CIA Director John Brennan: Iran Knows It Would Face Consequences If It Should Pursue Its Nuclear Program

CNN: CIA head: U.S. intel has 'robust' knowledge of Iran nuclear capabilities

Washington (CNN)Iran would build a nuclear bomb "at their own peril" if nuclear talks with the United States and other leading countries falter, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan said Sunday.

"I think they realize that there's going to be tremendous costs and consequences and implications if they were to decide to go for a 'breakout,'" Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday," referring to Iran amassing enough of the materials necessary to build a nuclear bomb rather than use those materials for civil energy.

"There are a number of things that the United States has available to it to prevent Iran from getting a bomb," Brennan said. "President Obama has made it very clear that we are going to prevent Iran from having that type of nuclear weapon that they may have been going on track to obtain. So if they decide to go down that route they know that they will do so at their own peril."

More News On CIA Director Brennan's Comments On Iran

CIA director warns of 'tremendous costs' if Iran pursues a nuke -- The Hill
CIA's Brennan: Iran knows it would face consequences for nuclear program -- Reuters
Obama's CIA director: We'll keep pressure on Iran -- USA Today
CIA director says US will keep pressure on Iran over nuclear capabilities despite outcome of ongoing talks -- FOX News

America's Iraq Strategy Is Becoming Dependent On Iran

Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, poses with Kurdish fighters in Iraq in this undated photo. (photo by Twitter/@Mojtaba_Fathi)

New York Times: U.S. Strategy in Iraq Increasingly Relies on Iran

WASHINGTON — At a time when President Obama is under political pressure from congressional Republicans over negotiations to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, a startling paradox has emerged: Mr. Obama is becoming increasingly dependent on Iranian fighters as he tries to contain the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria without committing American ground troops.

In the four days since Iranian troops joined 30,000 Iraqi forces to try to wrest Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit back from Islamic State control, American officials have said the United States is not coordinating with Iran, one of its fiercest global foes, in the fight against a common enemy.

WNU Editor: Some are seeing this development as a positive thing .... Why Iran's rise is a good thing (CNN) .... but I have my doubts. But I do understand that in the current climate there is no stomach in the U.S. for a more active military role in Iraq .... and the Iraqis know that. So to them their choices are limited .... and Iran is offering to help. The question that needs to be answered is .... what does Iran expect in return from the Iraqi government for this assistance, and I will hazard a guess that the price (for the Iraqis and for U.S. policy in the region) is going to be high.

Top Iran Commander: The 'U.S. Is Begging For A Deal'

Major General Mohammad Reza Naghdi . Flickr

Washington Free Beacon: Iran: The ‘Americans Are Begging Us for a Deal’

‘Iran prepares itself for war with global powers’

WNU Editor: I would love to be a fly in their conference room when these Iranians discuss issues like this one.

A U.S. - Iran Alliance For Stability In Afghanisatan, Iraq, And Afghanistan?

Breitbart: Report: U.S. Prepared To Rely Upon Iran For Regional Stability In Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria

European officials have reportedly relayed a message to Israeli officials about the Obama administration’s plans concerning the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. The U.S. and Iran are reportedly closing in on a deal that would allow the Ayatollah’s regime to keep the vast majority of its centrifuges running, while also allowing for Iran to be in charge of stabilizing its surrounding region.

WNU Editor: The Europeans were the ones who told Israel on what is the current situation in the Iranian nuclear talks .... not the U.S.. If this report is true it says volumes on what is the current state of affairs between Israel and the U.S..

U.S. And Iranian Forces Are Operating In Separate Areas In Iraq

Iran Attacked Islamic State Forces in Iraq -- WSJ

U.S. Not Coordinating With Tehran on Airstrikes

Iran launched airstrikes in recent days against Islamic State forces along its border with Iraq, an effort to exert more military influence in the region in the face of America’s resurgent role.

It was the first public disclosure of Iranian air force attacks on Islamic State in Iraq. Iran didn't coordinate the strikes or share intelligence with the U.S., officials from both countries said Wednesday, showing that even though their interests in fighting Islamic State are aligning, there is still deep distrust between them.

Iran’s intervention in Iraq poses a conundrum for American officials who welcome help in battling the Sunni extremists of Islamic State, but are worried that the region’s main Shiite power is more intent on fueling sectarian tensions than helping stabilize its neighbor.

Read more ....

More News On U.S. And Iranian Forces Operating In Iraq

US, Iranian forces operate in separate areas in Iraq -- AFP
War with Isis: Iran joins ‘Great Satan’s’ fight against militants with bombing raids over Iraq -- The Independent
Iranian air force bombing ISIS targets in Iraq without officially joining U.S.-led mission -- National Post/The Telegraph
Here's The 'Buffer Zone' Where The US Says Iran Is Bombing ISIS -- Business Insider
Islamic State: Kerry says any Iran strikes 'positive' -- BBC
U.S. remains opposed to cooperating with Iran against Islamic State: White House -- Reuters
Iranian Airstrikes In Iraq Suggest Warming Relations With US, Maybe Even Coordination -- IBTimes
US and Iran have been forced on to the same side by Isis -- Ian Black, The Guardian

My Comment: They may not be talking to each other, but I suspect that the Iraqi military is acting as the coordinating body to make sure that U.S. and Iranian forces do not find themselves accidentally facing each other in the middle of a war-zone.

U.S. Military Charter Plane With 100 Americans Has Been Forced Down In Iran By Iranian Fighter Jets

U.S. Military Charter Plane Forced To Land In Iran -- Washington Post

A U.S. military charter aircraft flying from Afghanistan has been forced down in Iran by Iranian fighter jets, according to officials familiar with the incident.

The plane, which departed Bagram air base on Friday, was chartered by the Pentagon from Fly Dubai, an airliner based in the United Arab Emirates, and was carrying approximately 100 Americans and possibly a pair of Canadians. After being intercepted by the fighter jets, the plane was escorted to the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas.

Read more ....

More News On Reports That A U.S. Military Charter Plane With 100 Americans Has Been Forced Down In Iran By Iranian Fighter Jets

Officials: U.S. charter airplane carrying Americans forced to land in Iran -- CNN
U.S. says plane from Afghanistan landed in Iran over 'bureaucratic issue' -- Reuters
Plane Carrying U.S. Military Personnel Forced to Land in Iran -- Time
U.S. military charter lands in Iran -- USA Today
Flight from US Base Lands in Iran -- VOA
Plane from U.S. airbase makes unplanned landing in Iran -- Washington Times

As The U.S. And Iran Continue Their Attacks Against The Islamic State In Iraq, They Also Continue To Ignore Each Other

U.S. And Iran Hit ISIS, Ignore Each Other -- Eli Lake, Daily Beast

With ISIS over-running Syrian bases, the time might seem right for a grand alliance against the Islamic State. But so far, the U.S. isn’t talking to Iran or Syria’s armies.

U.S. warplanes striking targets in Iraq. Iranian tanks are reportedly moving into the northern part of the country. But the two foreign militaries fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) are not talking to one another.

U.S. and Iraqi officials tell The Daily Beast that, for now, there is no direct channel to coordinate military activities inside Iraq. Instead messages are occasionally passed by senior Iraqi officials who have for years served as interlocutors between Iran and the United States.

“Our channels are no different than they were a year ago,” said one senior U.S. official. “There is a lot of activity, but we have not opened a new channel.”

Read more ....

My Comment: There has to be some coordination between the two .... and I am willing to bet that Iraqi forces are playing the intermediary role between the U.S. and Iran.

A U.S. - Iran - Hezbollah Alliance?

Powerless To Stop Islamic State, West May Have To Join Forces With Iran, Hezbollah -- Jerusalem Post

Israel, Sunni world wary of any Western rapprochement with Iran; Israeli expert says West is helpless, doesn't know what to do against Islamic State.

US attacks on the Sunni Islamic State in Iraq and its cooperation and arming of the ruling Shi’ite government there, is the latest signal that the West is moving towards an arrangement with the Shi’ite Iranian axis, which includes Hezbollah, Iraq, and Syria.

Such an alignment has been feared by the Sunni world and Israel for some time.

For example, the Obama administration has allowed Iran to drag out negotiations over the country’s nuclear program and reportedly indirectly shared intelligence with Hezbollah to counter Islamist jihadists in Lebanon.

Read more ....

My Comment: This is what happens when international strategic thinking and planning goes AWOL from the White House (or when it is completely wrong) .... we have discussions like this one from the Jerusalem Post.

Iraqi Air Space Is Getting Crowded With U.S. And Iranian Drones

An MQ-9 Reaper UAV taxies after landing at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. US, Iranian and Iraqi unmanned vehicles share airspace over Iraqi skies. (Tech. Sgt. Erik Gudmundson / US Air Force)

US, Iranian Drones Crowd Iraqi Air Space -- Defense News

WASHINGTON — Despite a years-long history of intermittently sniping at one another’s drones in the skies over Iraq, Afghanistan and the Arabian Gulf, the United States and Iran have for the most part avoided each other in the air.

But with the US now flying about 50 missions a day over Iraq and a dedicated Iranian drone and signals intelligence presence having been established in Baghdad, the two rivals find themselves overtly sharing the same airspace, even while denying any coordination or contact.

Of course, Iraq is a big place, and the prospect of two aircraft bumping into one another is remote. But given the “shoot first, ask questions later” approach the two countries have taken toward one another’s unmanned aerial assets, the possibility for another volley exists in the long-running, if rather sleepy, drone war.

Read more ....

My Comment: The U.S. and the Iranians are not only looking at what is happening on the ground in Iraq .... but they are also looking at each other. Talk about a messed up situation.