Jailed Iranian journalist claims Israel, Iran like the status quo

An interesting article at Al Arabiya:

Jailed Iranian Nader Karimi uncovered an “intimate” relationship between Iran and Israel and vowed to release a book about the information he has when he is set free.

Nader Karimi, an inmate of the Evin Prison in Tehran over charges of destabilizing the regime, said that the animosity between Iran and Israel does not exceed a verbal war that is meant to give the Muslim world the impression that Iran is Israel’s staunch enemy and the protector of Palestinians.

“Observers, journalists, and political analysts got caught in this verbal war and were not capable of delving into the depths of the relationship between the two countries,” Karimi wrote in an article he sent to AlArabiya.net.

Karimi added that the Iranian and Israeli governments have been using journalists to make their “charade” credible and to deceive the world into thinking that they are enemies.

Before writing about the nature of Iranian-Israeli relationships, Karimi decided to hold meetings with representatives of intelligence agencies in both countries.

“I went to Turkey and approached Israeli agents of Iranian origins,” he wrote. “I told them I am an opposition journalist who wants to oust the current regime and that was enough to gain their trust.”

According to what Karimi heard from Mossad agents, the fall of the current regime is not in Israel’s benefit for the time being.

“Israel prefers a weak and isolated regime in Iran because this makes it easier for them to wage those verbal wars that spread terror in the region.”

Karimi said that Iran’s preoccupation with huge armament projects is in fact an Israeli and American plan to which the regime has fallen prey.

Through his meetings with Mossad agents, Karimi found it unlikely that Israel will launch a military attack against Iran.

As for Iranian intelligence agents, Karimi pretended that he made a grave mistake by contacting Mossad agents and he wanted to confess in an attempt to gain an insight of the Iranian intelligence perspective.

After spending 20 hours throughout two weeks with Mossad agents, Karimi spent more than 200 hours interrogated and tortured at Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and National Security until he was finally forced to write confessions of crimes he had not committed.

“However, I have to admit that it was much easier to extract information from Iranian intelligence agents during interrogations than to get similar information from Israeli agents.”

One of the most important conclusions Karimi reached during his long interaction with Iranian intelligence agents is that it was in Iran’s interest to have Israel launch a war of words against it every now and then or even embark on violent actions in the Occupied Territories.

“Israeli actions make it easier for the Iranian government to flex its muscles and to incite Arab public opinion.”

In his article, Karimi pointed out that despite the declared war between Iran and Israel, there are trade relations between the two countries.

“Several goods, like fruits, are brought from Israel, and many Israeli companies have businesses in Iran. They are dealing with the economy of the country they call ‘the enemy’.”

Karimi added that the Iranian government has never made a list of Israeli commodities or companies that should be banned and that it is not expected to do so.

According to Karimi, since the Iran-Iraq war, Iran brokers have been buying expensive weapons and equipment with the help of Israeli brokers.

Some of what he says has a ring of truth to it, but he doesn't address the elephant in the room: the Iranian nuclear program. If that didn't exist, then the stuff he says might make sense, but in fact Iran is hellbent on becoming a regional superpower - and acquiring nuclear weapons is only one way to accomplish that.

The existence of the program skews his entire analysis, if he is telling thew truth to begin with.