Iran War coming. World War III? Market crash?
Get ready for the next war. It may be the war to end all wars… and much of civilization.
The Trends Research Institute has identified a series of critical geopolitical events, many barely hitting the mainstream media.
Among the most powerful under-reported trend lines now forming is the global trigger point for war, under the groundless guise that Iran is “the No. 1 terror state” threatening stability in the Middle East and the world.
The war trend we forecast is driven by heated rhetoric and unsubstantiated claims that have deep political roots. And now, military maneuvers and regional news events have further distorted Iran as an arch enemy.
THE ‘EVIL IRAN’ CAMPAIGN
This now clearly defined “let’s hate Iran” trend was popularized during the 2016 US presidential election, when then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly and aggressively denounced the Iran anti-nuclear deal that the Barack Obama administration orchestrated.
“The worst deal ever made in the history of mankind,” Trump proclaimed repeatedly. Playing the Trump Card on Iran, he branded the country as the “No. 1 terror state” and as an imminent nuclear threat.
Upon taking office, a parade of US generals and cast of White House militarists in Trump’s administration have vowed swift, decisive military action against Iran at the slightest provocation.
Secretary of Defense James “Mad Dog” Mattis, who has branded Iran as the world’s chief recruiter of terrorists, has a “let’s hate Iran” viewpoint that dates back decades. In 2012, he infamously claimed that the US faces three severe threats: “Iran, Iran and Iran.”
Though falling short of jettisoning the Obama/John Kerry Iran nuclear-arms deal that Trump blasted on the campaign trail, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson keeps feeding the narrative that Iran is the world’s most lethal nemesis.
“The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran,” he said. “The evidence is clear: Iran’s provocative actions threaten the United States, the region and the world.”
When Tillerson joined President Trump in Saudi Arabia in May, he made his mission abundantly clear announcing that restraining the threat of Iran to the region and world was the main thrust of the Trump administration’s Gulf nations trip.
US LECTURES ON HUMAN RIGHTS?
Tillerson dialed up the pressure, calling out the newly re-elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, claiming Iran supports terrorism and violates human rights.
“We also hope that he restores the rights of Iranians, for freedom of speech, of organization, so that Iranians can live the life they deserve,” he said.
Just like Saudi Arabia does? A nation run by a ruling gang where ballot boxes don’t exist, women are oppressed and whose radicalized religious leaders have invaded sovereign nations and funded terrorists?
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Trump precisely and unambiguously blamed Tehran for feeding “the fires of sectarian conflict and terror.” He framed it, as George W. Bush did after 9/11, as the consummate good vs. evil battle.
Two weeks later, on June 5, five Arab nations, including US allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt, moved to end diplomatic relationships and restrict commerce with Qatar, a tiny country of some 300,000 citizens, for supporting what they call Iran’s Shiite Islamist terror reign.
Qatar’s refusal to participate in the anti-Iran branding campaign set the stage for punishing the tiny nation. When the emir of Qatar congratulated the newly elected president of Iran after 70 percent of voters turned out, the Arab League gangs and Egypt’s military coup leader made it clear: If Qatar’s with Iran, then Qatar’s against us.
Emboldened by Trump’s brazen war of words, the political assault on Qatar was another step in isolating Iran and further branding it as a global threat.
As Trump tweeted: “During my recent trip to the Middle East, I stated there can no longer be funding of radical ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!”
Two days later, on June 7, after armed assailants attacked Iran’s Parliament building and the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of the 1979 revolution, killing a dozen innocent people and injuring 46, the US once again seized the opportunity to underscore its hostility toward Iran.
In response to the attack, Trump in effect blamed the Iranian government: “States that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.”
Ironically, following the recent Manchester terror strike, UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed a link between “wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home” – meaning, using Trump logic, they got what they deserved.
Considering the US has been waging decades-long wars in the Middle East, plus unending wars in Afghanistan, Africa, etc., when the US falls “victim to the evil they promote,” will the terror strike be called “deserved” or will Americans blame “evildoers” that hate their freedom and liberty?
Even Democrats, once the anti-war party, parroted Trump’s anti-Iranian rhetoric following the terror strike.
“As Iranian authorities work to recover from this attack, I hope they understand the cost that they are inflicting on other countries as a sponsor of terrorism,” said US Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “This violence accomplishes nothing but pain and suffering, and will remain a stumbling block to security and stability.”
When Trump was showered with the royal treatment in Saudi Arabia, his first stop on his first international road trip, the president made an arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth $350 billion over the next decade. A deal that would facilitate Saudi military intervention in Yemen and other nations under the guise of combating terrorism and responding to rising conflicts in the region.
On his next stop in Israel, Trump again condemned Iran as the culprit for instability in the region, urging Israel to come together with its Arab neighbors to confront the Islamic Republic. “There is a growing realization among your Arab neighbors that they have common cause with you in the threat posed by Iran,” Trump said. “What’s happened with Iran has brought many other parts of the Middle East towards Israel.”
CIA HAS AN IRAN CENTER
Moreover, earlier in June, it was announced that the Central Intelligence Agency had established a new operation, the Iran Mission Center, to specifically mine intelligence about Iran. CIA Director Mike Pompeo, a fervent Iran hawk like much of Trump’s military-laced administration, said about the center:
“Whether its enormous increased capacity to deliver missile systems into Israel from Hezbollah, their increased strength in and around Mosul with the Shia militias, the work they’ve done to support the Houthis to fire missiles against the Saudis – the list of Iranian transgressions has increased dramatically…”
And, in keeping with the deep-rooted anti-Iran agenda of the Trump administration, Michael “Dark Prince” D’Andrea, also referred to by his colleagues as “Ayatollah Mike,” has taken the helm of this new arm of the CIA.
TRENDPOST: Tracking trends is an understanding of where we are and how we got here, to forecast where we’re going. As we have demonstrated in tracking the anti-Iran geopolitical trend, enough trigger points have emerged and are intersecting to convince Americans – who were easily led to wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc., based on outright lies and no evidence-based justification – that Iran is a grave threat to its national security.
Ignored is the fact that the US has over 800 military bases around the world and has invaded and occupied nations for decades, while Iran hasn’t invaded a country in over 250 years. Also ignored is the fact that America’s Middle East allies who denounce Iran for supporting terrorism, have a clear track record of backing, funding and facilitating terror attacks and terror groups.
Responding to Trump’s message following the terror strike in Iran, Ali Khamenei, its Supreme leader, held a mirror for America to look into. “Who created Islamic State? America… America’s claim of fighting against Islamic State is a lie.”
Now, with Israel reportedly teaming with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates with massive lobbying efforts to push legislation in the US Congress that sanctions Qatar, plus Israel’s longstanding tensions with Iran, we forecast that among the likely scenarios, an Israel vs. Iran conflict will ignite.
Rightly or wrongly, Iran will be blamed for an attack against Israel, thus dragging in the US and its allies to wage war against Iran under the guise that it is a global threat and must be contained.
TREND FORECAST: Our 2017 US geo-economic forecast called for moderate growth but with increasing probabilities of much worse. Specifically, we underscored that “the potential for economic panic will dramatically increase should war tensions in the Middle East increase.”
Today, with signs that global equity markets are peaking and widening expectations for a correction, a war with Iran could be a trigger for a massive global stock-market crash. Brent crude prices, currently around $50 a barrel, down dramatically from $115 in June 2014 due to a supply/demand imbalance, will spike should oil-rich nations wage war throughout the region.
In times of geopolitical and economic instability, gold remains the ultimate safe haven commodity. In the event of war and/or sever equity market instability, we maintain our forecast that when gold prices strongly break above $1,400 per ounce, it will rapidly spike to $2,000.