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Iran buries scientist slain by 'CIA and Mossad'
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Jan 13, 2012 - The US government is concerned that Israel is preparing to take military action against Iran over US objections, and has stepped up contingency planning to safeguard US facilities in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.
The newspaper said President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top officials have delivered a series of private messages to Israeli leaders, warning about the dire consequences of a strike.
Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military officials in Tel Aviv next week, the report said.
The Journal noted that the US military was preparing for a number of possible responses to an Israeli strike, including assaults by pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq against the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Up to 15,000 US diplomats, federal employees and contractors still remain in Iraq.
To deter Iran, the United States is maintaining 15,000 troops in Kuwait, and has moved a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf area, the paper said.
Iran on Friday buried a top scientist it said was killed in an Israeli-American covert campaign against its nuclear programme, as a US-led drive for crippling sanctions ran into opposition even from allies.
Diplomats in Vienna, meanwhile, said the UN nuclear watchdog would send its chief inspector to Iran at the end of the month.
Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a deputy director of Iran's main uranium enrichment plant, was given a funeral service in north Tehran after noon prayers, state media reported.
He and his driver were killed on Wednesday when two men on a motorbike slapped a magnetic bomb on his car.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the "abominable" and "cowardly" killing was committed "with the planning or support of the intelligence services of the CIA and Mossad" of the United States and Israel.
He said in a statement that Tehran would "continue with determination" its nuclear activities, which Western governments suspect mask a drive for a weapons capability despite repeated denials.
Some media close to Iran's conservatives have called for "retaliation" against Israeli officials. Tehran has demanded that the UN Security Council condemn the "terrorist" killing.
Washington has strongly denied any involvement with the assassination, although Defence Secretary Leon Panetta admitted: "We have some ideas as to who might be involved."
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Ir...ossad_999.html
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Jan 13, 2012 - The US government is concerned that Israel is preparing to take military action against Iran over US objections, and has stepped up contingency planning to safeguard US facilities in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.
The newspaper said President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top officials have delivered a series of private messages to Israeli leaders, warning about the dire consequences of a strike.
Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military officials in Tel Aviv next week, the report said.
The Journal noted that the US military was preparing for a number of possible responses to an Israeli strike, including assaults by pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq against the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Up to 15,000 US diplomats, federal employees and contractors still remain in Iraq.
To deter Iran, the United States is maintaining 15,000 troops in Kuwait, and has moved a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf area, the paper said.
Iran on Friday buried a top scientist it said was killed in an Israeli-American covert campaign against its nuclear programme, as a US-led drive for crippling sanctions ran into opposition even from allies.
Diplomats in Vienna, meanwhile, said the UN nuclear watchdog would send its chief inspector to Iran at the end of the month.
Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a deputy director of Iran's main uranium enrichment plant, was given a funeral service in north Tehran after noon prayers, state media reported.
He and his driver were killed on Wednesday when two men on a motorbike slapped a magnetic bomb on his car.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the "abominable" and "cowardly" killing was committed "with the planning or support of the intelligence services of the CIA and Mossad" of the United States and Israel.
He said in a statement that Tehran would "continue with determination" its nuclear activities, which Western governments suspect mask a drive for a weapons capability despite repeated denials.
Some media close to Iran's conservatives have called for "retaliation" against Israeli officials. Tehran has demanded that the UN Security Council condemn the "terrorist" killing.
Washington has strongly denied any involvement with the assassination, although Defence Secretary Leon Panetta admitted: "We have some ideas as to who might be involved."
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Ir...ossad_999.html
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