1. Iran calls Natanz atomic site blackout ‘Nuclear Terrorism’
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Sunday described a blackout at its underground Natanz atomic facility an act of “nuclear terrorism,” raising regional tensions as world powers and Tehran continue to negotiate over its tattered nuclear deal.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, suspicion fell immediately on Israel, where its media nearly uniformly reported a devastating cyberattack orchestrated by the country caused the blackout.
If Israel was responsible, it further heightens tensions between the two nations, already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Sunday with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, has vowed to do everything in his power to stop the nuclear deal.
Details remained few about what happened early Sunday morning at the facility, which initially was described as a blackout caused by the electrical grid feeding its above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the American-educated head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, who once served as the country’s foreign minister, offered what appeared to be the harshest comments of his long career, which included the assassination of nuclear scientists a decade ago. Iran blames Israel for those killings as well.
2. Related: Iran plans to move to advanced uranium enrichment. Iran also has for many years overtly threatened to destroy the state of Israel, as well as the USA.
3. Guns of April and Global War
War between Russia and Ukraine looks imminent. Israel and Iran are engaging in tit for tat maritime altercations. And China is ratcheting up provocative incursions into the airspaces and waters of Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines.
Any one of these regional conflicts is incendiary enough to ignite World War III (or, more accurately, each one is capable of transforming the cold, hybrid warfare of cyberhacks, technology thefts, financial markets manipulation, and perhaps even biological attacks that has been underway for many years into total and unrelenting global bloodshed), yet trading markets and news media are largely ignoring what’s unfolding. It’s as if the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 1999 Kargil War between nuclear-equipped India and Pakistan, and the Soviet and Nazi Invasion of Poland were all happening concurrently, and the world decided it was too busy enforcing face mask mandates upon religious congregants and following the turmoil of Khloe Kardashian to care.
4. Turkish-backed Syrian rebel group holds ‘graduation’ for new fighters | AFP
5. Revealed: ISIS central command’s links to Mozambique and terror across Africa
ISIS attacks in Mozambique are probably being co-ordinated with the terrorist group’s core leadership as part of an expanding campaign across Africa, security analysts told The National.
Experts believe there is an organised propaganda campaign across the continent to amplify the extremist group’s standing and support.
The concerns emerged after the deadly ISIS attack on Palma in which a well-armed detachment of about 150 fighters seized the town for several days, killing scores of civilians including western contractors.
Infiltration of ISIS’s communications network showed extremist supporters around the world celebrated the attack before the town’s occupation was announced across the terror group’s global network.
The assault led to southern African and western countries taking action to stop the spread of extremism across the continent.
The Southern African Development Community countries were continuing discussions on Friday to provide support for Mozambique. The South Africa Navy, Angolan Air Force and Tanzanian land forces could become involved in a co-ordinated defence policy.
Six presidents held emergency talks in the Mozambican capital Maputo, two weeks after the Palma attack, which also forced thousands from their homes.
Thank you M., Yucki, Marianne W., EB., ET., and all who have contributed in any way to our mutual benefit.
Please check the comments under the reader’s links post for this week, those who may be looking for more items on geopolitics and what increasingly looks like a stage set for kinetic warfare.
Item 2: A tiny warning, we’re keeping an eye on you. I wonder if they know how much worse than Stuxnet can happen to their facilities.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is a dangerous guy. He’s loaded in resentment, same as Obama, toward White America. It’s the feeling I have whenever I see or read about him. He’s pure BLM.
Heshmat Alavi’s thread is positively delicious:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1381107715599110146.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXT0IWJamtU
Iran calls blackout at Natanz atomic site ‘nuclear terrorism’.
Iran: Natanz nuclear facility hit by terrorist act | Latest World English News | WION News
US-Iran Nuclear Deal: Accident at nuclear plant after centrifuge activation | Latest English News
3. Guns of April and Global War
Eeyore said, “…and the world decided it was too busy enforcing face mask mandates upon religious congregants and following the turmoil of Khloe Kardashian to care.”
This is what scares me the most. Every time I hear one of these woke idiots get up and talk so passionately about how we’ve got to really, really rally together to fight “climate change” or “white nationalism” or “gluten intolerance” or “rape culture” my stomach goes into a knot because they are totally ignoring the real problems we face while focusing entirely on Emperor’s New Clothes fantasies while ignoring reality.
In case no one has noticed, young people in Vancouver (and lots of other places) who don’t have a couple of million bucks lying around now find themselves completely incapable of living a “normal life” with a family and a job and a house and all that. Are they supposed to just commit suicide? They have no way to live in an environment made for millionaires in Mercedes Benzes!!! And then we hear some more about this hoax virus and hoax climate change and hoax rape culture and hoax systemic racism while the young people labor under their student debt loads and dream of the old days when you could live your life, however difficult. I’d call that a problem, but apparently, I’m alone on that…
And how about giving a little thought to the fact that Vancouver is rapidly reaching the point where the Chinese residents will reach numbers that will allow them to declare themselves a “Distinct Society”, call a referendum, and then take the Lower Mainland out of Canada and become part of the Mainland – mainland China, that is…
Gee, I wonder if the Americans would mind if the Chinese parked their fleet in Chinacouver Harbour. Naw… They wouldn’t mind at all…
Has the Red Chinese Army not been already been sighted in BC?
student loans = wealth transfer
DACA illegal aliens (in the US) pay in-state tuition
Try attending a foreign university as an illegal alien and paying resident tuition.
Oh, and I wonder if the poor Brits will be cool about London succeeding and becoming a Pakistani colony? Like, don’t expect the world to cry too hard when that ironic little event takes place…
“Why in my head, do I have this little movie of Chinese agents, making variants and each time we get close to coming up for air, going to some country and releasing it like in the movie, 12 Monkeys, and then we name each new variant after the place they released it, but never after Wuhan, as we shutter our economies again, and stress the hospitals in brand new ways as they can no longer have more than 1 Covid patient per room thanks to multiple variants in one patient.
Where did that movie come from I wonder.”
We are forced to speculate.
If you were sitting in a village with your ancient tribe (we all have one), and one of your scouts comes back huffing and puffing saying there’s something weird going on beyond FOUR EAGLE HILL, would you not instantly sit up straight and pay attention?
Is this not where we are now?
Iran @Iran
#BREAKING
Behrouz Kanalvandi, spokesman for #Iran Atomic Energy Organization broke his ankle and head in an incident during a visit to #Natanz atomic site which had been damaged in another incident today.
Head of of Kashan University of Medical Sciences says Kamalvandi who was visiting the incident at the #Natanz nuclear site along with Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday morning, injured in a “fall from a height of 7 meters” & now hospitalized in Yasrebi hospital & is in good condition.
https://twitter.com/Iran/status/1381318916148973577
4 – I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but.. fuck Erdogan!
These guys were in IS or al-Qaeda, and were killing and maiming Armenians last year. Sure, why not arm and train them, what could possibly go wrong?
A broken record playing my song.
The idiot Prez of Ukraine went to the filthy Turk to get support like the Azeris got – head-choppers and fancy drones. He left disappointed.