According to Iranian sources--and hence we should be skeptical--a United States security delegation traveled to Tehran to assure the Iranian government that the US had no prior knowledge of the planned Israeli assassinations of Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah's Fuad Shukr.

Report | An unnamed source in Iran told Kuwaiti paper al Jarida that an American security delegation secretly traveled to Tehran and presented a list with the names of ten Mossad agents within Iran believed to be involved in Haniyeh's assassination. https://t.co/4ySkKh45rV

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) August 14, 2024

A secret visit by a delegation to negotiate in person would by itself be surprising but not inherently traitorous to our relationship with one of our closest allies. The US has interests in preventing a general war in the Middle East, after all, and our interests may not always coincide perfectly with those of Israel. 

An unnamed source in Iran's Supreme National Security Council told Kuwaiti newspaper al Jarida that a high-ranking American security delegation, mediated by Oman, secretly traveled to Tehran, the Kuwaiti paper wrote on Wednesday. 

Fox News reported that the delegation allegedly sought to deliver messages to Tehran in order to de-escalate the tensions in the region between Iran and Israel, al Jarida noted in their reporting of the story. 

The mission was reportedly to convey to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that the Biden-Harris administration was "kept in the dark" by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the assassinations of Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah's Fuad Shukr. Israel took responsibility for the assassination of Shukr but has yet to comment on the death of Haniyeh in Tehran. 

I am, to put it mildly, not a fan of the Biden Middle East equivocations, but Biden is not doing anything shocking by continuing his stupid policies by bending the knee to Tehran. 

But the next part, if true, would be an unforgivable betrayal. 

Allegedly, the American delegation presented a list with the names of ten Mossad agents within Iran whom the Americans believed were involved in the assassination, directly or indirectly.

Al Jarida said that the Americans would have reportedly done this as a "good faith" initiative in response to Israel's strikes, which were carried out without American coordination. 

If true, this would be a shocking betrayal of our ally in uncountable ways. And unfortunately, while the accusation is so shocking that we should maintain a healthy skepticism, I believe it is quite possibly true. 

Iran, of course, has very good reasons to lie, and they are hardly a trustworthy source for news about the United States or Israel. Convincing the Israelis that the United States betrayed them and has helped roll up an Israeli spy ring would be a very useful bit of disinformation, creating an almost irreparable split between the US and Israel. 

The two countries share intelligence, and if the Israelis believe that the United States would give up Israeli intelligence assets to the source of most of the evil in the region and the deadliest enemy of the Jewish state, the damage would be incalculable. 

If this accusation were made against Bush or Trump, it could easily be dismissed. No doubt both administrations had back channels to discuss issues with Iran because we live in the real world. It is a very distasteful reality that even the deadliest enemies sometimes need to talk, either directly or through third parties. No doubt Israel and Iran have ways to discuss matters. 

Unfortunately, a Biden move like this is at least credibly possible because the Biden administration has funneled billions of dollars to Iran and has been trying to forge an implicit alliance in the region. It is not a military alliance, of course, but a security understanding of how relations get more normalized. 

They have, in the process, given Iran carte blanche to attack US troops and interests in the region and allowed Iran great latitude to attack our allies, including Israel, without serious consequences. 

So, is this report possibly accurate? Of course, it is. 

Is it accurate? I have no idea, either whether it is true or how we could ever find out.