US and Israel seeking to ‘sabotage’ Iran talks – ex-CIA analyst

The US and Israel have carried out recent strikes in Iran and Lebanon in an effort to sabotage the ongoing peace talks, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson has told RT.

On Wednesday local time, the US struck Qeshm Island and targets in southern Iran in response to the crash of a US AH-64 Apache attack helicopter off the coast of Oman – an incident President Donald Trump blamed on Iran. Tehran, however, has refused to confirm that it was responsible for the crash.

Johnson argued that Trump’s rationale for the latest escalation “doesn’t make sense,” especially since both pilots of the helicopter survived.

“If they are alive, why does Donald Trump launch strikes on Iran when they are supposedly in the midst of peace talks? The only reason I can come up with is that he did it deliberately to sabotage the talks,” he said.

Trump has been pressured by “the Zionist crowd” and pro-Israel politicians such as Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, Johnson said.

“They are insistent on destroying Iran. They don’t want a deal with Iran,” he stated.

Johnson said Israel’s airstrikes on Beirut on Sunday were also aimed at provoking a conflict with Iran.

“Too much progress was being made during the peace talks for the neocons and for Israel, so they did everything in their power to sabotage it. I think this is going to lead to a new round of escalation that can go on for a week or two,” he said.