Money Trends Research | Could gaining control of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) be one of the main reasons that Iran is being targeted by Western and Israeli powers? As tensions are building up for an unthinkable war with Iran, it is worth exploring Iran’s banking system compared to its U.S., British and Israeli counterparts.

Gizmodo | Iran claims that their engineers have reverse engineered the secrets of the American stealth spy drone RQ-170 Sentinel that went down in their territory last December. To prove it, they have made public some of the encrypted information stored in the plane. If confirmed, it's very bad news for the United States.

ABC | The Iranian government claimed Tuesday that it had arrested members of an Israeli-backed "terror" network plotting assassinations and sabotage inside the country. Iran's intelligence ministry announced via state-run media that it had disbanded a "large and sophisticated Israeli terror and sabotage network after months of operations" just as the network was planning fresh attacks.

The Independent | A man whose lies helped to make the case for invading Iraq – starting a nine-year war costing more than 100,000 lives and hundreds of billions of pounds – will come clean in his first British television interview tomorrow. "Curveball", the Iraqi defector who fabricated claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, smiles as he confirms how he made the whole thing up. It was a confidence trick that changed the course of history, with Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi's lies used to justify the Iraq war.

Raw Story | Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Tuesday blocked legislation that would impose a new sanctions on Iran. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had hoped to quickly pass the bill by unanimous consent. But Paul objected and introduced an amendment stating that any use of military force against Iran must be authorized by Congress.

Fox News | The Bank of China knowingly laundered money for various Islamic militant groups so they could get around transaction restrictions because of their label as a "terrorist organization" by the U.S. government, a lawsuit by Israeli victims of suicide bombings claims. Recent court decisions in the United States say the lawsuits can go forward against the Chinese bank.

AFP | Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said in an interview Sunday that the United States should assume that Iran is actively preparing to build nuclear weapons. Kissinger, 88, was asked on the CNN show “GPS” if the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon was so dire that Israel would need to launch a military strike in the near future

Anti-war | Top US officials are reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally requested that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta approve the sale of refueling aircraft and GBU-28  bunker buster bombs to Israel. While this is nothing new in and of itself, President Obama is said to have told Panetta to “work directly” with his Israeli counterpart and to “favorably consider” the request with an eye toward sending the advanced weaponry as soon as possible.

BBC | US President Barack Obama and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are to meet at the White House for key talks expected to hinge on Iran. The meeting comes the day after Mr Obama told a pro-Israel conference in Washington that there had been too much "loose talk" of war with Tehran. Mr Netanyahu will address the summit on Monday evening. Israel fears Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, although Tehran insists its nuclear plans are peaceful.

Infowars.com | If we can believe Stratfor emails hacked by Wikileaks, Israeli commandos and covert operations have decimated Iran’s nuclear program, so there is no need for an attack. One email out a momentous five million mentions a comment made by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who praised a deadly munitions explosion at a military base run by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards. Barak said “it would be desirable if they multiply."

WND | Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta believes that Israel could attack Iran in an April-to-June timeframe, and there apparently has been a decision made for the U.S. to help in an assault on the radical Islamic nation’s nuclear facilities. U.S. military sources tell WND that the Pentagon has begun preparations for “a number of operational plans and counter-operations,” with a Feb. 22 due date for submitting the plans.

Wired | 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.

Rediff.com | India has decided to pay Iran in gold for the oil it purchases, according to a report carried by an Israeli news website DEBKAfile. The move is an attempt to work around the sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe over Iran's alleged nuclear programme. India had earlier indicated that it was in talks with Iran to pay for the oil in either rupees or in yen, but now it seems that India has decided to switch to gold.

Haaretz | Foreign Policy magazine cites CIA memos from 2007-2008 that the Mossad recruited members of Jundallah terror group to fight against Tehran; U.S. was reportedly furious with Israel and moved to limit joint intelligence programs.Israeli Mossad agents posed as CIA officers in order to recruit members of a Pakistani terror group to carry out assassinations and attacks against the regime in Iran, Foreign Policy revealed on Friday, quoting U.S. intelligence memos.

Reuters | Russia will offer Washington no explanation for arms deliveries to Syria and together with China will prevent the U.N. Security Council from approving any military intervention in the conflict-torn nation, its foreign minister said on Wednesday. Using his annual news conference to draw lines in the sand on Syria, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said veto-holding Security Council members Russia and China would stand firm against foreign intervention.