In an article on May 13 published on Iranian.com, Massoud Khodabandeh had warned that MEK operatives, with the help of US National Security Advisor John Bolton, were planning to conduct false flag operations in the Persian Gulf. And now, one month later, this prediction seems to come true as two oil tankers were attacked in the Sea of Oman on Thursday.
“An Albanian source told me off the record that alongside the delegation to the ship he witnessed the presence of Shish operatives taking some Farsi speakers on board the USS Abraham Lincoln who were not disembarked before the ship moved on. Kuwaiti media also reports that MEK operatives have been arrested attempting to buy speed boats in the Persian Gulf. Such a combination is highly concerning. MEK operatives were trained as suicide bombers by Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard and in the MEK’s camps in Iraq. They have transferred this training to their new closed camp in Albania,” noted the author.
“Bolton’s unrelenting drive to attack Iran and his unstinting support for the MEK can only lead to one conclusion: MEK operatives, brought from Albania, will be deployed to carry out false flag ops that can be blamed on Iran – such as a suicide attack. Their unique value is that as Iranians they can be passed off as Iranian naval personnel. This ties in with the attempted purchase of speed boats which are used by the Iranian naval forces. The attack on commercial vessels in the gulf for which no details are forthcoming hint that this was a trial run to see what Iran’s reaction would be. In this context, a false flag op that could trigger Bolton’s war in the Middle East is almost certainly already planned and underway,” the article adds.
It should be noted that Albania is now home to the Iranian Mojahedin-e Khalq terrorist cult (MEK) and John Bolton has long believed he can use the MEK to facilitate regime change in Iran.
Two oil tankers, one owned by Norway and the other by Japan, were struck by blasts in the Sea of Oman on Thursday. The US was quick to point the finger of blame at the Islamic Republic, a month after it accused Tehran of involvement in attacks that crippled four tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. US president Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran was behind Thursday’s blasts without providing evidence to back up his claim.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) terrorists also released a video late Thursday purportedly showing "Iranian sailors" removing a mine from the Japanese-owned Kokura Courageous' hull. In the video released, a small boat is shown coming up to the side of the Japanese-owned tanker. An individual stands up on the bow of the boat and can be seen removing an object from the tanker's hull. The US claims that the object is likely an unexploded mine.
Reports from Yemeni outlets also indicate that an armed group has been formed by the Israeli Mossad in cooperation with intelligence services of some Persian Gulf countries to carry out sabotage attacks in the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean. The Al-Najm al-Thagheb’s report quoted a former member of the Israeli Knesset by the name of ‘Talab Abu Arar’ as saying that Israel had a hand in the earlier attacks on four commercial vessels in the Fujairah port off the UAE coast and continued its attempts to create more tensions in cooperation with some Arab states in the region.
The report added that there have recently been several meetings between Israeli and Emirate officials that agreed on the formation of a new armed group comprised of radical Islamists to carry out sabotage attacks in the Indian Ocean, the Oman Sea, and parts of South Asia.
Citing informed sources, the Yemeni website said that the former members of the Yemeni Al-Qaeda group form the core of the new armed group, with their command stationed in Hadhramaut desert of Yemen under the supervision of Mossad and intelligence services of Arab states in the Persian Gulf.
According to the report, the armed group was formed 8 months ago and its members were trained in Israeli military bases in Eritrea and training bases of Arab countries. Their number is about 175, of which 80 were former members of Al-Qaeda in Yemen.
MNA/PR