- 20 July 2012
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- NIAC round-up
U.S. Officials Blame Hezbollah for Terror Attack
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that American officials identified the man as a member of a Hezbollah cell “acting under broad guidance” to hit Israeli targets. A U.S. official said it was a “tit for tat” attack done to retaliate for the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists by Israel (NYT 7/19).
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov cautioned against speculating over who carried out the terrorist attack in Burgas, saying it would be “wrong and a mistake to point fingers at this stage of the investigation at any country or organization” (Haaretz 7/20).
U.S. Says Iran Developed Plans to Disrupt Oil Trade
U.S. officials have said that new intelligence indicates that Iran has developed plans to attack oil platforms and tankers to disrupt international oil trade “both inside and outside the Persian Gulf.” One U.S. official commented, “This doesn’t mean they would do something, as there are significant costs the Iranians would have to consider, but this is something to keep an eye on,” (WSJ 7/19).
Israeli Poll Shows Little Support for Unilateral Strike on Iran
In a poll by Israeli daily, Maariv, only 19 percent of Israelis said they support a unilateral strike against Iran. 26 percent said Israel should only strike with U.S. backing, and 29 percent said Israel should take no action. 26 percent were undecided (Reuters 7/20).