Thread: Iran says breaks up CIA spy ring, some sentenced to death

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran captured 17 spies working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and some have been sentenced to death, Iranian media reported on Monday.


Iranian state television published images it said showed the CIA officers who were in touch with the suspected spies.


There was no immediate comment on the Iranian allegations by the CIA or U.S. officials.
Iran announced in June that it had broken up an alleged CIA spy ring but it was unclear whether Monday’s announcement was linked to the same case.


MORE https://www.reuters.com/article/us-m...-idUSKCN1UH0JD

Iran is really trying to force a large scale international incident, not sure why, but they are going all out for it now.

Trump’s latest Twit.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Iran is really trying to force a large scale international incident, not sure why, but they are going all out for it now.

they want to test a few nuke on israel

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Iran is really trying to force a large scale international incident, not sure why, but they are going all out for it now.

So, why - in order to deescalate the "international incident - they do not let the spies spying further on?
And/or they should listen to Trump, he surely know a thing or two about CIA spies around the world. Or perhaps, such "intelligence searcher" do not at all exist...

Originally Posted by Klondyke

So, why - in order to deescalate the "international incident - they do not let the spies spying further on?
And/or they should listen to Trump, he surely know a thing or two about CIA spies around the world. Or perhaps, such "intelligence searcher" do not at all exist...

Respectfully, I'm not sure if English is your first language, but that is quite difficult to decypher.

From Trump

Their economy is dead, and will get much worse.

Is there a 'worse' scenario than being dead?

Yes...

Originally Posted by Latindancer

Yes...

With being dead there is no possibility of a comeback. But with the above ^^ there is.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Iran is really trying to force a large scale international incident, not sure why, but they are going all out for it now.

I think the Iranians have played this extremely well. They know what they are doing, understand their strengths and weaknesses, know their limits and what the intl community are prepared to absorb, and that the one thing they are definitely not trying to force is a large scale international incident.

They may come across as 3W monkeys, and some say they're in deep economic doodoo despite their recent $150bn windfall, but in regard to the Brit tanker they got it spot on.

First, only fools and politicians might not expect them to retaliate for the seizure of their own tanker, which explains why Brit authorities a) failed to protect the vessel, b) were duly shocked by its seizure and c) would predictably respond with hollow outrage.

Next, over the previous months they had invited a reluctant Trump to rehash the nuclear deal; he recently rejected their offer outright, which is a good starting point for negotiations, and imho this indicates some form of formal talks will begin soon. Call it a panic or a reminder or a warning that Iran is not going to be pushed around, but hours later they seize a UK tanker, to demonstrate they can defend themselves and also cause major maritime (for now) disruption, so that their offer for talks is made from a position of strength, not weakness.

Well played so far. They made it clear early on that the seizure was not an attempt to blockade the Strait, which could rapidly escalate, but a measured response to Brit provocation. The oil price responded with a blip and settled very quickly, which says the oil market, which is very much on the ball in these matters, does not expect any military response or escalation; iow, the markets accept that Iran is at it again, ho hum, nothing to see here.

Their choice of tanker would not have been random, rather precise, well defined, premeditated and targeted over days or even weeks. They are experts at cat and mouse, know their region and their adversaries, calculate these moves very carefully, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that every passing tanker and military vessel is assessed for strategic and tactical value. In this respect, from their pov, it's the Brits they are striking at, not the US, which makes sense in many ways not least in potential for escalation or other troublesome response. The message to the US is clear using the Brit proxy, we're ready to talk but won't be pushed around.

And part of that message is to clinically sideline the Brits on this one. What can they do? It would be deeply humiliating to release the tanker they seized so that's out, while attempting a tanker rescue would be so daft that not even a desperate Brit gov might consider it, which leaves them comfortably impotent, at the mercy of a no big deal act of piracy responding to plausible provocation, and unable to do more than 'talk'. And the message also affects other flagholders that will think twice or more before 'provoking' the Iranians; good therapy.

Next, in doing so during a lame duck PM's final days, with fond memories of past form, they know nothing would be done in the immediate aftermath beyond the usual howling, and that the longer 'diplomacy' takes to hatch a compromise the more embarrassing and expensive it will be to the UK, ignoring for now its 'allies' which are few and far distant considering more than the yet to unfold Brexit drama.

This is Hunt's brief, he's a candidate for PM, and his handling will not have earned him any brownie points. And we know, so the Iranians probably also knew that Bojo is likely to win the PM race, and the value in having this package ticketed No 1 to land with a thud on his desk with everyone waiting to see how well the new broom sweeps. While he became PM on charisma, the one thing he isn't is a great diplomatic genius, so he will start his term in DS with the world watching as he fcuks up, which won't help much when it comes to more serious chore of delivering a Brexit under impossible conditions.

Not cheerleading, but strike 12&3 for Iran.

Originally Posted by jabir

They may come across as 3W monkeys, and some say they're in deep economic doodoo despite their recent $150bn windfall, but in regard to the Brit tanker they got it spot on.

It's a Swedish-owned tanker, crewed by Indians, Latvians, Filipinos and Russians. It is merely British flagged.

So the British government can sit back and tut, while Vlad quietly reminds them of the bad press they'll get if they mistreat the crew.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Respectfully, I'm not sure if English is your first language, but that is quite difficult to decypher.

OK, sorry, if not understanding, forget it, not so important.

De-escalating is an opposite to a "force a large scale international incident". When discovering some spies, why not to make it similarly and "decently" like in "Salisbury poisoning"?

Or why not to make it like Jeremy Hunt declared that "he does not want to escalate the Gulf conflict", however he is sending there another warship(s)...

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Respectfully, I'm not sure if English is your first language, but that is quite difficult to decypher.

He only speaks one language: Fucking idiotese