Iran’s alleged plot a ‘bad movie’
Published: 13 October, 2011, 07:10
An Iranian man gets an American flag painted on his face (AFP Photo / MUSTAFA OZER)
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Bill Dod
The US is calling for more sanctions against Tehran following the foiling of an alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington, but analyst Ivan Eland says the plan was so poorly conceived that Iran is unlikely to be behind it.
“This does not fit the pattern of the Quds Force,” Eland, a scholar at the Independent Institute in Washington, told RT. “The Iranians have fairly been cagey in operating in various places around the world. This issue looks like a bad movie.”
The Quds Force is a special unit of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard responsible for extraterritorial operations.
Washington may now be promising tough measures, but in reality they have a limited number of possible responses, observed Eland.
The US could take this issue to the UN Security Council, he said. Or Washington could launch its own secret operation in Iran. In this case, Iran’s perspectives would be gloomy, given US resources and potential, Eland added.
“This is very unfortunate,” he said. “It gives the US an excuse for ratcheting up the pressure, maybe including some sort of military action. Certainly we have a weakened president who might benefit from a foreign crisis, and we have seen such things happen in US history.”
Washington’s allegations lack documented evidence, says Patricia DeGennaro from the Department of Politics at New York University.
“This is a pretty big claim, and we have not seen anything to support the allegations other than the complaint in the FBI office,” she told RT.
This US administration seems to be much more intent on pressuring the Iranian government, DeGennaro argued. Calling the US claims “highly provocative,” she insisted that diplomatic means should be used to influence Iran.
“Military action? We tend to use it way too much,” DeGennaro said. “I think there are different diplomatic opportunities here in supporting efforts within a country and also within a government.”
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