MOSSAD And The Iranian Nuclear Threat

"The scientists’ motivations were all different."

"Mossad found out what they deeply wanted in their lives and offered it to them."

"There was an inner circle of scientists who knew more about the operation, and an outer circle who helped out but had less information."

"All of them are very safe today."

Unnamed source

 

"Unlike in the previous rounds of talks, Britain is currently holding the strongest line. This is very much appreciated by Israel, as there is a sense that the Americans are so desperate to return to the deal that they would be too soft." 

"However, it is quite clear that Britain and the rest of the international community still sees negotiation as the most effective track to rein in Iranian ambitions."

"Israel is not convinced that this will be enough, and also doubt that more problematic partners, like Russia and China, will be able to hold same line."

"Therefore, the credibility of the threat from Israel needs to be enhanced, reiterated and reimposed, as part of a dual effort to put real pressure on Iranians."

"In terms of geopolitics, that is the message that these operations are sending to the international community."

Richard Pater, Executive Director, Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (Bicom)

Blown up: Iran's Natanz nuclear plant, seen in 2007  (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

The Israeli secret service knows that you can have all the technological advantages in the world to enable the process of acquiring knowledge of the machinations of other countries relating to their military plans, to unlock the  secret blueprints they keep to themselves irrespective of the facade presented to the outside world, but there are no assets for recovery of inside realities quite like the effectiveness and efficiency of a core of insider recruits whose data delivery leaves no room for guesswork.

 

Humint -- human intelligence -- is the ultimate in revealing the plans of a country derived from its own inner circles of those in the know.

Insider assistance in carrying through plans of sabotage to set back the agenda of government agencies is another invaluable tool, made all that more approachable and successful with the willing aid of inside intelligence and cooperation. When the actions of insiders in working against the interests of the state are revealed, they pay a stiff penalty; their commitment to undermining the resources of their own country owes much to their dissatisfaction with the direction that country is heading in. Conscience and sympathy are great aids in deception.

It is a secret to no one that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been working toward attaining nuclear weapons. It is just that aspiration, linked to Tehran's Ayatollahs' support of Islamist terrorism fomenting disorder and violent atrocities on behalf of the Republic's determination to surmount resistance to its plans of Shi'ite conquest and Persian control in a Sunni-majority region of Arab states that drew the attention of the West to its malign purpose. The UN's IAEA's efforts at monitoring the Revolutionary Iranian Guard Corps' uranium enrichment program stems from the threat they pose to the region and the wider world.

 

But the one regional state that is indelibly in the crosshairs of the Republic's lethal weaponry of mass destruction is undeniably Israel. The message delivered time and again, publicly and with venomous intent is the promise to obliterate Israel's presence from the Middle East. When fundamentalist extremists are convinced that they have been selected by an all-powerful heavenly entity to furnish the means by which a perceived enemy can be extinguished, rational arguments based on human rights have no impact.

 

The Jewish state knows full well from historical events that it can rely on no other forces than its own for protection from extermination. Its secret services know how to convince others, vulnerable to uncertainty over the morals involved in human rights violations that they have an obligation and a part to play in overcoming the unconscionable plans of dictators. And because Iran is just such a theistic dictatorship, its people are restive and among them those in elite situations of command who are prepared to intervene.

 

The Mossad spy agency is renowned for its cultivated professionalism in intelligence gathering. And it relies upon the secretive collaboration of the dissatisfied to find purpose in aiding and abetting the downfall of their own governments who have failed abysmally the most basic tests of human decency.

A number of Iranian scientists working in the Republic's structures devoted to nuclear development acceded to requests for cooperation. They were, however, duped into believing that it was a collaboration on their part with Iranian dissident groups, not with an arm of a foreign government they would be working with.

 

In the process however, they were tasked with smuggling explosives into the secure and highly protected underground vaults of Iran's nuclear emplacements. In April, a blast destroyed the Natanz plant's independent internal power system meant to energize centrifuges enriching uranium in the protected underground reinforced concrete bunker. That blast represented the second time in a year the base was attacked, by what other countries' security officials identify as an Israeli project. 

It was not, after all, exiled Iranian dissidents with whom these collaborative insiders worked, but with Israel. In some instances the explosives were dropped into the facility by drones while allied components were smuggled through security in catering trucks, reported The Jewish Chronicle, which broke the story. Another July 2020 explosion was the work of explosives hidden in building materials that formed part of the building construction a year earlier.

A motorcycle-size quadcopter drone carried out a bombing raid on the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company in Karaj in June, north of Tehran. When the news was revealed to the public eye, Israel, with its policy of never claiming ownership of such events, made no comment. Attacks on the Natanz plant, according to Iran's acknowledgement, had the effect of setting its nuclear program back months. An ongoing search for the Iranians suspected of involvement in the operation, now fugitives, was foiled, since they are said to have been spirited to safety by Mossad agents.

Tehran, while spuriously claiming it has no interests in obtaining nuclear weapons, has been steadily increasing levels to which it enriches uranium far beyond the limit set by the Nuclear Agreement it signed in 2015, levels that outside nuclear scientists agree has only one application, and that would be a military application. "From a technical standpoint, the enemy's plan was rather beautiful", said head of the Iranian parliamentary energy committee, Fereydoon Abbasi Davani rashly.

A map of north Iran showing the location of Mossad’s first assaults on Natanz and quadcopter attack on Karaj (Photo: GETTY IMAGES, ASINGUARDS, YOUTUBE. Illustration: Sheree Fadil)

 

See No Evil

Members of Azov battalion attend a rally on the Volunteer Day honouring fighters, who joined the Ukrainian armed forces during a military conflict in the country's eastern regions, in central Kiev, Ukraine (credit: GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS)

"If Canada is going to be providing military training to foreign forces, then it is our responsibility to know we are not training neo-Nazis"

"It is our obligation to our Canadian veterans who sacrificed so much defeating fascism in Europe."

Jaime Kirzner-Roberts policy director, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center

"[Our group's members serve at present as officers in Ukraine's military and] have succeeded in establishing co-operation with foreign colleagues from such countries as France, the United Kingdom, Canada, the U.S.A. Germany and Poland."

"[We support] right patriots, nationalists, conservatives and Christians currently defending the streets of Kyiv from [Kyiv Pride event] perverts from the LGBT movement and their left-liberal sympathizers."

Ukraine fascist militia, Centuria

 

"White supremacy and neo-Nazism are unacceptable and have no place in our world. I am very pleased that the recently passed omnibus prevents the U.S. from providing arms and training assistance to the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion fighting in Ukraine."

"The State Department should pressure Kiev to dissociate itself with this group and investigate whether any of our weapons or training have already been provided to them,"

"This is just one of many reasons why lawmakers should be concerned about channeling huge amounts of weapons into this volatile conflict zone."

U.S.Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)

"Evidence uncovered in this paper suggests that since 2018, the Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Army Academy (NAA), Ukraine’s premier military education institution and a major hub for Western military assistance to the country, has been home to Centuria, a self-described order of 'European traditionalist' military officers that has the stated goals of reshaping the country’s military along right-wing ideological lines and defending the 'cultural and ethnic identity' of European peoples against 'Brussels’ politicos and bureaucrats'. The group envisions a future where 'European right forces are consolidated and national traditionalism is established as the disciplining ideological basis for the European peoples'."

"The group, led by individuals with ties to Ukraine’s internationally active far-right Azov movement, has attracted multiple members, including current and former officer cadets of the NAA now serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Apparent members have appeared in photos giving Nazi salutes and made seemingly extremist statements online."

Illiberalism Studies Program

A new report from an American university says far-right extremists in Ukraine’s military have bragged they received training from the Canadian Forces and other NATO nations. ANATOLII STEPANOV / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

George Washington University in Washington, D.C. recently published a study out of one of its institutes where social media accounts of the far-right group Centuria in Ukraine were tracked, documenting the fascist group's Ukrainian military members with Nazi salutes as they engage in the promotion of white nationalism, praising Nazi SS units' members. Nostalgia for another time and place where fascism threatened the world order and committed the gravest atrocities against humankind in the mid-20th Century during a time of a global-churning world war.

 

The Ukrainian nationalists militia group Centuria has been active since 2018 at the Hetman Petro Sahaidachy National Army Academy in Ukraine, according to the George Washington University's Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. Members of Centuria have left their handprint on social media, claiming to have received military training from the Canadian military, as well as having taken part in military exercises with Canada.

This is hugely disturbing news to institutions dedicated to vigilance for the appearance of fascist groups as threats to world stability. The Canadian military was apprised of the presence of neo-Nazis within their own services in the past year and speedily made efforts to root them out, claiming it has no tolerance for fascists operating within its ranks. Organizers with Centuria boasted on social media of their members currently serving as officers in Ukraine's military establishment.

The University of Washington report on their study has been widely read and was of huge interest to the Simon Wiesenthal Center dedicated to fighting fascism in memory of the institutional state obliteration of six million Jewish lives during the Holocaust years taking place within the theatre of the Second World War. The Center for Holocaust Studies wrote to the Acting Chief of the Canadian Defence Staff, General Wayne Eyre and to Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan asking them to launch an investigation.

It is the Simon Wiesenthal's position that the Canadian Forces should conduct an investigation to determine whether its troops have been involved in training neo-Nazis in Ukraine and to further devise a way to make certain military instruction through Canadian Forces' auspices do not reoccur. The response from the Canadian Forces was to advise that Ukraine must vet its own security forces; the Canadian military is not proactively engaged in determining backgrounds of foreign trainees, nor do they search out support for far-right groups.

Ukraine's government denies the very existence of Centuria. The hands-off approach of the Canadian military has understandably failed to quell the unease of the protesting Wiesenthal Center. In 2015 when the decision was reached to send Canadian troops to Ukraine, the then-Canadian defence minister was aware of the likely presence of far-right extremists in the Ukraine military and discussions were led on avoidance in training extremists.

The decision was reached to stipulate that units of the Ukrainian National Guard exclusively would be trained, avoiding the training opportunities that some ad hoc militias that had appeared in Ukraine at that time, seeking to take opportunities for themselves would be avoided. The Canadian defence critic MP Jack Harris however, gave warning that far-right groups were integrating themselves into the Ukraine military and the difficulty that would ensue attempting to isolate extremists.

A new report from an American university says far-right extremists in Ukraine’s military have bragged they received training from the Canadian Forces and other NATO nations. Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV /GETTY

China, Helping Canada See the Error of its Ways ....

"I had never even thought of China [back in 1979 when Beijing began opening up to its version of democracy-plus-free-enterprise]. It was not on my radar at all, but this sounded really interesting."
"So, my husband and I went over to China [to travel in China, which led to a master's degree in international relations with a Chinese focus]."
"When I came home [40 years later], I decided to speak out. Up until January [of 2019], I had never done an interview in my life. But I feel it's important that friends of China -- former friends of China -- speak out about this [Beijing's increasingly authoritarian streak]."
"I'm not feeling very friendly toward China, if you can tell."
Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, former vice-president, Canada-China Friendship Association

"We are rolling over, we are acquiescing, at a time when Chinese aggression is on the rise. We should be working with like-minded allies to send a real signal that such conduct is not condoned."
"[If keeping quiet and friendly were going to work with China, Spavor and Kovrig] would have been released months ago."
Erin O'Toole, Parliamentary opposition, foreign affairs critic

"[Beijing] is good at co-opting former government officials and politicians by offering them seats on boards and contracts."
"Obviously, then it becomes very difficult for you to become critical of China."
Guy Saint-Jacques, former Canadian ambassador to China


"There's nothing like back door devices being installed by Huawei. So that's a groundless accusation."
"So we do hope that the Canadian side will provide a fair, just and a non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies, including Huawei."
"We do hope that the Canadian side will reflect on what has happened and take concrete measures to push our relationship back to the normal track. So that's the task for the government."
"And we do hope that those important people in the new [Liberal] cabinet will play an active role in making sure that relations of our two countries return to their normal track on the basis of mutual respect and equality."
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Canada Cong Peiwu

Cong Peiwu spoke to reporters at China's Embassy in Ottawa  CBC

"When they get Huawei into Canada ... they're going to know every health record, every banking record, every social media post -- they're going to know everything about every single Canadian."
"What the Chinese are doing makes Facebook and Google look like child's play, as far as collecting information on folks. The Huawei Trojan horse is frightening, it's terrifying."
"I find it amazing that our allies and friends in other liberal democracies would allow Huawei in ... I'm surprised that there's even a debate out there."
"[Such an intrusion would impact on Canada's participation in the Five Eyes Intelligence alliance of Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S.]."
Robert O'Brien, U.S. National Security Adviser

Ambassador Cong, in delivering Beijing's message to Ottawa, is using coded language when he urges the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to 'return to their normal track', and to 'take concrete measures to push our relationship back to the normal track'. He has outlined the 'task for the government' of Canada. There is nothing necessarily that Beijing must do to restore relations between the two nations, for it has done nothing untoward. It was Canada's concurrence through its extradition treaty with its southern neighbour that launched the unfortunate decision to comply with the U.S. by assaulting China.

For in arresting Huawei Technology's CFO Meng Wenzhou at the behest of the U.S. State Department, this is what Beijing has accused Canada of -- criminal malfeasance, defying international law. Whereas China's response to the insult bestowed upon one of its citizens by summarily arresting two Canadians in China for business purposes and accusing them of plotting against China -- charging them with espionage, incarcerating them under harsh conditions while Ms. Meng, out on bail, lives in one of her luxury mansions in Vancouver -- has been mindful of and obedient to the rule of law.

Beijing knows with whom it is dealing. While former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien was in office he led numerous elaborate 'trade missions' to China from Canada, familiarizing himself with useful Chinese officials whom he called upon once he left office to become a private citizen and continued to lead trade missions to China, the prestige of a former prime minister opening doors, and with his insider status intact. When former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's policy was to regard trade with China as second to its human rights abuses, Mr. Chretien poured scorn upon him; nothing should impede unrestrained trade alliances with China.

This Liberal government under Justin Trudeau has tread softly around China's outrageous response to the U.S.-Canada extradition treaty, when Beijing arrested two Canadians, imposed death sentences for drug smuggling on another two Canadians and placed punishing constraints on the importation of Canadian canola, soy, peas, pork and beef products, devastating the Canadian agricultural sector through punishing sanctions on a country that refused to come to heel and release the Huawei executive.

Michael Spavor, left, former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, right (Canadian Press)

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston had dedicated her working life to enhancing relations between Canada and China, collaborating to advance the relationship between the two countries. She aided China in its science and technology development during its period of reform, as a Canadian civil servant, while considering herself a staunch "friend of China". And then, after forty years of work in that realm the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, followed by the incarceration of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, she discovered her locked luggage had been unlocked and rifled through in her Shanghai hotel room.

Soon a local business acquaintance informed her of a list of 100 Canadians that Chinese authorities had compiled representing those who could be detained and interrogated, among the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who live and work in China; Hong Kong alone has 300,000 people with Canadian citizenship. In other words, Canadians living in Hong Kong are also under scrutiny and their security is of concern as well, particularly given the violent turn of the protests in the partially autonomous city.

And China has warned Canada, through the stern advice of its latest ambassador that it would not be in Canada's interests to 'interfere' in China's internal affairs.

A protester is detained by riot police while attempting to leave the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) during clashes with police in Hong Kong, China November 18, 2019. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

The current Liberal government in Canada takes advice from its past prime minister on such issues; and no doubt the advice was not to further ruffle any feathers, to sit back and let events take their course. Naturally, the imprisoned Canadians, despite the harsh conditions they are suffering, would staunchly opt to sit back and suffer their circumstances, in support of their government's position, for no sacrifice is too great to protect Canadian trade with China.

Some 140 and more signatories in the academic and diplomatic global community demanded through a joint letter that China release Kovrig and Spavor. A mere 6 Canadian academics and six former Canadian ambassadors to China signed.

It has been observed that more than a few advisers to the Liberal government have what they consider to be valued and hard-won ties and interests in China. The new ambassador to Beijing, Dominic Barton, among them. Many Canadian academics, politicians and business leaders have compromised positions finding it difficult to criticize China, for to do so would be to risk the status they have won and cherish for the opportunities and funding that status guarantees them.