Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily published a Feb. 5 "news" article by Reza Kahlili claiming that "The Iranian government, through a website proxy, has laid out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of its people." Unmentioned by WND: Kahlili is a fearmongerer people usually laugh at.
According to the Washington Post (h/t Media Matters), Kahlili is actually a pseudonym -- WND declares him to be "a former CIA operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. He has a history of making wild claims involving Iran:
Reza Kahlili, a self-proclaimed former CIA "double agent" inside Iran's Revolutionary Guards, appeared in disguise at a Washington think tank Friday claiming that Iran has developed weapons-grade uranium and missiles ready to carry nuclear warheads.
The pseudonymous Kahlili, whose previous accounts have been greeted with widespread skepticism, also said Iran was planning nuclear suicide bombings with "a thousand suitcase bombs spread around Europe and the U.S."
[...]
Several current and former U.S. intelligence officials in the audience "rolled their eyes" at Kahlili's claims, said one observer who was present.
Some in attendance compared Kahlili with Ahmed Chalabi, the former Iraqi exile who helped convince the George W. Bush administration that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the claims were proved false.
CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano, who was not present, challenged the some of Kahlili's implications.
"As our government as a whole has made clear, Iran's nuclear program is a high-priority security issue. It would be wrong for anyone to suggest that the United States doesn't recognize that."
There's no indication that WND made any effort to verify Kahlili's claims.
