Ex-CIA head: I fear Iran ‘has the upper hand’ in nuclear talks

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said on Sunday that he worries Iran has more momentum than the U.S. heading into final talks over Tehran’s nuclear arms research.

“I would actually fear that the Iranians have the upper hand right now,” Hayden told “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace.

Former Mossad chief: Iran murdered Argentine prosecutor

Says assassination linked to 1992 Israeli embassy bombing

During a radio interview to be aired Sunday night, former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit suggested Iran may have “directly or indirectly” murdered an Argentine prosecutor who threatened the blow the lid off Iran’s involvement in a pair of deadly bombings in Buenos Aires.

In a transcript of Shavit’s interview obtained by WND and scheduled to air on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio” on New York’s AM 970 The Answer, the former Israeli intelligence chief said his years of experience lead him to suspect Iran is behind the death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman.

Missing flight MH370: Fake passport holders ‘were Iranians looking for new life in Europe’

• Fingerprints from mystery passengers being analysed
• Search area widened as still no sign of missing aircraft
• CCTV footage of mystery passengers to be released

MALAYSIAN authorities are now investigating several reports of locals claiming to have seen the lights of a low-flying aircraft in an area off the Malaysian coast, just below the Malay-Thai border.

It is this area which is now included in the widened search area for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

A fisherman who was in his boat at sea, says that at about 1.30am he saw the lights of a low-flying aircraft in the area of Kuala Besar.

Iran to the rescue: Thousands of special ops troops said arriving in Syria

NICOSIA — Iran was said to have poured thousands of elite troops
into Syria.

The Syrian opposition said thousands of members of Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps have arrived in Syria. Opposition sources said the Iranian troops came from special operations units, with many of them skilled in sniper and explosives.

…

Al Oqueidi, chairman of the rebel military council in Aleppo, said the
Iranians were meant to replace the tens of thousands of Sunni who deserted the Syrian Army. He said at least 3,000 of the IRGC troops were trained in sniper missions.

…

The Iranians were said to have been participating in Assad military
campaigns in both Aleppo and Damascus. In Aleppo, an estimated 20,000 Syrian Army troops were awaiting orders to invade the nation’s business capital and largest city.

…

The military has reported that it regained control over the Damascus
area. In an unusual move, the Army led a tour for journalists of former
rebel positions on Aug. 3.

“We have cleansed all the districts of Damascus, from Al Midan to Mazeh,
from Al Hajar Al Aswad to Qadam to Tadamun,” a Syrian Army officer said.

The Free Syrian Army said many of the IRGC personnel in Syria were in
civilian clothes. FSA said it captured 48 IRGC officers outside Damascus
International Airport disguised as pilgrims and part of a 150-man
reconnaissance unit.

“During the investigation, we found that some of them were officers of
IRGC,” an FSA officer said in a video statement. “They were on a
reconnaissance mission in Damascus.”

Full article: Iran to the rescue: Thousands of special ops troops said arriving in Syria (World Tribune)

U.S. Navy: Iran prepares suicide bomb boats in Gulf

“They have increased the number of submarines … they increased the number of fast attack craft,” Vice Admiral Mark Fox told reporters. “Some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory.”

“We have watched with interest their development of long range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic missiles and of course … the development of their nuclear program,” Fox, who heads the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said at a briefing on the fleet’s base in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Iran now has 10 small submarines, he said.

Full article: U.S. Navy: Iran prepares suicide bomb boats in Gulf (Reuters)