American Amir Mirzai Hekmati has been sentenced to death in Iran
Does the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist on the streets of Tehran earlier today endanger a former Marine who was lately convicted in Tehran of spying? Even the Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief, Thomas Erdbrink, is reporting that it does.
And if it turns out that Israel killed that scientist, as its officials have hinted triumphantly, what does this mean about the danger to American lives flowing from Israeli militarism? What does this say about Israel’s concern for American lives?
Maybe most important: What does this killing do to international efforts to try and cool the Iranian issue before it boils over? Did Israel just spike those efforts?
Amir Mirzai Hekmati
Let’s walk the cat back:
Two days back, Iran convicted former Marine Amir Mirzai Hekmati of spying; and Hekmati was promptly sentenced to death. Here is Post bureau chief Thomas Erdbrink reporting from Tehran:
In a preliminary ruling, Iran’s revolutionary courts convicted American Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, 28, of working for the CIA and sentenced him to death, the Fars news agency reported Monday.
Then today that Iranian nuclear scientist was killed by a car bomb on the streets of Tehran. It was all over the news tonight. The US rushed to condemn the killing:
The United States on Wednesday forcefully condemned a car bomb attack that killed an Iranian nuclear expert in Tehran–while just as firmly repudiating any suggestion that U.S. operatives might have taken part in the assassination.
Are the Iranians buying this? This is Washington Post bureau chief Erdbrink’s twitter feed from earlier tonight:
bad news for
#hekmati, the US marine who was handed down a death sentence in#iran, hardliners say assassination shows he deserves to die[Later]
See
#iran reaction here by hardliner Taraghi in second page of piece: http://goo.gl/h6boS “Certainly#Hekmati deserves the death sentence”
Now here’s Israel hinting that it killed the Iranian scientist:
a throwaway comment by Israel’s military chief has hinted of possible Israeli involvement in attacks like the explosion that killed an Iranian nuclear scientist Wednesday.
And even gleeful:
”I don’t know who took revenge on the Iranian scientist, but I am definitely not shedding a tear,” Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai wrote on his official Facebook page.
How is Barack Obama feeling about the special relationship tonight? Secretary Clinton? The family of Amir Hekmati?
Most important, as my tipster points out to me: “Here we are at the brink of a war that we’re told will be necessary for the US to wage because of the ‘threat to the U.S. and its allies’ — or in Republican parlance ‘threat to the US and its ally Israel’ — and we had an off ramp: the Iranians, under pressure, appeared to be ready to talk turkey over the nuke crisis. So: We’re about to make a push to avert regional conflagration. And this happens?”
And on Tuesday, merely the day before, Benny Gantz “predicted” unnatural events in Iran:
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=252974
Remember the joke about the frog and the scorpion in the Middle East? Scorpion gets a ride across the lake on the frog’s back upon his assurance that he will not sting him. Half-way across, the scorpion stings the frog. Just before they both drown, the frog asks him why. scorpion says, “I couldn’t help myself. This is the Middle East after all.”
Any country run by the likes of Bibi and Yvette and those anti-democratic Jewish-fundamentalist rabbis is a scorpion, who’ll sting the USA in the middle of the lake.
Obama and Ron might, perhaps, say “Ouch!” Mitt and Newt, probably not.
As someone trained in physical sciences (PhD in physical chemistry from Berkeley who understands many of the engineering problems with building a bomb — the science itself is textbook trivial) I do not approve of these precedents. The first Iranian “nuclear expert” that was assassinated last year was someone who taught a course in high energy particle physics in Tehran. One of my best friends teaches such a course here in the US. If the CIA and/or Israeli agents are killing these scholars, then shouldn’t we expect the Iranians to respond and start killing our scientists.
Our country is going totally insane if respected people inside our governments are cheering these killings of Iranian scholars and scientists.
The war party that determines our FP agenda probably do not care a wit. If they succeed in provoking the Iranians to assassinate one of our scientists, then so much the better. That means there will be even more reasons for the US to engage in another ME war on Israel’s behalf.
Who do they (america/Israel) think they’re fooling!? The multiple explosions at Iranian military sites, the stuxnet computer viruses, spy drones “malfunctioning” on Iranian sole, the murder of 4 nuclear scientists and attempted murder of another. These are all acts of war against a country who hasnt threatened a soul (until recently).
Does anybody think (including the Iranians) that this wasn’t the work of the mossad? That these are all just minor infractions that can easily be forgiven. This isn’t high school where you can misbehave then deny it was you who wrote nasty words on the bathroom stall. This is war that Israel/US are playing with, hoping for. How absolutely despicable that a country would start TWO wars, the most horrendous shit to infect mankind, for the sake of their own ego.
how can the secretary of state say that america had nothing to do with this latest assassination? didn’t israel essentially own up to it? and isn’t israel the tail that wags the dog, er, america’s closest ally? whether or not our government had advance knowledge of what israel was going to do, america’s unconditional support for the zionist entity is a carte blanche for it to kill & maim wherever and whenever it sees fit. the only way to prevent revenge killings of americans is for the state department to denounce these terrorist acts and to label israel a terrorist entity. fat chance that’ll happen.