This is a blog about Iran, and how it chooses not to act as a normal country.  Two of the pressure points it faces are of course the U.S. and Israel.  So, if it was the USG that decided to betray Israel’s pressure against Iran (regarding the facts of this story), that is dastardly.  “Israel Was Behind Attacks on Major Gas Pipelines in Iran, Officials Say,” NYT, 2-16-24.  Here’s the troubling quote from Western officials (notice how the NYT doesn’t describe them but also describes them at the same time, one of these could be Jake Sullivan himself—“Israel carried out covert attacks on two major natural gas pipelines inside Iran this week, disrupting the flow of heat and cooking gas to provinces with millions of people, according to two Western officials and a military strategist affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.”  And “The Western officials said Israel also caused a separate blast on Thursday inside a chemical factory on the outskirts of Tehran that rattled a neighborhood and sent plumes of smoke and fire into the air.”  Who is authorizing these releases?  Pres. Biden himself?  It would seem to go the highest officials since the relationship with Israel is so important, and the threat from Iran so striking.  But why not let Iran figure out on its own who did it? — “Energy experts estimated that the attacks on the pipelines, which each run for about 1,200 kilometers or 800 miles and carry 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, knocked out about 15 percent of Iran’s daily natural gas production, making them particularly sweeping assaults on the country’s critical infrastructure.”  Is the U.S. trying to control how Israel defends itself?  Is the U.S. trying to control how Israel approaches the peace deal with Hamas and the PA and with Arab states that SArabia as proposed?  Iran is the real danger, not Israel.  If we want Iran to act as a normal country, then the U.S. needs to do likewise.

“Iran Insists On Its Right To Block Borders With Afghanistan,” Iran International, 2-16-24.  A mighty big, expensive venture.  Won’t happen.  May be built in a few places.  “Iran intends to close its land borders,” Azer News, 2-16-24.

“US Cyberattack Hit 2 Iranian Military Ships in Red Sea,” VOA, 2-16-24.  Two ships, not one—“A source with knowledge of the cyberattack said an Iranian frigate was also targeted.”  Another interesting point—“A U.S. drone strike on February 7 in Baghdad killed a Kataib Hezbollah commander who the U.S. said was ‘responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region.’  There has not been an attack on U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria or Jordan since February 4, according to the Pentagon.”