Anti-Iran Propaganda Shows US Need for Achievement

An analyst said the recent display of the alleged Iranian missile debris presented by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley is part of a twisted propaganda campaign reflecting the need for a victory by the US-Israeli-Saudi trio against what they perceive as Iran's increasing regional role.

"The first player of Haley's threadbare scenario is [US President Donald] Trump who has completely failed on both domestic and foreign fronts. He really needs a big achievement and the so-called 'coalition against Iran' can be the one," wrote Ali Khorram, a former Iranian diplomat in a recent article for IRNA.

Haley claimed on Thursday the US has obtained "undeniable" evidence that Iran supplied Yemeni fighters with missiles and other arms.

She said the US will "build a coalition" to look at what can be done to stop the so-called Iranian violations.

Iranian UN mission later issued a statement "categorically" rejecting the claims as "unfounded and, at the same time, irresponsible, provocative and destructive."

Khorram said Trump's team has tried to make Iran accept the US-imposed conditions for revisiting the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

"They are laying the groundwork for a physical confrontation with Iran in case they fail [to revisit the nuclear deal as they want]," he said, adding that the net result of the entire US scenario here would be to cancel the nuclear deal.

To achieve this target, Iran's alleged role in providing missiles to Yemen needs to be hyped up so that the world gets familiar with the argument to reimpose Iran's past sanctions or a military option against it.

He pointed to the other staunch supporter of Trump's anti-Iran stances, namely Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu. Khorram mentioned the recent wave of protests against the Israeli leader inside the occupied lands as well as corruption charges against him, adding that "a significant achievement could upend public dissatisfaction."

Israeli media reported that several thousand people took to the streets of Tel Aviv for the third consecutive week on Saturday in another anti-corruption demonstration against Netanyahu who is under criminal investigation over allegations of abuse of office.

  Bin Salman, the Contractor

In addition, the former Iranian diplomat described Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as the contractor implementing the US-Israeli scenarios against Iran.

"MBS is willing to adopt any policies that Washington, and its ally Israel, see fit, to avoid dealing with the threat of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA)," Khorram said.

Ironically, during the presidential campaign, Trump harshly criticized former US president, Barack Obama, for his veto of JASTA, which allows friends and family of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi Arabian government.

Washington's support in the rise of the young prince to power has also reduced him to a "good contractor" for US-Israeli projects, the analyst added.

"US, Israel and Saudi Arabia are all against what they assume is the increasing clout of Tehran in the region," he said, adding that they believe Iran must be confronted in all the regional countries it has any sway.

Khorram said the best starting point for them to confront Iran is Yemen and this could be expanded to other countries like Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.