Wikileaks reveals covert US policy against Iran

UK: The US Government encouraged the policy of covert sabotage, including cyberpiracy, to attack Iranian nuclear stations, according to secret diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks website.

The strategy, shared by Germany and Israel, consists in using “think tanks” in covert operations mainly aimed at Iranian nuclear facilities, The Guardian daily said in reference to leaked messages from the US Embassy in Berlin.

A secret cable addressed by the US Embassy in January 2010 includes a suggestion made by head of the Institute for Security and International Affairs Volker Perthes that those operations would be more effective than a military attack in neutralizing what it described as Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Just last year Iranian authorities held cyberworm Stuxnet responsible for a cyberattack at the Natanz nuclear station, affecting the program for several months, The Guardian recalled. The New York Times linked Stuxnet to a joint US-Israeli operation, added the London-based source. A previous cable by Ambassador Philip Murphy from Berlin dated December 14, 2009 made clear that White House politicians and officials, including then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, had taken note of Perthes’ suggestion, as he was an expert on Iranian affairs.

According to Perthes, some Western countries were preparing themselves to check Iran’s nuclear program by sabotage actions or cyberattacks, besides tight US and EU sanctions. In a cable dated January 2010, US diplomats informed that Germany was ready to support reprisals against Tehran.

London, Prensa Latina