Who’s Responsible for the Bombing in Iran?
Author: Greg Valliere
January 4, 2024
WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTACK IN IRAN? That was a dominant issue in Washington yesterday, as about 100 Iranians were killed at a memorial service in the city of Kerman for Iran’s former top general, Qassim Suleimani.
WITH IRAN VOWING RETRIBUTION AGAINST ISRAEL AND THE U.S., the region seems to be veering out of control, with the Israeli-Hamas war and naval confrontations on the Red Sea threatening a spike in oil prices this winter.
BUT INTELLIGENCE EXPERTS DON’T THINK ISRAEL OR THE U.S. were responsible for yesterday’s terrorism. They say the attack bore the hallmarks of terrorist groups, not of Israel or the U.S. Some U.S. officials said privately that ISIS may have been responsible for the attack.
BUT IRAN APPARENTLY HAS DECIDED to blame Israel, regardless of the evidence, and is prepared to strike anywhere in the region, from the Red Sea to southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is increasingly powerful.
U.S. INTELLIGENCE EXPERTS counter that the bombing was not in keeping with Israel’s usual methods when striking Iran. While Israel has regularly carried out covert operations in Iran, they have been targeted against specific individuals, like Iranian scientists or officials, or at nuclear or weapons facilities.
ANALYSTS SAID THERE ARE NUMEROUS POSSIBILITIES for who might have attacked the cemetery in Kerman, including Sunni Muslim terrorist organizations like the Islamic State or Iranian separatist groups. Iran has faced numerous attacks in the past, including from separatist groups and Sunni extremists.
THIS CAME JUST DAYS AFTER the assassination in Beirut of Saleh Arouri, an exiled Hamas official who acted as a liaison with Iran and Hezbollah. More targeted hits are likely, raising the threat of a widening war and oil price instability.
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