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Sunday, October 30, 2011

‘US tightening noose around Iran neck?’ – Press TV

Iran’s state-run English-language Press TV today offered an analysis on the growing tensions in Iran-US relations. In a piece titled ‘US tightening noose around Iran neck?’, appearing prominently on its website, it examines the issue in the aftermath of the alleged Iranian assassination plot.

Following the anti-Iran Saudi envoy assassination scenario, the US agenda to tighten its grip on the Islamic Republic has taken a new shape and form,” Press TV quotes its political analyst, Ismail Salami [Press TV, 30 October].

“A Republican-controlled congressional committee has recently heard testimony demanding an extensive range of covert operations against the country under the false pretext of Tehran's involvement in a plot to assassinate Saudi envoy to Washington,” Salami said.

“The US has been carrying out many covert operations to that effect since 2007 -- assassinating several Iranian scientists, including Massoud Ali-Mohammadi and Majid Shahriari, throwing support behind minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchis and other opposition groups as well as gathering intelligence on Iranian nuclear sites, to name a few” [Press TV, 30 October].

In a related story, the New York Times reported today that the Obama administration plans to bolster the American military presence in the Persian Gulf after it withdraws the remaining troops from Iraq this year.

“That repositioning could include new combat forces in Kuwait able to respond to a collapse of security in Iraq or a military confrontation with Iran,” the Times reports. “In addition to negotiations over maintaining a ground combat presence in Kuwait, the United States is considering sending more naval warships through international waters in the region.

“With an eye on the threat of a belligerent Iran, the administration is also seeking to expand military ties with the six nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)— Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman” [The New York Times, 30 October].

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