The United States and Iran are engaging in a new round of talks today, though not necessarily directly with each other. Few Americans have any sense of how much is at stake.
If the news was doing its job, Americans would know the myriad threats we face from Iran’s regime. It’s more than Islamist terror and nuclear weapons, which themselves are plenty to demand real action.
Iran also hires hit men to carry out assassinations on U.S. soil; attacks U.S. children’s hospitals and water supplies; fuels the narcotics trade; and threatens other shipping channels we rarely hear about. People need to know all this. I talk you through it in the latest episode.
‘This bitch is hard to catch’
In addition to trying to assassinate President Trump and other U.S. officials, Iran has arranged murder-for-hire plots against other U.S. citizens. Two men in New York have been sentenced for their roles in a murder-for-hire plot against Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who speaks out against the regime. She discussed this on CBS, where she’s now a contributor.
“Killing is in the DNA of the Islamic Republic,” she said, noting that one of the men had complained,“This bitch is hard to catch.” She thanked law enforcement for protecting her.
“But my fellow Iranian colleagues, ordinary citizen journalists, they don’t have protection. They go to the streets and they get killed by the same IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) members. So many people are getting executed, getting hanged, getting raped in prison. But no one talks about them. In America, it’s all about nuclear deal. It’s all about ceasefire. It’s all about negotiating with the regime.”
‘Intelligence partner’ helps save U.S. children’s hospital
Iran has long targeted the U.S. healthcare system for cyberattacks. In 2022, then FBI Director Christopher Wray said hackers hired by Iran had “tried to conduct one of the most despicable cyber attacks I’ve ever seen when they decided to go after Boston Children’s Hospital.” The U.S. was informed by “one of our intelligence partners” that the site was about to be targeted, and managed to head it off.
While the “partner” was not named, we know who America’s best intelligence partner on Iran is. Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, appeared on Face the Nation in March, discussing the latest in the war: “Clearly, this operation is being driven by intelligence collected by Israel and the United States that has once again proven that our nations have capabilities that no other nation on Earth has.”
“Indeed,” responded host Margaret Brennan.
Water, drugs, and trade
The list keeps going. Iran recently said it had the capacity to shut down one of California’s largest water utilities. California Water Service says the breach did not go that far. The Islamic regime has large, well funded cyber operations launching all kinds of attacks.
It’s also using a growing footprint in Latin America to fuel the narcotics trade, and various mechanisms to get its operatives inside the United States. Here, Iran’s state-sponsored terrorists launder money and orchestrate attacks, a group of experts testified last October in a hearing titled “Global Gangsters.”
While the Strait of Hormuz has been getting lots of attention throughout the war, it’s not the only shipping channel Iran threatens. In the hearing, experts testified on Iran’s threats against the Panama Canal and the Red Sea — essential routes for U.S. commerce.
Have you heard any of this in the news? Supporters: Let me know in the comments.
JL
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