From Ahmad Chalabi to Reza Pahlavi: The politics of manufactured opposition

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  By Ivan Sascha Sheehan , Majid Rafizadeh washingtonexaminer Published October 30, 2026 9:00am ET In May 2004, 14 months after the invasion of Iraq , it was clear that weapons of mass destruction could no longer be cited as justification for it. An intelligence source told the Guardian , “It’s pretty clear that the Iranians had us for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” They were referring to Iraqi fraudster Ahmad Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress, which he headed. In the months before the invasion, Chalabi’s operation fed Washington repeated claims about Saddam Hussein’s purported WMD program. The claims seemed to arrive through separate channels, independently corroborating one another. In reality, they all had one source. If Iranian intelligence was involved, Tehran had helped remove its greatest regional enemy without ever needing to persuade an American to serve the clerical regime’s interests. Twenty-some years later, a similar question faces Western capitals, this time ab...
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Iran concerned of the resolving North Korea nuclear dossier

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Analysis by; PMOI/MEK

April 29, 2018-- Iran is expressing grave concerns over the determination of the North Korea nuclear dossier and such a finale being completely against its interests.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on a bridge next to the Military Demarcation Line at the truce village of Panmunjom on Friday.

The state-run Arman daily ran a piece on Sunday saying very specifically:
“On the brink of an increasing number of hardliners such as John Bolton and Mike Pompeo entering [U.S. President] Donald Trump’s decision-making team, North Korean leader Kim Jung Un made a visit to China and announced a new policy that came as a shock for the world over. He first spoke of suspending North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, going on to discuss a path of his country’s economic and progressive growth…
“The meaning of these remarks and the truth behind Kim Jung Un’s decisions remains a mystery. North Korea went to the negotiating table during Bill Clinton’s presidency. However, two years after America going back on its promises, [Pyongyang] took advantage of the situation and distanced itself from the talks.
“Furthermore, Kim Jung Un’s initial emphasis on confronting Donald Trump and continuing his nuclear/missile development despite emphasis otherwise – reaching a point where the U.S. and North Korea were on the verge of nuclear war – has left all parties surprised of Pyongyang’s decisions.
“In such circumstances, any flexibility shown by North Korea will be considered a success for Donald Trump… This provides increasing self-confidence for Trump to demand Europe impose more pressure on Iran. As a result, Trump’s America is interested in advancing and thrusting the waves of optimism in regards to the North Korean leader’s cooperation with the U.S…
“To this point, if the flexibility shown by the North Korean leader is a tactical measure to gain global attention, it has been successful in the face of White House hardliners. This, however, will add to Donald Trump’s stronger tone against Iran.
“Until yesterday the North Korea crisis was the world’s number one issue. Today, this subject has been set aside from the global agenda and Iran has become priority number one. This is leading to increasing expectations of cooperation from Iran among the international community. Otherwise, considering the trend adopted by American hardliners, a faceoff with Iran is no longer an unexpected scenario.
“In circumstances where club-wielders and bullies have entered the ring, the first solution is not always the best. One can easily thump their chest in response, while we can also follow the footsteps of China and North Korea, and buy time.”

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