Tehran: Israeli-Saudi intelligence designing a super-Stuxnet

):Tehran: Israeli-Saudi intelligence designing a super-Stuxnet 

Debka 03-Dec-13 

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency “reveals” that Saudi Arabia and Israel’s Mossad are “co-conspiring to produce a computer worm more destructive than the Stuxnet malware to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program.” It claims that Saudi intelligence director Prince Bandar Bin Sultan and Israel’s Mossad chief, Tamir Pardo, met in Vienna to decide on the virus attack on Nov. 24, shortly after the six world powers signed their first interim nuclear agreement with Iran in Geneva, and that Prince Bandar visited Israel secretly with French President Francois Hollande. 

December 4, 2013 Briefs 

    Israel ambassador Ron Dermer presents credentials to US president 

    New Israeli ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer Tuesday presented his credentials to President Barack Obama at the White House. He also presented a gift, custom-made cufflinks etched with a replica of the Menorah found in Jerusalem excavations. 

    Iran to challenge Saudis for OPEC leadership 

    At the OPEC oil ministers meeting Wednesday, Iran plans to reassert itself as a dominant force of the global crude markets, in the expectation that sanctions will be lifted in the six months after its nuclear deal with the six powers. Tehran will put in a bid for the 12-nation cartel’s secretary general as No.2 oil producer after Saudi Arabia before sanctions were imposed. 

Slaying Hizballah commander ratchets up Saudi covert war on Iran and proxy 

4 Dec. The gunning down of Hajj Hassan Hollo al-Laqqis, a high-ranking Hizballah commander and close crony of Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah raised the stakes of the clandestine war between Saudi Arabia and Iran - or rather between Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan and Iran’s Al Qods Brigades commander Qassem al-Soleimani. Hizballah preferred to blame Israel for the assassination because it is easier to reach for revenge than Saudi Arabia. The Hizballah officer was killed in the underground parking lot of his home after midnight Tuesday, Dec. 3, by five shots to the head and throat. 

A photo published by the Lebanese state news agency shows a man in his mid-40s. 

It seems obvious that the al-Laqqis hit was timed to take place shortly after the Hizballah leader went on the air for an extraordinarily arrogant television interview, during which he made a point of sneering after every reference to the US, Saudi Arabia or Israel. He also appeared to glory in the big power status conferred on the Islamic Republic (and himself) by the Obama administration after the signing of the Geneva nuclear accord, which he hailed as “the end of the US monopoly on power.” 

December 5, 2013 Briefs 

    Kerry: Some progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations 

    Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel is ready for historic peace with the Palestinians, adding that Israel must have the ability to defend itself independently. 

    Addressing reporters following a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Jerusalem, Netanyahu also said that the two sides needed to hold real negotiations and avoid finger pointing and artificial crises. Kerry told reporters that "we are making some progress" in the talks and headed to Ramallah. 

    Saudi princes see US senator opposed to Geneva accord 

    Saudi Intelligence chief Prince Bandar talked for three hours Monday night with US Republican Senator Robert Corker, the first high-ranking American to be received in Riyadh in months. Bandar held up his flight to Russia and a meeting with President Putin to discuss with the senator Saudi disquiet over Obama administration policies on Iran and Syria. Sen. Corker, who opposed the six-power nuclear accord with Iran and supports sanctions, said he and Saudi officials shared many of the same concerns. He also met with Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef and National Guard commander Miteb bin Abdullah. 

    Bomb blast, firefight at Yemeni defense ministry leave 52 dead 

    Assailants in military uniforms crashed an explosives-laden car in the Yemeni Defense Ministry gates in Sanaa early Thursday, setting off a chaotic firefight with heavy weapons and a secondary blast. 

Zarif accuses Iranian media of quoting DEBKA instead of himself 

5 Dec. Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif bitterly complained Wednesday, Dec. 4, that his country’s media preferred to quote debkafile instead of himself. “Who tells the truth? I, the foreign minister of Iran? Or the Zionist website DEBKA which runs falsehoods?” It was the second time this week that Zarif vented his frustration with DEBKA’s popularity in Iran. Tuesday, he accused the non-official media of drawing heavily on foreign sources, such as “the Fact Sheet put out by the White House in Washington and the Israeli debkafile” while neglecting official statements. 

A search on Google under Debka دبکا in Farsi reveals hundreds of articles using our Iranian coverage in a large number of Iranian Internet publications. Many others simply copy, paste our stories without attribution.