who are in the doghouse with the U.S. government: Get a nuke.

A former Israeli official has admitted that a possible nuclear agreement between Iran and the United States would be disappointing for Israel as Tel Aviv’s plans for unilateral strike against Iran would be diminished. “Practically speaking, [a deal] shuts the [Israeli military] option down,” former National Security Advisor Maj. Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland told Israeli media. “It doesn’t matter what we think about the deal. Israel won’t be able to do a thing,” he added. Eiland said acting against the agreement between Iran and six major powers would make Israel as the world’s menace. ● In an interview with Press TV on Sunday, political analyst Ralph Schoenman said not reaching a nuclear deal during the Geneva talks reflects “the determination on the part of the Israelis and the Saudis, not only to prevent such an agreement, but it takes even military action against Iran in order to completely destroy it.” ● Antiwar.com: Israel: Iran Deal Would Harm War Plans

The White House had for quite some time been quietly lobbying Congress to put its new sanctions bills against Iran on hold for the sake of diplomacy, but is now being very public with its opposition to the bills, calling them a “march to war” against Iran, and one that the American public opposes. White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the public “justifiably and understandably prefer a peaceful solution,” warning that if the sanctions derail the talks it would leave war as the only alternative. Some Congressional hawks have been presenting more sanctions as a way to scare Iran into making more concessions, but others have opposed a deal at all costs, and are facing strong lobbying from Israel, which has complained that the deal would get in the way of their planned war.

xymphora: It was just as bad as it looked ■ It is time for all moral and decent people to start a 100% boycott of all things french, to be ended only when a full Iran peace deal is in place with all sanctions lifted. Needless to say, the current Jewslaves in the French government have permanently denied their country the benefits of future contracts with Iran. More importantly, they have missed out on a crucial pivot in world history that even the American have managed to figure out. I like France, and I'm sorry to say we are going to see a continued deterioration and degradation in this once great country.

Jason Ditz: Officials Say US Trying to Make Deal to Avoid Israeli Attack ■ Israeli officials continue to rail against a diplomatic pact between the P5+1 and Iran, today focusing on the idea that such a deal would get in the way of Israeli plans to attack Iran. Over the weekend, the collapse of the deal was nominally on the exact opposite pretext, that Israel would use the deal as an excuse to start a war with Iran, but that seems not to be the case. Major General Giora Eiland says that the deal would as a practical matter shut down any option of an Israeli attack, and while others insisted Israel would “do what’s necessary,” it would risk a major backlash against them in the international community. Other officials went as far as to accuse the US of trying to make a deal, even a “bad” one, specifically to avoid an Israeli attack. Israeli officials have insisted repeatedly that they “reject” any deal and wouldn’t feel bound by it.

Justin Raimondo: ‘Peace Scare’ in Geneva ■ The United States long ago concluded "with high certainty" that Iran abandoned any effort to build a nuclear weapon in 2003 – and yet here we are, a decade later, threatening war over a program our intelligence agencies have declared to be nonexistent. Why is that? To begin with, we’ve been subjected to a years-long propaganda campaign by Israel and its amen corner in this country: the Israel lobby claims the Iranians are secretly constructing nukes with the ultimate goal of attacking the Jewish state. It’s basically the same scenario that played out in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq – and we all know how that turned out. This time, you’d think we learned our lesson. One only has to ask how many times, over the years, has Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Tehran is "months" away from joining the nuclear club? I’ve lost count. Whether it’s three months, six months, or a year or so, his predictions have always turned out to be false: if he had been right, by this time Iran’s nuclear arsenal would almost be on a par with Israel’s. It never happened.

As Iran appeared to be closer than ever to reaching agreement with Western powers over its nuclear program, a surprising party emerged to block a stopgap deal: the French. ● Analysts attributed France’s move, which exposed divisions between the United States and other Western powers in the negotiations, on “a tough stand against the spread of nuclear weapons, skepticism about Tehran’s trustworthiness,” and a tradition of speaking out on the world stage, Canada’s National Post reports. According to the Guardian, Iranian state press reported that some Iranian businessmen were considering reducing trade ties with France, citing “adventurist and immature behavior” at Geneva talks for their loss of faith in a once-esteemed business partner. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. was “grateful” to the French and shared some of their concerns. However speaking to NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, he maintained the U.S. position was not uninformed. “I think we have a pretty strong sense of how to measure whether or not we are acting in the interests in our country, and of the globe, and particularly of our allies, like Israel, and Gulf states, and others in the region.” Negotiations in Geneva will continue November 20.

Stephen Lendman: No Deal in Geneva
Justin Raimondo: ‘Peace Scare’ in Geneva
Times of Israel: US promises to consult with Israel on any Iran deal
Times of Israel: ‘Israel will attack Iran if you sign the deal, French MP told Fabius’
Richard Silverstein: France Torpedoes Iran Nuclear Deal, Hollande Rewarded with Knesset Address

Talks on curbing Iran's nuclear program ended with no deal early Sunday after France objected that proposed measures didn't go far enough. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said "significant progress" had been made on the remaining differences. ● Six world powers and Iran agreed to resume talks Nov. 20. Both sides badly wanted agreement. The U.S. and its five partners were looking for initial caps on Iran's ability to make an atomic bomb, while Tehran sought some easing of sanctions stifling its economy. But France would not soften its concerns over Iran's plutonium project and the level of its uranium enrichment program. Kerry, speaking to reporters after the talks broke up, acknowledged there were "certain issues that we needed to work through." "We're grateful to the French for the work we did together," Kerry said.

The Guardian: Geneva talks end without deal on Iran's nuclear programme

Stephen Lendman: At issue isn't Iran's legitimate nuclear program. It's the Islamic Republic's sovereign independence. ■ It's decades of US/Israeli hostility. It's unrelenting. Whatever emerges from Geneva, it won't materially change. America and Israel threaten world peace. They remain the main obstacles to peaceful conflict resolution. They deplore it. They perpetuate violence and instability. They want pro-Western puppet governance everywhere. Claiming an Iranian nuclear threat is red herring cover for longstanding regime change plans. If Iran had no nuclear program, another pretext would be found.

Iran and six major world powers are holding a third day of negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear energy program. ● The talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, China, France, Britain and the US- plus Germany stretched into an unscheduled third day as negotiators pressed for a deal on Iran’s civilian nuclear work. Top officials from both sides described the two days of intense negotiations in Geneva as constructive. On Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, French Foreign Minister Lauren Fabius and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle joined the talks in Geneva. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and a Chinese deputy foreign minister are also heading to Switzerland to participate in the talks.

PressTV: US lawmakers threaten Iran with new sanctions
Roi Tov: Israel: "USA Crossed Red Line"

Iran's foreign minister says he believes 'ingredients are there' for historic breakthrough after decade of diplomatic sparring.

Iranian and western officials will start drafting a nuclear agreement in Geneva on Friday after international negotiations made dramatic progress, Iran's foreign minister has told the Guardian. As hopes of a breakthrough soared, the US secretary of state, John Kerry, is to travel to Switzerland on Friday to help seal an agreement which could, if successful, go a long way towards defusing tensions in the Gulf and put off the threat of new war in the Middle East. A senior US state department official said: "Secretary Kerry will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday at the invitation of EU high representative Ashton in an effort to help narrow differences in negotiations." An agreement on any scale would represent a historic breakthrough after a decade of diplomatic sparring marked by paralysis and distrust.

Haaretz: Netanyahu warns Kerry: Israel not bound by any deal between Iran and West ● Israel does not see itself bound by an agreement between Tehran and the six world powers over Iran’s nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Friday morning. In a tense meeting with Kerry ahead of his departure to Geneva to join negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran, Netanyahu said that that Israel does not see itself committed to any deal between Iran and world powers. Kerry called off making a statement before the meeting in an attempt to avoid a public confrontation. But Netanyahu decided to go ahead with a statement on his own and slammed a possible agreement between Iran and the six world powers.

Jason Ditz: Interim Iran Nuclear Deal Could Be Signed Friday
New York Times: West and Iran Seen as Nearing a Nuclear Deal

Iran, Israel and Arab states took part in a secret meeting that laid the groundwork for international talks on banning nuclear weapons in the Middle East, diplomats said on Tuesday. The meeting attended by representatives from Israel, Iran, several Arab countries and the United States was held two weeks ago, on October 21-22, in the Swiss village of Glion near Montreux, diplomatic sources told Reuters.

Arutz Sheva: Netanyahu Warns 'Grievous Historic Error' being Made at Geneva
Russia Today: Netanyahu launches ‘Real face of Iran’ Twitter campaign against Khamenei
Stephen Lendman: Netanyahu Launches Anti-Iranian Twitter Campaign

The US will inform and consult with Israel about any nuclear deal world powers arrive at with Iran before it is carried out, because the Jewish state’s security is paramount, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman said in an interview with Channel 10 on Sunday.

Mike Rivero ■ So let me see if I have this right. Israel is NOT a member of the P5+1. Israel is NOT a member of the UN Security Council. Israel has NOT signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel has NOT allowed IAEA inspections. Yet Israel gets to barge into the negotiations with Iran and demand the right to tell everyone else that they may not reach an agreement without Israel's demand that Iran cease all nuclear enrichment for its power station. And as a reminder how just how arrogant this is, Israel HAS nuclear weapons. Israel HAS been caught trying to sell clandestine nuclear weapons to other countries; the very activity the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is supposed to prevent. And, Iran HAS signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran HAS allowed all IAEA inspections. Iran is playing by the rules. Israel is not. ● One more point. Iran has not invaded another country in a war of aggression in over 200 years, standing in stark contrast to the United States and Israel which these days cannot seem to go six weeks without bombing someone!

Matthias Gebauer & Gregor Peter Schmitz ■ United States Secretary of State John Kerry will not travel to Geneva, at least as things currently stand. But his absence at the next round of nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers is unlikely to cast much of a shadow. After all, American-Iranian relations have been suffused lately with an almost unhealthy euphoria. First Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Sharif met in person at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Then President Hassan Rohani spoke by phone with his American counterpart, Barack Obama. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini even gave his blessing to Rohani's contact with the former "Great Satan." But such exuberance could vanish at talks on Tuesday and Wednesday in Switzerland. Iran will meet with representatives of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as Germany. A source at the European Union says the new round of talks offers "a real chance" for progress. But one thing must be made clear: Without any substantial concessions on Tehran's part, any rapprochement will soon be forgotten.

Michael Crowley ■ One basic obstacle for the new round of talks over Iran’s nuclear program that open today will be America’s basic distrust of the Iranian regime. Before striking any deal with Tehran, the Obama Administration will have to gauge whether a country where hostility toward the U.S. has been a core political theme since 1979 is acting in good faith. That could be a hard notion to swallow, given that some Iranian leaders still call America the Great Satan, and that Iran still celebrates the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran with a national holiday. ● But as Iran and Western negotiators sit down in Geneva today, it’s worth considering some of the reasons why Iran bears such animus toward America, and why cutting a deal with the U.S. won’t be easy for Tehran either. Many of those reasons have to do with the basic Islamic fundamentalist philosophy of Iran’s clerical leaders, to be sure. But as the nuclear talks move forward, it’s worth remembering that the U.S. bears some blame for the poisoned state of the relationship between the two countries.

The reactor building of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power
Plant is seen, just outside the port city of Bushehr 750
miles (1245 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran.

As crunch P5+1 talks begin on Tuesday in Geneva, Iran says it will not ship uranium stockpile overseas. ● Iran declared it would not bow to demands to ship its uranium stockpile abroad on Sunday, ahead of key talks over its nuclear programme. Officials involved in the process expect the long-running nuclear diplomacy surrounding Iran to be reinvigorated by a new Iranian negotiating team that has signalled its readiness to seek a breakthrough. Iranian representatives are expected to offer a plan at the latest talks in Geneva, which begin on Tuesday that could result in the mothballing of most of its nuclear facilities and put substantial parts of its uranium stockpile up for negotiation. In return Iran would demand significant easing of sanctions that have shrunk its economy, reduced oil revenues and driven up inflation. "We certainly expect the Iranians to come forward with a new set of measures that create a different environment and different atmosphere," a European official told The Daily Telegraph. "That is certainly the message they have given us. "We are not going to Geneva with anything new but we will be listening carefully and be willing to respond to progress things quickly."

PressTV: Iran will never withdraw from its nuclear right: Deputy FM

■ The Prime Minister of Zionist Regime of Israel has been lecturing the UK government not to restore diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, telling Britain make any possible rapprochement conditional. Benjamin Netanyahu, who believes his years of Iranophobia attempts are reaching a dead end with the recent diplomatic outreach launched by the government of new Iranian President Rouhani, is conspiring yet another deceit campaign in and around Europe to prevent a possible thaw in the Islamic Republic’s relations with the west. Worse than the deceit campaign, the Zionist regime’s premier is explicitly telling Europe, Britain in particular, to introduce conditions to Iran if they want to restore bilateral relations. The premier of the occupying regime has called on the UK government to condition its restoration of full diplomatic ties with Iran on the Islamic Republic ending its calls for the destruction of Israel. “Iran is calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state and of a member state of the UN,” Netanyahu told the Financial Times. “It seems sensible that Britain would say, ‘Before we reestablish diplomatic relations, abandon this.’”

■ As far as illegal, illegitimate anti-Iran sanctions are concerned, Netanyahu moaned “if the sanctions are relieved, the whole sanctions regime will collapse. “So they’ll get everything, and we - the collective we - will get nothing. If it falls on me to say something that everybody understands, I’ll say it. And don’t say I didn’t warn you”, boasted the premier of racist regime of Israel. “At this juncture, we have to say things clearly, and the clear thing is this: Iran should not have centrifuges; it should not have plutonium plants. These things should be completely dismantled”.

■ Isn’t it ridiculous? The premier of a racist regime, which has been established by force and through occupying the lands of a historic nation, a regime which does not even comply with the smallest rules and regulations adopted by the United Nations, a regime that has been massacring defenseless, innocent women and children in Gaza through its inhumane siege of the Strip, a regime whose armed-to-teeth gangs of troops kill Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on a daily basis, a regime whose jails are full of Palestinian teens who are tortured and abused by wild prison guards, and more importantly, a regime which has stockpiled hundreds of nukes and various weapons of mass destructions in total defiance of the international community, this regime is saying that “Iran should not have centrifuges”, while Iran as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has each and every right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The RQ-170 engines are the fifth generation and the engines of Iranian unmanned planes are the third generation, Hajizadeh said on Wednesday, adding that to produce the engine we had to spend 35 years on the project. He said that the home-made version of the US drone RQ-170 captured by the IRGC will make its maiden flight in the near future. ● In relevant remarks in September, Lieutenant Commander of the IRGC said an Iranian drone which has been manufactured through the reverse engineering of the US drone which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011 will be unveiled to the public soon. "All the memories and computer systems of this plane have been decoded and some good news will be announced in the near future not just about the RQ-170 and the optimizations that our forces have done on the reversed engineered model of this drone, but also in area of other important defense achievements," IRGC Lieutenant Commander General Hossein Salami said. ● Iran announced on December 4, 2011 that its defense forces had downed a US RQ-170 aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack. The drone was the first such loss by the US. US officials have described the loss of the aircraft in Iran as a setback and a fatal blow to the stealth drone program. The RQ-170 has special coatings and a batwing shape designed to help it penetrate other nations' air defenses undetected. The existence of the aircraft, which is made by Lockheed Martin, has been known since 2009, when a model was photographed at the main US airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Iranian nuclear chief says 'saboteurs' were caught red-handed and are being questioned. At least four people have been arrested in Iran for trying to sabotage a nuclear site, an Iranian official has been quoted by the country's media as saying. ● The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, said officials had monitored and then arrested a "number of saboteurs" before they could carry out their plan. "Four of these individuals were caught red-handed and their interrogations are ongoing," he said, according to the Mehr news agency on Sunday. He did not identify which nuclear site they were planning to damage or when those detained were arrested.

Fars News Agency: Iran Stops Several Acts of Sabotage against N. Facilities in Recent Days

The head of Iran’s cyber warfare programme has been shot dead, triggering further accusations that outside powers are carrying out targeted assassinations of key figures in the country’s security apparatus. ● Mojtaba Ahmadi, who served as commander of the Cyber War Headquarters, was found dead in a wooded area near the town of Karaj, north-west of the capital, Tehran. Five Iranian nuclear scientists and the head of the country’s ballistic missile programme have been killed since 2007. The regime has accused Israel’s external intelligence agency, the Mossad, of carrying out these assassinations. Ahmadi was last seen leaving his home for work on Saturday. He was later found with two bullets in the heart, according to Alborz, a website linked to the Revolutionary Guard Corps. “I could see two bullet wounds on his body and the extent of his injuries indicated that he had been assassinated from a close range with a pistol,” an eyewitness told the website. The commander of the local police said that two people on a motorbike had been involved in the assassination.

John Glaser: Is Israel Derailing US-Iran Diplomacy With More Assassinations?

A US political commentator says Israel is striving to ensure that peace does not break out between the United States and Iran, but the tide has now turned against it. Eugene Michael Jones, who is a writer, former professor, media commentator and the current editor of Culture Wars magazine, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US President Barack Obama and asked him to toughen sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program. Netanyahu also demanded that “Iran must fully dismantle its nuclear program.”

ECHO: US-Iran talks must be based on Tehran's concrete steps to give up its nuclear program- Kerry
Stephen Lendman: Netanyahu's General Assembly Dissembling

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the 68th session of the UN General Assembly that Iran must dismantle its entire nuclear program, repeating his baseless accusation that Tehran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. ● "Iran wants to be in a position to rush forward to build nuclear bombs before the international community can detect it and much less prevent it," Netanyahu said in an address to the 68th annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. "Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone," he claimed. Netanyahu added that a "nuclear-armed" Iran would be a threat to Israel’s future and called on the international community to keep up pressure on Tehran through sanctions. Netanyahu's salvo of threats and accusations against Iran comes as Tehran has categorically rejected allegations leveled by the US, Israel and some of their allies against its nuclear energy program, arguing that its nuclear energy program is only for peaceful purposes.

Stephen Lendman: More on Inventing an Iranian Threat ■ None whatever exists. US, other Western, and Israeli leaders know it. Claims they make otherwise are false. [...] It bears repeating. Iran's nuclear program is entirely peaceful. Nothing suggests otherwise. IAEA monitors confirm it. So do annual US intelligence assessments. World leaders know it. So do Edelmen and Ross. They lie claiming otherwise. Iran fully complies with Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) provisions. Israel is a nuclear outlaw. It refuses to sign NPT. It violates its core provisions. It does so with impunity. It's nuclear armed and dangerous. It threatens to use its entire weapons arsenal if endangered. It intends to use if preemptively. It'll use it against nuclear or non-nuclear states. It'll do so lawlessly. It doesn't care. It has friends in high places. They operate by the same rules. They invent them to support policies. Claiming an Iranian nuclear threat is red herring cover for regime change. It's a Big Lie pretext to pursue it.

Russia Today: Iran’s nuclear warheads "could hit NY in 3 to 4 years" – Netanyahu to UN
Middle East Monitor: Netanyahu launches media campaign against Iran
Pepe Escobar: Netanyahu’s UN speech: Sounds like a sociopath?
Kevin Barrett: ‘Netanyahu’s dictation disgrace for US’

Iran's foreign minister warned Barack Obama Tuesday that "flip-flop" threatened efforts to build trust, after the US president told the Israeli premier the military option remained on the table. ● "President Obama needs consistency to promote mutual confidence," Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet. "Flip-flop destroys trust and undermines US credibility." His remarks came after Obama told visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the use of force was still on the table in dealing with Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

RINF: ‘Israel fears normal Iran-US ties’
Brother Nathanael Kapner: Jewish Lobby To Kill Iran Talks

Fars News Agency: Iran Calls on US to Show Pragmatic Behavior ● Washington should pursue pragmatic polices towards Iran, an Iranian spokeswoman said, referring to US President Barack Obama's change of tone on Iran after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "We still expect the US officials to base their behavior towards the Islamic Republic of Iran on pragmatic policies and show respect in their behavior towards the Iranian nation," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said in her weekly press conference in Tehran on Tuesday. Stressing that the US is now facing a big test of option to choose between dependence and independence in its foreign policy towards Iran, she said the US behavior will persuade the Iranian side to study the possibility of further interactions to move towards a constructive approach.