I don't think it's a false-flag exactly. My bet is it's a hustling used-car dealer from Corpus Christi, TX, who thought he could make a nice buck, but he got in over his head and got screwed by the DEA/FBI who's done similar entrapment ops many times before.
I thought this article was particularly informative:
Is it a cause for war? Not really. Not that the US is even capable of waging war at the moment anyway, so I - as a sympathizer of the Iranian people (but not the regime!) - am not too worried.
However, there's always a chance of extremists seizing initiative and acting regardless of sense or reason, and we all have to look out for that whether we're in Iran or citizens of rogue nations like the US.
I thought this article was particularly informative:
Arbabsiar apparently did not realize that his interlocutor’s willingness to engage in the slaughter was suspicious. It is harder to believe, however, that chiefs of the crack Quds Force would have been so unsophisticated – or relied on Arbabsiar to hire Mexican triggermen with whom they had not worked in the past, some officials said.
“Assuming they wanted to run an op and have the Mexican cartels take point, they have Hezbollah guys all over South America they have been working through a long time,” said Faddis, the former CIA official. “They have a million other hard-wired ways to get in contact with the cartels.”
A potential explanation: The Iranian-American suspect may have been trying sell the Quds Force on a plan beyond his capacity to execute.
“He may have been trying to bilk them,” Faddis said. “Maybe they got involved to the point of trying to figure out what he can deliver, and it turns out U.S. law enforcement is all over him.”
“Assuming they wanted to run an op and have the Mexican cartels take point, they have Hezbollah guys all over South America they have been working through a long time,” said Faddis, the former CIA official. “They have a million other hard-wired ways to get in contact with the cartels.”
A potential explanation: The Iranian-American suspect may have been trying sell the Quds Force on a plan beyond his capacity to execute.
“He may have been trying to bilk them,” Faddis said. “Maybe they got involved to the point of trying to figure out what he can deliver, and it turns out U.S. law enforcement is all over him.”
Is it a cause for war? Not really. Not that the US is even capable of waging war at the moment anyway, so I - as a sympathizer of the Iranian people (but not the regime!) - am not too worried.
However, there's always a chance of extremists seizing initiative and acting regardless of sense or reason, and we all have to look out for that whether we're in Iran or citizens of rogue nations like the US.
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