Stefan Simanowitz Profile picture
Nov 17, 2020 25 tweets 24 min read Read on X
Last week, I started this👇 thread on how #Trump appears to be gearing-up for military action against Iran

Today, @nytimes revealed "Trump asked senior advisers in a meeting on Thursday whether he had options to take action against #Iran’s main nuclear site in the coming weeks.”
Any military orders by #Trump are transmitted through the secretary of defense

By replacing Esner with Miller & giving top Pentagon & Intelligence jobs his allies, Trump appears to have created a chain-of-command that would support military action in Iran
Trump is also increasing sanctions on #Iran pledging “a steady stream of sanctions through the end of the administration”

Sanctions are not dangerous in themselves, but the enforcement of sanctions - checking cargo etc - will undoubtedly ramp-up tensions.
As with all wars, the media will be needed to bolster the idea that Iran presents an imminent threat

In the last week, a quarterly report from @iaeaorg referring to #Iran's uranium stockpile being 12x the limit in 2015 deal has received a lot of coverage.
I'm no scientist, but claims that #Iran’s stockpile of low enriched uranium has "slashed the time it would need to amass enough fuel for a nuclear weapon" seem far-fetched

Iran's enrichment programme is closely monitored by the IAEA

This was their head @rafaelmgrossi, last week
If the IAEA aren't alarmed by #Iran's stockpile - currently far smaller than it was before the 2015 #NuclearDeal - perhaps we don't need to be either

And yet the "stockpile" is now referred to in virtually every news piece on Iran, including the first para of the @nytimes piece. ImageImage
In 2007/8 when the hawks were pushing Bush to strike Iran, stories about the imminence of #Iran's nuclear threat were everywhere

There were also stories linking Iran to to Al Qaeda

As with the Iraq war, linking Iran with 9/11 plays well with US audiences
A link between Iran & 9/11 was suggested again this week when US Intelligence revealed that, in August, they'd masterminded the assassination of Al Qaeda’s No.2 who was living in Tehran

Iran denies the story

Shia Iran habouring the leader of a sectarian Sunni group = surprising Image
Since winning the election, @JoeBiden has been refused access to Intelligence briefings by the Trump administration

Could it be that the briefings contain options for military strikes on #Iran requested by #Trump?

If so, no wonder that they don't want @TheDemocrats to see them. Image
“It is a never-ending struggle...until the Rapture” Mike Pompeo (2015)

#Trump's evangelical advisors mostly believe the Bible predicts a war between Iran & Israel before Jesus returns to ‘rapture’ them in advance of the end of the world

War is prophesied
Netanyahu & the head of Mossad flew to Saudi Arabia ystdy to meet Pompeo & #MohammedBinSalman, according to Israeli officials.

Ystdy, @TimesofIsrael reported that
#Israel & US are planning ‘covert ops’ against #Iran as #Trump’s term ends. #BREAKING #MBS
timesofisrael.com/israel-us-plan…
The high level Iranian nuclear scientist, #MohsenFakhrizadeh, has been assassinated.

Ayatollah Khamenei has vowed to “descend like lightning on the killers”

This appears to be the latest step in a deliberate escalation of tensions. #DontAttackIran #Iran
bbc.com/news/world-mid…
US forces in the Persian Gulf includes:
2 aircraft carriers
20 ships
103 strike aircraft
20,000 marines

The Royal Navy has several vessels in the region & is part of a Coalition Task Force (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Albania & Estonia)

They have 35 military bases in the region
"Iranian leaders would be wise to wait for the return of responsible American leadership on the global stage & to resist the urge to respond against perceived culprits"
(Ex-CIA Director, @JohnBrennan)

In 2003, Netanyahu was pushing hard for war in Iraq.
According to 2 senior administration officials, #Trump has given some of his most hawkish officials, particularly Mike #Pompeo, carte blanche to squeeze & punish #Iran

The assassination of #MohsenFakhrizadeh is just likely to be one in a series of actions
thedailybeast.com/trump-tells-po…
The five stages of #Trump election grief:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Nuclear strike on #Iran

I think that @realDonaldTrump is currently at stage 4.

Theses are dangerous times. THREAD☝️
(Photos via @PrivateEyeNews) #DontAttackIran ImageImage
Trump’s Christmas surprise?

A attack on Iran supported by Israel, UK, Saudi Arabia & some Gulf states.

Now is the time to take action prevent a possible strike on #Iran

Pompeo believes war will spark ‘the Rapture’ @mklare1 in @thenation #DontAttackIran
thenation.com/article/world/…
Tensions ratcheted-up as US govt formally blames #Iran for abduction & presumed death of former FBI agent Robert Levinson more than a decade ago

Reports that UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee will recommend “proscribing the IRGG” as a terror group
#DontAttackIran ImageImageImageImage
In the last 9 hours, Mike Pompeo - a man who believes in The Rapture - has tweeted about Iran 21 times!

The Trump Admin still has 8 days left to launch military strikes on #Iran

This THREAD👆shows how the ground has been laid for an attack & the reasons why it could happen. ImageImageImageImage
“We’re going to take out 7 countries in 5 years, starting with Iraq and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and finishing off, Iran.” (General Wesley Clark)

Military action against #Iran has been on the military agenda for a very long time.
Three cities in eastern Syria targeted by airstrikes - Al-Bukamal, Al-Mayadin, & Deir ez Zor

Unconfirmed reports suggest airstrikes were targeting Iranian Republican Guard positions & were carried out by Israeli & possibly US airforce #BreakingNews #BREAKING #Iran #Pompeo #Trump ImageImage
Today, US Secretary of State Mike #Pompeo said al-Qaeda has a new home base in Iran, though he offered no evidence

Iran immediately rebuffed his claims

It would seem odd for Shia #Iran to harbour a Sunni terrorist organisation.
aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/12…
“This is the 4th alleged Israeli strike in Syria within two weeks, all of which rptdly targeted Hezbollah & Iranian targets. Intel sources say Israel's stepped up strikes on Syria in the last few months are part of a shadow war approved by US.” @haaretzcom haaretz.com/middle-east-ne…
An editorial by @AJEnglish last week warned that #Trump may launch a ‘reckless’ attack on Iran

Some experts fear the Trump admin’s ‘sabre-rattling & aggressive rhetoric’ are part of a potential confrontation with #Iran before @JoeBiden takes office
@AOC
aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/2/…
They aren't even subtle about it!

Mike #Pompeo seen out in a cafe with the head of Mossad last night according to @politico's White House Correspondent @meridithmcgraw #Iran #Israel #SaudiArabia #DontAttackIran

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More from @StefSimanowitz

Jun 25
Wow!

Incredible news to wake up to

Julian Assange is free after a plea deal

He was released on bail from Belmarsh prison & boarded a plane which is currently heading to Australia

His release is a testament to those fought for his freedom #JulianAssange

Julian Assange is scheduled to appear in a federal court in Saipan, a US commonwealth in the Pacific, where he’s expected to plead guilty to one charge under the Espionage Act & be sentenced to 5yrs

Given he’s already served this time, he should walk free
The public have a right to know what their govts do in their name

Julian #Assange’s prosecution represented a grave threat to press freedom, undermining the key role of journalists & publishers in scrutinizing govts misdeeds & creating a chilling effect

Read 6 tweets
May 15
1/. Four years, ago this tweet👇broke the #CareHomeScandal

The govt had INSTRUCTED hospitals to send people “who may have #COVID19” to care homes WITHOUT TESTING

They KNEW about asymptomatic transmission in Jan 2020

Many thousands died

This revelation led to other questions…
Image
2/. From the start of the pandemic the govt had given #Palantir, a US spyware company with reported links to #CambridgeAnalytica, access to NHS health data

The NHS = the most trusted brand in the UK

Cambridge Analytica = the least trusted

Disturbing…

3/. Palantir worked on the NHS data store with #FacultyAI - a company with ties to Cummings

In 2020, @amnesty warned that Big Tech firms might use the COVID crisis to hoover up genomic data, obliterating the last frontier of privacy: our biological selves

Read 5 tweets
Mar 9
1/. “It is the greatest mass-killing in recorded history; & it goes on daily, hourly, as regularly as the ticking of your watch”

Arthur Koestler’s 1944 essay expressing frustration at the failure of the world to acknowledge Nazi atrocities resonates today
wethescreamers.com
2/ “There are a few of us…yelling at you in newspapers…Now & then we reach your ear…But it only lasts a minute. You shake yourself like puppies who’ve got their fur wet; then the screen again descends & you walk on, protected by the dream-barrier which stifles all sound”
#Gaza Image
3/ Koestler notes maniacs lose contact with reality so “perhaps it’s we, the screamers, who react in a sound & healthy way to the reality which surrounds us, whereas you are the neurotics who totter about in a screened fantasy world because you lack the faculty to face the facts” Image
Read 8 tweets
Feb 23
“They got me!” Liz Truss tells far-right kingpin, Steve Bannon, before going on to explain that, to have effectively tackled “the deep state” that runs Britain & its institutions, she would have “needed a bigger bazooka”! #LizTruss #BritanniaUnchained
"I was just saying it like it is & that’s what people respect me for"(!)

Liz Truss’ compares her premiership to a one night stand & says she was just “fattening the pig” for slaughter & that she should have gaslit the public like Rishi Sunak is doing (!)
"I faced the most almighty backlash...from the usual suspects in the media” Liz Truss

“Truss's decline is simultaneously tragic & horrifying but the claim that the media conspired against her can't go unchallenged. There are front pages praising her to the rafters” @mrjamesob



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Read 4 tweets
Jan 4
1/. In 2020 I started a thread warning that Trump might launch an attack on Iran before the end of his term

It wasn’t the first time there had been a real danger of a US-led, Israeli backed attack (records show Bush had come close in 2007/8)

The risk appears now to be very high
Image
2/. It’s clear that the bomb blasts in Kerman on the 4th anniversary of #Soleimani's assassination by the US, could lead to a quick ratcheting up of dangerous tensions

After Oct 7, the US sent two aircraft carrier groups to the region

Iran just deployed a warship to the Red Sea
Image
3/. Three US soldiers were killed & two dozen injured in an unmanned aerial drone attack on US forces stationed in northeastern #Jordan near the Syrian border, President @JoeBiden said

This could mark a dangerous escalation
arab.news/y8h8h
Image
Read 18 tweets
Nov 6, 2023
Despite previous denials, Michelle Mone finally admits her involvement in failed PPE supplier Medpro

There should be a criminal investigation into possible intentional breach of beneficial ownership disclosure rules

The govt VIP Lane needs investigating

Something about the #MichelleMone interview doesn’t pass the smell test

Why are Mone & her husband - currently under criminal investigation in UK & Spain - being given a prime time slot to tell ‘their side of the story’?

5 questions @bbclaurak should ask

@bbclaurak “I don’t honestly think there’s a case to answer. I can’t see what we’ve done wrong” @MichelleMone

Wow! #MichelleMone & #DougBarrowman on @bbclaurak’s programme, this morning

Read 13 tweets

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