Delivering his first Friday prayers in eight years, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed the assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and the downing of a Ukrainian airliner, saying that Iranians must not forget Soleimani’s sacrifice.
Khanenei slammed Soleimani’s killing as cowardly, and condemned President Trump as a “clown,” saying he only feigns support for the Iranian people, and would “push a poisonous dagger” into the nation’s back the first chance he got.
Khamenei’s comments come amid US-backed protests against the airliner shootdown. He tried to downplay the protests in general, suggesting they amounted to Iran’s foes trying to exploit the tragedy.
It’s not hard to see where Iran might get that idea, as despite the relatively small size of the protests, the US has heavily, and repeatedly endorsed them. The US is quickly on board any protests in Iran, claiming they are proof of a strong desire for regime change, even if in cases like this the protests themselves are narrowly focused on a single issue.
I agree with Khamenie, so do many others…….
Trump is a frequent liar but Khamenei tells the biggest lies.
Zionist troll ….
Go away.
If Supreme Leader Khamenei Surena’d Soleimani, yes, he certainly would be a far bigger liar than Trump ever was.
People forget, Solemani may have been a Middle East resistance saint, but had to work for fundamentalist theocratic fiends.
To bad the IRGC would mistakenly conflate loyalty to the Revolution with loyalty to personalities in the Supreme leadership who might have betrayed it.
They took full responsibility for downing an airliner that may have already been doomed by another event.
Tor M1 AA missile systems are heavily automated; IRGC human error is not enough of an explanation for firing twice at a civilian airliner.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/who-targeted-ukraine-airlines-flight-752-iran/5700765
Thanks for the update. Global Research and Giraldi are great resources.
Was the plane spoofed, was certainly a day 1 question, but the Iranian government is not claiming that. They are just letting the IRGC take the fall. They have also claimed the investigation could take up to two years. Holding out for a solid case before making counter claims is possible.
Why the transponder was turned off is a question; Ukraine Flight 752 was delayed for an hour offloading baggage to reduce weight; the pilot may have turned off the transponder then forgotten to turn it back on. However, this is also a window around airport security to plant a bomb.
The documented swerve into IRGC airspace has not been retracted. The Iran Civil Aviation Authority did confirm Ukraine Flight 752 remained in its flight corridor until something hit it. The IRGC faithfully reported the first day, they shot down the jetliner AFTER it veered into protected airspace – leaving its flight corridor. They may have shot an already doomed bird. The 737 is rugged enough to maybe survive a small hit for a short time, but not two Tors.
The Tor M1, manned or automated, jammed or spoofed, would still react to specific triggers like a sudden incursion into its airspace. Being jammed or spoofed would likely only blind the operator as to the cause of a radar lock.
Had Ukraine Flight 752 remained in its flight corridor, there having been no other incidents, suggests they would have been fine as well.
However, high military readiness ready to shoot down intruders, should have mandated Iran to closing all airports; put on a real military security alert, not security theatre.
The global derivatives trade resting on the open Straights of Hormuz, rated in quadrillions of dollars, pretty much rules out war starting from the U.S. side. They would understand that. Closing airports, though, costs money.
If something made the jetliner turn, perhaps stricken by a bomb or MANPADS, already on fire, then that is the missing link not accounted for by IRGC Tors, yet not really addressed.
Soleimani died fairly easily, like his head was offered on a platter. Maybe he got careless, maybe not, with his own masters.
Whatever happened, Trump got lucky. For now. Fifth Generation warfare may be ‘in’, but nothing excuses the murder of 176 civilian non-combatants.
Mr Brockland, you are, perhaps one of few that looked beyond the vale. Just know a civil war is brewing between the warrior cast and the religious cast for the betrayal.
That sounds like a speculation without anything to give it some substance.
Way back in the nineties, Soleimani was already a targeted man. Just one example. He has shown his true capabilities in a nasty proxy war lasting near seven years.
It was Bill Clinton’s brain child — arming Iranian Kurds to start fight for secession. Which Soleimani won by a total defeat of insurgents. To spread the confusion on another Clinton front in Bosnia, CIA placed stories locally that IRAN funded and armed Bosnian Moslems, and that Soleimani was personally in Bosnia promising to fight Serbs. Published in a Croatian rag — it created a good smoke screen for Saudis who funded and brought foreign fighters. All Moslems in Balkans are Sunnis, with some Sufi variety. But Serbian people locally were easily fooled — took them a while to sort this out. To figure out how head chopping Wahhabism had nothing to do with Iran.
I do not put any credence in stories of inter-Iranian cloak and dagger stories. Soleimani did not strike me as fly-off-the-handle, solo-flying type.
And somehow I do not believe at all that an individual — no matter how well known — is an architect nor the only person with liaison responsibilities in the region.
Keep in mind that Revolutionary Guards have started to feature prominently ONLY after we lost AHMEDINEJAD as our favorite Iranian bad guy. With him gone — another PERSONIFICATION was needed.
I am wondering who will be next — propaganda at all times requires a villain.
No, this is about Oil vis-a-vs China, Iraq Reconstruction, the Petro-Dollar, and arms sales.
So, the constant flip-flopping and lying of the Iranian Supreme Leader and Prime Minister don’t suggest something’s off? Or the peculiar, seemingly expectant acceptance by the West of the gift of Iran shooting down their own air liner, putting to rest Iran Flight 655?
Seems like Supreme Leader was expecting certain outcomes, then everything went off-script with the shootdown but the ad-lib followed the original plan a bit too closely.
Khamenei sent Soleimani on his last mission.
As you yourself appear to understand, Soleimani would normally travel far more covertly than he did that night. Then Khamenei sheds tears at Soleimani’s funeral, but does not acknowledge his role. Top that off with ‘generously’ accepting the IRGC’s self-immolating taking of all responsibility for shooting down Ukraine Flight 752 – with no attempt to exonerate them. Khamenei went on national TV to voice his support for the IRGC, as if this did the IRGC any real favours.
Khamenei’s actions appear geared to binding the IRGC to his person as Great Leader for Life, not the Revolution. He’s been in power since 1989; Iran’s been stagnating since then.
Only recently on Jan 16 did PM Rouhani start blaming the U.S. for spoofing Iranian radar. So… why the delay? Maybe a refusal to admit Iran has no air defense? Hardly a secret. Their only weapon was ballistic missiles, asymmetric warfare, and the quadrillion dollar oil derivatives scam riding the Straight of Hormuz.
Seems the only outcome of denying U.S. spoofing would be to make the IRGC more dependent on the leadership’s goodwill to indulge their terrible ‘mistake’. Oblivious to the popular outrage or the IRGC’s own internal findings.
https://summit.news/2020/01/16/iranian-military-now-claims-us-cyberattack-brought-down-passenger-plane/
From Soleimani being the #2 man in Iran – making the IRGC the #2 political organization, to doghouse overnight.
Except, the Supreme Leadership and new #2 organization, Parliament under Rouhani, were already in the doghouse.
The IRGC is hardly rehabilitated by closer association with failed civilian leaders; quite the opposite; those would need the IRGC’s public support.
The IRGC in Iran, like the military in the U.S., had been near-faultless to patriotic Iranians relative to the civilian leadership, thanks to Soliemani more than the Leaderships use of it to quell dissent.
Al Muhandis was second-in-line to wield Soleimani’s Shia scimitar. He was a capable leader and helped arm and unite Iraq’s non-Arab minorities behind the Iraqi Shia government. He also conveniently died in the missile strike. He was a political competitor both to Iran and the U.S., and naturally an enemy of Israel.
https://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/iraq/3822-nadia-murad-abu-mahdi-al-muhandis.html
Its likely that only Israel has the capability to pull off such an in-depth complex false flag op, right down to prepositioning people with cameras. Minus the dancing, this crudely similar to the 9/11 dancing Israels people forget.
https://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/iran/3809-jet-disaster-setup.html
https://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/the-dancing-israelis/
Add to that, killing Iranian academics (though usually nuclear scientists) is an Israeli thing.
The Canada-Kiev-Terhan flight is well-known to anyone with an interest in Iran in Canada. Which would be mostly Israelists. Iranian Canadians are rising minority stars in that nations’s multicultural fabric. Yet Canada’s elite relations with Israel are close; right down to an Free Trade agreement, and things like decades of blind-eying to Israeli intel use of doctored Canadian passports.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/canadians-plane-crash-iran-1.5419076
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/208368.stm
Seems there were local political payoffs to be had all-round; for the U.S., Israel, and Iran. Particularly the Trump administration, which is plugged into both Pentagon and Israeli resources.
Seems for once, Iran was beat at negotiating table, a covert one.
My working ‘speculation’ would be, Israel had been planning to bring down a Canada-Kiev-Tehran flight, prepositioned people and resources, and only needed a pretext.
Israel would be more aware than U.S. intel of internal Iranian politics, because they induced the U.S. to purge itself of real U.S. (especially, pro-U.S.) Middle Eastern experts a long time ago. The U.S. just bankrolls stuff. Case managers would have pro-Israel bona-fides.
A rift between Soleimani, a professional soldier with unusual free-reign to act, and the elite leadership of Khamenei and Rouhani, occurred. Anyone doing cultural warfare, knowing the history of General Surena and Parthia (the classical era interation of Iran) would – should – be looking for such petty rifts. It might be some kind of cultural habit, like Chinese authoritarian absolutism is kind of predictable.
The U.S. had been looking to assassinate Soleimani for a long time. However timing and opportunity was never just right.
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/01/qods-force-commander-soleimanis-carelessness-put-him-in-the-u-s-militarys-crosshairs.php
Enter Trump and his willingness to ignore the rules of the Game to win. Trump would have had little say on Israel’s part; his job would have just been to ensure Soleimani got hit. Israel would take care of the Iranian leadership. The Iranian leadership, got more than they bargained for.
There’s also no way for Iran’s leadership to exonerate themselves; critical evidence has probably already been destroyed by their own hand in addition to foreign-sponsored cleanup crews.
Corruption, when it can be counted upon, is a powerful geostrategic weapon.
Trolls troll and having trolled, troll.
It’s a Ishmael in the house of seven gables.
With a good understanding of Conceptual Power, his characterization of the Trump Regime is rather accurate. The whole sermon is worth reading.
I disagree with Khamenei. Trump is NOT a clown. He’s an orange-headed clown! Iran must stop distorting the truth.
Trump may be a clown, but he’s also the end product of Republican governmental ideology since the Reagan/Norquist ‘revolution’ – to prove that government is bad and inefficient by deliberately running it badly and inefficiently. Appoint hacks, friends of friends, and industry insiders to manage departments in the best interest of something other than the American people. What better choice to further this end than electing a lying narcissist who not only has no clue how government works, but also doesn’t care to learn how government works.
“…. government is bad and inefficient… Appoint hacks, friends of friends, and industry insiders to manage departments in the best interest of something other than the American people…”
I thought that WAS how government works… Trump just doesn’t hide the facts as well as the other salesPresidents.
That’s the Dems main problem; few believe they can restore integrity, or that there was really ever any to restore, nor any intention of upholding the Enlightenment, the forgotten root of real liberal values.
The Reps at least can thump the Bible and say its prophesy and sidestep the issue of secular rule collapse.
Precisely. Trump does openly and brazenly what all other Administrations did in pursuit of global mercantile expansion, followed by the military, political, financial and cultural pursuit of global domination.
Trump is exactly what he promised to be as a candidate — a wrecking ball.
The system as it exists is dysfunctional. The mere idea that it is in need of overhaul — is unthinkable in today’s divisive chaos. Let us assume for a moment that Trump factor disappears from political stage. What will replace it? A Tower of Babel Democrat variety, the new International of Hurt and Oppressed, or Republican variety of new Biblical lands, the Greater Israel of America.
Neither have a clue how to proceed forward. At least Trump era uncovered all the weaknesses — economic and technological. What to do about it — and who — goes well beyond Trump.
Seems squabbling over who owns Soleimanei’s fallen and broken scimitar across the Middle East has begun.
What’s more interesting about Khamenei’s speech is that he voiced support for the IRGC and threatened to deploy it. There is no longer a Soleimani number two man to question his use of the IRGC or Soleimani’s Shia scimitar.
“Iran’s Khamenei stands by Guards after unrest over downed plane” – Parisa Hafezi, DUBAI (Reuters) January 17, 2020.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-khamenei-idUSKBN1ZG0O8
However, Soloemani forged the Shia Crescent – not an Iranian Crescent. Khamenei’s speech closely followed Hezbollah’s Nasrallah’s attempt to pick up Soleimanei’s sword. Nasrallah is actually more qualified to wield it, but Iran has the purse strings.
“Hezbollah: It’s time for Iran’s allies to start working to avenge Soleimani” BEIRUT (Reuters) January 12, 2020.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-hezbollah-idUSKBN1ZB0LJ
Iran has still not addressed the odd discrepancy between the IRGC firing AFTER Ukraine Flight 752 veered into protected airspace; what caused the plane to veer in the first place? However, the accident places the IRGC back in Khamenei’s palm.
“‘Disastrous mistake’: Iran acknowledges shooting down Ukrainian airliner”
uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-crash/disastrous-mistake-iran-acknowledges-shooting-down-ukrainian-airliner
“Radio silence and a desperate turn: The final moments of Flight
PS752”
cbc.ca/news/world/iran-flight752-crash-timeline-1.5419572
Perhaps Trump and the Deep State got wind of some dispute between Soleimani and the Supreme Leader, and that Soleimani was vulnerable to being Surena’d.
Just like when Iran was Parthia when Romans still mattered. General Surena was too good at being Number Two, threatening King Orodes II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surena
The Supreme Leader did send Soleimani on his last ‘peace’ mission, and, the IRGC is now firmly back under his control, taking the blame for shooting down what may have already been a doomed airliner.