The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran (121 page)

37.
“Second Intelligence Shock Inflicted by Iran as 12 Spies Arrested,”
Raja News
, November 29, 2011. The minister of intelligence and security, Heydar Moslehi, accused one of these agents of being inside the government, a charge that was aimed more at discrediting President Ahmadinejad. Earlier, Ahmadinejad had tried to fire Moslehi, only to be overruled in a very public rebuke by the supreme leader. CIA spies have always been an easy scapegoat for Iranian officials.

38.
General Martin Dempsey interview with Barbara Starr, Cable News Network,
The Situation Room
, December 20, 2011.

39.
Scott Peterson, “Iran Hijacked U.S. Drone, Says Iranian Engineer,”
Christian Science Monitor
, December 15, 2011; Bob Orr, “U.S. Official: Iran Does Have Our Drone,” CBS News, December 8, 2011; Tim Lister, “Crashed Drone Was Looking at Iranian Nuclear Sites,” CNN, December 15, 2011.

40.
Lieutenant General Patrick O’Reilly, “Ballistic Missile Defense Overview for the International Air and Missile Defense Symposium,” March 2010.

41.
Comments by General David Petraeus at the Institute for the Study of War, January 22, 2010.

42.
“Integrated Air and Missile Defense Center of Excellence: Information Briefing to 3rd Annual International Air and Missile Defense Symposium,” March 2010; Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed al-Shehhi and Lieutenant Colonel Michael Tronolone briefing, “Integrated Air and Missile Defense Center,” March 2010.

43.
Cosgriff interview.

44.
Nicholas Burns, “Obama’s Opportunity in Iran,”
Boston Globe
, October 1, 2009.

E
PILOGUE

1.
U.S. Embassy, Riyadh message, “Saudi King Says Talks with Iranian FM ‘Heated,’”March (161418Z) 2009; cited in the
Jerusalem Post
, December 3, 2010.

2.
Matthew Levitt, “Prepared Statement and Testimony,”
Iranian Terror Operations on American Soil
, joint hearing, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Homeland Security, October 26, 2011, p. 6.

3.
Justin Rohrlich and Donn Fresard, “So, How Does an Iranian Terror Suspect Pay the Bills?”
Minyanville
, October 11, 2011,
www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/manssor-arbabsiar-mansour-arbabsiar-iranian-bomber/10/13/2011/id/37367
, accessed December 3, 2011.

4.
United States vs. Manssor Arbabsiar
, Criminal Complaint, Southern District of New York, October 11, 2011; U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Announcement of Sanctions Against Five Individuals Tied to Iranian Plot to Assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States,” October 11, 2011.

5.
Rich Gladstone, “Iran Scoffs at U.S. Account of Alleged Assassination Plot,”
New York Times
, October 13, 2011.

6.
Lara Jakes, “Iran FM Says U.S. Buildup Near Iraq Lacks Prudence,” Associated Press, October 31, 2011.

7.
Vice Admiral Mark Fox, interview with author, December 11, 2011.

8.
“Europe Agrees to Ban Oil Imports from Iran as West Tightens Its Grip,”
Moneynews.com
, January 4, 2012,
http://www.moneynews.com/Markets/Europe-Ban-Oil-Iran/2012/01/04/id/423032
, accessed January 7, 2012.

9.
International Atomic Energy Agency, “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and relevant provisions of Security Council resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” February 24, 2012.

10.
Mark Landler, “Obama Presses Netanyahu to Resist Strikes on Iran,”
New York Times
, March 5, 2012.

Abizaid, John, 513

on establishing U.S. consulate in Tehran, 503

on Iranian-provided EFPs, 524–25, 532

on selling weapons to Gulf Arabs, 517–18

strategy for undercutting Iran, 515–16

and unintended conflict with Iran, 513–15

Abrams, Elliott:

on Abizaid’s Iran strategy, 516

on establishing U.S. consulate in Tehran, 503

and Iranian “road map,” 476, 479

and Iran strategy for Bush’s second term, 492–93

in Iran-Syria Working Group, 495–96, 502

Afghanistan:

international diplomacy on, 429–36

Iranian support for mujahideen, 68, 70, 428, 430, 435, 442

Soviet invasion, 34, 39, 60, 66–67, 163, 165–66, 181, 373

U.S. invasion, 426, 439, 440, 454, 495, 500, 571, 586n31

U.S. support for mujahideen, 40, 63, 66, 71, 196, 301, 302

See also
Taliban

Ahmadi, Saeed, 462–63

Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud, 499–501, 508, 515, 542–43, 545–47, 549

Algiers Accords, 10, 86–87, 384, 401, 446

Allen, Charles, 130, 156–57, 187

al-Qaeda:

in
Cole
attack, 417, 619n4

Iran accused of cooperating with, 492

Iranians and, 428, 435

in Iraq, 512

links to Iraq sought by U.S., 427

Obama administration attacks on, 540, 562

presence in Iran, 437–38, 443, 445, 474, 480

Saudi Arabian attacks of May 2003, 480–81

in September 11, 2001, attacks, 425

Sunni-based objectives of, 428, 444

U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and, 426, 439

Amirahmadi, Hooshang, 394, 413–14, 455–57, 458, 477

Amiri, Shahram, 554–55

Arab-Israeli conflict:

Arab League peace proposal, 445

Clinton and peace process, 390–94

Israel’s Lebanon invasion of 1982, 106–21

Revolutionary Guard ships weapons to Palestinians, 436

U.S. sees in Cold War context, 63–64, 109

U.S. wants Iran to support peace process, 470

Arbabsiar, Mansour, 564–66

Armish-Maag plan, 62

Armitage, Richard, 52, 53

and al-Qaeda attacks in Saudi Arabia, 481

on al-Qaeda presence in Iran, 438

on George W. Bush administration Iran policy, 416, 441, 447

on Chalabi, 447, 469

and Crist, 269, 286–87, 291, 292

on Crocker mission, 430

and Ghorbanifar plan, 449, 451

on Iran and al-Qaeda, 428

and Iran-Contra affair, 189–90, 203, 449

on Iran-Iraq War, 97, 361

and Israeli invasion of Lebanon, 111

on Kuwaiti request to reflag its tankers, 213

Lang briefs, 359

and Lyons, 257, 258, 272

and McFarlane’s proposed change in U.S. policy toward Iran, 176

and “road map” document for normalizing relations with Iran, 476, 477–79

and
Stark
incident, 226

on U.S. aid to Iran after earthquake of December 2003, 482–83, 515

and war on terrorism, 427

Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, 529–30, 536

al-Bader, Abdul Fattah, 213, 217, 251, 261, 279

Badr Corps, 467–73, 481, 518, 521, 527, 528

Bahrain:

agrees to joint air strikes with U.S., 242

bilateral defense arrangement with U.S., 170, 171–72, 595n39

Iranian involvement in, 401, 571

Patriot missile deployment, 557

Shia population, 171, 563

Bahramani, Ali Hashemi, 195–97, 598n45

Bakhtiar, Shapour, 78, 82, 89, 388, 391

Bandar bin Sultan:

in allowing U.S. planes in Saudi airspace, 267

on Central Command, 56

and CIA aircraft in Saudi Arabia, 314

and Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia, 301, 303

and Iranian Mecca plot, 263

and Khobar Towers attack, 405, 618n20

Lang briefs, 359

on Saudi-Iranian air confrontation, 162

and Saudi minesweepers, 248–49

and U.S. financial restrictions on Iran, 507

Basij, 93, 493, 498, 567

Bazargan, Mehdi, 25, 26, 27, 29, 92

Beheshti, Mohammad, 20, 26–27

Bernsen, Harold, 216–17

and
Bridgeton
incident, 243–47

and Brooks’s joint task force, 310

on bureaucratic opposition to sea-based force, 289–90

and CIA aircraft, 314

in Crist’s new command structure, 269

and
Gas Prince
convoy, 261–62

in
Iran Ajr
seizure, 293–97

and Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia, 304, 307, 309

and Iranian mining campaign, 240, 241, 251, 254, 264

on Iranian will to attack U.S. ships, 218

and Kuwaiti request to reflag tankers, 215

plan to meet Iranian threat, 276–82, 292

relieved of command, 320–21, 610n4

and
Stark
incident, 221, 222, 226, 228, 229

and surveillance over the Persian Gulf, 326

threats of Iranian attacks on headquarters of, 242

Berri, Nabih, 123, 126, 127, 155

bin Laden, Osama, 417, 419, 423, 425, 437

Bolton, John, 422–23, 430, 442–43, 476, 478, 487, 504

BQ Tug, 79–81, 82, 373–74, 375, 378

Bremer, L. Paul, 109, 471–72, 481, 483

Bridgeton
incident, 242–47, 252, 256, 275, 278, 325

Brooks, Dennis, 270, 271, 295, 310–11, 315, 320–21, 603n42, 610n4

Brown, Harold, 11–12, 21–23, 36–39, 41, 42, 50

Brzezinski, Zbigniew:

on Iranian hostage crisis, 89

and Iranian Revolution, 16–18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 580n48

negotiates with new Iranian government, 27

on Persian Gulf policy, 11, 48, 578n13

on rapid deployment force, 36–37, 39, 582n23

Buckley, William, 67, 132, 154–55, 178–79, 181, 182, 382, 388

Bull, Lyle, 262, 267, 268, 270, 272

Burns, Nicholas, 478, 488, 489, 501, 504–6, 509, 561

Burns, William, 456, 457, 509, 540, 548, 549–50

Bush, George H. W.:

as CIA director, 428

and Gulf War of 1990–1991, 386

improved relations with Iran sought by, 380–85

and Iran-Contra affair, 176, 198, 382

and Iran-Iraq War, 98

on no goodwill to beget goodwill with Iran, 388

on Persian Gulf as vital to U.S. interests, 372

on shooting down Iran Air Flight 655, 370

Bush, George W.:

Ahmadinejad’s letter to, 500–501

on aid to Iran after earthquake of 2003, 483

on “axis of evil,” 439, 440–42, 455

briefed on possible invasion of Iran, 454

briefs Obama on Iran policy, 538–39

and Chalabi, 469

and
Cole
attack, 419

conflicting views on Iran in administration, 442–47, 473–75, 509

and counterattack against Iranian interference in Iraq, 530–32

Europe trip of 2005, 488–89

freedom agenda of, 485–510

and Iranian nuclear program, 419, 420, 422–23, 444–56, 466, 470, 474–76, 489–91, 495, 504–9, 538, 551

and Iranian-provided EFPs, 524

lacks appetite for attacking Iran, 495

on leaving Iranian issue unresolved, 537

little interest in Iraq or Iran, 423

managerial style, 421–22, 442

military experience in administration, 416

and National Intelligence Estimate on Iranian nuclear program, 508

on nation building in Afghanistan, 436

new plan to deal with Iran sought by, 417–23

Obama’s Iran policy compared to that of, 561

oil industry connections of, 428

and plan to kill al-Zarqawi, 438

religious beliefs, 421, 500

and Rice’s negotiations of 2006, 503, 505, 506

Rice’s relationship with, 421, 487

on selling weapons to Gulf Arabs, 517–18

on Sharon, 108

U.S. consulate in Tehran considered, 502–3

in U.S. invasion of Iraq, 439, 459, 485, 488, 511–12

war on terrorism, 427, 540

Carlucci, Frank:

becomes national security adviser, 204

intelligence gathering for sea-based force authorized, 285–86

Intelligence Support Activity operations suspended, 61

and
Iran Ajr
seizure, 296

on Kuwaiti request to reflag tankers, 212, 214

new more aggressive policy toward Iran, 323–24

on Operation Staunch, 205

and
Roberts
attack, 336, 350, 354–55

and
Stark
incident, 226, 228

on U.S. as not policeman of Persian Gulf, 364

on
Vincennes
to Persian Gulf, 363

Carter, Jimmy:

allows shah into U.S. for medical treatment, 27–28

Eagle Claw operation authorized, 31

on freedom of navigation in Persian Gulf, 34, 48, 440

and Iran hostage crisis, 29–30, 34, 49, 89, 401

and Iranian Revolution, 8, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22

loses election of 1980, 47

on oil crisis, 8–9

Persian Gulf policy, 9, 10–12, 578n13

rapid deployment force for Persian Gulf created, 33–42

Reagan contrasted with, 50

seeks to continue normal relations with Iran, 25–27

Cartwright, James, 539, 541, 550, 567

Casey, William, 65–66

anticommunism of, 66–67

on attack on U.S. embassy annex in Beirut, 152

on attack on U.S. marines in Lebanon, 145, 146

on bringing Iran back into Western fold, 67, 378–79

and Buckley, 132, 154, 181, 182

on communist threat to Iran, 67–68

and counterterrorism in Lebanon, 156, 157–58, 593n34

on covert operations in Iran, 69

exiles cultivated by, 76–77, 462

and Iran-Contra affair, 180–81, 186, 188, 189, 194–95, 200, 202

on Israeli invasion of Lebanon, 111

on supporting an Iranian insurgency, 71

and tanker war, 163

Cave, George, 26

in Iran-Contra affair, 189–92, 194, 196–98, 200–201

on Iranian opposition, 77–78

on Iraqi response to U.S. intelligence on Iran, 104