It does not take long to simplify the historical synergy between Iran and Saudi Arabia: Iran has a long history of culture and high civilisation. The Saudis (and their Sunni friends) used to be not much more than ordinary bedouins — nomads with a few camels — before the discover of petrol, oil, kerosene and plastics. They were lucky and they made it rich, becoming little rich despots in the process. Take the oil away from them and culturally they have... nothing much... apart from a few religious centres, such as Mecca.

So, the Saudis are still jealous of the "Persians" (Iran's) long history and, like in the early Mohammed days, they still wow to destroy them, as well as the other infidels (us, the West and whoever...) Nowadays, the Saudis seem to be deviously using their friendship with the USA, to achieve this aim.

We know: the USA have been a brothel with no morals. Any way you like to do it, as long as there is cash or petrol, oil, kerosene and plastics, after the deeds. They will give you wild west gleaming guns as well. Ethically, it does not look good. This kind of transactions leads to some petulance, flatulence and idiotic unnecessary sabre-rattling.

You, the Saudis can do better than this, of course, but you are blinded by this old jealousy — a jealousy that is also cleverly cultivated by Israel and the USA, who want to weaken everybody.

For example, Israel should have been up in arms about the way the USA whitewashed Von Brawn's Nazi and SS past — and 1,600 other German Nazi scientists, engineers, and technicians, as part of Operation Paperclip. We saw the Israelites' virulent chase of a few second fiddle Nazis around the world, but did they touch nasty Von Brawn and his cronies? Nupe. The USA and Israel have been so selective in their memory when it suits to forgive and to wage war for profit. Remember, Israel has been plonked between you and Iran to prevent you and Iran becoming more convivial.

Time to make friend with Persia, my Saudi friends... Time to give up the US kool-crap. But you won't: like the USA, it's too profitable to be both the pimp and the prostitute...

You can do so much better with respect and peace.

ISTANBUL — A friend of a prominent Saudi journalist who went missing in Istanbul said Sunday that officials told him to “make your funeral preparations” as the Washington Post contributor “was killed” at the Saudi Consulate.

A Turkish official separately told The Associated Press that authorities believe Jamal Khashoggi was slain at the Saudi Consulate, while another said it was a “high probability.”

Saudi officials have denied allegations that Khashoggi was killed at the consulate, calling them “baseless.”

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “God willing, we will not be faced with the situation we do not desire” when asked by journalists about Khashoggi.

The growing dispute over his fate threatens relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and raises new questions about the kingdom and the actions of its assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Khashoggi wrote critically about in his columns.

Turan Kislakci, a friend of Khashoggi and the head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association, spoke to the AP on Sunday outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He said he believes Turkish officials soon will announce the findings of their investigation.

“What was explained to us is this: He was killed, make your funeral preparations,” Kislakci said. “We called a few other places, these are lower officials, but they said: ‘We have evidence he was killed in a barbaric way, we will announce it tomorrow or the day after.'”

Kislakci also alleged, based on conversations with officials he did not name, that Khashoggi was made to “faint,” then was dismembered.

A Turkish official told the AP late Saturday that an “initial assessment” by police concluded Khashoggi had been killed at the consulate. On Sunday, another official assessed it as “high probability” that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate and his body was taken away. Both spoke on condition of anonymity as the investigation was ongoing.

Read more:

https://nypost.com/2018/10/07/missing-journalist-reportedly-killed-in-ba...

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But, sadly, such an outcome is unrealistic.

When President Trump recently spoke contemptuously of the Saudi rulers, saying “they wouldn’t last two weeks without US military protection”, it was a candid moment of truth.

However, US neocolonialism as it currently exists, will endeavor to always prop up the Saudi rulers no matter how despotic.

American power and Saudi rulers are a symbiotic scourge on the region, which, shamefully, will never permit restoration of relations with Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a recent interview with Al Jazeera, made an offer of dialogue with Saudi Arabia in a bid to create political settlements across the region. It was not the first time that Tehran has extended a hand of friendship towards Riyadh.

Earlier this year, Zarif told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that a “strong Middle East” depends on Iran and Saudi Arabia working together along with other Gulf Arab states.

“None of us can become the new hegemon,” said Zarif. “The era of hegemonic influence is long gone,” adding that “neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia” can dominate the oil-rich region. He called for a new forum of dialogue between neighboring states in which Iran and Saudi Arabia should show leadership by setting aside their differences.

The Iranian diplomat hinted that the Arab states and the Persian nation must try to forge a regional independence from outside interference, a hint aimed at the historic role of the United States as a military supporter of Saudi Arabia.

“Security cannot be purchased,” said Zarif. Instead, it requires mutual “understanding in the region”.

In a powerful comment, the diplomat noted: “In an attempt to be the strongest in the region… we have managed to destroy the region.”

Indeed, the decades-old rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has come at a blood-soaked cost. The Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) was largely stoked by the Saudi rulers sponsoring Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

More recently, the war in Yemen, in which millions of children are facing starvation, has been fueled by Saudi claims that Iran is trying to destabilize its Arabian backyard by supporting Houthi rebels. Both Iran and the rebels deny the claim.

There are also ongoing sectarian tensions in Lebanon and Bahrain where Saudi Arabia and Iran face off through local proxies.

Surely, the wars in Syria and Iraq have been greatly exacerbated by Saudi interventions driven by Riyadh’s geopolitical antagonism with Iran.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/440796-iran-saudi-arabia-rivalry/

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US senators demanded the president should impose tough sanctions against Saudi Arabia. "Just because they are an ally in an important mission, which is containing Iranian expansion in the region, cannot allow us to overlook or walk away from that. It undermines our ability to stand for morality and human rights all over the world. How can we criticise Putin for killing journalists if we allow an ally to do the same?" Senator Mark Rubio said. 

If the United States puts pressure on Saudi Arabia in connection with the murder of the opposition journalist, the kingdom will respond with cutting oil outputs. Saudi Arabia may also pull out from arms deals with the United States and turn to Russia instead. 

Vyacheslav Matusov, president of the Society for Friendship and Business Cooperation with Arab countries, told Pravda.Ru that the CIA is not interested in making a scandal out of the story.  According to him, Khashoggi was not a simple journalist. "He worked as an advisor to the former chief of all secret services of Saudi Arabia, Turki bin Faisal. Jamal Khashoggi had access to confidential information about the creation of Al-Qaeda* and the formation of the Mujahideen movement in Afghanistan. 

"He was a Saudi citizen who worked for the CIA at the same time," the expert told Pravda.Ru. According to him, Khashoggi was aware of the operations that the CIA was conducting in the Middle East, where the kingdom had held the Arab Spring. "The Arab Spring had swept away all Arab regimes and destabilised Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Libya and Tunisia during eight years," the expert said. 

Vyacheslav Matusov also said in an interview with Pravda.Ru that the CIA continues its work in the region and plays a certain role in the development of the conflict between monarchies of the Persian Gulf - Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Islamic State* is also the work of the CIA. Donald Trump said during his pre-election campaign that it was Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama who founded ISIS*. He said that in the heat of the struggle for presidency, but "he lifted the veil of secrecy over dark affairs of the CIA, the expert noted. 

Jamal Khashoggi knew too much and became a very dangerous person. One cannot blame anyone specifically for his murder, because Khashoggi could have received his divorce papers in any consulate office of Saudi Arabia in the United States. However, the CIA recommended he should go to Turkey," Vyacheslav Matusov said in an interview with Pravda.Ru.

Saudi Arabia, like Russia, has fallen a victim to internal clashes in the United States, the expert believes. Russia made a mistake in the case of Sergei Skripal when the Russian administration started making excuses about it. There is tough political struggle going on, and no one can prove anything to anyone in it. One needs to make a strong and tough position. Such a behaviour would bring success, but contradictory statements cause damage to Russia," Vyacheslav Matusov said in an interview with Pravda.Ru.

See more at http://www.pravdareport.com/world/asia/17-10-2018/141797-saudi_arabia_ja...

The Wall Street Journal reports on the most recent details from Turkish authorities about the grisly murder of Jamal Khashoggi:

The recording indicates how Mr. Khashoggi was killed in the office of the Saudi consul general, Mohammad al-Otaibi, minutes after he walked into the consulate building on Oct. 2, said people familiar with the matter. Mr. Khashoggi wasn’t interrogated, the people said. Instead, he was beaten up, drugged and killed by Saudi operatives who had flown in from Riyadh earlier in the day, the people said.

Then, on the recording, a voice can be heard inviting the consul to leave the room, the people familiar with the matter said. The voice of a man Turkish authorities identified as Saudi forensic specialist Salah Al Tabiqi can be heard recommending other people present to listen to some music while he dismembered Mr. Khashoggi’s body, the people said.

The details of the crime are horrifying and gruesome, but they are important for establishing the nature of the crime committed against Mr. Khashoggi and the intent behind it. There is now not much doubt that the Saudi government sought to kill him as soon as they had detained him, and they had arranged for him to return to the consulate on that day so that they could carry out the murder. The forensic specialist was called in immediately to dispose of the evidence. It also seems pointless to deny that the crown prince is responsible for ordering the murder. The New York Times reports that several of the men believed to be involved in the murder are close associates of the crown prince or members of his security detail:

One of the suspects identified by Turkey in the disappearance of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi was a frequent companion of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — seen disembarking from airplanes with him in Paris and Madrid and photographed standing guard during his visits this year to Houston, Boston and the United Nations.

Three others are linked by witnesses and other records to the Saudi crown prince’s security detail.

A fifth is a forensic doctor who holds senior positions in the Saudi Interior Ministry and medical establishment, a figure of such stature that he could be directed only by a high-ranking Saudi authority.

There is no chance that all of these men were engaged in some unauthorized mission without the crown prince’s knowledge and approval. The fact that so many of them were so closely linked with Mohammed bin Salman suggests that they were chosen precisely because they were willing to do whatever was asked of them. The sheer recklessness and stupidity of the crime also points to the crown prince, who has a reputation for making terrible and impulsive decisions without thinking through the consequences. 

When we add everything up, we have to conclude that it was a planned, state-sanctioned hit carried out on the orders of the kingdom’s de facto ruler, the Saudi government is still lying about what happened, and the Trump administration is shamelessly covering for them as much as possible. The crown prince and Saudi government bear full responsibility for the crime, but our executive branch is doing everything it can to make themselves accessories after the fact.

read more:

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/mohammed-bin-salmans-gru...

A doctor suspected of killing and dismembering dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi trained at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Melbourne after being sponsored by the Saudi Government.

• Authorities suspect Khashoggi was murdered in Istanbul on October 2 by a team who travelled from Saudi Arabia
• Tubaigy was reportedly carrying a bone saw when he flew in and out of Istanbul
• ABC confirmed Tubaigy spent several months at Melbourne institute as forensic pathologist

Dr Salah al-Tubaigy was identified by Turkish authorities as one of 15 men present in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, when Khashoggi is suspected to have been assassinated.

Turkish authorities suspect Khashoggi was murdered inside the consulate after being ambushed by a team travelling from Saudi Arabia.

Dr Tubaigy was carrying a bone saw when he flew in and out of Istanbul, authorities said.

The ABC has confirmed Dr Tubaigy spent three months at the institute as a forensic pathologist from June 2015.

Dr Tubaigy was the head of Saudi Arabia's forensic medicine corporation at the time of his visit to Australia, according to the institute's 2015 annual report. He now holds a senior position in the Saudi interior ministry.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-18/suspect-in-khashoggi-murder-studi...

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The alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is a mass media rollout, every bit as sparsely verified and every bit as questionable as the official Skripal narrative, but this fact is being overlooked due to the cognitive dissonance involved in who is being blamed.

What we are seeing in the mainstream media at the moment is a narrative-shift worthy of Minitrue. We are currently being told the equivalent of “Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia”.  The Saudis in general, and  Muhammad bin Salman in particular, all previous “good guys” in the MSM pantheon, are being apparently re-branded as baddies with all the cartoonish excess normally reserved for Russia/Putin and Syria/Assad.

Read more:

https://off-guardian.org/2018/10/18/jamal-khashoggi-or-why-you-dont-trus...

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Thank you, Saudi Arabia for exposing the utter hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of British and American gangsta press and equally gangsta establishment.

You’ve been at it for a very long time. And it seems that finally you’ve got it right.

When you chopped the heads of your own dissidents or women raped by your spoiled brats, the western media and its politicians said they respect your traditions.

When you treated your own women like shit, forcing them to be dressed as Halloween ghosts during the hottest days of summer, the west said that it is our moral duty to accept diverse cultures.

When you decimated civilians in Yemen, the west looked another way and sold you more arms to decimate more people in Yemen.

When you sponsored all kinds of violent thugs all over Balkans, Middle East, Europe and Africa, and encouraged them to take over giant patches of land, the west looked the other way, as long as the oil was flowing.

Finally, some of your sexually repressed thugs flew the plane into American buildings and killed a lot of people in the hope of getting some heavenly virgins. Still, the west decided to attack Afghanistan and Iraq, but not you, in response.

I understand that you began to feel more and more desperate. You sided with Israel against Iran and Syria, and the rest of the world said that it is a moral thing to do and put you on the UN human rights board.

Well, finally, you hit the right cord. Killing innocent people and abusing your moneyed power by buying newspapers, hotels, city districts or think tanks, was not enough to produce an outrage in the West, but when you whacked another cynical morally corrupt journalist, that proved too much for the cynical and morally corrupt western press. They decided to stand up for one of their own.

Now you are going to witness a lot of chest beating and finger pointing. But don’t worry. Morally corrupt press would never demand sanctions, let alone military actions against you. You are not a threat to western establishment, and your petty rapes and equally petty murders would never make it act. But you surely deserve a Nobel Prize for exposing hypocrisy. Provided hypocritical Swedes or Norwegians finally establish one, which they should, unless Brits will beat them to it.

Read more:

https://off-guardian.org/2018/10/19/thank-you-saudi-arabia/

Read from top and see also: a mirage in deceit: the arab spring...

ISTANBUL — The rulers of Saudi Arabia are considering blaming a top intelligence official close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, three people with knowledge of the Saudi plans said Thursday.

The plan to assign blame to Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, a high-ranking adviser to the crown prince, would be an extraordinary recognition of the magnitude of international backlash to hit the kingdom since the disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi dissident. A resident of Virginia and contributor to The Washington Post, Mr. Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Blaming General Assiri could also provide a plausible explanation for the apparent killing and help deflect blame from the crown prince, who American intelligence agencies are increasingly convinced was behind Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Turkish officials have said they possess evidence showing that 15 Saudi agents assassinated and dismembered Mr. Khashoggi in the consulate.

After two weeks of blanket denials and mounting pressure from Turkey and Washington, Saudi Arabia said it would conduct its own investigation to determine who was responsible.

[Four of the suspects in Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance belong to the security team of the Saudi crown prince.]

But even with the investigation still ostensibly underway, the Saudis are already pointing to General Assiri as the culprit, according to the three people familiar with the Saudi plans. People close to the White House have already been briefed and given General Assiri’s name.

Whether that move will be enough to calm the international crisis and what it may mean for Prince Mohammed, the kingdom’s day-to-day ruler, remain to be seen.

Read more:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/world/middleeast/jamal-khashoggi-killing-saudi-arabia.html?

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Journalist Jamal Khashoggi died after a fight inside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, a preliminary investigation by Saudi authorities has claimed.

• Turkey questions Saudi consulate employees over Khashoggi disappearance
• Trump and Turkey deny audio of alleged murder was shared with US
• King intervenes as case puts strain on international relations

The findings are the first admission by the Saudis that the journalist died at the consulate in Turkey.

Investigators said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him inside the consulate, which led to his death. 

Eighteen Saudis have been arrested in connection with the incident, according to a statement from the Saudi public prosecutor.

Saud Al-Qahtini, an adviser to the Saudi Royal court, has been sacked.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman has also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee headed by the Crown Prince to restructure the general intelligence agency, state media said.

Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist, was a critic of the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. 

He went missing more than two weeks ago after entering the consulate to get documentation for his wedding.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-20/saudi-arabia-says-fight-in-consulate-led-to-khashoggi-death

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