The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran (123 page)

Badr Corps opposed to, 467

in George W. Bush’s “axis of evil,” 441

CIA encourages him to subvert Iranian government, 71

CIA’s opinion of, 104

Clinton on, 390

as common adversary of Iran and U.S., 432, 457

on al-Faw Peninsula operation, 166

and Gulf War of 1990–1991, 390

Iranian leadership unites behind removal of, 386

in Iran-Iraq War, 84–85, 94

Iraqi National Congress opposes, 447

Khomeini’s attitude toward, 85–86

as military man, 88

and missile attacks on Iranian cities, 362–63

and Nojeh coup, 78

People’s Mujahideen of Iran supported by, 458

Perle on, 97

Rumsfeld meeting of 1983, 99–100

sees himself as leader of Arab people, 87

September 11, 2001, attacks attributed to, 425

and
Stark
incident, 227

U.S. support in Iran-Iraq War, 95, 97, 99, 100, 102, 103

Wolfowitz on, 420–21

Hussein Suicide Squad, 130, 133–35, 145

Huyser, Robert “Dutch,” 7–8, 21, 24, 76

Indyk, Martin, 390–92, 394, 411, 413

Integrated Air Defense Center for Excellence, 558

Intelligence Support Activity (ISA), 61–63, 64, 72

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 393, 490, 504, 548, 553, 566–67, 570

Internet:

access in Iran, 498

Bureau of International Information Programs’ website, 499

cyber warfare, 551–52

Farsi blogs, 494

in Iranian protests of 2009, 546, 547–48

Iran:

Abizaid’s concern about unintended conflict with, 513–15

Afghan mujahideen supported by, 68, 70, 428, 430, 435, 442

Afghan refugees in, 429

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

al-Qaeda presence in, 437–38, 443, 445, 474, 480

Arab-Israeli peace seen as isolating, 392–94

Arab-Persian animosity, 467–68

arms purchases, 1990–1993, 396–97

and attack on U.S. marines in Lebanon, 140–42

ballistic missile program, 397, 423, 445, 456, 470, 516, 557–58

at Bonn conference on Afghanistan, 433–35

George H. W. Bush administration seeks improved relations with, 380–85

George W. Bush administration’s conflicting views on, 442–47, 473–75, 509

George W. Bush administration seeks new plan to deal with, 417–23

and George W. Bush administration’s freedom agenda, 485–510

in George W. Bush’s “axis of evil,” 439, 440–42, 455

Casey’s view of, 67–68

Chalabi associated with, 447–48, 469, 502

Chinese cruise missiles obtained by, 217–18

CIA assessment of Soviet-Iranian relations, 68

CIA operations in, 65–83, 372–79

Clinton’s policy toward, 389–92

concern about U.S. invasion of Iraq leads to back-channel overtures, 455–60

coup of 1953, 10, 69, 544

Crocker mission to discuss Afghanistan with, 429–33

democracy of, 435

earthquake of December 2003, 482–83, 515

economic problems, 410, 428, 494

ethnic divisions, 501

exiles oppose Islamic Republic, 76–78, 288, 494, 497, 502

fears it is next target in war on terrorism, 434, 475

and Gulf War of 1990–1991, 385–86

Hezbollah supported by, 76, 178, 391, 392, 395, 419, 432, 445, 456, 476, 479, 501

Khuzestan oil fields, 44, 87

kidnapping and hostage-taking by, 153–58

Lebanese involvement of, 122–38

as natural balance to Iraq, 379, 388, 420

navy, 207–13

overthrowing Saddam Hussein seen as having positive effect on, 452–53, 455, 475

parliamentary elections of 2004, 491

Persian Gulf military buildup of 1990s, 398–99

in post-Saddam Iraq, 453, 460, 466–74, 481–84, 509–10, 512–13, 518–37, 558–59

protests over disputed election of 2009, 544–48

Reagan administration policy toward, 51–52, 55

reform movement, 410, 419, 486, 493–95

regime change seen as part of war on terrorism, 451–55

relations with Saudi Arabia in 2000s, 563–67

“self-sufficiency jihad” of, 490

sense of Persian historical entitlement, 571

on September 11, 2001, attacks, 427–28, 430

strategic deterrence strategy, 397

Tehran University protests of 1999, 411, 493–94

terrorism sponsored by, 67, 391, 392, 394–95, 418, 427, 430, 432, 448–50, 456, 470, 501, 572

U.S. always takes wrong course with, 572

U.S. covert flights over, 556–57

Iran

U.S. hopes to pull it back into American Cold War camp, 69–70

U.S. plans for Soviet invasion of, 44–47, 59–60, 78

U.S. special operations forces in, 60–63, 64

and U.S. invasion of Iraq, 461–70

See also
Iran-Contra affair; Iranian hostage crisis; Iranian nuclear program; Iranian Revolution; Iran-Iraq War; Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) (Iran); Revolutionary Guard

Iran Air Flight 655, 366–70, 377, 410, 572

Iran Ajr
incident, 292–99, 302, 310

Iran-Contra affair, 175–206

Abrams in, 492, 495

Bush and, 198, 382

hearings about, 203, 250

Rafsanjani on, 266

and
Stark
incident, 228

Iranian hostage crisis:

Brzezinski urges military options for, 89

CIA station chief among hostages, 69

Intelligence Support Activity formed as response to, 61

Khatami expresses regret for, 410

military plans considered for, 30–31

release of hostages, 49, 51

tenth anniversary celebrations, 377–78

U.S. embassy in Tehran seized, 28–30

Iranian nuclear program, 489–91

Ahmadinejad restarts uranium enrichment, 500

George W. Bush administration concern with, 419, 420, 422–23, 444–56, 466, 470, 474–76, 489–91, 495, 504–9, 538, 551

CIA action against, 553–55

Clinton administration concern with, 392, 393, 397, 411

covert program exposed, 566–67

European concern with, 489, 569

Israeli concern with, 393, 550, 552–53, 567–68, 570

National Intelligence Estimate on, 508–9

Obama administration concern with, 539, 541, 543, 544, 548–50, 567, 569–70

U.S. drones spy on, 557

U.S. imposes sanctions, 507–9, 549, 567, 569, 572

Iranian Revolution, 12–25

as born from anti-Americanism, 5, 570

Carter administration’s response to, 8, 25–27

Casey on, 67

does not fit Intelligence Support Activity worldview, 64

and Iranian goal of being regional power, 571

Iran’s military gutted by, 85, 89

Islamic
umma
as driving force of, 86

Lebanese Shia influenced by, 124, 128

Reagan administration seeks to contain, 69

See also
Iranian hostage crisis

Iran-Iraq War, 84–105

al-Assad and, 123

communications between U.S. Navy and Iraqi air force, 231–32

Defense Intelligence Agency briefs Iraqi military, 360–62

eclipses Cold War concerns, 166

ending of, 370–72

Gulf states increase assistance to Iraq, 206–7

Iranian attacks on Basra, 94–95, 103, 104, 197

Iranian attacks on Saudi Arabia, 300–310, 374

Iranian blockade of Iraq, 167–69

Iranian equipment shortages, 182, 206–7

Iranian mining campaign, 233–55, 263–66, 293–95, 297, 299, 316–18, 326–27

Iran sees U.S. involvement in, 88–89, 587n8

Iran’s military thinking influenced by, 396

Iraqi missile attacks on Iranian cities, 362–63, 371

Iraq uses chemical weapons in, 104, 338, 362, 371, 443, 444

Israel and U.S. differ over, 178

results of, 84–85, 379, 390, 455

Shia/Sunni aspect of, 534

Stark
incident, 220–29

tanker war, 159–64, 206–34

U.S. provides Iraqi order of battle to Iran, 187, 188, 196

U.S. support for Iraq, 5, 95–105, 178, 325, 358

Iran-Syria Working Group, 495–96, 497, 502

Iraq:

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

al-Qaeda in Iraq, 512

Arab-Israeli peace seen as isolating, 392

George H. W. Bush administration continues to share intelligence with, 385

George W. Bush administration policy on, 422

in George W. Bush’s “axis of evil,” 440–41

CIA encourages it to subvert Iranian government, 71

Iran as natural balance to, 379, 388, 420

Iran’s strategic deterrence aimed at, 397

Israeli concern about, 57

Kuwait claimed by, 211

neocon concern with, 420–21

nuclear weapons program, 393, 422

September 11, 2001, attacks attributed to, 425

Shia in, 86, 388, 452, 467, 468, 470, 472, 483, 512, 518–20, 528, 529, 536, 558, 559

taken off terrorism watch list, 101

U.S. establishes full diplomatic relations with, 104

weapons of mass destruction in, 425, 440, 443, 444, 453, 457, 459, 502, 522

See also
Gulf War (1990–1991); Hussein, Saddam; Iran-Iraq War; U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq

Iraqi National Congress (INC), 447–48, 469, 472, 502

Iron Lightning plan, 407, 417

Islamic Supreme Council for Iraq (ISCI), 467, 471, 518, 519, 527

Israel:

Ahmadinejad on, 500

bombing of Buenos Aires embassy of, 388

Central Command criticized by, 56–57

Chalabi on Iraq recognizing, 469

and Clinton administration Iran policy, 391–92

cyber warfare, 551

failure of Lebanon policy of, 151, 153

Hezbollah training base attacked, 394

in Iran-Contra affair, 177–82, 185, 186, 595n3

Iranian-backed attacks in Lebanon, 128–29

and Iranian nuclear program, 393, 550, 552–53, 567–68, 570

Iran sees itself as defender against, 571

Iran’s strategic deterrence aimed at, 397

on Iraq as greater threat than Iran, 178

kidnappings attempted by, 157

Lebanon invasion of 1982, 106–21, 123, 124

Mohtashemi attacked by, 151

nuclear weapons of, 490

shah’s support for, 16

war with Hezbollah of 2006, 535

See also
Arab-Israeli conflict

Jafari, Mohammad, 527–28

Joint Unconventional Warfare Task Force, 60–61

Jones, David, 36

and Huyser mission, 7, 8

Kelley appointed by, 43

and plans for military intervention in Iran, 24, 31

and rapid deployment force, 36, 41, 42, 582n25

Reagan’s attitude toward, 50–51

Jones, James, 539, 540–41, 563

Jordan:

King Hussein, 206, 359–60

and Iran-Iraq War, 96, 100–101, 102, 588n33

PLO expelled from, 107

al-Jubeir, Adel, 563, 566

Jundallah, 130, 501, 552, 563

Kahlili, Reza, 74–75, 83, 263, 301, 373–74

Kangarlou, Mohsen, 188, 191, 194

Karoubi, Hassan, 179, 183–84, 596n8, 596n16

Kelley, Paul Xavier:

on Crist to command CENTCOM, 164, 165

Kingston replaces, 54, 58

on Pearson, 170

in planning for Soviet invasion of Middle East, 44, 45, 46

Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force included in CENTCOM, 53, 54

takes command of Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force, 42–44

and U.S. marines in Lebanon, 117, 141

Khalilzad, Zalmay, 411, 433, 434, 457, 459, 475, 478, 525

Khamenei, Ali:

and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, 529, 530

and Bonn conference on Afghanistan, 434

on CIA covert action in Iran, 401

Clinton overtures rebuffed, 414

on contacts with Iraqi Shia, 460

on
Iran Ajr
seizure, 298–99

in Iranian mining campaign, 261

on Iranian nuclear program, 393, 490, 508, 544, 549

and Iran-Iraq War, 94, 371

and Khobar Towers attack, 403

on Kuwaiti escort arrangement, 217

and Obama’s Iran policy, 542, 543, 544

Quds Force reports to, 519

replaces Khomeini, 381

and “road map” document for normalizing relations with U.S., 475–79

on
Sea Isle City
attack, 310

on September 11, 2001, attacks, 428

Tudeh Party bomb injures, 67

on U.S. invasion of Iraq, 465–66

Kharrazi, Kamal, 456–57

Kharrazi, Sadeq, 476–78

Khatami, Mohammad, 409–11

Abrams on discrediting, 493

and Bonn conference on Afghanistan, 434

Clinton’s overtures toward, 411–15, 419

and economic reform, 410, 428

erosion of power of, 414–15, 491

hard-liners roll back freedoms begun by, 494

as obstacle to regime change in Iran, 452

and “road map” for normalizing relations with U.S., 477

on September 11, 2001, attacks, 427–28

term limits on, 491, 499

uranium enrichment suspended by, 475, 490

on U.S. invasion of Iraq, 466

wishes to visit Ground Zero, 432–33

Wolfowitz and Feith on, 445

Khobar Towers attack, 402–6, 409, 411–13, 443, 618n14

Khomeini, Ruhollah:

anticommunism of, 68

antiwar protesters criticize, 363

and attack on U.S. marines in Lebanon, 133, 134

attacks on Saudi Arabia approved, 301

Carter prohibits discussions with, 22

Escudero meets with associates of, 19–20

executions of July 1989 ordered, 376

exiles oppose, 76–78

on Saddam Hussein, 85–86

influence in Lebanon, 122–23, 124, 126, 127

in Iran-Contra affair, 183, 200

on Iranian mining campaign, 241–42, 245, 254, 299

in Iran-Iraq War, 84–85, 89, 93, 94–95, 370–71

on Mecca uprising plan, 262

Montazeri opposes methods of, 183

opposition to shah led by, 12–15

in provisional Iranian government, 25

on resisting U.S. until last breath, 572

returns to Tehran, 23

and Revolutionary Guard, 91, 92, 93

seizure of U.S. embassy approved, 29

Sullivan agitates to open dialogue with, 17, 18