Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran

By Spencer Ackerman

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are at a high point, as the Islamic Republic threatens to close off a vital waterway and two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups sit in the seas off the Iranian coast. But across the Persian Gulf, the U.S. has a previously unacknowledged weapon in reserve: a new special operations team.

Danger Room has confirmed with the U.S. Special Operations Command that a new elite commando team is operating in the region. The primary, day-to-day mission of the team, known as Joint Special Operations Task Force-Gulf Cooperation Council, is to mentor military units belonging to the U.S.’ oil-rich Arab allies, who collectively are known as the Gulf Cooperation Council. Those Arab states consider Iran to be their primary foreign threat.

The task force provides “highly trained personnel that excel in uncertain environments,” Maj. Rob Bockholt, a spokesman for special-operations forces in the Mideast, tells Danger Room, and “seeks to confront irregular threats.” The U.S. military has not previously acknowledged the existence of the team, known as JSOTF-GCC for short.

The unit began its existence in mid-2009 — around the time that the Iranian leadership rejected President Obama’s offer of a new diplomatic dialogue and underwent a serious internal challenge to its legitimacy from Green Movement protesters. But whatever the task force does about Iran — or might do in the future — is a sensitive subject with the military.

“It would be inappropriate to discuss operational plans regarding any particular nation,” Bockholt says about Iran.

There is no direct evidence that JSOTF-GCC has been involved in offensive action against Iran. It is unlikely, for instance, that JSOTF-GCC killed Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan last week, an assassination the U.S. has firmly denied any role in and for which the Israelis, reports Eli Lake of Newsweek, are all but openly taking credit.

Some special-operations veterans — who did not wish to be identified or quoted — downplayed the significance of the new task force, expecting it to primarily advise Gulf nations on how to train their own forces, and speculated that its actual role against Iran was indirect at most. Col. Tim Nye, the chief spokesman for the U.S. Special Operations Command, says the task force is responsible “for coordinating all SOF [Special Operations Forces] engagements and training with Gulf Cooperation Council nations.”

The special operations forces of those nations have shown a notable improvement over the past year. Qatari commandos quietly traveled to Libya ahead of Moammar Gadhafi’s downfall to prepare Libyan rebels for the successful capture of Tripoli. The United Arab Emirates, another close U.S. ally, has also made its elite forces a priority, even hiring Blackwater’s founder to bolster their training.

Not many details are available about the task force. It’s built around Naval Special Warfare Unit Three, one of the elite Navy SEAL teams. But the “Joint” in the task force’s name signals that it draws from the special-operations forces in the Army, Air Force and Marines as well. Its commander is a Navy captain or equivalent in a different service.

Officials would not identify missions of the task force, its leadership or its headquarters, citing the safety of the personnel involved and the success of those missions.

Even if JSOTF-GCC is primarily a training team, it represents another military option for the U.S. in the region during at a time of escalating rhetoric with Iran. The Iranians are threatening to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane through which a fifth of the world’s oil travels, as two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups float nearby. And when the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the U.S. could reopen the waterway by force, there might be an elite commando team nearby to help do it.

HIV created by West to enfeeble third world, claims Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Russia warned on Wednesday that an attack on Iran would be a "catastrophe" for the region and said world powers should adopt a policy of non-intervention in the Middle East and North Africa.

“It is impossible to list all the consequences [of an attack],” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an annual address. “But I have no doubt that it would pour oil on the still smoldering fire of Sunni-Shia confrontation, which would lead to a chain reaction.”

"As for how likely such a catastrophe is, you need to ask those who constantly mention this as an option," Lavrov added. He also said that Russia would “do everything” in its power to prevent an attack on Iran.

Although Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday that Israel was "very far off" from taking the decision to strike Iran, Washington and Tel Aviv have refused to rule out military force against Tehran over suspicions that its nuclear program is aimed at the production of atomic weapons.

Iran, which recently began enriching uranium at an underground bunker, denies it is seeking nuclear arms and says its program is to provide peaceful civilian energy.

Lavrov also said that sanctions on Iranian oil exports being discussed by the European Union would “hurt” ordinary people and were more about stirring up unrest than preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

"This has nothing to do with a desire to strengthen nuclear non-proliferation," he said. "It's aimed at stifling the Iranian economy and the population in the apparent hope of provoking discontent."
Sanctions would also prove “an obstacle” to the revival of a dialog between Iran and the six world powers involved in negotiations on its nuclear program, Lavrov said.

Oil exports make up some 80 percent of Iran’s foreign revenues and Tehran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, the export route for one third of global seaborne traded oil, in response to sanctions.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said such a move would provoke a response.

But analysts are doubtful Russia has the military and economic clout to play a decisive role on Iran
“Russia has practically no real influence left in the Middle East,” analyst Sergei Demidenko of the Moscow-based The Institute of Strategic Studies and Analysis told RIA Novosti. “It does not play a decisive role and we have no way of returning our Soviet-era influence.”

“Iran can not rely on Russia to defend it. The U.S. and Israel are certainly not afraid of this. Russia will definitely not go to war over Iran,” he added.

Another analyst suggested Russia’s reluctance to antagonize Iran was partly linked to fears that Tehran could finance and support the ongoing Islamist insurgency in its volatile North Caucasus region.

“No one needs an Iranian nuclear bomb…but we do not need Iran to attack Russia’s interests in the North Caucasus either,” Yevgeny Satanovsky of the Institute of Middle Eastern studies told RIA.
“It would be very easy for Iran to organize something like Hezbollah in south Lebanon on Russian territory, if Moscow supported an attack,” he said.

Lavrov also said the landmark events that swept the Middle East and North Africa last year were far from at an end, but that world powers should refrain from interference – even if developments were not always to their liking.

“The changes in the region are far from being concluded and we are witness to what is merely the start of this transition,” Sergei Lavrov told journalists.

“If we are in favor of the people of these countries determining for themselves their own futures, then we must accept their choices and not interfere in national dialogues or electoral campaigns,” he said.
Islamist parties dominated Egypt’s first parliamentary elections since last February's overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, securing almost two-thirds of the vote between them.

But Lavrov said that the international community should seek to work with such “radical”
movements and that the use of force as a means of influencing events in the region was unacceptable.
“It is important to be governed by the principles that govern doctors - ‘do no harm,’” Lavrov said.
On Syria, Lavrov said Russia would offer no explanations or justification to the U.S. for an alleged recent arms delivery to Damascus.

"We don't consider it necessary to explain or justify ourselves, as we are not violating any international agreements or any [U.N.] Security Council resolutions," Lavrov said.

“We are only dealing with Syria in those items not outlawed under international law,” he added.
Lavrov’s comments followed the arrival last week of a Russian-operated ship in Syria. An official in Cyprus, where the vessel was briefly held up, said the ship was carrying ammunition.

The United States later said it had raised the issue of the ship’s cargo with Moscow. U.S. envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice said on Tuesday that Washington had "very grave concerns about arms flows into Syria from any source."

Russia and China in October vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have imposed an arms embargo on Syria. The UN says some 5,000 people have died since an uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March.

Moscow has insisted, however, that violence in Syria is being instigated by both government forces and rebels and on Wednesday Lavrov repeated calls for the two sides to lay down their arms.

"Weapons are being supplied to fighters and extremists in Syria who are trying to exploit the protest movement to seize power…this is unacceptable and non-productive,” he said. "We consider necessary a halt to any form of violence in Syria, wherever it might originate, and the start of an all-inclusive national dialogue."

Lavrov also slammed unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe against Syria.
“Unilateral sanctions are always an undermining of collective efforts,” he said, “be they against Iran, Syria or any other country.”

HIV created by West to enfeeble third world, claims Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has claimed that Western nations created HIV to enfeeble the third world and create a market for Western pharmaceuticals.

by Ahmad Vahdat

The radical Iranian leader added to his reputation for outlandish statements with the clam that African states were being false told that immoral behaviour was the source of epidemics.

"Today there is this outstanding question that why so many killer viruses, including the HIV virus, have spread all over the world. Many so-called experts say the spread has come as a result of vices and immoralities but we see that in the centre of the places that these viruses have emerged these immoral acts have not been reported," he said. "Then how is it that at the same time in some African countries they find these viruses?

"It is obvious that the African countries must be plundered of their wealth and resources. The major powers and despots are behind the development of these diseases so they could then sell their drugs and medical equipment to the poor countries".

Iran¹s Health Minister Fatemeh Vahid Dastjerdi has also said that Iran¹s profit margin from its oil production is only five percent of its total sale price, whereas pharmaceutical firms¹ profits is 20 percent for each drug they sell.

President Ahmadinejad has previously said that Israel in its present form should be wiped off the face of the map and suggested that the September 11 attacks on the US were planned from within.

"Some segments within the American government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy, and its grips on the Middle

East, in order to save the Zionist regime," he said.

The Iranian president also claimed there was no homosexuals in Iran.

Did Israel postpone joint drill with US?

As opposed to earlier reports whereby major US-Israel exercise delayed as not to escalate regional tensions, American media say Jerusalem asked to annul drill due to budgetary constraints

by Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON – The postponement of a major US-Israel drill planned for the coming weeks was initiated by Jerusalem, according to US media reports.

Israel reportedly asked to put off the exercise because of defense budget cuts, Jewish news agency JTA reported Tuesday. Meanwhile, Yahoo News, quoting US defense officials, said the postponement request came directly from Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

"Minister Barak called Secretary Panetta and asked if we could take the exercise off the calendar. The Israelis were concerned that they did not have the resources in place to carry it out effectively," a US official was quoted as saying by Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic.

The postponed drill was slated to be held within weeks, yet now it appears it will not be held before the second half of the year, at the earliest.

According to Yahoo, American sources expressed concerns that Israel's request to put off the aerial defense exercise was a warning that Jerusalem is keeping all options open, including a possible strike on Iran's nuclear facilities in the spring.

Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, said the exercise was canceled for routine reasons of wanting “optimum participation” by both sides, JTA reported.

“It is not at all uncommon for routine exercises to be postponed,” Kirby said. “There were a variety of factors at play in this case, but in general, leaders from both sides believe that optimum participation by all units is best achieved later in the year. We remain dedicated to this exercise and naturally want it to be as robust and as productive as it can be.”

According to earlier reports, Israeli officials said the Americans asked to delay the drill so as not to heighten tensions with Iran over its nuclear program.

Report: Iran planning attacks on U.S. targets in Turkey

According to Turkish Zaman daily, a cell of the Quds Unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is planning to attack U.S. embassy in Ankara.

 By Avi Issacharoff

The Turkish newspaper Zaman reported Tuesday that Turkish intelligence has warned that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is planning attacks on the American embassy and American consulates throughout the country.

According to the report, Turkey’s security forces have warned police in all 81 districts throughout the country, telling them to remain alert and vigilant.

The report states that according to Turkish intelligence, it is likely that a cell of the Quds Unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is planning to break into the U.S. Embassy or one of its consulates. The intelligence further stated that the cell is planning on staying at a five-star hotel in the city in which the attack is being planned, cautioning forces to focus on foreigners residing in those hotels.

Moreover, the report states that Hezbollah may take part in such attacks against Americans.

According to Turkish intelligence, Iran is attempting to support the operations of small, illegal Turkish organizations in the wake of Turkey’s decision to establish a NATO radar within its territory, and due to Ankara’s condemnation of the Assad regime in Syria.