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New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran

We have confirmed with the U.S. Special Operations Command that a new elite commando team is operating in the region. The primary, day-to-day mission of the team, known as Joint Special Operations Task Force-Gulf Cooperation Council, is to mentor military units belonging to the U.S.’ oil-rich Arab allies, who collectively are known as the Gulf Cooperation Council. Those Arab states consider Iran to be their primary foreign threat.

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Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are at a high point, as the Islamic Republic threatens to close off a vital waterway and two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups sit in the seas off the Iranian coast. But across the Persian Gulf, the U.S. has a previously unacknowledged weapon in reserve: a new special operations team.

Joint Special Operations Task Force-Gulf Cooperation Council

Danger Room has confirmed with the U.S. Special Operations Command that a new elite commando team is operating in the region. The primary, day-to-day mission of the team, known as Joint Special Operations Task Force-Gulf Cooperation Council, is to mentor military units belonging to the U.S.’ oil-rich Arab allies, who collectively are known as the Gulf Cooperation Council. Those Arab states consider Iran to be their primary foreign threat.

The task force provides “highly trained personnel that excel in uncertain environments,” Maj. Rob Bockholt, a spokesman for special-operations forces in the Mideast, tells Danger Room, and “seeks to confront irregular threats.” The U.S. military has not previously acknowledged the existence of the team, known as JSOTF-GCC for short.

The unit began its existence in mid-2009 — around the time that the Iranian leadership rejected President Obama’s offer of a new diplomatic dialogue and underwent a serious internal challenge to its legitimacy from Green Movement protesters. But whatever the task force does about Iran — or might do in the future — is a sensitive subject with the military.

“It would be inappropriate to discuss operational plans regarding any particular nation,” Bockholt says about Iran.

There is no direct evidence that JSOTF-GCC has been involved in offensive action against Iran. It is unlikely, for instance, that JSOTF-GCC killed Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan last week, an assassination the U.S. has firmly denied any role in and for which the Israelis, reports Eli Lake of Newsweek, are all but openly taking credit.

Some special-operations veterans — who did not wish to be identified or quoted — downplayed the significance of the new task force, expecting it to primarily advise Gulf nations on how to train their own forces, and speculated that its actual role against Iran was indirect at most. Col. Tim Nye, the chief spokesman for the U.S. Special Operations Command, says the task force is responsible “for coordinating all SOF [Special Operations Forces] engagements and training with Gulf Cooperation Council nations.”

The special operations forces of those nations have shown a notable improvement over the past year. Qatari commandos quietly traveled to Libya ahead of Moammar Gadhafi’s downfall to prepare Libyan rebels for the successful capture of Tripoli. The United Arab Emirates, another close U.S. ally, has also made its elite forces a priority, even hiring Blackwater’s founder to bolster their training.

Not many details are available about the task force. It’s built around Naval Special Warfare Unit Three, one of the elite Navy SEAL teams. But the “Joint” in the task force’s name signals that it draws from the special-operations forces in the Army, Air Force and Marines as well. Its commander is a Navy captain or equivalent in a different service.

Officials would not identify missions of the task force, its leadership or its headquarters, citing the safety of the personnel involved and the success of those missions.

Even if JSOTF-GCC is primarily a training team, it represents another military option for the U.S. in the region during at a time of escalating rhetoric with Iran. The Iranians are threatening to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane through which a fifth of the world’s oil travels, as two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups float nearby. And when the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the U.S. could reopen the waterway by force, there might be an elite commando team nearby to help do it. source – Wired

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United States And Israel Prepare For War With Iran As Satellite Images Show A Furious Rebuilding Of Tehran’s Nuclear Program Previously Thought To Be Destroyed

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A military confrontation between the US and Iran could begin in the coming days and be an intensive, multi-week campaign, sources said Wednesday, despite ongoing diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran.

Last June, the United States along with Israel, launched a series of targeted bunker-busting attacks on the 3 major nuclear facilities in Iran. At the time, Trump had said that the attacked had totally and completely destroyed Tehran’s facilities, but that was not to be the case. Iran still retains much of their equipment, and is spending their time right now fortifying it against the upcoming attack.

“For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:” Jeremiah 49:37 (KJB)

Iranian leaders are rushing to prepare for war in case nuclear deal talks with Washington break down, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Tehran has deployed its forces, fortified nuclear sites, and expanded its clampdown on domestic dissent, reflecting the regime’s views that the survival of the regime is at stake. Locals reported explosions in the Iranian capital of Tehran and the southern city of Shiraz on Wednesday, with footage shared on social media appearing to show pillars of smoke rising from the reported explosion site.

Final Pieces Moving Into Place For Potential Attack On Iran

FROM TWZ: A large wave of American airpower is heading toward the Middle East to bolster forces already there as U.S. President Donald Trump considers an attack against Iran. Online flight trackers are showing F-22 Raptors, F-16 Fighting Falcons, E-3 Sentry radar planes and a U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane either in transit across the Atlantic or newly arrived in Europe. In addition, a seventh Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, the USS Pinckney, has recently deployed to the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility (AOR) as well, a U.S. Navy official told us.

While we don’t know whether Trump will decide to attack Iran, these are exactly the movements we’ve been expecting, but so far not seeing, in advance of a sustained operation, both defensive and offensive. The U.S. aircraft heading east represents the most intense phase of a force plus-up that began after Trump started threatening Iran over its harsh treatment of anti-regime protesters. Taken together, the force now assembling in the Middle East, combined with the Israel Air Force’s capabilities, including hundreds of fighter aircraft, as well as USAF ‘global airpower’ bomber flights, would be enough for a major operation that could last weeks not days. We will likely see additional assets deploy in the coming days.

This intensifying buildup comes against the backdrop of another round of peace negotiations between Washington and Tehran that wrapped up Tuesday morning Eastern Time with future discussions being planned.

Online flight tracking data shows that at least a dozen F-22s have left Langley Air Force Base in Virginia at about 5 a.m. Eastern, heading east. Their first destination is most likely Lakenheath Air Base in the U.K., a major transit hub for aircraft moving between the U.S. and Middle East. However, we don’t know that for sure and CENTCOM has declined to talk about aircraft, ship and troop movements.

F-22s are primarily America’s most capable air-to-air fighter, but they can also be used to destroy enemy air defenses and strike other ground targets. Raptors helped protect B-2A Spirit stealth bombers during last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. It should be noted that four days before Midnight Hammer, F-22s made a similar transit across the Atlantic and took part in the mission.

On the sea, with the addition of the Pinckney, the Navy now has 12 surface combatants in the area, including the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and its three Arleigh Burke class escorts, three independently deployed Arleigh Burke class ships in the CENTCOM region and two in the Mediterranean, and three Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) also now in the CENTCOM area. There are also nuclear submarines there, with at least one accompanying each CSG, as well as likely guided missile submarines (SSGN), but the Navy does not disclose the location of those boats. READ MORE

Is the United States about to strike Iran?

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

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OVER THE TARGET: Supreme Leader Of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Has Fled To Underground Bunker As Threat Of Airstrikes From The United States Heats Up

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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has gone underground, reportedly hiding out in a bunker out of fear of being wiped out by US airstrikes — as the USS Abraham Lincoln steams toward the Persian Gulf.

We are living in a time of kings and kingdoms shaking before judgment, as neither flesh nor blood but principalities are visibly at war on the earth. In today’s headlines, there are multiple reports that Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has moved to a fortified underground shelter because of the growing threat of military action from the United States, including a U.S. carrier strike group steaming toward the Middle East.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Matthew 24:6 (KJB)

The Iranian regime, for decades antagonistic to both Israel and the U.S., now faces internal collapse and external pressure. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has bluntly stated its force has its “finger on the trigger” and remains ready to respond, while Iranian officials have warned that “any attack on Khamenei would be treated as all-out war.” Usually, Iran is just bluffing, and in an head-on confrontation they usually back down. But one of these days, mark my words, they won’t, and we’ll see some real damage done in the Middle East.

Iran’s supreme leader retreats underground, warned of likelihood of US airstrikes

FROM THE NY POST: The 86-year-old supreme leader has moved to a fortified shelter in Tehran connected to a series of elaborate underground tunnels after senior military officials warned of the increasing likelihood of an imminent US attack, Iran International reported, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Khamenei has left his youngest son Masoud Khamenei, 53, in charge of running the day-to-day management of the Islamic Republic, the Jerusalem Post reported. Masoud Khamenei’s emergency duties include being the primary communication channel with the regime’s executive branch, according to the report.

Iran has deemed the likelihood of US airstrikes to be high after President Trump announced Friday that warships were headed to the Middle East as a warning to the ayatollah, following a continuing war of words between the two leaders in recent days.

Trump boasted Friday that the US Navy was sending a massive “armada.”

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which includes three destroyers, is currently motoring from the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf region of Iran, Stars and Stripes reported. Publicly, Tehran has not backed down from heightened tensions with the US as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian threatened to treat any attack against the supreme leader by the US or Israel as “an all-out war against us.”

It’s not the first time the supreme leader has holed up underground. Khamenei also went silent after retreating to a bunker last June, during the 12-Day War with Israel. He reportedly had even drafted a list of potential successors in the event he was killed in the short-lived conflict.

His latest X post this year threatened to go after both internal and international “criminals” who he claimed were responsible for the widespread protests that have gripped the nation since Dec. 28. Those protests — against a disastrous economy that came on the back of the worst drought the country has seen in decades — have seen regime forces gun down at least 3,000 civilians, with some groups claiming the death toll as high as 20,000. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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After Backing Down On His Pledge To Defend Iranian Protestors, President ‘TACO’ Trump Sends The USS Abraham Lincoln And Three Destroyers To Middle East

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President TACO has sent the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Middle East, will he finally keep his promise to the Iranian people and help them topple regime?

A senior Iranian official stated that Iran will treat any attack “as an all-out war against us,” on Friday, ahead of the arrival of a United States military aircraft carrier strike group and other assets in the Middle East region, which is expected in the coming days. “This military buildup – we hope it is not intended for real confrontation – but our military is ready for the worst-case scenario. This is why everything is on high alert in Iran,” said the senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.” Jeremiah 49:35 (KJB)

Donald Trump promised the hundreds of thousands of Iranian protestors that he would launch airstrikes on the regime if mass killings began, and that is one of the main reasons why the Iranian had the courage to stand up for their freedom. Then the regime turned off the internet, the mass killings began, but the TACO president did not launch the strikes he promised. Proof of the mass deaths are easily found on social media, and someone as internet savvy as Trump could easily find that proof. So now he has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln to the region, and only time will tell if he will actually keep his promise to the Iranian people.

The USS Abraham Lincoln is arriving in the Middle East

FROM WSLS NEWS 10: The Pentagon has been sending U.S. military assets into the Middle East this week, including an aircraft carrier group and its thousands of troops, as President Donald Trump indicates he is maintaining the possibility of strikes on Iran amid its crackdown on protests.

“We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump told reporters Thursday, saying they were going “just in case.”

Trump has threatened military action if Iran carried out mass executions of prisoners or killed peaceful demonstrators, but he recently backed away, claiming Iran halted the hangings of 800 detained protesters. He has not elaborated on the source of the claim, which Iran’s top prosecutor called “completely false.”

However, Trump appears to be keeping his options open, saying Thursday aboard Air Force One that his threatened military action would make last year’s U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites “look like peanuts” if the government proceeded with planned executions of some protesters.

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying destroyers left the South China Sea and began heading west earlier this week, a Navy official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, said Friday that the Lincoln strike group was in the Indian Ocean.

When they arrive in the region, those warships would join three littoral combat ships, which were in port in Bahrain on Friday, as well as two other U.S. Navy destroyers, which were at sea in the Persian Gulf.

The arrival of the carrier strike group would bring roughly 5,700 additional service members. The U.S. has several bases in the Middle East, including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which hosts thousands of American troops and is the forward headquarters for U.S. Central Command. READ MORE

According to some reports, Israel believes President Trump is preparing to strike Iran. The panel discusses the possibility and its potential outcomes.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

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