End Times and Current Events

General Category => Israel => Topic started by: Psalm 51:17 on November 02, 2011, 04:12:46 pm



Title: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 02, 2011, 04:12:46 pm
Maybe just another war rumor, however, it's sounding awfully familiar to 2003, which was the weeks before the run-up to the Iraq war. There's nothing new under the sun...

http://news.yahoo.com/israel-sending-signals-iranian-attack-195607515.html

11/2/11

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli official said Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to persuade his Cabinet to authorize a military strike against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program — a discussion that comes as Israel successfully tests a missile believed capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to Iran.

It remained unclear whether Israel was genuinely poised to strike or if it was saber-rattling to prod the international community into taking a tougher line on Iran. Israeli leaders have long hinted at a military option, but they always seemed mindful of the practical difficulties, the likelihood of a furious counterstrike and the risk of regional mayhem.

The developments unfolded as the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to focus on the Iranian program at a meeting later this month. The West wants to set a deadline for Iran to start cooperating with an agency probe of suspicions that Tehran is secretly experimenting with components of a weapons program.

Israeli leaders have said they favor a diplomatic solution, but recent days have seen a spate of Israeli media reports on a possible strike, accompanied by veiled threats from top politicians.

In a speech to parliament this week, Netanyahu said a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a "dire threat" to the world and "a grave, direct threat on us, too."

His hawkish foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, was dismissive of the reports but added: "We are keeping all the options on the table."

The government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing sensitive internal deliberations, told The Associated Press that the option is now being debated at the highest levels.

The official confirmed a report Wednesday in the Haaretz daily that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak both favor an attack, but do not yet have the support of a majority of Cabinet ministers. The official also said Israel's top security chiefs, including the heads of the military and Mossad spy agency, oppose military action.

It is generally understood that such a momentous decision would require a Cabinet decision. Israel's 1981 destruction of Iraq's nuclear reactor was preceded by a Cabinet vote.

Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev refused to comment on the issue but did say there is a "decision-making process which has stood the test of time. ... There have been precedents, and the process works."

With most of its population concentrated in a narrow corridor of land along the Mediterranean, Israel's homefront could be vulnerable to a counterattack.

Iran's military chief, Gen. Hasan Firouzabadi, said his country takes Israeli threats seriously and vowed fierce retaliation.

"We are fully prepared to use our proper equipment to punish any mistake so that it will cause a shock," he said in comments posted on the website of the Guard, Iran's most powerful military force.

Reflecting the mood in Israel, military expert Reuven Pedatzur wrote in Haaretz that "if anyone can save Israel from catastrophe, it is the Israeli air force commander," who might simply tell Netanyahu that an attack on Iran "cannot achieve its goals."

Several months ago, the newly retired head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, caused a stir by warning publicly against attacking Iran, saying a strike would be "stupid" and would risk unleashing a region-wide war.

Israel considers Iran to be its greatest threat, citing Tehran's nuclear program, its president's repeated calls for destroying the Jewish state and Iran's support for the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups. For years, Israeli leaders have implored the world community to impose tough economic sanctions to pressure the Iranians to dismantle their nuclear installations.

The key element now is time. Israeli estimates of when Iran might be able to produce a nuclear weapon have been fluid, with Dagan giving a 2015 date when he left office. But some reports have suggested officials consider the coming months critical.

The successful test Wednesday of an advanced long-range Israeli missile, along with word of a recent air force exercise, seemed to fit into that scenario.

Barak hailed the launch as "an impressive technological achievement and an important step in Israel's rocket and space progress."

An Israeli defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity under government policy, said the military tested a "rocket propulsion system" in a launch from the Palmachim base near Tel Aviv.

Further information about the test was censored by the military. Foreign reports, however, said the military test-fired a long-range Jericho missile — capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking Iran.

Also Wednesday, military officials confirmed that the air force conducted a drill last week with Italian warplanes in Sardinia. Israeli warplanes were joined by supply and logistics aircraft.

There were no details on the purpose of the drill. Israeli TV stations ran an interview with one of the pilots who participated, identified only as Lt. Col. Yiftah, who said it allowed the air force to simulate longer-distance missions.

"The advantage here," he said, "is that we can fly in a very large area, much larger than we can in Israel." He said there were "complicated flights with many planes."

A military strike would hardly be unprecedented. Besides the 1981 strike, Israeli warplanes destroyed a site in Syria in 2007 that the U.N. nuclear watchdog deemed a secretly built nuclear reactor.

But attacking Iran would be a much more difficult task. It is a more distant target, and Israeli warplanes would probably have to go over hostile airspace in Syria, Iraq or Saudi Arabia to reach it. Turkey could be an alternative — but its relations with Israel are fraught.

Iran's nuclear facilities also are believed to be spread out across many sites, buried deep underground.

The Iranian military is far more powerful than those of Syria or Iraq, equipped with sophisticated anti-aircraft defense systems as well as powerful medium-range missiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel.

An Israeli attack would also likely spark retaliation from local Iranian proxies, the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip to Israel's south and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon along Israel's northern border. And it would reorder priorities in a region now consumed by the Arab Spring and the Palestinian issue.

Some have speculated that the United States — or even Britain — might be better poised to carry out a strike.

Iran denies it aims to produce a bomb, saying its nuclear program is meant only for energy. It has blamed Israel for disruptions in its nuclear program, including the mysterious deaths of Iranian nuclear scientists and a computer virus that wiped out some of Iran's nuclear centrifuges, a key component in nuclear fuel production.

Western powers, like Israel, do not believe Tehran and already have imposed four rounds of sanctions on the Iranian government in an effort to make it put its program, which can make both nuclear fuel or fissile warhead material, under international supervision.

Israel would like to see the United States and other powers "pressure Iran more seriously ... first with more sanctions, and if they don't work, to go to war with Iran," said Eldad Pardo, an Iran expert at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 02, 2011, 04:18:18 pm
Israel: Army Has Green Light to Stop Gaza Rockets
Israel has authorized its military to take all necessary steps to stop rocket fire from Gaza, including a ground operation, an Israeli military official said Tuesday, as Egypt worked on a truce and said Israel had agreed to delay stepping up its response.

The Israeli government decision stopped well short of ordering tanks to roll into Gaza, and it appeared unlikely that would happen, as rocket fire all but stopped over the past day. The official said the decision authorized the military to act in accordance with the severity of Palestinian attacks, meaning that a ground offensive would be ordered only after massive rocket fire.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/egypt-israel-delaying-expanding-gaza-offensive-14855557
 
 
 


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 06, 2011, 10:04:47 am
Israel's Peres warns attack on Iran getting 'closer'

http://news.yahoo.com/israels-peres-says-iran-attack-more-more-likely-022212256.html

Israeli President Shimon Peres warned on Sunday that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely, days before a report by the UN's nuclear watchdog on Iran's nuclear programme is due.

"The possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option," Peres told the Israel Hayom daily.

"We must stay calm and resist pressure so that we can consider every alternative," he added.

"I don't think that any decision has already been made, but there is an impression that Iran is getting closer to nuclear weapons."

His comments came after he warned in an interview aired by Israel's privately-owned Channel Two television on Saturday that an attack on Iran was becoming "more and more likely."

"The intelligence services of the different countries that are keeping an eye on (Iran) are worried and putting pressure on their leaders to warn that Iran is ready to obtain the nuclear weapon," he said.

In France meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe warned that an attack on Iran would be disastrous.

"We have imposed sanctions that continue to expand, we can toughen them to put pressure on Iran," Juppe told Europe 1 radio.

"We will continue on this path because a military intervention could create a situation that completely destabilises the region," he said.

"Everything must be done to avoid the irreversible."

In recent days, speculation in Israel has grown about the possibility of a pre-emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, with Haaretz newspaper reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak were seeking cabinet support for an attack.

And the military last week carried out what Israeli media called a "ballistic missile" test, as well as a large-scale civil defence drill simulating the response to conventional and non-conventional missile attacks.

Officials said both events were long-planned, but they drove talk here about whether Israel is ramping up plans for an attack.

On Sunday, Haaretz reported that US officials had failed to secure a commitment from Israel that it would coordinate any attack plans with Washington.

Still, media reports suggested no final decision has been taken and that a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog on November 8 or 9 would have a "decisive effect" on decision-making.

Previous IAEA assessments have centred on Iran's efforts to produce fissile material -- uranium and plutonium -- that can be used for power generation and other peaceful uses, but also for the core of a nuclear warhead.

However the new update, which diplomats say will be circulated among envoys on Tuesday or Wednesday, will focus on Iran's alleged efforts to put the fissile material in a warhead and develop missiles to carry them to a target.

On Monday, Barak denied reports that he and Netanyahu had already decided to attack Iran over the opposition of military and intelligence chiefs.

But he said "situations could arise in the Middle East under which Israel must defend its vital interests independently, without having to rely on regional or other forces."

Haaretz said a majority of the 15 members of Israel's security cabinet were still against an attack on Iran, and a poll published by the newspaper found Israeli public opinion divided, with 41 percent in favour, 39 percent opposed and 20 percent undecided.

Israel has consistently warned all options remain on the table when it comes to Iran's nuclear programme, which the Jewish state and Western governments fear masks a drive for nuclear weapons.

Iran denies any such ambition and insists its nuclear programme is for power generation and medical purposes only.

In comments published on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi accused the IAEA of "political" behaviour and said its report would be "baseless."

"I believe that these documents lack authenticity. But if they insist, they should go ahead and publish. Better to face danger once than be always in danger," several Iranian dailies quoted Salehi as saying.

"We have said repeatedly that their documents are baseless. For example one can counterfeit money, but it remains counterfeit. These documents are like that," Salehi said.

..


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on November 07, 2011, 06:42:13 am
Ahmadinejad warns against attack, says Israel's end nigh

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States and Israel of seeking world support for a military strike on Iran, in comments published on Monday in which he also warned against attacks on his country.

Ahmadinejad, in an interview with Egypt's state-owned Al-Akhbar newspaper, lashed out at Israel after its president, Shimon Peres, warned at the weekend that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely.

Israel, Iran's arch-enemy, was "bound to collapse," Ahmadinejad said.

"Iran's capabilities are increasing and it is progressing, and for that reason it has been able to compete in the world. Now Israel and the West, particularly America, fear Iran's capabilities and role," he said.

rest: http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/Ahmadinejad-warns-against-attack-says-Israel-s-end-nigh/Article1-765898.aspx


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 07, 2011, 08:28:21 am
Iran war RUMORS have been going as far back as 2004(I believe it was Seymour Hirsch that was the first one to get their rumors going).

However, it ain't no rumors anymore - now HIGH LEVEL government officials are saying it out of their own mouths.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on November 07, 2011, 01:23:07 pm
Russia warns against Israeli air strike on Iran
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavov has warned that a military strike on Iran would be a “very serious mistake” with “unpredictable consequences”, after Israel’s president Shimon Peres said that an attack was increasingly likely.


In comments published in the Israeli daily Hayom, Mr Peres said that “the possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option”.

"We must stay calm and resist pressure so that we can consider every alternative," he added.

The drumbeat of war is expected to grow louder this week when United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, issues its most detailed report to date on nuclear research in Iran.

It will provide what Western officials and experts regard as irrefutable evidence that Tehran is compiling the capacity and skills to build a bomb. It will be used as leverage for a fifth round of sanctions at the UN, but could also provide Israel, with the tacit support of Washington, to finalise plans for an air strike.

Among its findings are that Tehran was helped by nuclear experts from two countries, believed to be Russia and Pakistan. The Washington Post reported that key assistance was provided by Vyacheslav Danilenko, a former Soviet nuclear scientist, hired by Iran's Physics Research Centre.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8874073/Russia-warns-against-Israeli-air-strike-on-Iran.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 08, 2011, 07:50:41 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/un-reports-iran-specific-nuke-arms-184224261.html

11/8/11

UN reports Iran work 'specific' to nuke arms

VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. atomic agency said for the first time Tuesday that Iran is suspected of conducting secret experiments whose sole purpose is the development of nuclear arms, an assessment that draws on 1,000 pages of intelligence and nearly a decade of research.

The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency is its most unequivocal yet suggesting that Iran is using the cover of a peaceful nuclear program to produce atomic weaponry. Based on years of trying to probe Tehran's secretive activities, its release will stoke debate on whether it's time to jettison failed diplomatic efforts to end Iran's nuclear defiance and replace them with force.

The 13-page annex to the IAEA's regularly scheduled report on Iran included evidence that suggests the Islamic republic is working on the clandestine procurement of equipment and designs to make nuclear arms.

"While some of the activities identified in the annex have civilian as well as military applications, others are specific to nuclear weapons," the report said.

Among these were indications that Iran has conducted high explosives testing and detonator development to set off a nuclear charge, as well as computer modeling of a core of a nuclear warhead. The report also cited preparatory work for a nuclear weapons test, and development of a nuclear payload for Iran's Shahab 3 intermediate range missile — a weapon that can reach Israel.

In Washington, officials said the report confirms U.S. suspicions about the military nature of Iran's program, and the Obama administration was readying a range of sanctions and other measures against Iran should the Islamic republic fail to answer questions raised about its nuclear ambitions.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said there was a government directive not to comment until Israel has studied the findings in depth.

But before the report's release, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned of a possible Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear program.

"We continue to recommend to our friends in the world and to ourselves, not to take any option off the table," he told Israel radio.

That phrase is often used by Israeli politicians to mean a military assault. Israeli leaders have engaged in increased saber rattling recently, suggesting that an attack was likely a more effective way to stop Iran's nuclear program than continued diplomacy.

Iran is under U.N. sanctions for refusing to stop uranium enrichment — which can produce both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material — and other suspected activities that the international community fears could be used to make atomic arms. But Iran dismisses such allegations and says its activities are meant to be used only for energy or research.

Iran's official IRNA news agency dismissed the U.N. findings, accusing IAEA chief Yukiya Amano of including "worthless comments and pictures provided by the intelligence services." In Vienna, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's chief IAEA delegate, called the report "unbalanced, unprofessional and prepared with political motivation and political pressure by the United States."

In Moscow, Russia's Foreign Ministry said it would not comment until it had time to study the report carefully.

Some of the information was new — including evidence of a large metal chamber at a military site for nuclear-related explosives testing. Iran contemptuously dismissed that, saying they were merely metal toilet stalls.

The bulk of the information, however, was a compilation of alleged findings that have already been partially revealed by the agency. It was meant to connect the dots between procurement, draftboard planning and testing, all supervised by the military under the guise of civilian organizations.

But a senior diplomat familiar with the report said its significance lay in the comprehensive way it laid out evidence indicating that Iran has engaged in all aspects of testing needed to develop a nuclear weapon. Also significant was the agency's decision to share most of what it knows or suspects about Iran's secret work with the 35-nation IAEA board and the U.N. Security Council after being stonewalled by Tehran in its attempts to probe such allegations.

It also underlined concerns that Iran had apparently continued work on developing a nuclear warhead and ways to trigger it past 2003 — the year that a U.S. intelligence assessment in 2007 said such activities stopped. Instead, the agency said, some of this work continued at least until 2010, although in a less concentrated way.

Unusually strong language reflected such worries, with the report noting that "some of the activities undertaken after 2003 would be highly relevant to a nuclear weapons program."

"I think (the IAEA) want to lay out their case and say, 'Look, we've gone as far as we can, here's our best argument,'" said David Albright whose Institute for Science and International Security in Washington tracks suspected nuclear proliferators.

The next step, he said, was up to the IAEA's decision-making board, which referred Iran to the U.N. Security Council in 2006 — and can do so again, strengthening the chances of new U.N. sanctions.

The report was not being viewed as a game-changer in Washington. It doesn't reveal intelligence unknown to the United States — which contributed to much of the IAEA's knowledge about Iran's nuclear work — and U.S. officials said it is unlikely to persuade reluctant powers such as China and Russia to support tougher sanctions on the Iranian government.

But the officials, who asked for anonymity because their information is privileged, said the report offered significant support for some long-held U.S. suspicions and lends international credence to claims that Tehran isn't solely interested in developing atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

A senior administration official said the finding that Iran undertook computer modeling of the core of a nuclear bomb was "of particular concern."

"There is no application of such studies to anything other than a nuclear bomb," the official said.

The official also pointed to the report's assessment that Iran is developing fast-acting detonators that can be used in a nuclear weapon, and its efforts to procure key nuclear weapons ingredients, such as high-speed electronic switches, spark gaps, high-speed cameras, neutron sources and radiation detection and measuring equipment.

The Obama administration will use the report as leverage in making its case to other countries that sanctions against Iran should be expanded and tightened, and that the enforcement of current sanctions be toughened, the officials said.

However, it's not going to sway the U.S. administration from its plan to rely on sanctions and diplomatic pressure, instead of military threats, to deter Iranian ambitions, they said.

The U.N. Security Council has passed four sets of damaging sanctions on Iran, but veto-wielding members China and Russia oppose further measures and are unlikely to change their minds despite the report's findings.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on November 09, 2011, 01:47:34 am
Iran prepping for missile attack on Israel
Mullah regime would try to blanket Jewish state with blasts


Iran has been preparing Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon to retaliate in the case of Israeli strikes against Tehran's nuclear sites, according to Egyptian security officials speaking to WND.

The security officials said Tehran was convinced the Jewish state was going to attack its suspected nuclear sites in September, prompting Iran to hold joint military drills with Gazan jihad groups in August, including with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Similar drills were held in August with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Those drills were conducted by Iranian Revolutionary Guard members, the officials said. The exercises focused largely on coordinated missile onslaughts from both Gaza and Lebanon aimed at blanketing the Jewish.

According to the Egyptian security officials, any attack against Iran or Syria would result in an immediate Iranian missile campaign against Israel using proxies in Gaza and Lebanon.

The international news media has been replete with reports in recent days speculating Israel is strongly considering striking Iran's suspected illicit nuclear sites.

Quote
The reports come as the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is set to release a report detailing Iran's drive to obtain nuclear weapons.

According to U.N. officials speaking to the Associated Press, the report will "suggest that Iran made computer models of a nuclear warhead and include satellite imagery of what the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) believes is a large steel container used for nuclear arms-related high explosives tests."

While the media focus has largely been on Iran, there is information indicating an international campaign could target Iran's ally, Syria.

The regime of Syria's Bashar Assad has been accused of major human rights violations, including crimes against humanity, in clamping down on a violent insurgency targeting Assad's rule.

Mass demonstrations were held last week in Syrian insurgent strongholds calling for the international NATO coalition in Libya to deploy in Syria.

Damascus officials claimed to WND that NATO troops are currently training in Turkey for a Turkish-led NATO invasion of Syria.

Any deployment would come under the banner of the same "Responsibility to Protect" global doctrine used to justify the U.S.-NATO airstrikes in Libya.

Responsibility to Protect, or Responsibility to Act, as cited by President Obama, is a set of principles, now backed by the United Nations, based on the idea that sovereignty is not a privilege but a responsibility that can be revoked if a country is accused of "war crimes," "genocide," "crimes against humanity" or "ethnic cleansing."

A Turkish-U.S.-NATO strike could have immediate implications for Israel.

The Syrian president warned in a recent interview with a U.K. newspaper that foreign intervention in Syria would cause an "earthquake" across the region and create another Afghanistan, while directly threatening the Jewish state.

Assad reportedly made similar comments in a meeting in early October with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu. He was quoted stating, "If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv."

Assad also reportedly warned that "all these events will happen in three hours, but in the second three hours, Iran will attack the U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf and the U.S. and European interests will be targeted simultaneously."

(Story continues below)
 http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=365765#ixzz1dBym39On


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on November 13, 2011, 02:46:09 pm
Iran says has detected Duqu computer virus

Iran said on Sunday it had detected the Duqu computer virus that experts say is based on Stuxnet, the so-called "cyber-weapon" discovered last year and believed to be aimed at sabotaging the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites.

The head of Iran's civil defense organization told the official IRNA news agency that computers at all main sites at risk were being checked and that Iran had developed software to combat the virus.

"We are in the initial phase of fighting the Duqu virus," Gholamreza Jalali, was quoted as saying. "The final report which says which organizations the virus has spread to and what its impacts are has not been completed yet.

"All the organizations and centers that could be susceptible to being contaminated are being controlled," he said.

News of Duqu surfaced in October when security software maker Symantec Corp said it had found a mysterious virus that contained code similar to Stuxnet.

rest: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45278589


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on November 26, 2011, 04:33:35 pm
Iran to hit Turkey if nuclear program targeted by Israel, U.S., general says

Threat by senior Revolutionary Guard commander comes after another Iranian general says Tehran would strike Israel's nuclear facilities if it was attacked.


 senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard says the country will target NATO's missile defense shield in Turkey if the U.S.¬ or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic.

Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards' aerospace division, is quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying the warning is part of a new defense strategy to counter what it sees as an increase in threats from the U.S.¬ and Israel.

rest: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iran-to-hit-turkey-if-nuclear-program-targeted-by-israel-u-s-general-says-1.397862


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on November 28, 2011, 07:16:34 am
Iran: We'll fire 150,000 missiles at Israel if attacked

Defense minister Vahidi tells army volunteers 'Israel has to be punished for what it has done to the Muslims in Palestine'


Iranian Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi said Israel would be attacked with 150,000 missiles if it launches any military action against the Islamic Republic, the Iran Independent News Service reported Sunday.

Speaking before 50,000 army volunteers in Bushehr, the minister said "Iran is not Iraq or Afghanistan, if the Americans make the mistake and attack Iran, we will show them how to fight,” adding “Israel has to be punished for what it has done to the Muslims in Palestine and Lebanon."

rest: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4153840,00.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 05, 2012, 10:56:31 pm
http://www.debka.com/article/21620/

1/5/12

Saudis, Gulf states on war alert for early US-Iran clash

The armies of Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council states stood ready Thursday Jan. 5, for Washington to stand up to Iranian threats and send an aircraft carrier or several warships through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. Riyadh has been leaning hard on the Obama administration not to let Tehran get away with its warning to react with "full force" if the USS Stennis aircraft carrier tried to reenter the Gulf or Iran's pretensions to control the traffic transiting the world's most important oil route.

Wednesday night, the Iranian parliament began drafting a bill prohibiting foreign warships from entering the Gulf without Tehran's permission.
debkafile's Washington sources report that Saudi Arabia has warned the Obama administration that Iranian leaders mean what they say; their leaders are bent on provoking a military clash with the United States at a time and place of their choosing, rather than leaving the initiative to Washington. To this end, Iranian officials are ratcheting up their belligerence day after day.
Notwithstanding their military inferiority, the Iranians believe they can snatch a measure of success from a military confrontation, just as the Lebanese Hizballah did in the 2006 war against Israel. In any case, they expect any clash to be limited – at least at first. The two sides will begin by feeling for the opposite side's weaknesses while endeavoring to hold the line against a full-blown war.

read more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 08, 2012, 08:42:00 am
http://news.yahoo.com/uk-sends-warship-gulf-amid-iran-tensions-114741941.html;_ylt=AlwtySZ6V3WSxRclZbl7q5HNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTRkdW5tNzEzBGNjb2RlA3JkdG9wMTAwMHBvb2wEbWl0A05ld3MgZm9yIHlvdQRwa2cDNDU3NjM4NmEtNjRiMi0zMjc1LWEwNTQtMjE3NjlhYzM1ZThkBHBvcwM2BHNlYwNuZXdzX2Zvcl95b3UEdmVyAzdkMTgxOTEwLTM5MjUtMTFlMS1hZjdhLWI3MjhkOTFkY2JjNQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNoaTNiNG11BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZGQxMGNiZDktODY0OS0zZmRjLWI1OGMtNWZiMGUzMmU5M2E2BHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xkZXN0aW5hdGlvbjIwMTIEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdlBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

1/7/12

UK sends new warship to Gulf amid Iran tensions

Britain's newest warship is heading to the Gulf for its first mission at a time of tensions over Iran's threat to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key transport route for oil.
 
The Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring, which has a "stealth" design to help avoid detection by radar, is to join other British ships in the region, the Ministry of Defence confirmed Saturday.
 
Although its deployment has been planned for more than a year, it comes as Britain and its allies have expressed deep concern about Iran's threat to close the shipping lane through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows.
 
Iran has threatened to take the move if it is hit with fresh sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme.

read more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 09, 2012, 09:32:20 am
The looming war with Iran

01/08/2012 12:50   By AVI PERRY

http://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Opinion/Article.aspx?id=252675

The encroaching war with Iran will not be initiated by the US or Israel.

Watching the Sunday talk shows on American TV, the experts were all of the opinion that neither the US nor Israel will embark on attacking the Iranian nuclear facilities in 2012. I tend to agree. Neither the US nor Israel will initiate an attack on Iran. Still, I believe that these experts were off by a million miles.

Iran, just like Nazi Germany in the 1940s, will take the initiative and “help” the US president and the American public make up their mind by making the first move, by attacking a US aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

The Iranian attack on an American military vessel will serve as a justification and a pretext for a retaliatory move by the US military against the Iranian regime. The target would not be Iran’s nuclear facilities. The US would retaliate by attacking Iran’s navy, their military installations, missile silos, airfields. The US would target Iran’s ability to retaliate, to close down the Strait of Hormuz. The US would then follow by targeting the regime itself.

Elimination of Iran’s nuclear facilities? Yes. This part would turn out to be the final act, the grand finale. It might have been the major target, had the US initiated the attack. However, under this “Pearl Harbor” scenario, in which Iran had launched a “surprise” attack on the US navy, the US would have the perfect rationalization to finish them off, to put an end to this ugly game.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 10, 2012, 01:16:47 pm
Iran begins uranium enrichment in site near Qom

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iran-begins-uranium-enrichment-in-site-near-qom-1.406306

1/9/12

Iran has said for months that it is preparing to move its highest-grade uranium refinement work to Fordow from its main enrichment plant at Natanz, and sharply boost capacity.

Iran confirmed on Monday the start of uranium enrichment at its underground Fordow nuclear plant, Iran's Arabic language al Alam TV reported.

"All of Iran's nuclear activities, including enrichment of uranium in both Natanz and Fordow nuclear sites are under supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Iran's envoy to the agency Ali Asghar Soltanieh told al Alam.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 10, 2012, 01:18:53 pm
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-israel-preparing-for-nuclear-iran-within-a-year-1.406431

1/10/12

Report: Israel preparing for nuclear Iran within a year

U.K.'s Times newspaper cites report by Israeli think tank that Israel is readying for Iran with nuclear capabilities within twelve months.

Israel is preparing for an Iran with nuclear capabilities within the next 12 months, according to a report by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), an Israeli think tank.

The U.K. daily Times newspaper published extracts of the report by the Tel Aviv University institute on Monday, according to an AFP report.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 10, 2012, 01:51:27 pm

http://www.debka.com/article/21635/
Iran plans one-kiloton underground nuclear test in 2012
According to debkafile's Iranian sources, Tehran is preparing an underground test of a one-kiloton nuclear device during 2012, much like the test carried out by North Korea in 2006. Underground facilities are under construction in great secrecy behind the noise and fury raised by the start of advanced uranium enrichment at Iran's fortified, subterranean Fordo site near Qom.
All the sanctions imposed so far for halting Iran's progress toward a nuclear weapon have had the reverse effect, stimulating rather than cooling its eagerness to acquire a bomb.

Yet, according to a scenario prepared by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University for the day after an Iranian nuclear weapons test, Israel was resigned to a nuclear Iran and the US would offer Israel a defense pact while urging Israel not to retaliate.

As quoted by the London Times Monday, Jan. 1, INSS experts, headed by Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel's National Security Council, deduced from a simulation study they staged last week that. Their conclusion is that neither the US nor Israel will use force to stop Iran's first nuclear test which they predicted would take place in January 2013.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 10, 2012, 01:58:54 pm
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/220280.html

Iran to use new hardware in next drills

1/10/12

Commander of Iran's Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan has announced the country's plans to deploy the most advanced military equipment in the country's upcoming maneuvers.
 

Pourdastan said on Tuesday that the major drills will be launched in eastern Iran in the second half of February.
 
“In this maneuver, the latest combat equipment and systems of the Ground Forces as well as the modern tactics in ground operations will be evaluated,” the commander added.
 
The development comes after the Ground Forces of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully concluded their military drills codenamed Shohaday-e Vahdat (Martyrs of Unity) in eastern Iran on Monday.
 
Among the major objectives of the maneuver were bolstering security along Iran's eastern border areas, promoting the defense and combat capabilities of the IRGC's Ground Forces as well as transferring to young officers the experiences gained during the eight-year war imposed by Iraq on Iran.
 
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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 10, 2012, 02:00:18 pm
Ecuador backs Iran's nuclear rights

1/10/12

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino has thrown his weight behind Iran's right to nuclear energy for peaceful objectives, reiterating that Ecuador will ignore Western sanctions on Iran.
 

On the threshold of a scheduled state visit by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Ecuador, Patino defended his government's ties with Iran on Monday.
 
He emphasized that Quito will continue doing business with Iran.

Ahmadinejad arrived in Caracas on the first leg of his five-day tour of several Latin American countries. He is also scheduled to pay a visit to Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador and hold talks with their senior officials on further expansion of mutual relations.
 
Leaders in all the four Latin American nations have in recent years enhanced diplomatic and trade ties with Iran while their relations with the US have been greatly downgraded amid popular demands for an end to dependence on Washington.
 
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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 12, 2012, 06:24:17 pm

Iran: We'll Bring the War to Israel, and 'Beyond'
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151667#.Tw7-5YFfT7g

1/12/12

Iran is preparing its own answers to the string of assassinations of Iranian scientists, a web site identified with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said Thursday – and those responsible had better start staying awake nights, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying. Naming Israel specifically, the Rajah News website said that Israel wasn't the only country that could undertake long-distance proxy wars. “We too can send our agents to kill people in their sleep,” the site quoted the unnamed official as saying.
 
“None of those responsible will escape, none of them should feel safe,” the official told the website. “We will take the war beyond the borders of Iran, and beyond the borders of the region.” Israeli commentators said that the statement was an implied threat that Iran could target American Jews in response to what it perceives is a covert war by Israel to halt Iran's nuclear program. Several months ago, the FBI announced the arrest of a terror gang connected to Iran that had planned to attack synagogues in the U.S., and to blow up the Saudi embassy in Washington.
 
An Israeli official quoted in the New York Times, while not confirming that Israel was behind the recent string of assassinations of Iranian scientists – including Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, killed Wednesday in Tehran – said that the assassinations were likely part of a “cold war” against Iran. “I think the cocktail of diplomacy, of sanctions, of covert activity might bring us something. I think it's the right policy while we still have time,” the official said.
 
The U.S., meanwhile, successfully convinced Japan to cut its oil imports from Iran, as part of the mounting worldwide boycott of Iranian oil. After a meeting with visiting U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Japanese officials promised to cut imports of Iranian oil. Japan is one of Iran's biggest customers.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 12, 2012, 06:42:46 pm
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/u-s-increases-aircraft-carrier-presence-in-tense-gulf-region/

U.S. increases aircraft carrier presence in tense Gulf region

Posted on January 12, 2012

January 12, 2012 – MIDDLE EAST – The U.S. has deployed one more aircraft carriers to Gulf region, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, calling the move “routine’ and denying any link to mounting tensions with Iran. Backed by a cruiser, destroyer and with almost 80 planes and helicopters on board, the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group ‘arrived in the US 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR)” on January 9,” a Fifth Fleet statement said. That area covers the Gulf, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the Carl Vinson was “not in the Gulf” and had not gone through the Strait of Hormuz – a key oil route which Iran has threatened to close as tensions with the West flare. The Carl Vinson was due to relieve another aircraft carrier, the USS John Stennis, which is in the region, Kirby said. “Her deployment in that area is routine, long-planned – there’s nothing unusual about that,’ Kirby explained. Second US aircraft carrier arrives in the Gulf as Iran tensions rise. “The numbers of carrier strike groups attached to the Centcom AOR change all the time and it’s been consistently that way,” he said. “The fact that there are two carriers in that AOR is not an indication of anything specific in respect to Iran,” the spokesman stressed, insisting:  “There is no change to force posture in the region.” Despite the Pentagon’s denials of a build-up in the region, the USS Abraham Lincoln was in the Indian Ocean and en route to join the Carl Vinson, according to the US Navy. International confrontation over Iran’s nuclear programme has grown more tense as threats and counter-threats are being increasingly backed with displays of military muscle. Western nations, with the United States at the fore, are steadily ratcheting up sanctions on Iran with the aim of fracturing its oil-dependent economy. Iran has responded by saying it could easily close the Strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint for 20 per cent of the world’s tanker-carried oil at the entrance to the Gulf – if it is attacked or if sanctions halt its petroleum exports. It has also threatened to unleash the “full force” of its navy should the United States redeploy an aircraft carrier to the Gulf, where the US Fifth Fleet is based. –Telegraph


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on January 17, 2012, 07:30:03 am
Russia: Attack on Tehran is Attack on Moscow:

Russia has given Iran its bear hug and warns Israel and the West that an attack on Tehran would be considered an attack on Moscow. The threat heightens the prospect of World War III in the event of a military strike on Iran. “Iran is our neighbor,” Russia's outgoing ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, told reporters in Brussels. “And if Iran is involved in any military action, it’s a direct threat to our security.”

more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151739


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 17, 2012, 07:10:17 pm
Iranian Crisis: escalating series of troubling events sliding world towards war

1/17/12

January 17, 2012 – IRAN – Iran has boosted security for all its nuclear workers after one of its scientists was assassinated last week, First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said Tuesday. “Whoever is active in the nuclear field will be put under special care,” Rahimi said in remarks reported by the official IRNA news agency.  The order was given by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rahimi said. The ISNA news agency quoted the vice president saying that the additional measures — which were not specified — come on top of ones ordered 10 months ago for Iran’s nuclear scientists. “This time around, the government ordered that anyone who is active in the nuclear field, from low levels to higher ups, be under surveillance and put under special care,” Rahimi said. The new security order was given after Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a 32-year-old deputy director of Iran’s main uranium enrichment plant, was murdered on January 11 along with his driver/bodyguard when assassins on a motorbike fixed a magnetic bomb to their car. The attack was the fifth such incident targeting Iran’s scientists in the past two years. Four other scientists — three of them involved in Iran’s nuclear program — died in the attacks, while one managed to escape with injuries. Iranian officials say the attacks are a covert campaign by Israel and the United States. –Ynet News

more

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/iranian-crisis-escalating-series-of-troubling-events-sliding-world-towards-war/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 20, 2012, 01:26:07 pm
http://rt.com/news/iran-conflict-us-ready-179/

1/19/12

Pentagon 'prepared': US set for Operation Iranian Freedom?

Washington is prepared to engage in war over the Strait of Hormuz at any moment, the Pentagon says. Some observers say the dangerous move is being viewed as a far from worst-case scenario in America, especially by its hawks.
 
­American troops in the Persian Gulf region do not require any build-up for a possible military conflict with Iran, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.

"We are not making any special steps at this point in order to deal with the situation. Why? Because, frankly, we are fully prepared to deal with that situation now," Panetta explained.

The US says it will attack Iran if it tries to block the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for regional oil transit. Tehran has threatened to stop traffic through the Strait in response to mounting pressure, including threats, sanctions and particularly an air strike on its nuclear facilities, which Israel and the US say are on the table.

The US Navy has two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region at the moment, presumably performing a routine rotation. US troops are also stationed in a number of nearby countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and other Gulf nations.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 23, 2012, 07:17:06 am
US aircraft carrier sails through Strait of Hormuz

1/22/12

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid heightened tensions with Iran, an American aircraft carrier has sailed through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. The Navy says it's a routine maneuver.

Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost said the USS Abraham Lincoln entered the Gulf on Sunday without incident to conduct scheduled maritime security operations. Derrick-Frost is a spokeswoman for the Navy's 5th Fleet, based in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

U.S. warships frequently operate in the Gulf. But when the carrier USS John Stennis departed the Gulf in late December, Iranian officials warned the U.S. not to return. On Saturday, however, Iran indicated that it viewed U.S. naval operations in the Gulf as normal.

Iran recently suggested it might use military force to close the Strait in retaliation for new international economic sanctions.

http://news.yahoo.com/us-aircraft-carrier-sails-strait-hormuz-005059420.html


Title: Massive US military buildup on 2 islands close to Iran...
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 29, 2012, 05:16:56 pm
http://warsclerotic.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/massive-us-military-buildup-on-two-strategic-islands-socotra-and-masirah/



Title: Iran Wants to Choke Israel through Muslim Brotherhood Alliance
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 01, 2012, 01:18:12 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152326#.TylTMYFfQz8

2/1/12

Iran Wants to Choke Israel through Muslim Brotherhood Alliance

Iran is maintaining close contact with the Muslim Brotherhood and wants diplomatic relations in Egypt, Iran’s foreign minister says.


Iran is maintaining close contact with the Muslim Brotherhood and wants diplomatic relations in Egypt, Iran’s foreign minister says.
 
"Tehran is in constant contact with the Muslim Brotherhood” and will send an ambassador to Cairo if Egypt agrees, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.
 
An Iranian-Egyptian alliance would give Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a strategic ally on Israel's southern border along with Hamas in Gaza and Hizbullah in Lebanon.
 
Salehi said Iran is ready to promote its diplomatic relations with Egypt to the ambassadorial level, particularly in light of the Muslim Brotherhood's recent ascendancy to power. The group's party, the Freedom and Justice Party, controls 43 percent of parliamentary seats.
 
Some countries "are not happy about improving relations between Egypt and Iran," he said but insisted that it would be beneficial if there were cooperation between Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
 
Egypt and Iran severed official ties in 1979 after the Islamic revolution and the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Relations have markedly improved since the Arab Spring rebellion ousted former President Hosni Mubarak and ushered the radical Brotherhood into a dominant force.


Title: Panetta says Israel could strike Iran in spring: report
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 02, 2012, 08:33:08 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/panetta-says-israel-could-strike-iran-spring-report-232458035.html

2/2/12

Panetta says Israel could strike Iran in spring: report
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a "strong possibility" that Israel will strike Iran's nuclear installations this spring, the Washington Post said Thursday in an editorial.
 
When asked about the opinion piece by reporters travelling with him to a NATO meeting in Brussels, Panetta brushed it aside.
 
"I'm not going to comment on that. David Ignatius can write what he will but with regards with what I think and what I view, I consider that to be an area that belongs to me and nobody else," he said.
 
"Israel indicated they're considering this (a strike), we've indicated our concerns," he added.
 
The Post columnist said Panetta "believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June before Iran enters what Israelis described as a 'zone of immunity' to commence building a nuclear bomb."

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Title: Iran tells the world to soon look for ‘great event’ from Allah
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 03, 2012, 07:46:08 pm
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/rhetoric-reaching-dangerous-point-of-no-return-iran-tells-the-world-to-soon-look-for-great-event-from-allah/

February 3, 2012 – TEHRAN - Amid crippling sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, Iran is continuing to prepare itself for war against the West, and now is warning of a coming great event. Amid crippling sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, Iran is continuing to prepare itself for war against the West, and now is warning of a coming great event.  “In light of the realization of the divine promise by almighty God, the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated,” Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, is warning. Khamenei, speaking to hundreds of youths from more than 70 countries attending a world conference on the Arab Spring just days ago, told a cheering crowd in Tehran that “Allah’s promises will be delivered and Islam will be victorious.” The countries represented included Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Palestine and Tunisia, all of which have been involved in the Arab Spring. In his remarks, Khamenei advised the youths to remain vigilant, stating that the Islamic awakening in the region has delivered several blows to the enemies of Islam and that all Muslims, despite their own historical and social differences, remain united in opposing the “evil hegemony of the Zionists and the Americans.”

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 07, 2012, 08:29:11 am
Diplomat Says Pakistan Will Retaliate if Israel Attacks Iran

A diplomat based in Islamabad said on Sunday that an Israeli attack on Iran would force Pakistan to support a Iranian response, according to the Israeli website Ynetnews.com.

The diplomat did not say if the Pakistani retaliation would be diplomatic or involve a conventional military or nuclear response.

Although estimates of Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile vary, it is believed the Islamic country has between 70 and 90 warheads. In 2000, U.S. military and intelligence sources put the number at 100. In 2007, retired Pakistani Brigadier-General Feroz Khan told a Pakistani newspaper that his country has “about 80 to 120 genuine warheads.”

Pakistan also has a number of delivery system for its nuclear weapons, including thermonuclear MIRV-equipped medium range ballistic missiles with ranges up to 2500 kilometers. It also has cruise missiles and is believed to be working on tactical nuclear weapons.

In August of 2011, it was reported that the United States considers Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal a threat and it has a “snatch-and-grab” plan for a worse case scenario.

Both Russia and China have said that an attack on Iran would be an attack on their national security.

“Iran is our close neighbor, just south of the Caucasus. Should anything happen to Iran, should Iran get drawn into any political or military hardships, this will be a direct threat to our national security,” Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s deputy prime minister and former envoy to NATO, said in mid-January.

“China will not hesitate to protect Iran even with a third world war,” said Major General Zhang Zhaozhong in December.

http://www.infowars.com/diplomat-says-pakistan-will-retaliate-if-israel-attacks-iran/


Title: D-Day 2: U.S. marines and 8 countries to stage mock-invasion exercise on U.S. ea
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 07, 2012, 05:15:08 pm
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/d-day-2-u-s-marines-and-8-countries-to-stage-mock-invasion-exercise-on-u-s-east-coast/

D-Day 2: U.S. marines and 8 countries to stage mock-invasion exercise on U.S. east coast

February 7, 2012 – NORTH CAROLINA – With beach landings, 25 naval ships and an air assault, the United States and eight other countries are staging a major amphibious exercise on the US East Coast this week, fighting a fictional enemy that bears more than a passing resemblance to Iran. After a decade dominated by ground wars against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, the drill dubbed Bold Alligator is “the largest amphibious exercise conducted by the fleet in the last 10 years,” said Admiral John Harvey, head of US Fleet Forces Command. About 20,000 US forces, plus hundreds of British, Dutch and French troops as well as liaison officers from Italy, Spain, New Zealand and Australia are taking part in the exercise along the Atlantic coast off Virginia and North Carolina. An American aircraft carrier, amphibious assault ships including France’s Mistral, Canadian mine sweepers and dozens of aircraft have been deployed for the drill, which began on January 30 and runs through mid-February. Monday was ‘D-day’ for Bold Alligator, with US Marines stepping on to the beach from hovercraft, near the Camp Lejeune base in North Carolina. The American military, mindful that Marines have spent most of their time in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan since 2001, said the goal was “to revitalize, refine, and strengthen fundamental amphibious capabilities and reinforce the Navy and Marine Corps role as fighters from the sea.”

With defense spending coming under pressure after years of unlimited growth, the Marines – which devoted a brigade to the exercise – also are anxious to protect funding for their traditional role as an amphibious force. The exercise scenario takes place in a mythical region known as ‘Treasure Coast,’ with a country called Garnet, a theocracy, invading its neighbor to the north, Amberland, which calls for international help to repel the attack. Garnet has mined several harbors and deployed anti-ship missiles along the coast. The threat of mines, anti-ship missiles and small boats in coastal waters conjure up Iran’s naval forces, but the commanders overseeing the drill, Admiral Harvey and Marine Lieutenant General Dennis Hejlik, say the scenario is not based on any particular country. Amid rising tensions with Iran and threats from Tehran to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, naval officers and military planners are keenly aware of the Islamic Republic’s arsenal of mines and anti-ship missiles. When asked by reporters last week, Harvey acknowledged that the exercise scenario was “certainly informed by recent history” and that it was “applicable” to the Strait of Hormuz, as well as other areas. –Deccan Chronicle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LO4MUfWEhs&feature=player_embedded


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 09, 2012, 05:52:33 am
US Strike Group Simulates War With Iran

The United States' oldest aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, and its strike group are running naval drills, which seem to indicate potential conflict with Iran, off the US East coast ahead of being deployed to the Persian Gulf. The drill map, referring to Florida shores as "The Treasure Coast," depicts nine countries, two of which - Garnet and North Garnet, are identified as 'fundamentalist Islamic theocracies' suspected of supporting terror groups, Russia Today reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the drill map also depicts a 56-km (35-mile) wide strait located some 320 km (200 miles) from the coast. The mock strait's shape and width is identical to the Strait of Hormuz.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225453.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 09, 2012, 05:53:28 am
Israel Embassies Preparing For Iran Strike?

Diplomats stationed in Israel request gas masks, prepare contingency plans in case of missile attacks; envoys fear that thousands of dual-citizenship Israelis will seek evacuation Itamar Eichner Published: 02.08.12, 00:05 / Israel News Preparing for Iran strike? Foreign embassies in Israel have recently started to formulate contingency plans to evacuate their citizens from the Jewish State in case of a missile attack on Israel. Senior officials in Jerusalem said that several diplomatic missions have shown great interest in preparing for various emergency situations, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday. In the framework of the preparations for...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4186799,00.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 09, 2012, 05:54:15 am
Iranian Parliament's Website: Attack Israel This Year

The Iranian parliament's official website has published an article calling on the government to attack Israel before the end of the year. According to Israeli TV Channel 2's veteran Middle East expert, Ehud Yaari, the article cites three reasons for the call. First – a religious fatwa allowing such a strike. Second – threats from Israel regarding a planned strike on Iran. And third – Iran's alleged military capability to carry out such an attack. The article specifies that the area between Lod and Jerusalem should be targeted, as well as Tel Nof Air Force Base. The article seems to be part of a recent trend in Iran to step up the rhetoric regarding a possible attack on Israel. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Friday that Israel is a “cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/152437


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 09, 2012, 08:00:05 am
These don't sound like "rumors" anymore.


Title: Ahmadinejad: Iran to reveal new nuke achievements
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 11, 2012, 04:09:55 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/ahmadinejad-iran-reveal-nuke-achievements-092259367.html

2/11/12

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran will soon unveil "big new" nuclear achievements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday while reiterating Tehran's readiness to revive talks with the West over the country's controversial nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad spoke at a rally in Tehran as tens of thousands of Iranians marked the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamic clerics to power.

Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on the upcoming announcement but insisted Iran would never give up its uranium enrichment, a process that makes material for reactors as well as weapons.

The West suspects Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it's geared for peaceful purposes only, such as energy production.

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Title: Iran and Israeli conflict escalating beyond tirade of words
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 13, 2012, 04:09:04 pm
February 13, 2012 – ISRAEL – Lebanese ally Hezbollah of being behind twin bomb attacks that targeted embassy staff in India and Georgia on Monday, wounding four people. Tehran denied involvement in the incidents, which amplified tensions between two countries already at loggerheads over Iran’s nuclear program. Hezbollah made no comment. Police in the Indian capital New Delhi said a bomb wrecked a car carrying an embassy official as she was going to pick up her children from school. The woman needed surgery to remove shrapnel but her life was not in danger, officials said. Her driver and two passers-by suffered lesser injuries. Israeli officials said an attempt to bomb an embassy car in the Georgian capital Tbilisi failed. The device was defused. Israel had put its foreign missions on high alert ahead of the fourth anniversary this past Sunday of the assassination in Syria of the military mastermind of Hezbollah, Imad Moughniyeh – an attack widely assumed to be the work of Israeli agents. Israel is believed to be also locked in a wider covert war with Iran, whose nuclear program has been beset by apparent sabotage, including the unclaimed killings of several Iranian nuclear scientists, most recently in January. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed both Iran and Hezbollah, accusing them of responsibility for a string of recent attempted attacks in countries as far apart as Thailand and Azerbaijan. “Iran and its proxy Hezbollah are behind each of these attacks,” said Netanyahu, who dismisses Iran denials that it is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. “We will continue to take strong and systematic, yet patient, action against the international terrorism that originates in Iran.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast rejected Netanyahu’s accusation, calling it “psychological warfare against Iran. We condemn any terrorist action and the world knows that Iran is the biggest victim of terrorism,” Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. -Reuters

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/iran-and-israeli-conflict-escalating-beyond-tirade-of-words/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 14, 2012, 11:04:21 am
Israel to "settle the score" for Bangkok attack 

A Thai bomb squad official inspecting the site of an explosion holds a magnet with shrapnel pieces in Bangkok Feb. 14, 2012. (AFP/Getty Images) JERUSALEM - An Israeli Cabinet minister says his country will "settle the score" with the perpetrators of a...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57377421/israel-to-settle-the-score-for-bangkok-attack/


Title: U.S. naval carrier group positioned closer to Iran
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 14, 2012, 02:18:30 pm
February 14, 2012 – IRAN – The U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln has sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, close to the coast of Iran, for the second time in recent weeks. A BBC reporter on board said an Iranian patrol boat at one point passed by two miles (3.2km) from the carrier. The carrier was protected by a U.S. cruiser and destroyer. Iranian officials recently threatened to close the channel, through which 20% of the world’s oil exports pass, in a row over oil trade embargoes. The BBC’s Jonathan Beale on board the Abraham Lincoln says the U.S. has insisted it will keep the vital shipping lane open. Earlier, the U.S. navy said the Iranian patrol boat passed within about half a mile of the carrier, but they later corrected this to two miles. A French warship and UK naval vessels accompanied the aircraft carrier in a journey through the strait last month. The EU last month banned all oil imports from Iran amid growing concern over Tehran’s nuclear program. Both the U.S. and EU have since lobbied countries around the world to block Iranian oil imports. Iran says its nuclear program is solely for power generation, but Western nations fear Tehran is trying to develop a weapons capability. -BBC

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/u-s-naval-carrier-group-positioned-closer-to-iran/


Title: Fears grow that Israel will attack Iran in March 2012
Post by: Christian40 on February 15, 2012, 02:53:57 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxW7c3bLeec&feature=related

There's so much talk recently about Israel's plan to attack Iran as early as this spring, plus thousands of American troops are already being deployed to Israel in Jan 2012, and Iranian officials believe that this is the latest and most blatant warning that the US will soon be attacking Tehran.....Something's a brewing....




Title: Iran trumpets atom advances, deepening standoff with West
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 15, 2012, 08:49:30 am
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-trumpets-atom-advances-deepening-standoff-west-121448512.html

2/15/12

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran trumpeted advances in nuclear technology on Wednesday, citing new uranium enrichment centrifuges and domestically made reactor fuel, in a move abetting a drift towards confrontation with the West over its disputed atomic ambitions.
 
The announcement underlined Iranian determination to pursue a nuclear program its Islamic clerical rulers see as a pillar of power, protection and prestige despite Western sanctions that are inflicting increasing damage on Iran's oil-based economy.
 
Iran has been resorting to barter to import basic staples as sanctions, imposed over its pursuit of nuclear activity seen in the West as geared to developing atomic bombs, have spread to block its oil exports and central bank financing of trade.
 
Tehran has for some years been developing and testing new generations of centrifuges to replace an outdated, breakdown-prone model. In January it said it had successfully manufactured and tested its own fuel rods for use in nuclear power plants.

more


Title: Israeli minister: Iran near 'point of no return'
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 15, 2012, 09:18:15 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-minister-iran-near-point-no-return-001432163.html

2/15/12

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Israel's deputy prime minister says it's time for tougher sanctions against Iran before its nuclear program advances to what he calls "the point of no return."

Silvan Shalom spoke to reporters in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday after addressing the state's Legislature. His comments came as Iran claimed it has achieved two major advances in its program to master production of nuclear fuel.

Shalom says Iran will continue to proceed with its nuclear program until the world acts because Iranians believe it will give them "an insurance policy to their regime." He says Iran's latest claims show no intention to abandon plans for a nuclear bomb.

Shalom says Israel and the world couldn't live with Iran having the ability to develop a nuclear bomb.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 17, 2012, 11:26:50 am
U.S. military told to prepare for Iran ops

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.

There also is a request for identifying U.S. forces “by 1 March with a ‘through’ date of October.”

The military sources indicated that U.S. forces will be augmented by an Aegis warship, presumably one of the two in the U.S. carrier task forces scheduled to be in the Persian Gulf.

The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier task force already has re-entered the Gulf.

The Aegis combat system on U.S. Navy ships is used to track and guide weapons to destroy intended targets and to act as a protective shield to counter ballistic missile threats.

The U.S. carrier task forces returned and have recently been augmented to patrol around the Strait of Hormuz, which the Iranians have threatened to block if the Islamic republic is attacked or if increased sanctions are put into effect to halt the export of oil.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Cmdr. Bill Speaks told WND there was “nothing to what your sources are saying,” but he also quickly added that the Pentagon “doesn’t discuss what future contingency plans we have, and I am not going to discuss this with you.”

Panetta first revealed the prospect of Israeli action in a Feb. 2 published interview with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, although the defense secretary was quick to point out that his comments were not intended to send any type of signal.

REST: http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/u-s-military-told-to-prepare-for-iran-ops/


Title: Iran warships enter Mediterranean via Suez Canal
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 18, 2012, 03:59:52 pm
2/18/12

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17083791

Iranian warships have entered the Mediterranean Sea for only the second time since the 1979 revolution.

The destroyer Shahid Qandi and its supply vessel Kharg have passed through the Suez Canal but their destination remains unclear.

Navy chief Admiral Habibollah Sayari told the Irna agency the mission was a show of might and a "message of peace".

Two Iranian navy vessels entered the Mediterranean in February last year. Israel called it a "provocation".

Admiral Sayari was quoted by Irna as saying: "The strategic navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has passed through the Suez Canal for the second time since the Islamic Revolution."

The mission conveyed "the might" of Iran to regional countries and Tehran's "message of peace and friendship".

The ships were reported to have docked earlier at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Reuters quoted a source at the Suez Canal authority as saying the vessels might be en route to Syria.

The mission comes amid heightened tension between Iran and Israel.

Iran has recently announced developments in its nuclear programme, prompting some speculation Israel may launch an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Israel has also blamed Iran for recent attacks on Israeli targets in Georgia and India, an accusation Tehran denies.


Title: Iran stops oil sales to British, French companies: oil ministry
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 19, 2012, 07:01:24 am
Apparently, the "rumors" last week that Iran denied are true now...

http://news.yahoo.com/iran-stops-oil-sales-british-french-companies-oil-124556230.html

2/19/12

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, an oil ministry spokesman said, the ministry's website reported Sunday.
 
"Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad said, the OMP website reported.
 
(Writing by Parisa Hafezi)


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 19, 2012, 11:01:13 am
not to long now...


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 19, 2012, 01:02:14 pm
not to long now...

You have Greece on the verge of collapse, among other things going on now - yeah, not too long now...


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 19, 2012, 01:03:57 pm
You have Greece on the verge of collapse, among other things going on now - yeah, not too long now...

yep, lets see how long this stands.

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=228678.msg1343404#msg1343404

 :)


Title: U.N. watchdog says nuclear talks with Iran failed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 21, 2012, 09:28:23 pm
VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday it had failed to secure an agreement with Iran during two days of talks over disputed atomic activities and that the Islamic Republic had rejected a request to visit a key military site.
 
In the second such trip in less than a month, a senior team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had travelled to Tehran to press Iranian officials to start addressing mounting concerns that the Islamic Republic may be seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
 
The outcome seems likely to add to already soaring tension between Iran and Western powers, which have ratcheted up sanctions on the major oil producer in recent months.
 
"During both the first and second round of discussions, the agency team requested access to the military site at Parchin. Iran did not grant permission for this visit to take place," the Vienna-based IAEA said in a statement after the Feb 20-21 talks.
 
The IAEA named Parchin in a detailed report in November that lent independent weight to Western fears that Iran was working to develop an atomic bomb, an allegation Iranian officials reject.
 
"It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin. We engaged in a constructive spirit, but no agreement was reached," said IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano.
 
Earlier, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told the country's ISNA news agency that Tehran expected to hold more talks with the U.N. agency, whose task it is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in the world.
 
But Amano's spokeswoman, Gill Tudor, made clear no further meetings were planned: "At this point in time there is no agreement on further discussions," she said.
 
Iran rejects accusations that its nuclear program is a covert bid to develop a nuclear weapons capability, saying it is seeking to produce only electricity.
 
But its refusal to curb sensitive atomic activities which can have both civilian and military purposes, and its track record of years of nuclear secrecy has drawn increasingly tough U.N. and separate U.S. and European punitive measures.
 
The United States and Israel have not ruled out using force against Iran if they conclude diplomacy and sanctions will not stop it from developing a nuclear bomb.
 
The five-member IAEA team led by Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts was seeking answers from Iran about intelligence suggesting its declared civilian program is a facade for a weapons program.
 
STILL TIME FOR DIPLOMACY?
 
Last year's IAEA report suggesting Iran had pursued military nuclear technology helped precipitate the latest rounds of European Union and U.S. sanctions, which are causing economic hardship in Iran ahead of a parliamentary election in March.
 
One key finding was information that Iran had built a large containment chamber at Parchin southeast of Tehran in which to conduct high-explosives tests, which the U.N. agency said were "strong indicators of possible weapon development."
 
The IAEA said intensive efforts were made to reach agreement in the talks on a document "facilitating the clarification of unresolved issues" in connection with Iran's nuclear program, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions.
 
"Unfortunately, agreement was not reached on this document," it said in an unusually blunt statement.
 
The IAEA mission's lack of progress may also have an impact on the chances of any resumption of wider nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six world powers, the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany.
 
The West last week expressed some optimism at the prospect of new talks, particularly after Iran sent a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton promising to bring "new initiatives," without stating preconditions.
 
But the United States and its allies may become more reluctant if they feel that the Islamic state is unlikely to engage in substantive discussions about its nuclear activities.
 
The deputy head of Iran's armed forces was quoted on Tuesday as saying Iran would take pre-emptive action against its enemies if it felt its national interests were endangered.
 
"Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran's national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions," Mohammad Hejazi told the Fars news agency.
 
In retaliation for oil sanctions, Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter, has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a third of the world's seaborne oil, while the United States signalled it would use force to keep it open.
 
The White House said there was still time for diplomacy.
 
"Israel and the United States share the same objective, which is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," White House spokesman Jay Carney said when asked about a weekend visit to Israel by National Security Advisor Tom Donilon.
 
"There is time and space for diplomacy to work, for the effect of sanctions to result in a change of Iranian behavior."
 
(Editing by Ralph Gowling)

http://news.yahoo.com/u-n-nuclear-watchdog-tehran-talks-disappointing-004927206.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 25, 2012, 07:11:51 pm
'Iran ready to wipe Israel off the map'

Tehran's deputy defense minister warns Jerusalem against strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, says 'any action by Zionist regime will bring about its destruction'


As speculations over a possible strike on Iran's nuclear facilities grow, the Islamic Republic is exacerbating its rhetoric.

Deputy Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi on Friday warned Israel against mounting such an attack: "Any act by the Zionist regime against Iran will bring about its destruction."

Hezbollah, he added, "Is at the forefront of the fight against Israel and it is growing stronger by the day."

Speaking at a ceremony honoring past Hezbollah commanders, Vahidi said that "Israel is weaker than it has ever been and its army is tired and humiliated… This is why it is trying to solve its problems by talking about taking action against Iran. But these are ridiculous statements.

"Iran's warriors are ready and willing to wipe Israel off the map," he declared.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4194444,00.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 27, 2012, 04:14:53 am
Iran prepares for kamikaze attacks
Tehran military on high alert with planes, speedboats in Persian Gulf


Even as it continued to talk with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Iran continued to prepare for war over its nuclear weapons program, training for kamikaze attacks in the Persian Gulf with both planes and speedboats, sources within the Iranian armed forces report.

Tuesday the International Atomic Energy Agency called its recent talks with Iran a failure. And just days before, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ordered the Revolutionary Guards, along with the army, on high alert, ready with conventional and unconventional means to respond to any aggression by the U.S. or Israel over its nuclear weapons program, the sources say.

The Guards’ missile commanders, in their preparation for a fierce counterattack, have mapped out all U.S. bases in the region to strike with their missiles in order to disrupt America’s air sorties, believing they will be the main thrust of any attack by America.

rest: http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/iran-prepares-for-kamikaze-attacks/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 27, 2012, 09:52:10 am
Israel, Kurdish fighters destroyed Iran nuclear facility, email released by WikiLeaks claims

The mega-leaks website, WikiLeaks, has partnered with the hackers cooperative Anonymous, to publish internal emails of the American strategic intelligence company Stratfor. In one of the hacked emails, Stratfor officials discuss information obtained from one of their sources who reports that Israeli commandos, in cooperation with Kurdish fighters, have destroyed Iranian nuclear installations.
...
WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, will hold a press conference today in London where he plans to reveal new details from the Stratfor emails, including details on the company's dealings with the American government and major corporations, and its network of paid sources.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-kurdish-fighters-destroyed-iran-nuclear-facility-email-released-by-wikileaks-claims-1.415066



Title: Israel preparing country for apocalyptic doomsday scenario- unveils new advanced
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 01, 2012, 11:52:23 am
Israel preparing country for apocalyptic doomsday scenario- unveils new advanced bomb shelter

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/israel-preparing-country-for-apocalyptic-doomsday-scenario-unveils-new-advanced-bomb-shelter/

March 1, 2012 – TEL AVIV, Israel – Underneath the plaza outside Israel’s Habima national theater, Israel has put the finishing touches on a new gathering place that it hopes will never host a crowd: The country’s most advanced public underground bomb shelter. The shelter, four stories underground and with space for 1,600 people, is usually a parking lot. It is also part of Tel Aviv’s elaborate civil defense infrastructure. City officials have been beefing up shelters and emergency services in recent months at a time of rising tensions with Iran and militant groups in the Gaza Strip. Recent talk of conflict with Iran has given the safety measures extra relevance. Officials say the timing is coincidental. Israel is under constant threat from hostile groups on its northern and southern frontiers. Security forces run frequent safety drills, cities are equipped with public air-raid shelters, and new apartments must have bombproof rooms. Israeli leaders have hinted they may mount a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, even as American military leaders urge Israel to wait for tough economic sanctions to take effect. Should Israel attack, Iran has promised a punishing counterstrike. Iran has missiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel. It also supports anti-Israel militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, which have fired thousands of rockets into Israel in the past. Israel’s military intelligence chief recently estimated that the country’s enemies have 200,000 rockets and missiles aimed at the Jewish state. As the country’s cultural and economic center, Tel Aviv is an attractive target. About 2 million people live here and in the surrounding cities. Tel Aviv city councilman Moshe Tiomkin cautioned that should Iran strike Tel Aviv, the results will be severe. The last time the city faced direct rocket fire was in 1991, when Iraq launched rockets at the coastal metropolis. “I believe this time we are not talking about 40 rockets,” Tiomkin said. “It would be far, far more.” –Times of India

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GVqXH4ER6po


Title: Pentagon prepares “aerial refueling” for Israeli planes striking Iran
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 01, 2012, 11:56:56 am
Pentagon prepares “aerial refueling” for Israeli planes striking Iran

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/pentagon-prepares-aerial-refueling-for-israeli-planes-striking-iran/

March 1, 2012 – WASHINGTON - In a dramatic U-turn to show Israel that Washington is serious about its military option against Iran’s nuclear program, Pentagon officials disclosed Thursday, March 1, that “military options being prepared start with providing refueling for Israeli planes and include attacking the pillars of the clerical regime. They include the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its elite Qods Force, regular Iranian military bases and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security.” The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in Washington’s first public reference to possible joint military action with Israel against Iran. Earlier, Israel asked the Obama administration to finally set red lines for Iran’s nuclear program and abandon its “shifting red lines” option, as well as spelling out US military contingencies instead of using the worn-out “all options are on the table” mantra. Debka reported earlier Thursday on the deep discord marking the US-Israeli approach to the threat of a nuclear Iran: Barring last-minute changes, U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will still be at profound cross purposes on Iran when they meet at the White House on March 5. Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak flew to Washington to try and work out with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Wednesday, Feb. 29 a formula for bridging the widening gap. While still airborne, Barak heard White House Spokesman Jay Carney further sharpen Obama’s current tone:  “I think we have been clear about this – that any (Israeli) military action in that region threatens greater instability in the region, because Iran borders both Afghanistan and Iraq – we have civilian personnel in Iraq, we have military personnel as well as civilians in Afghanistan.”Carney added “But our approach right now is to continue to pursue the diplomatic path that we’ve taken, combined with very aggressive sanctions.” –Debka



Title: Chess game: U.S. radar site monitoring Iran ‘operational’ in Turkey – U.S. boots
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 01, 2012, 06:18:14 pm
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/chess-game-u-s-radar-site-monitoring-iran-operational-in-turkey-u-s-boots-on-the-ground/

Chess game: U.S. radar site monitoring Iran ‘operational’ in Turkey – U.S. boots on the ground

March 1, 2012 – TURKEY – U.S. Army’s commander in Europe Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said in an interview at Montenegro’s main military airport in its capital that the U.S. has the forces in place at a radar site in eastern city of Malatya, Turkey. It is the first time a senior U.S. commander has confirmed that the NATO defense shield radar, which has caused tensions between Turkey and Iran, has been operational in the past few weeks. “I can only speak for the ground base air defense units. But I will tell you that we make constant coordination with the U.S. Navy and Air Force, and I think we are well on track to conduct missile defense,” Hertling said. The U.S. says the missile defense shield is designed to counter the Iranian missile threat. In addition to the radar in Turkey, the defense shield also will contain interceptor missiles stationed in Romania and Poland, four ballistic missile defense-capable ships in Spain, and an operational headquarters in Germany. –Turkish Press
 
Russia has upgraded air defenses at a surveillance station in Syria, in order to provide Iran with better early warning capability in the event of an Israeli attack on Tehran’s nuclear facilities. The Washington Times, quoting from an Israeli security blog called Debkafile, said the surveillance station, which is south of the Syrian capital of Damascus, had been capable of monitoring Israeli air traffic as far south as Tel Aviv, as well as northern Jordan and western Iraq. The upgrade, however, gives Russia the capability of monitoring all of Israel and Jordan, and extends into northern Saudi Arabia, the report said, adding that Moscow added cutting edge technology to the surveillance site, as well as more manpower. Russia has opposed any attack on Iran or any attempts to get Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. Meanwhile, in a separate report, the Washington Post said the U.S. is increasingly confident in its ability to hit allegedly impregnable underground nuclear sites in Iran with so-called bunker buster munitions. One such site, called Fordow and built into a mountain in northwestern Iran, is more vulnerable than Iranian military planners believe, the paper said, adding that the U.S. has no imminent plans to launch any attack. “Yet as a matter of physics, Fordow is far more vulnerable than generally portrayed, said current and former military and intelligence analysts,’ the Post reported. “Massive new ‘bunker buster’ munitions recently added to the U.S. arsenal would not necessarily have to penetrate the deepest bunkers to cause irreparable damage to infrastructure as well as highly sensitive nuclear equipment, probably setting back Iran’s program by years, officials said. Israel has reportedly been weighing whether to launch a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. The U.S. and other Western nations have been urging Israeli restraint. –News Room A.


Title: Israel announces key test of Arrow 3 missile interceptor system
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 02, 2012, 10:47:10 am
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/israel-announces-key-test-of-arrow-3-missile-interceptor-system/

March 2, 2012 – TEL AVIV – Israel is to test an advanced anti-ballistic missile system in the coming weeks, inevitably fuelling speculation about preparations for a possible military confrontation with Iran. The announcement that the first test of the Arrow 3 interceptor system would be performed “in the near future” was made as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu flew to North America ahead of a crucial meeting with President Barack Obama at which Iran will top the agenda. Netanyahu is expected to press for a clear U.S. commitment to military action if diplomacy and sanctions fail. The Arrow 3 test would confirm “the interceptor missile’s effectiveness,” said Itzhak Kaya, head of the Arrow missile program at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on Thursday. A number of different tests would be carried out within a short period to “establish its high level of reliability.” The Arrow 3 was an “improved model of the Arrow system … more capable than ever to deal with future threats”, Kaya added. The test was being conducted as part of a long-term plan devised by Israel and its U.S. partner on the Arrow missile program, he said. The unusual advance notification of the test follows an unannounced test in November of a long-range ballistic missile which intensified speculation that Israel was preparing for a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. However, Israel has come under intense pressure from U.S. officials in recent weeks to refrain from military action. In a tactical shift, Israel now appears to be focused on extracting from the White House a clear pledge that the U.S. will act militarily if sanctions and diplomacy fail to stop Iran’s nuclear program. Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, who is due to meet Obama on Sunday, told the New York Times: “We need a total and clear commitment that the catastrophe of Iran will not create an impossible situation … You have to be decisive. You have to make a choice.” Netanyahu is expected to press the U.S. to be more explicit about threatening military action when he meets Obama in Washington on Monday. Some analysts believe that Israel has deliberately talked up its threats of airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites in order to push the U.S. administration into raising its game – an approach that has already produced results on sanctions and may be succeed in producing a clearer US commitment to military action in the future. –The Guardian


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on March 04, 2012, 11:23:41 am
Obama: US 'will not hesitate to use force' against Iran
Los Angeles Times - ‎23 minutes ago‎   

By Christi Parsons President Obama this morning spoke of preparation by the American military to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as he sought to assure US supporters of Israel that he takes no options off the table in that effort.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-aipac-20120304,0,954289.story


Title: Israeli minister: Israel to decide alone on Iran
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 04, 2012, 05:34:03 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-minister-israel-decide-alone-iran-154108887.html

3/4/12

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's foreign minister said Sunday that American pressure will not affect Israeli thinking on how to cope with the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program.

Avigdor Lieberman delivered his assessment on the eve of a key meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama at the White House.

Both countries believe that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, but divisions have emerged on how to confront the threat. Israel has sent a series of signals recently that military action may be needed to stop the Iranians. The U.S., while not ruling out the threat of force, has said that tough new Western economic sanctions imposed on Iran must be given time to work. Iran claims its program is for peaceful purposes.

In comments aimed at Israel, Obama said in a magazine interview last week that he is not bluffing about attacking Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon. But he also cautioned Israel that a premature attack on Iran would do more harm than good.

more


Title: Did North Korea test nuclear warheads for Iran in 2010?
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 04, 2012, 08:21:23 pm
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/did-north-korea-test-nuclear-warheads-for-iran-in-2010/


March 5, 2012 – IRAN – What is one sure thing sure to set trigger-happy warmonger fingers in the U.S. and Israel on Defcon 1 more than the word Iran? The words Iran and North Korea. How about three nouns that will send crude soaring by at least $10 the second a CL trading algo sees them fly across Bloomberg? Try “Iran” “North Korea” and “Nukes.”And if the following report just released by the Wiener Zeitung is even remotely correct, then Israel, the military industrial complex, and crude are all about to go ballistic, not necessarily in that order. According to one of Europe’s most famous newspapers, which in turn references a report in Welt am Sontag, North Korea has conducted at least two nuclear warhead tests in 2010, of which was on behalf of Iran. “This could mean that with North Korea’s help Tehran may already have a tested nuclear warhead….According to the newspaper “Welt am Sonntag”, this assumption is based on data from the Organization of the contract for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban. Accordingly, the Swedish nuclear physicist Lars-Erik De Geer uses data from monitoring stations in South Korea, Japan and Russia and believes that North Korea instead of uranium, used plutonium in two prior secret tests as far back as in 2006 and 2009.” What is striking here is the effluvious, meaningless innuendo and baseless allegations. But this certain plant may well be the false flag straw that breaks the camel’s back. While it is unclear if it was planted by the US or Israel is irrelevant, it has one simple mission – to preempt even more irrationality by Iran, a day after its parliamentary election has put president Ahmedinajad in power vacuum limbo, with his chief opponent gaining vast popular support. Which is precisely what is needed to validate a response. –Zero Hedge


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 09, 2012, 10:58:20 am
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-asks-u-arms-could-aid-iran-strike-091024021.html

3/9/12

Israel asks U.S. for arms that could aid Iran strike

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has asked the United States for advanced "bunker-buster" bombs and refueling planes that could improve its ability to attack Iran's underground nuclear sites, an Israeli official said on Thursday.

"Such a request was made" around the time of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week, the official said, confirming media reports.

But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue, played down as "unrealistic" reports that the United States would condition supplying the hardware on Israel promising not to attack Iran this year.

Netanyahu told Obama at a White House meeting on Monday that Israel had not yet decided on military action against Iran, sources close to the talks said.

more


Title: PM Blames Iran for Gaza Rocket Fire
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 12, 2012, 05:53:49 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153642#.T138BYHvx0Q

3/11/12

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has pointed the finger at Iran in ongoing rocket attacks from Gaza. “The fire from Gaza is an Iranian problem, not a Palestinian problem,” he said Sunday in a meeting of Likud ministers.

Iran has been accused of funding Islamic Jihad, one of the main terrorist groups operating in Gaza, Judea and Samaria and the group behind many of the recent rocket attacks.

IDF spokesman, Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai, leveled similar accusations. “Islamic Jihad continues to act as the long arm of Iran, which finances, supports, and encourages it even today with weapons and money that come straight from Tehran,” he said.

Hamas has, so far, distanced itself from direct rocket attacks, defense officials said Sunday, but allows attacks to continue unimpeded. Ministers warned that they would hold Hamas responsible for all terrorism perpetrated from Gaza whether or not its members carried out the actual attack.

The IDF has succeeded in dealing a blow to the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas as well as that of other terrorist groups in Gaza, Mordechai said. Assassinations targeting Islamic Jihad have weakened that group’s leadership as well, he noted.


Title: Obama and UK PM Cameron to attend NCAA tournament game
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 13, 2012, 10:16:49 am
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-obama-ncaatournament

3/13/12

WASHINGTON (AP)—Basketball fan-in-chief President Barack Obama is giving British Prime Minister David Cameron a front-row seat to March Madness, taking his European partner to an NCAA tournament basketball game in Ohio, an election swing state.

Obama and Cameron are attending a “First Four” matchup in Dayton, Ohio, between Mississippi Valley State and Western Kentucky on Tuesday night, a gesture of goodwill during Cameron’s official visit to the United States and a way for an incumbent president to reach sports fans in an election year.

The White House said the trip to the NCAA tournament game was intended to showcase the special relationship between the two key allies during Cameron’s three-day visit. Obama and Cameron will discuss the upcoming NATO and G-8 summits on Wednesday, followed by a state dinner at the White House.

more


Title: Re: Obama and UK PM Cameron to attend NCAA tournament game
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 15, 2012, 06:22:36 pm
Obama, Cameron reportedly discussed oil release
14 March 2012, by Sarah Turner - Sydney (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/obama-cameron-reportedly-discussed-oil-release-2012-03-14

U.S. president Barack Obama and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron talked about releasing emergency oil reserves at a meeting on Wednesday in Washington, Reuters reported citing people familiar with the talks.

No agreement to release oil reserves was reached, the report stated, citing a U.S. administration official.


Title: Re: Obama and UK PM Cameron to attend NCAA tournament game
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 15, 2012, 06:35:26 pm
White House denies report on oil reserve release
15 March 2012, by Greg Robb - Washington (MarketWatch)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/white-house-denies-report-on-oil-reserve-release-2012-03-15

The White House on Thursday denied a report that Britain and the U.S. have decided to cooperate in an agreement to release strategic oil reserves.

The report had pushed crude-oil futures lower.

While President Barack Obama and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron did discuss energy issues, including the rise in the price oil, during their meeting at the White House on Wednesday, no deal was agreed to, White House spokesman Jay Carney said at the daily briefing.

"I can say very clearly that the report suggesting that any kind of agreement was reached on a course of action with regard to those energy issues, that any agreement was reached with a timetable associated with it, that report is false, it is not accurate," Carney said.

Read the full story: Oil recoups losses; U.S. chills release talk http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-futures-edge-up-after-prior-days-slump-2012-03-15


Title: Emergency Oil Stocks Release Precursor to Attack on Iran?
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 16, 2012, 09:41:53 am
http://www.infowars.com/emergency-oil-stocks-release-precursor-to-attack-on-iran/

Three US warships to encircle Iran within days
 
Paul Joseph Watson
 Infowars.com
 Thursday, March 15, 2012
 
The announcement that emergency oil stocks will be released by the United States and the UK, a move that will temporarily drive down prices, could be the precursor to an attack on Iran that will send crude prices soaring again.
 
“Britain has decided to cooperate with the United States in a bilateral agreement to release strategic oil stocks, two British sources said, in an effort to prevent high fuel prices derailing economic growth in a U.S. election year,” reports Reuters.
 
Details of the agreement will be released later today and the process is expected to be implemented by the summer, which is the deadline numerous observers have put on any potential military strike on Iran.
 
The move is ostensibly aimed at driving down oil prices, which have reached up to $125 a barrel for brent crude, but it could also be a maneuver to offset the inevitable spike in oil prices should Iran retaliate against the U.S. and Israel by closing the Strait of Hormuz.
 
“Crude down big on the news, which is merely an advance move ahead of almost inevitable war with Iran, simply to make the spike more palatable,” reports Zero Hedge.
 
Iran was today eliminated from the SWIFT global financial transaction service, a move that makes it impossible for Tehran to conduct international trade via conventional methods. Iran’s economy has been under sustained attack for months, with western sanctions largely responsible for a 10-year low in oil production.
 
According to reports out of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has now for the first time secured a majority of votes in the cabinet to go to war with Iran.

“This means that theoretically Bibi can begin an attack at any time. Of course, it could mean something different: it could mean the cabinet has approved a strike at any point in future with Bibi determining the timing. So it doesn’t necessarily mean the F-16s will fly tonight or tomorrow. But it could,” writes Richard Silverstein.
 
Last month the Washington Post reported that US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta expected Israel to hit Iran in April, May or June.
 
There are already two carrier battle groups located in the waters just outside Iran, with the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln already stationed in the region, along with the USS Makin Island (LHD-8), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship.
 
A third US battleship, the USS Enterprise, is also on its way to the region, meaning that almost the entirety of the United States’ active naval fleet of warships will be stationed just outside Iran within the next 4-6 days.
 
The US has made it clear that should Iran try to block the Strait of Hormuz, the region’s key oil choke point, a “red line” will have been crossed.
 
The Stratfor naval update map below illustrates how Iran is being surrounded by military muscle (click for enlargement).


Title: U.S. threatens sanctions with India over its ties with Iran
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 16, 2012, 10:44:54 am
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/u-s-threatens-sanctions-with-india-over-its-ties-with-iran/

U.S. threatens sanctions with India over its ties with Iran
March 16, 2012 – WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is threatening to impose sanctions on India over its continued economic ties with Iran amid disagreements between Washington and New Delhi over how much and how soon the latter is reducing oil imports from the (in U.S. eyes) pariah nation. India has “failed” to reduce its purchase of Iranian oil and if it doesn’t do so, President Barack Obama may be “forced” to impose sanction, unnamed administration officials were cited as telling Bloomberg wire service. A decision in this regard could come as early as June 28, they added, implicitly offering New Delhi a ten- week window to show a decline in Iranian oil imports. Indian officials have contested the U.S. assessment by insisting New Delhi is scaling down Iranian oil imports with more reduction in the pipeline, but that concession has been offset by India’s commerce ministry’s well-publicized efforts to ramp up trade with Iran in other areas, a move that has not gone unnoticed by the powerful pro-Israeli lobby in U.S. The potent American Jewish Committee (AJC), which holds Israeli interests dear to its heart, raged against an Indian business delegation being shepherded to Iran by the Indian commerce ministry, pointing to it as an example of New Delhi’s perfidy at a time Israel is India’s close military and counter-terrorism partner. That prompted a strong rebuttal from the Indian embassy in Washington, accusing certain lobbies of presenting a “distorted picture of New Delhi’s foreign policy objectives and energy security needs” by selective use of data about its imports from Iran. But the anti-Iran lobby in US has been galvanized by a report on Wednesday from the International Energy Agency (IEA), showing that India and South Korea “sharply” increased their oil imports from Iran in January. –Times of India


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on March 16, 2012, 11:27:43 am
US Sends Four Anti-Mine Ships To Strait of Hormuz

With the USS Enterprise on its way to bring the number of US aircraft carriers located in the Persian Gulf up to three, the Navy has announced it will send four additional mine countermeasure ships to the Strait of Hormuz as tensions with Iran rise.


“Four additional mine countermeasure ships are being dispatched to the region in addition to further airborne mine countermeasure helicopters, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Navy budget hearing Thursday,” reports Stars and Stripes.

No date has been set for the deployment of the ships, but they will join the USS Enterprise, currently on its way to the Fifth Fleet area of operations, along with the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln, both of which are already patrolling the Strait of Hormuz.

“I came to the conclusion we could do better setting the theater,” Greenert told the committee while recounting a recent trip through the waterway on the USS John C. Stennis, which was under the watchful eye of Iranian naval vessels. “I wanted to be sure … that we are ready, that our folks are proficient, they’re confident, and they’re good at what they do in case called upon.”

The deployment of the anti-mine ships follows a warning by US intelligence at the end of December that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were preparing Iranian marine commandos to place mines along the strategic oil choke point.

While a temporary closure of the Strait would send oil prices soaring, analysts believe the US has the capability to clear the waterway of mines within a 24-48 hour period, meaning crude supplies would not be significantly disrupted.

rest: http://www.infowars.com/us-sends-four-anti-mine-ships-to-strait-of-hormuz/


Title: Exclusive: Iran food stockpiling grows as grain ships near port
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 17, 2012, 07:02:08 pm
Exclusive: Iran food stockpiling grows as grain ships near port
 

By Jonathan Saul and Michael Hogan | Reuters – Thu, Mar 15, 2012
http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/exclusive-iran-food-stockpiling-grows-grain-ships-near-170217645.html
 
LONDON/HAMBURG (Reuters) - Vessels carrying at least 360,000 metric tonnes (396,832 tons) of grain are lined up to unload in Iran, Reuters shipping data showed on Thursday, a sign that Tehran is succeeding in stockpiling food to blunt the impact of tougher Western sanctions.
 
Iran has been shopping for wheat at a frantic pace, ordering a large part of its expected yearly requirement in a little over one month and paying a premium in non-dollar currencies to work around toughened Western sanctions and avoid social unrest.
 
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Title: Iran threatens Hormuz and world oil supply after trade links cutoff
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 18, 2012, 08:12:31 am
http://debka.com/article/21837/

3/18/12

Former Intelligence Minister Ali Falahian, Iran’s senior spokesman on sanctions, said Sunday, March 18,  that if the US and Europe think they can ignore international law to promote their interests, they should know that Iran will respond in kind everywhere it can. “I suggest that the West take seriously our threat to close the Strait of Hormuz,” he said in Tehran’s first response to the SWIFT decision to sever ties with Iranian banks to enforce European sanctions on its nuclear program.

A large fleet of 4 US and French nuclear aircraft carriers and a dozen or more minesweepers and mine-hunting helicopters have piled up on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 17 percent of the world’s daily oil supply passes,  and Israeli naval vessels have deployed in the Red Sea.

debkafile’s military and intelligence sources estimate Tehran may make good on its threats by trying to drop sea mines in the strategic strait and/or the approaches to the huge Saudi Ras Tanura oil export terminal. A small explosion by an unknown hand hit a major Saudi pipeline between Awamiya and Safwa on March 1. The damage was not great because the saboteurs used a small quantity of explosive but it appeared to be the work of professionals.

While Saudi officials denied the incident, photos of a large fire appeared on the Internet. Gulf oil sources suspect that it was a warning from Tehran of the hazards facing the world’s largest oil exporter.

The SWIFT cutoff of ties with Iranian banks has gone a long way toward isolating Iran from global commerce. It will affect Iranian oil sales to its biggest customers in the Far East, China and Japan, as well as India. The economic noose tightening around its neck is bound to produce a response from Iran, it is estimated in Washington and European capitals. The US-led European sanctions on Iranian oil world trade were boosted in recent weeks by the United Arab Emirates which stopped handling Iranian rials, further reducing its ability to trade and obtain hard currency.
After its foremost ally, Bashar Assad, proved his ability to survive - largely with abundant Iranian help - Tehran is unlikely to let this achievement be marred by a US and European economic stranglehold. The ordinary Iranian may care about his government’s international standing but he cares a lot more about the fast depreciating value of the money in his pocket and his financial assets.

Anticipating that Iran may kick back hard against the tough penalties building up against its nuclear program, three US aircraft carriers are standing by in the Persian Gulf – The USS Abraham Lincoln, the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Enterprise together with the French Charles de Gaulle and their strike groups.

Thursday, US Navy Chief Adm. Jonathan Greenert said he was doubling the American minesweeping fleet in the Persian Gulf by adding another four vessels as well as mine-hunting helicopters to bolster Persian Gulf security and keep the Strait of Hormuz open to international traffic. 

France, Britain, Holland and Germany have also deployed minesweepers in these strategic Gulf waters.
Tuesday, March 13, two Israeli missile corvettes, the INS Lahav and INS Yafo, crossed the Suez Canal on their way to the Red Sea accompanied by the French Imidisi supply ship.

The vast naval buildup of powerful warships confirms that the United States, Europe and Israel are braced for harsh Iranian retaliation across more than one part of the Middle East for the crippling sanctions now taking hold.



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 18, 2012, 09:44:38 pm
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/israeli-diplomat-says-war-with-iran-would-engulf-the-world-in-a-nightmare/

Israeli diplomat says war with Iran would engulf the world in a nightmare

March 19, 2012 – ISRAEL – Lieberman arrived in Beijing on Thursday. On Saturday he met with Vice President Xi Jinping and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in hopes of persuading them to support tightening the sanctions on Iran. During the meeting, Israel’s top diplomat said next month’s talks between Tehran and the West represent the final opportunity to resolve the nuclear crisis peacefully. “If, God forbid, a war with breaks out with Iran, it will be a nightmare. Everyone will be involved, including the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia,” Avigdor Lieberman told the Yedioth Ahronoth daily during an official visit to China. According to a report published by the International Atomic Energy Agency last month, Iran has expanded its nuclear enrichment activities, particularly at the Natanz plant. Lieberman is aware of China’s central role in resolving the crisis. “Israel is keeping all of its options on the table,” he told Yedioth, “but we believe that with a united international front the Iranians can be convinced to abandon their nuclear ambitions. If all five permanent Security Council members present Iran with an unequivocal demand – they (Iranians) will have no choice. The Chinese have a lot of influence over Iran, and their position during the negotiations in April will be crucial,” Lieberman stated. “Despite the differences of opinion, the Chinese treat (Israel) with respect. They are very pragmatic, and this gives me hope. They are very concerned by the Iranian issue as well, because Iran’s conduct is totally unacceptable. Such an irresponsible regime – if it obtains nuclear weapons – poses a threat to the entire world.” Asked whether he preferred a military strike over the possibility of existing alongside a nuclear Iran, the Israeli FM said “a country such as Iran does not seek nuclear weapons for peaceful purposes. Therefore, the alternatives we are facing are Iran using nuclear weapons against us, or we prevent such a scenario.” -YNET


Title: 'Iran planned to bomb Israeli ship in Suez Canal'
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 25, 2012, 10:06:18 am
http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=263205


By JPOST.COM STAFF
24/03/2012

'Al Ahram' reports Iranian agents offered 2 Egyptian men 50,000 Egyptian pounds to carry out attack on Israeli vessel.
Iran was planning to bomb an Israeli ship while it crossed the Suez Canal, Egyptian daily Al Ahram quoted Egypt's state security court as saying Saturday.

According to the report, Iranian agents offered two Egyptian men 50,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately NIS 30,000) to carry out the attack.

Egypt detained the two men last week after receiving information of the planned attack. Sources told state news agency MENA that a resident of the canal-side city of Ismailia, Soliman Abdel Razek, had planned to carry out the attack from land alongside the waterway, with the help of a colleague, Salama Ahmed.

Both men denied the accusations.


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Title: Countries Swapping Billions & Transferring Oil Ahead of War
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 27, 2012, 12:15:28 pm
Countries Swapping Billions & Transferring Oil Ahead of War
27 March 2012, by Eric King (King World News)
http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/3/27_Countries_Swapping_Billions_%26_Transferring_Oil_Ahead_of_War.html

With gold and silver surging higher recently, today King World News interviewed 40 year veteran, Robert Fitzwilson. 

Fitzwilson is founder of The Portola Group, one of the premier boutique firms in the Unites States. 

He told King World News that countries are engaging in currency swaps out of fear of being cutoff from international transfers. 

Fitzwilson also said gold and silver are getting ready for a major move


But first, here is what Fitzwilson had to say about recent developments: 

“Another development that’s been happening in recent days is swaps are being made. 

China and Australia just recently completed a $31 billion swap of their currencies. To me that’s tantamount to barter

These countries have essentially pre-positioned their currencies, probably because they are worried about being cutoff from international transfers.”

“Jim Sinclair has pointed out what is taking place with the SWIFT system. 

I would just like to add that SWIFT has now become a weapon in the currency wars and as Sinclair correctly stated, unfortunately the United States is now threatening other countries. 

We are saying if they do not do what we want, we will cut them off from SWIFT, which will effectively shut down their economy.

We have already seen this with Iran, so India and Iran were trying to do an oil for gold swap

Evidently we’ve warned the Indians because we’re not happy about that. 

So SWIFT is being used to threaten our trading partners and allies....

As we now know, South Africa is actively trying to participate in dethroning the dollar as the reserve currency

If you look at the pattern of what is happening, these are like mini earthquakes all over the world. 

When you add these seismic events together, it suggests that something may be imminent, perhaps in the next month or two. 

Saudi Arabia is suddenly sending 22 million barrels to the United States.  Why did they do that? 

Are they trying to get paid for it before there is some sort of eruption in the Middle-East? Is the US stockpiling oil ahead of war?
 

There are military assets being positioned all over the Middle-East, on all sides. 

So something is building and these countries are taking action ahead of that for self preservation which is understandable.” 

When asked about Bernanke’s speech, Fitzwilson responded, “The part of Bernanke’s speech that really rang true for me was him describing the unemployment as being cyclical, instead of structural. 

The Fed has, in the past, been communicating that unemployment has been structural for some time.

By overtly switching to cyclical, that means they are admitting they need to do some form of quantitative easing and a lot of it. 

The implication is that QE can solve cyclical unemployment, but that is patently false. 

However, to me this was a sea change, where he is now saying unemployment is cyclical and we need to print a bunch of money to solve problems, and we are going to do that.”

Fitzwilson also had this to say about gold and silver: 

“My observation of the patterns in gold and silver is we have been involved in long range trading. 

There is a limit that central banks have imposed on the price of gold and silver. 

When it gets to that limit, the central banks pile in and drive the price of gold and silver back down.

The smart central banks then buy the bullion at incredibly cheap and subsidized prices

The market feels to me like it is getting ready to enter a new, higher range. The new, short-term cap on silver as an example, might be $60.

The bottom line is the advance in gold and silver is being managed. So it’s going up, but it’s not time for the mania

We won’t see the mania until they lose control, but we are getting close to something that should provide tremendous upside fuel for both gold and silver.”


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 29, 2012, 09:53:01 am
Got this off of another MB...anyone here with military experience can explain this?

Update on Big E location

The USS Enterprise with CVW 1 embarked is in a scheduled port visit to Piraeus, Greece, during its 22nd and final deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet an 6th Fleet AORs as part of an ongoing rotation of U.S. forces supporting maritime security operations in international waters around the world.

http://www.stratfor.com/image/us-naval-update-map-march-28-2012

(http://www.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/main/images/Naval_Update_03-28-12.png)


Title: Kuala Lumpur seizes suitcases of counterfeit US dollars traced to Iran
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 29, 2012, 10:13:02 am
http://debka.com/article/21868/

Two suitcases crammed with counterfeit $100 bills were seized in Kuala Lumpur this week from two Iranian traders who flew in to the Malaysian capital on direct flights from Tehran. One contained 153,000 forged dollars and the second 203,000. The traders claimed they were issued the bills by tellers at the Iranian central bank CBI to finance their business transactions and had no notion they had not been dealt genuine greenbacks.

debkafile’s sources report that alert local businessmen spotted the fake currency despite its quality workmanship when they used it to pay for their purchases.

According to a Malaysian source, the bills were finely printed on special paper. The initial investigation identified the paper as made in China especially for use in printing currency and a supply recently reached Iran.

Malaysian authorities have not identified the Iranian traders who were taken in custody except by their initials – H.M. and A. G.
Kuala Lumpur finds itself in the middle of an international scandal developing around the affair and involving the US, China and Iran. The Iranian embassy is leaning hard on the government to keep it hushed up, threatening to cut off commercial ties if the story is made public, or if the two traders are forced to stay in the country until the legal proceedings take their course.

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Title: Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, subs in the Gulf: the Israeli military encirclement of Ir
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 29, 2012, 09:05:50 pm
March 30, 2012 – ISRAEL - Last week, it was announced by Info Live that the Israelis were using military bases in Kurdistan to launch surveillance flights into Iran. Now, the three-way tension between the United States, Israel, and Iran became tenser this week with a widely cited report that Israel is developing a “secret staging ground” in Iran’s neighbor to the north – Azerbaijan – for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Quoting unnamed senior US diplomats and military intelligence officials, a lengthy article in Foreign Policy magazine asserts that “Israel has recently been granted access to airbases on Iran’s northern border. The Israelis have bought an airfield,” a senior administration official is quoted as saying, “and the airfield is called Azerbaijan.” Why would US officials be talking about this? Likely to slow down any rush to war in an already volatile region, some speculate. “I think this leak today is part of the administration’s campaign against an Israeli attack,” former US diplomat John Bolton said Thursday on Fox News. “Clearly, this is an administration-orchestrated leak,” Mr. Bolton said, adding, “It’s just unprecedented to reveal this kind of information about one of your own allies.” The challenge for Israel in planning such a strike is the long distance to potential targets – some 2,000 miles round-trip – for its F-15 and F-16 fighters. Planning for such strikes always involves tradeoffs between fuel and bombs. Bases in nearby Azerbaijan (including abandoned former Soviet airfields) could be used for landing and refueling after any strike, allowing Israeli jets to carry more ordnance. Such airfields also could be a staging point for search-and-rescue helicopters that might be necessary to recover downed Israeli pilots. They also could be used to launch drone aircraft for bomb damage assessment once any strike is concluded. Israel and Azerbaijan have developed an economic military relationship over the years. Israel buys oil from Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan recently agreed to buy $1.6 billion in military hardware from Israel, including drones, antiaircraft, and missile-defense systems. This week’s report of a possible basing agreement with Israel does nothing to improve the relationship between neighbors Azerbaijan and Iran.

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/kurdistan-azerbaijan-subs-in-the-gulf-the-israeli-military-encirclement-of-iran-prelude/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 30, 2012, 08:33:39 am
USS Enterprise Prepares To Cross Suez Canal, Days Away From Anchor In Arabian Sea

3/29/12

Much noise has been emanating out of Israel vis-a-vis its Iranian intentions, with some opinions suggesting an attack is imminent, while others claiming that Israel will ultimately defer to D.C., and postpone an attack, and the eventual gasoline price shock, until after the election. The truth is nobody but a few select generals, knows: in warfare surprise is the key factor, so outright flashing invasion intentions is usually an indicator of just the opposite. That said, the most recent update that Azerbaijan has granted Israel access to its airbases along the Iran border is hardly encouraging for Nobel peace prize winners and other pacifists. Yet as we have been claiming for the past two weeks, ever since the launch of CVN-65 on its last tour of duty, the true catalyst, if any, will be the arrival of the USS Enterprise at what may well be its last place of anchor - somewhere in the Arabian Sea, just off the side of CVN 70 and CVN 72 both of which are patrolling the Straits of Hormuz. And as the map from Stratfor below shows, the Enterprise is about to cross the Suez Canal, from which point it will be at most days from entering its catalyst location, namely supporting the Israel air force. Just because the US has never had 3 concurrent aircraft carriers in proximity to Iran before.

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http://www.zerohedge.com/news/uss-enterprise-preapres-cross-suez-canal-days-away-anchor-arabian-ssea


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 30, 2012, 11:05:52 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUC-Vxwc8u8&feature=relmfu


Title: Clinton: Time running out for diplomacy with Iran
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 31, 2012, 06:46:14 pm
3/31/12

http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-time-running-diplomacy-iran-134022862.html

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made clear Saturday that time is running out for diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program and said talks aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon would resume in mid-April.

With speculation over a possible U.S. or Israel military attack adding urgency to the next round of discussions in Istanbul set for April 13, Clinton said Iran's "window of opportunity" for a peaceful resolution "will not remain open forever."

She also expressed doubt about whether Iran has any intention of negotiating a solution that satisfies the U.S., Israel and other countries that believe Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran contends the program is solely for peaceful energy and research purposes.

"We're going in with one intention: to resolve the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program," Clinton told reporters after attending a security conference in Saudi Arabia.

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Title: Israel, Greece conduct joint naval drill amid ongoing tension with Turkey
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 03, 2012, 12:21:00 pm
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-greece-conduct-joint-naval-drill-amid-ongoing-tension-with-turkey-1.421907

U.S. Sixth Fleet also participating in the exercise, which includes simulation of attack on offshore natural gas platforms.

Israel, the United States and Greece are in the midst of a naval exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, in what Greek media outlets are saying is a message to Turkey following frayed ties with both Israel and Greece.

The exercise, called "Noble Dina," involves simulations of combat against submarines, air battles and protection of offshore natural gas platforms. The U.S. Sixth Fleet is also participating in the exercise, which the Greek media, which first reported on it, has described as being meant to send a message to Turkey.

more

http://debka.com/article/21886/

Russian warships launch drill from Tartus versus US-Israeli-Greek naval exercise

Not 24 hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that a pre-emptive strike (by the US and/or Israel) would violate international law, Moscow put muscle into his warning: Tuesday, April 3, the Russian guided missile destroyer Smetliviy arrived  in the Syrian port of Tartus from its Black Sea base for a naval exercise. The warship’s support group is on the way.

debkafile’s military sources report that the Russian flotilla carried a threefold message for Washington:

1.  The Russian-Iranian strategy of propping up the Assad regime which has brought the Syrian ruler close to victory over his foes, will continue: Diplomacy will be propelled by military impetus.

2.  Russia is providing the Assad regime with defense systems capable of repelling foreign military intervention.

3.  Consigning the Smetliviy warship to Syria illustrates Moscow’s new rapid response policy: Russia is launching a naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean to match the “Noble Dina” air and naval maneuver the US, Israel and Greece are conducting across a broad expanse of sea between Crete and the Israeli bases at Haifa and Ashdod.

Israeli warships and air force jets may therefore find themselves not just operating alongside US naval and aircraft but confronted suddenly by one of the largest destroyers in the Russian fleet (NATO-coded ASW-submarine warfare), whose decks are the launching base for anti-air, anti-ship and anti-submarine missiles.

The Smetliviy’s support group, believed to be a supply vessel and a submarine, passed through the Bosporus Saturday, March 31 on their way to Tartus.

Monday, April 2, debkafile reported: Russia and Iran set to counter US/Israeli strike against Iran. US-led Mediterranean naval drill



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 03, 2012, 08:27:50 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2l0C-KwB7c&feature=uploademail


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on April 08, 2012, 12:47:50 pm
The Russian Military Has an Action Plan Involving Georgia if Iran Is Attacked

Russian Defense Ministry sources told the semiofficial news agency Interfax that action plans are being finalized to react to an armed conflict involving Iran and its nuclear program. The General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces “calculates” that military action against Iran will commence “in the summer” of 2012. Since Israel does not have sufficient assets to defeat Iranian defenses, the Russian military considers US military involvement inevitable (Interfax, March 30).

Bits of information have been appearing, indicating the essence of Russian military action. Last December it was disclosed that families of servicemen from the Russian base in Armenia have been evacuated to Russia, while the troops have been moved from the capital, Yerevan, north to Gumri – closer to the borders of Georgia and Turkey. The preparation of Russian forces in Armenia for action in the event of military conflict with Iran began “two years ago” (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, December 15).

After the short Russo-Georgian war in August 2008, break-away provinces Abkhazia and South Ossetia were occupied by Russian troops. Tbilisi in turn stopped military transit to the Russian troops in landlocked Armenia. There is only an air link to Russia, while fuel and other essentials reportedly come over the Iran-Armenia border. Moscow believes this border may be closed in the event of war. According to Lt. General (retired) Yury Netkachev – former deputy commander of Russian forces in Transcaucasia – “Possibly, it will be necessary to use military means to breach the Georgian transport blockade and establish transport corridors, leading into Armenia (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, December 15). The geography of the region implies that any such “corridor” may go through the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

Large scale “strategic” military exercises Kavkaz-2012 are planned for next September, but it is reported that preparations and deployments of assets have begun already because of the threat of the possible war with Iran. New command and control equipment has been deployed in the region capable of using GLONASS (Russian GPS) targeting information. The air force in the South Military District (SMD) is reported to have been rearmed “almost 100 percent” with new jets and helicopters. In 2008, Kavkaz-2008 maneuvers allowed the Russian military to covertly deploy forces that successfully invaded Georgia (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, January 16).

Last September it was announced that sniper units will be created in all Russian army brigades. The first 1,300 newly trained snipers have been deployed in the SMD (RIA Novosti, January 16). SMD units in Abkhazia, Ossetia, Chechnya and Volgograd have been rearmed with new T-90A and T-72BM tanks and new armored vehicles. In 2010 and 2011, SMD units received more than 7,000 pieces of new heavy weapons and have been more than 70 percent rearmed (RIA Novosti, January 16). According to President Dmitry Medvedev, by 2011 the overall rearmament of the entire Russian military with new weapons was much less – 16 percent (www.kremlin.ru, March 20).

Last January the newly appointed commander of the 58th army that spearheaded the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008, Major General Andrei Gurulev, announced: “The army is a front-line force that keeps the peace in the region and has been rearmed more than 60 percent” (www.newsru.com, January 28). After an inspection of the SMD by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, it was announced that new Special Forces units will be deployed in Stavropol and Kislovodsk “to further strengthen the security of the region” (RIA Novosti, January 26). Stavropol and Kislovodsk are ethnic Russian-inhabited North Caucasian regions that have not seen much Islamist or separatist activity.

A new 120-kilometer range land-mobile guided anti-ship missile, Bal-E, has been deployed on the Caspian shore of Dagestan (Interfax, February 8). The Russian military believes that when the US goes to war with Iran, it may deploy forces in friendly Georgia and warships in the Caspian with the possible help of Azerbaijan. It is reported that in 2012 SMD forces will be 65 percent equipped with new communication devices, while the rest of the Russian military will have 26 percent (RIA Novosti, February 9). SMD units have received 20 new Tornado-G MRLS launchers (first procured in 2012) to replace the aging Grad MRLS. The Grad was massively used by the Russian troops against the Georgians in 2008. The 122-mm Tornado-G is reported to be “three times more effective than Grad,” with increased accuracy, firepower, mobility and a range of up to 100 kilometers (Interfax, April 3). The commander of the airborne troops (VDV), Lt. General Vladimir Shamanov, has announced the Russian troops in Armenia will be reinforced by paratroopers, possibly together with attack and transport helicopters. According to Netkachev, assault VDV units with helicopters may be moved into Abkhazia and South Ossetian (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, April 4).

The above stream of reports by official spokesmen and carried by government news agencies describes the forming of an offensive spearhead force in the SMD facing Transcaucasia. The force is too heavily armed with modern long-range weapons to be exclusively intended to take on the dispersed rebel guerrilla forces in Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. This week, the Secretary of the Georgian National Security Council Giga Bokeria told radio Ekho Moskvi about the growing threat of a war with Russia (Ekho Moskvi, April 2).

In Tbilisi, the possible threat of a new Russian invasion is connected to the parliamentary elections scheduled for next October and possible disturbances that may accompany them. According to polls, the ruling party of President Mikheil Saakashvili seems to be poised for another landslide victory, while the opposition movement, organized by the Russian-based billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, seems to be failing to gather mass support.

Of course, Moscow would be glad to see the electoral defeat of Saakashvili, but the Iranian war is a much more important issue. The Russian spearhead may be ordered to strike south to prevent the presumed deployment of US bases in Transcaucasia, to link up with the troops in Armenia, and take over the South Caucasus energy corridor along which Azeri, Turkmen and, other Caspian natural gas and oil may reach European markets. By one swift military strike Russia may ensure control of all the Caucasus and the Caspian states that were its former realm, establishing a fiat accompli the West, too preoccupied with Iran, would not reverse. At the same time, a small victorious war would unite the Russian nation behind the Kremlin, allowing it to crush the remnants of the prodemocracy movement “for fair elections.” And as a final bonus, Russia’s military action could perhaps finally destroy the Saakashvili regime.

http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=39228&tx_ttnews[backPid]=27&cHash=a8c90828fa84c3e274d92e18765d9e1c


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 09, 2012, 08:21:59 am
http://news.yahoo.com/us-navy-deploys-2nd-aircraft-carrier-gulf-104816846.html

4/9/12

US Navy deploys 2nd aircraft carrier to Gulf

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy said Monday it has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region amid rising tensions with Iran over its nuclear program.

The deployment of the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise along the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group marks only the fourth time in the past decade that the Navy has had two aircraft carriers operating at the same time in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, said Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.

The two carriers will support the American military operations in Afghanistan and anti-piracy efforts off Somalia's coast and in the Gulf of Aden, said Derrick-Frost.

The warships also patrol the Gulf's strategic oil routes that Iran has threatened to shut down in retaliation for economic sanctions.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 09, 2012, 08:24:51 am

World powers to hold talks with Iran on April 14: EU

http://news.yahoo.com/world-powers-hold-talks-iran-april-14-eu-174304213.html

4/8/12

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - World powers will hold the next round of nuclear negotiations with Iran on April 14 in Istanbul, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Sunday.
 
Ashton represents six world powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - in dealings with Iran.
 
"We have agreed to launch talks in Istanbul on April 14," the spokesman said.
 
"We hope that this first round will produce a conducive environment for concrete progress. We are of course aiming at a sustained process," he said.
 
(Reporting by Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 09, 2012, 04:43:09 pm
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/irans-nuclear-revolution-already-spreading-through-the-middle-east/

Iran’s nuclear revolution already spreading through the Middle East
Posted on April 9, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol
April 9, 2012 – MIDDLE EAST – Jordan is facing an uphill battle to build its first nuclear reactor to supply badly needed electric power amid serious concern over environmental hazards and financial risks the cash-strapped kingdom would have to endure. Lacking the oil and gas reserves of its neighbors, Jordan has been reliant on imports to provide powers for its homes and vehicles. Chaos in the Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula over the past year virtually cut off natural gas imports because the pipeline has been sabotaged 14 times in succession, most recently this week when a blast cut the line near Al-Arish. Nuclear power could help fill the gap, but the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant last year has cast fresh doubt over the safety and viability of such projects at a time when environmentalists are pushing for clean sources of energy. Aware of the growing opposition to the multi-billion dollar project, the government in Amman has appointed a public relations team to persuade the public of its importance to the country’s energy independence. The Jordan Nuclear Commission said recently government is preparing to announce it has chosen the French nuclear power contractor AREVA to build the country’s first reactor. Construction of the facility would not start before 2013 after finding funding for the project and completing the paper work needed to win the approval of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global nuclear monitoring body. The kingdom’s program calls for the construction of a 1,000-megawatt reactor by the end of the decade, with plans in place for an additional three reactors, all of which would transform the country from an energy importer to an electricity exporter. –Jerusalem Post

Saudi Arabia will acquire nukes if Iran does: It would appear the genie is already out of the lamp. “Saudi Arabia has already announced that in case Iran will develop nuclear weapons, the country will be also striving to possess them. In this case, we will face a nuclear race, which will pose the threat to the security of the whole region. This is a specific region, with vast numbers of internal opposing views, which are far from settlement. I am talking about religion, interethnic, interstate, and ideological issues. The possession of the nuclear weapon will result in some negative consequences.” –Caspionet.kz


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on April 10, 2012, 06:24:00 am
Longtime U.S. ally aligning with Tehran
'Arab Spring' result leaves Egypt picking Iran as partner

Just as Washington took the unusual step recently of inviting members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood for White House talks to try regain influence in Cairo, Egyptians followed recent gains by the Muslim Brotherhood in parliament to pursue Tehran as strategic partner instead of Washington, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

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www.rcg.orgGiven the increasingly close cooperation between what could become an Egyptian government run by the Muslim Brotherhood, Washington also may be looking to the Brotherhood as a potential conduit of communications to Iran, a development that could be unsettling to Israel.

Publicly, the U.S. is cautioning Egypt against growing ties with Iran, while recognizing the reality of the Brotherhood’s possible ascension to leadership in Egypt. U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Ann Paterson has raised concerns about the Brotherhood’s growing links with Iran.

“Washington expresses its concern about the Egyptian Islamic movement’s relations with Tehran,” she said.

For years, however, Shi’ite Iran has been a major financial supporter of the Sunni Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and quietly worked for some two years with the group to oust Washington-backed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last year.

So, that relationship should be no surprise to Washington.

rest: http://www.wnd.com/2012/04/longtime-u-s-ally-aligning-with-tehran/?cat_orig=us


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on April 10, 2012, 12:19:19 pm
Iran says it captured Israel-backed ‘terrorist team’

Iranian security forces arrested an Israeli-backed “terrorist team” days before crucial nuclear talks with world powers, the Intelligence Ministry announced Tuesday.

The announcement, reported by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), said that “terrorists, backed by the Zionists,” were arrested following months of intelligence operations in central and border provinces and that the “Zionist regional headquarters” was discovered in a regional country. In Iran’s ideological vocabulary, Israel is called the “Zionist state.”

REST: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-says-it-captured-israel-backed-terrorist-team/2012/04/10/gIQA8I3I8S_story.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 11, 2012, 08:26:04 am
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/largest-air-force-exercise-in-gulf-history-takes-place-with-u-s-aircraft-carrier-group/

Largest air force exercise in Gulf history takes place with U.S. aircraft carrier group

Posted on April 10, 2012


April 10, 2012 – MIDDLE EAST – At least 200 American and Arab Gulf fighter-bombers thundered overhead Sunday, April 8 at the outset of the biggest air force exercise ever conducted in the Gulf region. They are simulating war with Iran and an operation for reopening the strategic Straits of Hormuz if it is closed by Tehran. Debkafile’s military sources report that 100 of the warplanes took off from the USS Enterprise and USS Abraham Lincoln which are cruising with their strike groups opposite Iranian shores. The Saudi, UAE, Kuwaiti and Bahraini air forces contributed the other 100. In an unprecedented show of military solidarity with the US, Bahrain, which hosts the US Fifth Fleet High Command, was also chosen by Gulf Cooperation Council – GCC – members for their unified exercise headquarters to be located at the Shaikh Isa Air Base. Tehran was being told that neither the Obama administration nor the Gulf Arab governments were deterred by its threats of retaliation against emirates placing bases at the disposal of foreign forces for an attack on Iran. However, shortly after the exercise began, Iranian ambassador to Kuwait Rouhullah Qahremani called urgently on Kuwait Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Khalid Al-Sabah with a warning that the Iranian air and navy would attack the Gulf nations taking part in the exercise unless they withdrew at once. The Kuwaiti army chief took Iran’s threat to the GCC Secretary General for Military Affairs Maj. Gen. Khalifa Humaid Al-Kaabi. Kuwait and Riyadh also briefed the Americans. The exercise is due to end on April 15, the day after the six world powers launch resumed nuclear negotiations with Iran in Istanbul. However some Iranian sources were hinting Monday that they would not come to the talks under military threat. –Debka


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 11, 2012, 05:44:05 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/flow-iranian-oil-asia-slows-sanctions-bite-111058864.html

Flow of Iranian oil to Asia slows as sanctions bite
By Osamu Tsukimori and Charlie Zhu | Reuters – Tue, Apr 10, 2012.

TOKYO/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Japanese trading houses will cut Iranian crude imports from April, industry sources said on Tuesday, in the latest sign that Western sanctions are curbing the flow of Tehran's oil to its biggest customers in Asia.
 
Insurers are showing growing reluctance to cover tankers carrying Iranian oil and a senior official at a unit of Chinese refiner Sinopec Corp <0386.HK> said it was increasingly wary of crude from Iran due to the supply threat posed by sanctions.
 
The United States and European Union have tightened sanctions on Iran's oil trade as they seek to reduce the flow of petrodollars and force Tehran to halt a nuclear program the West suspects is intended to produce weapons.
 
"Iranian crude currently is a rather sensitive subject," Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemicals <0338.HK> Chief Financial Officer Ye Guohua told reporters at an earnings briefing. "This year we will continue to be cautious about Iranian crude imports."

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Christian40 on April 12, 2012, 04:55:29 am
WASHINGTON – The Russian military anticipates that an attack will occur on Iran by the summer and has developed an action plan to move Russian troops through neighboring Georgia to stage in Armenia, which borders on the Islamic republic, according to informed Russian sources.

See Russia's T-50 fighter > http://www.businessinsider.com/sukhoi-t-50-competes-with-the-f-35-2012-4

Russian Security Council head Viktor Ozerov said that Russian General Military Headquarters has prepared an action plan in the event of an attack on Iran.

Dmitry Rogozin, who recently was the Russian ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, warned against an attack on Iran.

"Iran is our neighbor," Rogozin said. "If Iran is involved in any military action, it's a direct threat to our security." Rogozin now is the deputy Russian prime minister and is regarded as anti-Western. He oversees Russia's defense sector.

Russian Defense Ministry sources say that the Russian military doesn't believe that Israel has sufficient military assets to defeat Iranian defenses and further believes that U.S. military action will be necessary.

The implication of preparing to move Russian troops not only is to protect its own vital regional interests but possibly to assist Iran in the event of such an attack. Sources add that a Russian military buildup in the region could result in the Russian military potentially engaging Israeli forces, U.S. forces, or both.

Informed sources say that the Russians have warned of "unpredictable consequences" in the event Iran is attacked, with some Russians saying that the Russian military will take part in the possible war because it would threaten its vital interests in the region.

The influential Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper has quoted a Russian military source as saying that the situation forming around Syria and Iran "causes Russia to expedite the course of improvement of its military groups in the South Caucasus, the Caspian, Mediterranean and Black Sea regions."

This latest information comes from a series of reports and leaks from official Russian spokesmen and government news agencies who say that an Israeli attack is all but certain by the summer.

Because of the impact on Russian vital interests in the region, sources say that Russian preparations for such an attack began two years ago when Russian Military Base 102 in Gyumri, Armenia, was modernized. It is said to occupy a major geopolitical position in the region.

Families of Russian servicemen from the Russian base at Gyumri in Armenia close to the borders of Georgia and Turkey already have been evacuated, Russian sources say.

"Military Base 102 is a key point, Russia's outpost in the South Caucasus," a Russian military source told the newspaper. "It occupies a very important geopolitical position, but the Kremlin fears lest it should lose this situation."

With Vladimir Putin returning to the Russian presidency, the prospect that he again would order an attack on Georgia as he did in August 2008 also has become a possibility, these informed sources say.

The Russians believe that Georgia would cooperate with the United States in blocking any supplies from reaching Military Base 102, which now is supplied primarily by air. Right now, Georgia blocks the only land transportation route through which Russian military supplies could travel.

Fuel for the Russian base in Armenia comes from Iran. Russian officials believe this border crossing may be closed in the event of a war.

"Possibly, it will be necessary to use military means to breach the Georgian transport blockade and establish transport corridors leading into Armenia," according to Yury Netkachev, former deputy commander of Russian forces in Transcaucasia. Geography of the region suggests that any such supply corridor would have to go through the middle of Georgia approaching Georgia's capital of Tbilisi given the roads and topography of the country.

In September, the Russian military plans to hold its annual military exercises called Kavkaz 2012. However, informed Russian sources say that preparations and deployments of military equipment and personnel already have begun in anticipation of a possible war with Iran.

These sources report that new command and control equipment has been deployed in the region capable of using the Russian GPS system, GLONASS for targeting information.

"The air force in the South Military District is reported to have been rearmed almost 100 percent with new jets and helicopters," according to regional expert Pavel Felgenhauer of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation.

In 2008, Felgenhauer pointed out, Kavkaz 2008 maneuvers allowed the Russian military to covertly deploy forces that successfully invaded Georgia in August of that year.

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov already has announced that new Spetznaz, or Special Forces units, will be deployed in Stavropol and Kislovodsk, which are located in the North Caucasian regions.

Russian sources say that the Russian military believes that if the U.S. goes to war with Iran, it may deploy forces into Georgia and warships in the Caspian Sea with the possible help of Azerbaijan, which since has stated that it will not allow its territory to be used by Israel to launch an attack on neighboring Iran.

There had been speculation that given the improved relations between Israel and Azerbaijan, the Jewish state may use bases from which to launch air attacks on neighboring Iran's nuclear sites. Israel recently agreed to sell Azerbaijan $1.6 billion in military equipment.

A further irritant to Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili is the prospect that Russian assault airborne troops, or VDV units, with helicopters could be moved into Georgia's two breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These two provinces were taken by the Russian military during the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war. Initially they were declared by Moscow to be independent countries, but now the Kremlin is indicating they may be annexed to Russia.

Similarly, Lt. General Vladimir Shamanov, commander of the VDV, has announced that Russian troops in Armenia will be reinforced by paratroopers, along with attack and transport helicopters.

"The Russian spearhead (from the Transcaucasia region) may be ordered to strike south to prevent the presumed deployment of U.S. bases in Transcaucasia, to link up with the troops in Armenia and take over the South Caucasus energy corridor along which Azeri, Turkmen and other Caspian natural gas and oil may reach European markets," Felgenhauer said.

"By one swift military strike, Russia may ensure control of all the Caucasus and the Caspian states that were its former realm, establishing a fiat accompli the West, too preoccupied with Iran, would not reverse," he said.

"At the same time, a small victorious war would unite the Russian nation behind the Kremlin, allowing it to crush the remnants of the prodemocracy movement 'for fair elections,' and as a final bonus, Russia's military action could perhaps finally destroy the Saakashvili regime."

Putin has made no secret that he despises Saakashvili and with his return to the presidency, he may consider taking out the Georgian president as unfinished business. Just as in 2008, Putin will not have much to worry about if he sends Russian troops into Georgia, since there was muted reaction from the U.S. and the European countries to the Russian invasion and subsequent occupation.

http://www.worthynews.com/top/businessinsider-com-russia-thinks-an-israeli-attack-on-iran-by-the-summer-is-almost-certain-2012-4/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 16, 2012, 09:49:07 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iaf-plans-for-iran-attack/


Israeli TV report shows air force gearing up for Iran attack, says moment of truth is near

‘IAF expects losses, and knows it can’t destroy entire Iranian program’

By Greg TepperApril 15, 2012, 11:49 pm

A major Israel TV station on Sunday night broadcast a detailed report on how Israel will go about attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities in the event that diplomacy and sanctions fail and Israel decides to carry out a military strike.
 
The report, screened on the main evening news of Channel 10, was remarkable both in terms of the access granted to the reporter, who said he had spent weeks with the pilots and other personnel he interviewed, and in the fact that his assessments on a strike were cleared by the military censor.
 
No order to strike is likely to be given before the P5+1 talks with Iran resume in May, the reporter, Alon Ben-David, said. “But the coming summer will not only be hot but tense.”

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 16, 2012, 12:26:24 pm
http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=265984

'Gulf states plan to meet over UAE-Iran island row'
By REUTERS
14/04/2012

UAE withdrew its Iranian envoy after Ahmadinejad visited the disputed island; source calls upcoming meeting "extraordinary."

DUBAI - Gulf Arab states plan to meet next week to discuss a dispute between the United Arab Emirates and Iran which broke out after the Iranian president visited a Gulf island claimed by both countries, a source familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

Wednesday's meeting of foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council will be held in the Saudi capital Riyadh, the source told Reuters.

"This will be an extraordinary meeting which was called for by the UAE following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit," the source added.

The UAE has recalled its ambassador to Tehran for consultations after what it called a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty, the state news agency WAM reported.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 19, 2012, 12:10:13 pm
http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-and-strategy/222387-panetta-were-within-an-inch-of-war-almost-every-day


Pentagon chief: 'We're within an inch of war almost every day’
By Jeremy Herb - 04/18/12 05:43 PM ET

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta offered a blunt assessment of the threats facing the United States on Wednesday, saying the potential for another war breaking out remains high in places like North Korea.

“We’re within an inch of war almost every day in that part of the world,” Panetta said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, in response to a question about the threats in the Korean Peninsula. “And we just have to be very careful about what we say and what we do.”

Blitzer then asked Panetta, who joined with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for an interview during the secretaries’ NATO meeting in Brussels, whether the North Korean threat kept him up at night.

“Unfortunately, these days there’s a helluva lot that keeps me awake,” Panetta responded, listing Iran, Syria, the Middle East, cyber warfare and weapons of mass destruction as other insomnia-inducing issues.

Panetta responded to charges from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that “incompetence” from the Obama administration led North Korea to launch its failed long-range missile last week.

“I think it’s pretty clear this administration took a firm stand with regard to provocative behavior North Korea engaged in,” Panetta said. "We made clear they should not do it, and we condemned the action even though it was not successful.”

Panetta would not say what action the Obama administration would take if North Korea now conducts its third nuclear test, as is suspected. It would be “another provocation,” the defense secretary said, and would “worsen” the U.S.-North Korea relationship.

On the violence in Syria, Clinton said the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is “running out of time.”

“I don’t think we’re halfway through this story yet,” she said. “We’re going to see a lot happen over the next few weeks, and it truly is up to the Assad regime. They’re the ones that hold it in their power to end the violence.”

Clinton said the Obama administration was waiting to see whether or not Assad was implementing the peace plan from UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and upholding a cease-fire, which appears to be faltering.

Panetta said the Obama administration is not getting involved in Syria militarily unless the international community backs involvement, which is what happened in Libya. In Syria, however, Russia and China remain opposed to the UN Security Council taking stronger action than the peace plan.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 19, 2012, 12:20:12 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-army-ready-action-disputed-gulf-island-081537070.html

Iran army ready for action on disputed Gulf island
By NASSER KARIMI | Associated Press – 9 hrs ago

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's ground forces commander warned that should diplomacy fail, the military is ready for action over a disputed Gulf island controlled by Iran but also claimed by the United Arab Emirates, state TV reported Thursday.

Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said Iranian forces are capable of confronting any offender against Iran's sovereignty over the strategic Abu Musa island in the Persian Gulf.

It was the first time an Iranian military commander commented on the issue since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week visited Abu Musa.

"We do not allow any country to carry out an invasion," Pourdastan said. "If these disturbances are not solved through diplomacy, the military forces are ready to show the power of Iran to the offender. Iran will strongly defend its right."

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 23, 2012, 12:32:14 pm
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=4066

Turkey blocks Israel's participation in NATO summit 

The veto was conveyed to the NATO bodies by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during the alliance’s meeting last week in Brussels • "There will be no Israeli presence at the NATO meeting unless they issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the Turkish citizens their commandos killed in international waters" a senior Turkish official says.

Turkey has blocked the participation of Israel in a key NATO summit that will take place in Chicago on May 20 and 21, despite calls from influential allies including the U.S., Western diplomatic have sources told Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News. The veto was conveyed to the NATO bodies by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during the alliance’s meeting last week in Brussels, Hurriyet reported.

Turkey said it will not allow Israel, a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue, a NATO outreach program with seven non-NATO nations, to take part in the alliance’s new “Partnership Cooperation Menu.”

“There will be no Israeli presence at the NATO meeting unless they issue a formal apology and pay compensation for the Turkish citizens their commandos killed in international waters” a senior Turkish official told the Hurriyet Daily News.

“There are demands from us for the removal of our veto, but this is out of question.”

“Those countries who wish to see normalization in ties between Turkey and Israel should advise Israel to apologize and to compensate the killing of Turks in international waters,” the official said.

According to the Turkish Zaman paper, Davutoglu told NATO members that Turkey was a country that rescued citizens of other NATO member countries who were detained by Israel during the Mavi Marmara raid. “Go and tell Israel to apologize for the incident and to pay compensation for the Turkish citizens whom it massacred,” Davutoglu said. A senior diplomatic source told Zaman that Turkey’s bargaining power is too strong. “We [Turkey] are blocking Israel in many areas. We avoid contact with Israel in any international meeting,” the same source said. Another diplomatic source emphasized that NATO-Israel relations could not be restored until Turkey-Israel relations are normalized, Zaman reported.

Turkish-Israeli relations worsened in May 2010 and have remained strained since, after Israeli naval commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, a ship carrying mercenaries and activists trying to break the internationally sanctioned military naval blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. After landing on the ship carrying paintball guns, mercenaries on the ship tried to lynch the Israeli soldiers, who pulled out their firearms in self-defense and killed nine Turks on board.

Since then, Turkey prevented Israel from taking part in NATO’s long-term operation “Active Endeavor” in the Mediterranean Sea, and is also blocking Israel’s attempt to appoint a representative to NATO headquarters due to Israel’s non-membership in NATO. In 2010, during the NATO summit in Lisbon, Turkey also repeatedly asked the alliance not to share intelligence from radar systems with Israel.



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 30, 2012, 11:16:07 pm
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-30/iran-nuclear-power-plant-works-at-near-full-capacity-irna-says.html

4/30/12

Iran Nuclear Power Plant Works at Near Full Capacity, IRNA Says

Iran’s first nuclear power plant was connected at almost full capacity to the national power grid on April 28, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, who heads the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization.

The 1,000-megawatt Bushehr plant is generating 940 megawatts, Abbasi-Davani said, according to the official IRNA report.


Title: Early Israeli elections canceled amid speculation of Iran attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 08, 2012, 12:54:44 pm
5/7/12

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/07/early-israeli-elections-canceled-amid-speculation-iran-attack/

JERUSALEM –  In a dramatic turn of events that could influence a possible Israeli strike on Iran, Israeli media reports early Tuesday indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached an agreement with the Kadima opposition party for a unity government, canceling an early election.
 
  There was no immediate comment from official sources on the decision that was reported at about 2 a.m.
 
  The reports came as Israel's parliament held debates long into the night over whether to break up ahead of early elections called for the fall. Knesset spokesman Yotam Yakir said no final vote was taken and parliament is not dispersing.
 
  Earlier Monday, the Israeli government proposed that the election be moved up to Sept. 4.
 
  The election had originally been set for 2013.
 
  According to the media reports, Netanyahu forged an agreement with opposition leader Shaul Mofaz of Kadima shortly before parliament was set to vote to disperse.
 
  The appointment of Mofaz, a former military chief and defense minister, is significant in Israel's standoff with Iran as he has been a vocal critic of Israel striking Iran's nuclear sites on its own.
 
  The call for early elections had renewed speculation that Israel might attack Iran's suspect nuclear program, perhaps within months.
 
  Israel, like the West, thinks Iran is developing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. But it has repeatedly hinted it might strike Iran if it concludes that U.S.-led diplomacy and sanctions have failed.
 
  Netanyahu has hinted at the possibility of an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities but has not made an open threat.
 
  Israel considers Iran a threat to its existence because of its nuclear and missile development programs, frequent reference to Israel's destruction by Iranian leaders and Iran's support of violent anti-Israeli groups in Lebanon and Gaza.
 
  The reports said Kadima agreed to join Netanyahu's government on condition it supports a proposal about a military deferment for ultra-Orthodox Jews. The issue was one of the main reasons Netanyahu decided to bring forward the election date. The deal stipulates that Mofaz will serve as deputy prime minister and that two other key parties, Yisrael Beitenu and Shas, had agreed to the move, according to reports.
 
  Kadima members will also serve as head of the parliament's powerful Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, reports said.
 
  The current government is the most stable Israel has had in years. But disagreements on a variety of domestic issues such as drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the military and tearing down illegal structures in West Bank settlements have led Netanyahu to move up elections by more than a year.
 
  Recent polls have suggested Netanyahu's Likud Party would win at least one-quarter of parliament's 120 seats to become the legislature's largest faction -- putting him in a comfortable position to form a majority coalition.
 
  They also show he might be able to form a more moderate coalition than the hawkish lineup he now heads, in partnership with centrist parties more open to making concession to the Palestinians.
 
  Israel's Labor party called the move "ridiculous" and said they would remain in the opposition.



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 16, 2012, 07:24:47 pm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gV2LOypyr6JND-pOsYYEcc3eNF9w?docId=CNG.4b617bb54804cd949714937750b605c4.531

5/16/12

Israeli intelligence head 'visited US for Iran talks'

JERUSALEM — Israeli military intelligence chief Aviv Kochavi made a "secret visit" to Washington earlier this month to discuss the upcoming talks between world powers and Iran, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

An Israeli security official confirmed the visit, which was reported in Haaretz newspaper, but could not provide further details.

As well as discussing Tehran's nuclear programme, the major general also held talks with senior White House and intelligence officials in New York and Washington on "the Syria crisis and Hezbollah's increasing power in Lebanon," the paper said.

Citing a senior Israeli official, Haaretz said Iran was the main topic, with talks focused on next week's talks between Tehran and the P5+1 powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 17, 2012, 12:49:40 pm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/us-israel-iran-idUSBRE84G0UC20120517

5/17/12

Iran attack decision nears, Israeli elite locks down

(Reuters) - A private door opens from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in central Jerusalem directly into a long, modestly furnished, half-paneled room decorated with modern paintings by Israeli artists and a copy of Israel's 1948 declaration of independence. It contains little more than a long wooden table, brown leather chairs and a single old-fashioned white projector screen.

This inner sanctum at the end of a corridor between Netanyahu's private room and the office of his top military adviser, is where one of the decade's most momentous military decisions could soon be taken: to launch an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear program.

Time for that decision is fast running out and the mood in Jerusalem is hardening.

Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of international pressure, saying it needs the fuel for its civilian nuclear program. The West is convinced that Tehran's real objective is to build an atomic bomb - something which the Jewish state will never accept because its leaders consider a nuclear armed-Iran a threat to its very existence.

Adding to the international pressure, U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro said this week American military plans to strike Iran were "ready" and the option was "fully available".

The central role Iran plays in Netanyahu's deliberations is reflected in the huge map of the Middle East hanging by the door of his office. Israel lies on one edge, with Iran taking pride of place in the centre.

Experts say that within a few months, much of Iran's nuclear program will have been moved deep underground beneath the Fordow mountain, making a successful military strike much more difficult.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 17, 2012, 09:38:04 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/us-envoy-israel-washington-ready-strike-iran-sanctions-203046528.html

5/17/12

US envoy to Israel: Washington ready to strike Iran if sanctions, diplomacy fail

JERUSALEM - The U.S. has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington's envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran.

Dan Shapiro's message resonated Thursday far beyond the closed forum in which it was made: Iran should not test Washington's resolve to act on its promise to strike if diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its disputed nuclear program.

Shapiro told the Israel Bar Association the U.S. hopes it will not have to resort to military force.

"But that doesn't mean that option is not fully available. Not just available, but it's ready," he said. "The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it's ready."

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 18, 2012, 06:14:06 pm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/us-israel-iran-idUSBRE84G0UC20120517

5/17/12

Iran attack decision nears, Israeli elite locks down

(Reuters) - A private door opens from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in central Jerusalem directly into a long, modestly furnished, half-paneled room decorated with modern paintings by Israeli artists and a copy of Israel's 1948 declaration of independence. It contains little more than a long wooden table, brown leather chairs and a single old-fashioned white projector screen.

This inner sanctum at the end of a corridor between Netanyahu's private room and the office of his top military adviser, is where one of the decade's most momentous military decisions could soon be taken: to launch an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear program.

Time for that decision is fast running out and the mood in Jerusalem is hardening.

Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of international pressure, saying it needs the fuel for its civilian nuclear program. The West is convinced that Tehran's real objective is to build an atomic bomb - something which the Jewish state will never accept because its leaders consider a nuclear armed-Iran a threat to its very existence.

Adding to the international pressure, U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro said this week American military plans to strike Iran were "ready" and the option was "fully available".

The central role Iran plays in Netanyahu's deliberations is reflected in the huge map of the Middle East hanging by the door of his office. Israel lies on one edge, with Iran taking pride of place in the centre.

Experts say that within a few months, much of Iran's nuclear program will have been moved deep underground beneath the Fordow mountain, making a successful military strike much more difficult.

LOCKDOWN

As the deadline for a decision draws nearer, the public pronouncements of Israel's top officials and military have changed. After hawkish warnings about a possible strike earlier this year, their language of late has been more guarded and clues to their intentions more difficult to discern.

"The top of the government has gone into lockdown," one official said. "Nobody is saying anything publicly. That in itself tells you a lot about where things stand."

Last week Netanyahu pulled off a spectacular political surprise, creating a coalition of national unity and delaying elections which everyone believed were inevitable. The maneuver also led to speculation that the Israeli leader wanted a broad, strong government to lead a military campaign.

The inclusion of the Iranian-born former Israeli chief of staff and veteran soldier, Gen. Shaul Mofaz, in the coalition, fuelled that speculation - even though both Mofaz and Netanyahu deny that Iran was mentioned in the coalition negotiations.

"I think they have made a decision to attack," said one senior Israeli figure with close ties to the leadership. "It is going to happen. The window of opportunity is before the U.S. presidential election in November. This way they will bounce the Americans into supporting them."

Those close to Netanyahu are more cautious, saying no assumptions should be made about an attack on Iran - an attack with such potentially devastating consequences across the volatile Middle East that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas even went so far as to predict in an interview with Reuters last week that it would be "the end of the world".

Israelis particularly fear retaliation from Iran's proxy militias - the Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon and the Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip. Both are believed to possess large arsenals of rockets which could hit major Israeli towns and cities.

Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem told Reuters in February that an Israeli attack on Iran would set the whole Middle East ablaze "with no limit to the fires". "Gone are the days when Israel decides to strike, and the people are silent," he said.

The Israeli Prime Minister and his key allies repeat for public consumption the mantra that economic sanctions against Iran must be given time to work and that now is not the time to speak about military options.

Top officials explain the new coalition on purely domestic grounds, saying it was needed to tackle the thorny and divisive issue of pressing Orthodox Jews into military service - in other words, that its formation has much more to do with the agenda inside Israel than abroad.

BURIED NUCLEAR STATES

Diplomats are divided. "I think the Iran thing is a red herring," said one senior Western envoy. "This is 98 percent about domestic politics". Others are less convinced.

Mofaz himself refuses to speak about military action against Iran, even in the theoretical.

A military veteran with almost 40 years' operational experience, whose office in the Israeli parliament displays a poster of Israeli warplanes flying low over the Auschwitz concentration camp, he scoffs at the idea that his Iranian descent gives him special influence on an Iran attack decision. He derides the idea any serious official in the know would talk to visiting journalists about such a sensitive military subject.

But behind the carefully evasive language of top officials, basic facts are clear. Time is running out. Iran's nuclear program - regarded by Netanyahu as an existential threat to the state of Israel - will soon be buried deep enough underground to render an Israeli attack impossible. The Jewish state's options are narrowing.

"I think they've gone into lockdown mode now," the senior Western diplomat said. "Whatever happens next, whatever they decide, we will not find out until it happens."

There are indeed those who see in Israeli posturing over Iran only bluff intended to press world powers into harsher sanctions and avoid war. Some military experts openly doubt how much damage Israel could inflict. The risk of a fiasco is big.

Perhaps the strongest clue as to Israel's real intentions is to be found in Netanyahu's private office, behind his desk. Officials say the Israeli premier was strongly influenced by his father, who died last month at the age of 102.

Benzion Netanyahu was a distinguished scholar of Jewish history and his strong sense of the past lives on in Benjamin, who laments to visitors that "most people's sense of history goes back to breakfast time".

On a shelf behind Netanyahu's desk, along with pictures of his family, is a photograph of Winston Churchill. Netanyahu admires the British wartime premier because he saw the true dangers posed by Nazi Germany to the world at a time when many other politicians argued for appeasing Hitler.

The parallels with modern-day Iran are obvious and Netanyahu is explicit about the dangers he believes are posed by militant Islam: as he puts it, its convulsive power, its cult of death and its ideological zeal.

But Churchill, although eloquent on the dangers posed by the rise of Nazi Germany during the 1930s, ultimately failed to prevent Hitler's ascent to power, the world war he unleashed or the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered.

Netanyahu, those who know him say, is determined to avoid going down in history as the man who shirked his opportunity to stop Iran going nuclear. (Additional reporting by Samia Nakhoul and Crispian Balmer; editing by Ralph Boulton)



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 26, 2012, 03:19:09 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-enough-uranium-five-bombs-expert-085733687.html

5/26/12

Iran has enough uranium for 5 bombs: expert

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has significantly stepped up its output of low-enriched uranium and total production in the last five years would be enough for at least five nuclear weapons if refined much further, a U.S. security institute said.
 
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a think-tank which tracks Iran's nuclear program closely, based the analysis on data in the latest report by the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which was issued on Friday.
 
Progress in Iran's nuclear activities is closely watched by the West and Israel as it could determine how long it could take Tehran to build atomic bombs, if it decided to do so. Iran denies any plan to and says its aims are entirely peaceful.
 
During talks in Baghdad this week, six world powers failed to convince Iran to scale back its uranium enrichment program. They will meet again in Moscow next month to try to defuse a decade-old standoff that has raised fears of a new war in the Middle East that could disrupt oil supplies.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 06, 2012, 11:19:46 am
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/the-axis/israelis-are-more-afraid-of-losing-u-s-support-than-of-the-iranian-bomb.premium-1.434615

Israelis are more afraid of losing U.S. support than of the Iranian bomb

The politician Israelis are most afraid of is not Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but rather U.S. President Barack Obama.

 By Anshel Pfeffer| 21:01 05.06.12 | 3


The poll published last week by the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University proves that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are still failing to convince the Israeli public of the necessity of an attack on Iran.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 11, 2012, 04:34:40 pm
Israel mass evacuation plan
June 10, 2012
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4240696,00.html

Ministers to discuss plan for evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Israelis to Eilat, Arava area in case of missile attack
The Ministerial Committee on Home Front Affairs is set to discuss a plan for a mass evacuation in the event of a missile attack next week.
According to the plan, entire cities will be moved to southern Israel around Eilat and the Arava area.

One source at the Home Front Protection Ministry said that towns near Ariel may also serve as temporary evacuation centers.
IDF ponders how to handle mass burial scenario 1.7 million left defenseless in case of attack.
The plan also applies to cases of natural disasters at the national level and is a reworking of one of Israel's contingency plans.

According to the plan, citizens of central and northern Israel will be housed in schools, educational establishments and even boarding schools,
bed and breakfasts and hotels in cases of national emergency.

The Housing Ministry will prepare a plan for the establishment of temporary housing facilities including tents and caravans.
Local councils acting as hosts will provide for the evacuees for a period of one week and each family will receive a
NIS 150 (roughly $39) allowance from the Finance Ministry.

Evacuees will also receive transportation and security services. Four toilet stalls and 3 showers will be allocated for groups of 100.
Evacuees will also receive laundry services and each child will be given NIS 100 (roughly $26) for school supplies.

Home Front Protection Minister Matan Vilnai said that after a briefing from the national security adviser, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu green-lighted the plan.
It will be introduced at various government ministers after being approved by the ministerial committee.


Title: Russia, China, Iran plan to stage in Syria “biggest Mid East maneuver”
Post by: Christian40 on June 21, 2012, 01:23:26 am
Middle East military tensions around Syria shot up again Monday, June 18, with the news reported by the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars that a joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise is to take place in Syria.

It was described as “the biggest of its kind ever staged in the Middle East” with 90,000 personnel, 400 air planes and 900 tanks taking part.
As part of its preparations, Beijing is reported to have asked Egyptian authorities to permit the passage through the Suez Canal in late June of 12 naval ships heading for the Syrian port of Tartus, where Moscow maintains a naval and marine base. debkafile reported earlier this week that Russian naval vessels with marines on board were heading for Tartus. The Iranian media did not itemize their contribution to the joint exercise.
debkafile stresses that this would be the first time that substantial Russian and Chinese military strength has ever been deployed in Syria or anywhere else in the Middle East. It means that the two powers are prepared to parade their unabashed partnership with the Iranian and Syrian armies for the shared purpose of obstructing US-European-Arab military intervention in Syria. A large-scale Russian and Chinese military presence in the embattled country would expect to deter the United States from leading a military operation against Bashar Assad and his regime.
No date was attached to the report but the exercise may possibly take place before the end of the month

The large-scale maneuver was announced in Tehran on the first day of the nuclear crisis talks in Moscow between Iran and the six world powers, their third attempt to resolve the crisis by diplomacy. However, Russian and Iranian sources close to the talks were pessimistic about progress. An Iranian delegation member complained the atmosphere was harsh and unconstructive. A Russian source saw no way of bridging US-led Western differences with Tehran when the parties reconvene Monday.
debkafile also notes that the big joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise “at sea, air and land on Syrian soil,” ws released for publication shortly before US President Barack Obama was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Mexico.

http://www.debka.com/article/22094/Russia-China-Iran-plan-to-stage-in-Syria-%E2%80%9Cbiggest-Mid-East-maneuver


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on June 30, 2012, 08:03:34 am
Iran: There will be war – and we'll win
More than 1,000 ballistic missiles capable of reaching U.S. bases


Just days after the breakdown of talks with the West over Iran’s nuclear program, the deputy chief commander of the Revolutionary Guards announced that there soon will be war – and that Allah will ensure his forces are victorious.

The last round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany) ended in Moscow last week without any agreement on Iran’s illicit nuclear program.

Gen. Hossein Salami, in a televised interview, boasted that, “Iran has complete control of all the enemy’s interests around the world and is on a path to reach equivalency with world powers.” The commander emphasized that Iran’s nuclear program is irreversible, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Salami said war is inevitable, and the Iranian forces are ready.

“The current sanctions will only help Iran with its progress, and the Iranian ballistic missiles can target the enemy’s moving carriers with 100 percent accuracy,” he warned the West. “The Guards’ operational plan includes a radius of deterrence in the region in which all interests of the enemy have been identified, and in case of war, those interests will be attacked.”

Guards’ commanders have stated previously that all U.S. bases in the region are targeted with missiles and will be attacked should America strike Iran.

Salami said Iranian ballistic missiles can travel at several times the speed of sound and cannot easily be tracked and destroyed. “Our defense inventory is so great that at times our brothers in the Guards face limitations with space.”

The Revolutionary Guards have more than 1,000 ballistic missiles capable of reaching all U.S. bases in the region, all of Israel and some capitals in Europe. In collaboration with China and North Korea, they are also working on intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Salami said the Guards are on high alert, adding, “Our forces in relation to our internal security will complete their mission with all of their capability.”

In 2009, millions of Iranians took to the street demanding regime change, but ultimately the uprising was cruelly suppressed and many Iranians were tortured and executed. According to statistics from the Islamic regime’s Justice Department, all Iranian prisons are overflowing and there is a need for more prisons. As reported by Iranian officials, last year alone more than 600 people were executed, including women.

Salami repeated that the Guards are ready for war, which is close, and though it will be very difficult, “We have faith in Allah.”

In another sign that the Iranian officials expect war, Iran’s supreme leader Wednesday urged all factions of the regime, political and military, to unite and remain steadfast in defense of Islam in confronting the “arrogant powers.”

According to Sepah News, the official media outlet of the Guards, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a meeting with regime officials, stated, “Today the arrogant powers of the world have focused all their power to hurt the Islamic republic and stop its progress (nuclear program), which motivates the Islamic world.”

Referring to sanctions on Iran, Khamenei said, “America itself is surrounded by serious problems, which cannot be solved. … Their main goal is to separate the Islamic republic from the support of its people. … Allah willing, this conspiracy will also be defeated.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wnd.com/2012/06/iran-there-will-be-war-and-well-win/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on July 02, 2012, 08:19:43 am
Iran threatens Israel; new EU sanctions take force

 Iran announced missile tests on Sunday and threatened to wipe Israel "off the face of the earth" if the Jewish state attacked it, brandishing some of its starkest threats on the day Europe began enforcing an oil embargo and harsh new sanctions.

REST: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/01/us-iran-idUSBRE8600HG20120701


Iran to fire missiles at replicas of foreign army basesRevolutionary Guards prepare to start three-day war games in Iranian desert


Iran's official news agency has reported that the Revolutionary Guards will begin three days of war games, including drills with surface-to-surface missiles, in Iran's central desert on Monday..

The IRNA agency quoted General Ami Ali Hajizadeh, chief of the Revolutionary Guards' airspace unit, who said missiles would target bases modelled on those of foreign armies.

The announcement coincides with the start of a European Union oil embargo meant to pressure Iran over its nuclear programme. Iran denies western suspicions that it wants to build nuclear weapons.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/01/iran-missiles-war-games-desert


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on July 03, 2012, 08:04:22 am
U.S. Adds Forces in Persian Gulf, a Signal to Iran

The United States has quietly moved significant military reinforcements into the Persian Gulf to deter the Iranian military from any possible attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz and to increase the number of fighter jets capable of striking deep into Iran if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates.

The deployments are part of a long-planned effort to bolster the American military presence in the gulf region, in part to reassure Israel that in dealing with Iran, as one senior administration official put it last week, “When the president says there are other options on the table beyond negotiations, he means it.”

But at a moment that the United States and its allies are beginning to enforce a much broader embargo on Iran’s oil exports, meant to force the country to take seriously the negotiations over sharply limiting its nuclear program, the buildup carries significant risks, including that Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps could decide to lash out against the increased presence.

The most visible elements of this buildup are Navy ships designed to vastly enhance the ability to patrol the Strait of Hormuz — and to reopen the narrow waterway should Iran attempt to mine it to prevent Saudi Arabia and other oil exporters from sending their tankers through the vital passage.

The Navy has doubled the number of minesweepers assigned to the region, to eight vessels, in what military officers describe as a purely defensive move.

“The message to Iran is, ‘Don’t even think about it,’ ” one senior Defense Department official said. “Don’t even think about closing the strait. We’ll clear the mines. Don’t even think about sending your fast boats out to harass our vessels or commercial shipping. We’ll put them on the bottom of the gulf.” Like others interviewed, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the diplomatic and military situation.

REST: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/world/middleeast/us-adds-forces-in-persian-gulf-a-signal-to-iran.html?_r=1&partner=MYWAY&ei=5065


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on July 05, 2012, 01:55:12 pm
Iran Readies for War with 'Regional' Enemies

Iran this week conducted a series of test launches of domestically-produced medium- and long-range ballistic missiles. Iranian officials said the tests targeted replications of "trans-regional powers."

Iran's more advanced homegrown missiles are capable of hitting most parts of Israel, and it was at first assumed that the Jewish state was the target of the exercise.

Great Prophet 7
But Revolutionary Guards General Amir Ali Hajizadeh revealed that the exercise was intended as a warning to both Israel and American forces in the region. Iran's Fars news agency reported that the dummy target bases were modeled after American bases in the Middle East, while Hajizadeh said the exercise clearly demonstrated that any Israeli military action against Iran's nuclear facilities would result in a catastrophic response.

"If they (Israel) take any action, they will hand us an excuse to wipe them off the face of the earth," Hajizadeh was quoted as saying by Iran's IRNA news agency.

The general added that the target bases were modeled on American bases as a deterrent to US forces getting involved should Israel decided to strike Iran.

It is also worth noting that the missile exercise was dubbed "Great Prophet 7," a clear Islamic religious reference. While Western diplomats insist that ultimately Iran will behave pragmatically and not try to annihilate Israel, those more familiar with the region note that Iran's real rulers, the ayatollahs, make their decisions based primarily on radical religious beliefs and tenets, not pragmatism. They view the destruction of Israel as a religious duty and prophetic necessity.


http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2012/07/iran-readies-for-war-with-regional.html#


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 12, 2012, 12:20:41 pm
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=277191

Report: US Navy deploys drones to the Persian Gulf

By JPOST.COM STAFF

07/12/2012 09:09

US responds to Iranian threat to block the Strait of Hormuz by sending mine-clearing drones, according to 'LA Times.'

The US Navy has deployed small underwater drones capable of destroying sea mines to the Persian Gulf, The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.

According to the report, deployment of the German-made device known as SeaFox is part of an American military build up aimed at stopping Iran from closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The first drones began arriving in recent weeks as the latest round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear development program appeared to have stalled.

On Saturday, a US navy ship that had been slated for decommissioning was sent instead to the Gulf to help mine-clearing operations, the US Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain said, in the latest move in a gradual US build-up as tensions with Iran smoulder.

Four US minesweepers arrived in the Gulf last month to bolster the Fifth Fleet and ensure the safety of shipping routes in a waterway through which 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil exports flow.

Tensions have simmered in the Gulf with big-power diplomacy to ease the nuclear dispute at an impasse and Israel renewing veiled threats to attack Iranian atomic sites from the air if sanctions and negotiations fail to curb Iran's nuclear advances.

A string of hawkish Iranian statements - including a renewed threat to close the Strait and destroy US bases in the region "within minutes" of an attack - over the past week helped thrust benchmark Brent crude oil prices above $100 for the first time since June.

Iran has repeatedly warned of reprisals for any Israeli or US-led strike on its nuclear installations, whose activities it says are purely peaceful but the West suspects are geared to developing the means to produce nuclear arms.

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Title: London braces for Israeli strike on Iran during 2012 Games
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 22, 2012, 07:27:59 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/london-prepares-for-israeli-strike-on-iran-during-2012-games/

7/18/12
aking into account the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran during the 2012 Summer Games, the Olympic committee in charge of the London event has formed a special team to prepare for the contingency.
 
According to the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday., the team — consisting of politicians, diplomats, security officials and organizing committee personnel — wrote in a report that such a strike was entirely possible.
 
Yedioth reported that the team was also preparing for the possibility of an earthquake or volcanic eruption.
 
England is thought to be within the range of Iranian missiles and UK officials believe that a military confrontation between Jerusalem and Tehran could involve the country against its will.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on July 26, 2012, 06:22:39 am
Cyber warfare goes rock-and-roll
Iran's nuclear computer 'forced to play AC/DC' by computer malware


 (IBTimes) A computer malware has allegedly attacked computer systems in Iran forcing them to play AC/DC’s Thunderstruck at full volume in the middle of the night, according to a computer security researcher.

Mikko Hypponen, lead researcher at the Finnish computer security firm F-Secure, reported in his blog that a scientist working at the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) sent him an e-mail about his systems getting hit by a cyber-attack.

“I am writing you to inform you that our nuclear program has once again been compromised and attacked by a new worm with exploits which have shut down our automation network at Natanz and another facility Fordo near Qom,” reads the email.

Read the full story ›
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/366158/20120724/ac-dc-iran-malware-flame-metasploit-hypponen.htm


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on July 26, 2012, 02:38:55 pm
 :D "Thunderstruck"

Back in my gaming days, there was a video that was going around the FPS gaming scene that used that song that was done of military aircraft...

Thunderstruck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsmXLGKdkW4&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsmXLGKdkW4&feature=related)

This is the military attitude in action...

Let the Bodies Hit The Floor (Warning Graphic Images)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT_zo9MzRvo&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT_zo9MzRvo&feature=related)



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 27, 2012, 06:15:09 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-begins-stockpiling-3-month-food-supply-191253402.html

Iran begins stockpiling 3-month food supply

7/27/12

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian news agency is reporting the country has begun to stockpile a three-month supply of foodstuffs for its population.

The Friday report by semi-official Mehr quotes deputy industry minister Hasan Radmard as saying the country has been buying wheat, cooking oil, sugar and rice for the food reserve.

Radmard said the decision came based on a decree by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in recent weeks. Part of the purchased foodstuffs has already been imported, he added.

Iran's trade with other countries has been hindered since the United States and the European Union imposed a banking and insurance embargo on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program.

The West suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 02, 2012, 10:47:27 am
Ahmadinejad: World forces must strive to annihilate Israel

In Ramadan speech to ambassadors from Islamic countries, Iranian president says "horrible Zionist current" has been managing world affairs for 400 years, adds that liberating Palestine would solve all world problems.



In a speech published on his website Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the ultimate goal of world forces must be the annihilation of Israel.

Speaking to ambassadors from Islamic countries ahead of 'Qods Day' ('Jerusalem Day'), an annual Iranian anti-Zionist event established in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini and which falls this year on August 17, Ahmadinejad said that a "horrible Zionist current" had been managing world affairs for "about 400 years."

Repeating traditional anti-Semitic slurs, the Iranian president accused "Zionists" of controlling the world's media and financial systems.

It was Zionists, he said, who were “behind the scene of the world’s main powers, media, monetary and banking centers.”

""They are the decision makers, to the extent that the presidential election hopefuls [of the USA] must go and kiss the feet of the Zionists to ensure their election victory,” he added.

Ahmadinejad added that "liberating Palestine" would solve all the world's problems, although he did not elaborate on exactly how that might work.

“Qods Day is not merely a strategic solution for the Palestinian problem, as it is to be viewed as a key for solving the world problems," he said.

He added: "Anyone who loves freedom and justice must strive for the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the way for world justice and freedom.”

The Iranian president said that Israel reinforced "the dominance of arrogant powers in the region and across the globe" and that Arab countries in particular - he cited Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Syria and Turkey - were affected by Israel's "plots."

Ahmadinejad, who has called the Holocaust a myth, has previously called for Israel's annihilation, in a 2005 speech in which he used a Persian phrase that translates literally as "wiped off the page of time."

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=279864


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 16, 2012, 05:44:30 am
Khamenei: Zionist regime will disappear from map

Iranian officials ramp up rhetoric ahead of :Al-Quds Day"; Israeli official: Statement "not an aberration."

With the US sending clear public signals to Israel that it is opposed to military action now against Iran, and a cacophonous debate on the matter in Israel, senior Iranian officials continue to threaten Israel with destruction.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that he was confidant "the fake Zionist (regime) will disappear from the landscape of geography,” Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.

Khamenei made the comments during a meeting with veterans of the Iran-Iraq War.

"The light of hope will shine on the Palestinian issue, and this Islamic land will certainly be returned to the Palestinian nation," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

Earlier on Wednesday Brig.- Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran's Passive (civil) Defense Organization and a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, during a speech ahead of Al-Quds Day, an anti-Israel event initiated by Iran, said that in order to liberate Palestine there was no other option but to destroy Israel.

"[Al-Quds Day] is a reflection of the fact that no other way exists apart from resolve and strength to completely eliminate the aggressive nature and to destroy Israel," Jalali said, according to a report by Iran's ISNA news agency.

The report was also picked up by other news outlets including Mashregh News, which is affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards.

Al-Quds Day is an annual Iranian anti-Zionist event established in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini and which falls this year on August 17. Iran also seeks to export the event to other Muslim countries.

Jalali said that the message of Khomeini's Al-Quds  Day initiative was that the Muslim world must support the "oppressed people of Palestine" in a show of resistance against "the Zionist usurpers."

The Passive Defense Organization head added that the Islamic Revolution was a "beacon of light" and that the plight of the Palestinians was not forgotten.

Calling on Muslims to rally on Al-Quds Day, he expressed hope that the Islamic world would be "strong against the Zionist threat," adding that the "Islamic front in Syria has been strengthened," presumably a reference to Iran's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

An Israeli government official responded to Jalali's comments by saying it was simply a "reaffirmation of what we continually hear from the Iranian leadership."

The official said that the statement was "not an aberration," and that Israel was taking the Iranian threat very seriously. "We urge others to do the same," he said. "The Iranians use unequivocal language, and their words speak for themselves."

The official said that it would be in the interest of Iran's leadership to rein in these comments in at this time to reduce international pressure, and the fact that Iran's leaders continue to utter such remarks just shows the degree to which they actually believe them.

The official, meanwhile, dismissed a report on a left-wing, anti-Netanyahu blog called Tikun Olam Wednesday purporting to have "an Israeli briefing document outlining Israel's war plans against Iran." The blogger, Richard Silverstein, said the document "feels" like it came "from the shop of national security advisor Yaakov Amidror, a former general, settler true believer and Bibi confidant.  It could also have been produced by Defense Minister Barak, another pro-war booster."

According to Silverstein the document talks about a coordinated strike that will include an "unprecedented cyber-attack" that will totally paralyze the Iranian regime, as well as a barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Israel and Israeli submarines near the Persian Gulf. IAF planes, according to the "document," will be armed with electronic warfare gear previously unknown even to the US that will render the planes "invisible."

One government official said there is "a lot of press speculation out there, and everyone has their 'secret source.' It is not the government's policy to comment on any piece of speculation."

ready: http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=281366


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 16, 2012, 05:45:43 am
Israeli minister warns of 30-day war with Iran

A strike on Iran’s nuclear sites would spark a 30-day war with missile attacks on Israel's cities and as many as 500 dead, according to the Israeli minister responsible for preparing home defences.


 Matan Vilnai, who is stepping down as home front defence minister to become ambassador to China, said the country was “ready as never before”.

“The assessments are for a war that will last 30 days on a number of fronts,” he told the Maariv newspaper.

“It could be that there will be less fatalities, but it could be there will be more, that is the scenario that we are preparing for according to the best experts.”

Speculation is growing that Israel is planning a unilateral attack on Iran’s nuclear programme - or that it is using the question to increase pressure on Barack Obama to launch an American strike.

Israel is convinced that archenemy Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons, dismissing Tehran's claims that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes. Israel considers nuclear-armed Iran to be a mortal danger. Iran backs anti-Israel militants with funds and weapons, and its leaders often call for Israel's destruction.

rest: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9478044/Israeli-minister-warns-of-30-day-war-with-Iran.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 17, 2012, 08:49:20 am
Iran: Israel's existence 'insult to all humanity'

Israel's existence is an "insult to all humanity," Iran's president said Friday in one of his sharpest attacks yet against the Jewish state, as Israel openly debates whether to attack Iran over its nuclear program.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said confronting Israel is an effort to "protect the dignity of all human beings."

"The existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to all humanity," Ahmadinejad said. He was addressing worshippers at Tehran University after nationwide pro-Palestinian rallies, an annual event marking Quds (Jerusalem) Day on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.

Israel considers Iran an existential threat because of its nuclear and missile programs, support for radical anti-Israel groups on its borders and repeated references by Iranian leaders to Israel's destruction. Ahmadinejad himself has repeatedly made such calls, as has Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has denied allegations that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at producing electricity and radioisotopes used to treat cancer patients.

Israel has been carrying on an increasingly public debate about whether to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel's official position is to favor diplomatic and economic measures to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, but Israel insists that Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. Israeli leaders say "all options are on the table," a clear reference to a military strike, if they determine that other measures have failed.

Iran has warned it would hit back at Israel if it is attacked, also threatening to strike at American interests in the region.

Ahmadinejad called Israel "a corrupt, anti-human organized minority group standing up to all divine values."

"Today, confronting the existence of the fabricated Zionist regime is in fact protecting the rights and dignity of all human beings," said Ahmadinejad, with a black and white scarf many Palestinians wear around his neck.

Demonstrators in Tehran set U.S. and Israeli flags on fire and chanted "Death to the U.S." and "Death to Israel" during their pro-Palestinian rally.

Iran and Israel have been bitter enemies for decades. Khamenei has called Israel a "cancerous tumor" that must be wiped out.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have intensified since 2005, when Ahmadinejad said in a speech that Israel will one day be "wiped off the map." The Iranian president has also described the Holocaust, when 6 million Jews were killed by German Nazis and their collaborators during World War II, as a "myth."

http://news.yahoo.com/iran-israels-existence-insult-humanity-093922735.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 17, 2012, 09:00:42 pm
'Tumour' of Israel will soon be destroyed: Ahmadinejad

Israel is a "cancerous tumour" that will soon be finished off, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday told demonstrators holding an annual protest against the existence of the Jewish state.

"The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumour. Even if one cell of them is left in one inch of (Palestinian) land, in the future this story (of Israel's existence) will repeat," he said in a speech in Tehran marking Iran's Quds Day that was broadcast on state television.

"The nations of the region will soon finish off the usurper Zionists in the Palestinian land.... A new Middle East will definitely be formed. With the grace of God and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be no trace of the Americans and Zionists," he said.

The diatribe took place amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

The Jewish state has in recent weeks intensified its threats to possibly bomb Iran's nuclear facilities to prevent it having the capability to produce atomic weapons.

Iran, which is suffering under severe Western sanctions, denies its nuclear programme is anything but peaceful. Its military has warned it will destroy Israel if it attacks.

"They (the Israelis) know very well they don't have the ability" to successfully attack Iran, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

"If they make a mistake, our nation's reaction will lead to the end of the Zionist regime," he said.

State television showed crowds marching under blazing sunshine in Tehran and other Iranian cities to mark Quds Days, whose name, derived from Arabic, designates the city of Jerusalem, the disputed future capital of both the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Demonstrators held up Palestinian flags and pictures of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and banners reading "Death to Israel" and "Death to America." A group in Tehran was shown burning an Israeli flag.

The marches have been an annual event during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Iran, ever since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

They underline Iran's antipathy to Israel and its ally the United States, and support for the Palestinian cause, which Khamenei on Wednesday called "a religious duty."

The supreme leader described Israel as a "bogus and fake Zionist outgrowth" in the Middle East that "will disappear."

The head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Ali Jafari, told the Fars news agency as he attended the Tehran rally that "the Iranian nation has always been at the forefront of the (regional anti-Israeli) resistance in showing its animosity with Israel."

He added that Iran intended to maintain that virulent stance.

Ahmadinejad, in his speech, claimed that "Zionists" triggered the first and second world wars, and had "taken control over world affairs since the moment they became dominant over the US government."

He asserted that major governments, banks and media were in thrall to a Zionist cabal whose aim was to "destroy the cultures, values and sovereignty of nations."

Ahmadinejad's past broadsides against Israel and its Jewish supports, and his denial that the Holocaust occurred, have earned him opprobrium from Western and other nations, and walk-outs during his addresses to the UN General Assembly.

Israel has been employing its own invective against Iran and its leaders, invoking the image of Hitler and the Nazis on the eve of World War II and accusing Tehran of being bent on Israeli genocide.

http://news.yahoo.com/tumour-israel-soon-destroyed-ahmadinejad-091548418.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 17, 2012, 09:01:30 pm
Iran calls Israel's existence an 'insult,' as prominent rabbi warns it's more than rhetoric

 Israel's existence is an "insult to all humanity," Iran's president said Friday in one of his sharpest attacks yet against the Jewish state, as Israel openly debates whether to attack Iran over its nuclear program.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said confronting Israel is an effort to "protect the dignity of all human beings."

"The existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to all humanity," Ahmadinejad said. He was addressing worshippers at Tehran University after nationwide pro-Palestinian rallies, an annual event marking Quds (Jerusalem) Day on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.

The comments are "reminiscent" of a letter written about the Jews and signed by Adolf Hitler in 1919, Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wisenthal Center, says.

"Even though Ahmadinejad is attacking the state of Israel, we know what he means," Rabbi Hier said.

Israel considers Iran an existential threat because of its nuclear and missile programs, support for radical anti-Israel groups on its borders and repeated references by Iranian leaders to Israel's destruction.

Ahmadinejad himself has repeatedly made such calls, as has Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Rabbi Hier compares Ahmadinejad's comments to the notion found in Hitler’s letter referencing the "removal of Jews all together." "Twenty-two years later he implemented everything, and the same is true about Ahmadinejad," Rabbi Hier said.

"We assume it's only rhetoric, but we once paid a very high price for assuming Hitler was talking rhetoric," he said.

The leader of the Lebanese Shiite militant Hezbollah, which has ties to Iran, says his group will transform the lives of millions of Israelis to "hell" if Israel attacks Lebanon.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says the group has a list of Israeli targets that it can hit with few rockets.

"We can transform the lives of millions of Zionists in occupied Palestine to a real hell," he said.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a deadly, inconclusive monthlong war in 2006, when Hezbollah fired about 4,000 rockets at Israel.

Iran has denied allegations that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at producing electricity and radioisotopes used to treat cancer patients.

Israel has been carrying on an increasingly public debate about whether to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel's official position is to favor diplomatic and economic measures to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, but Israel insists that Iran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. Israeli leaders say "all options are on the table," a clear reference to a military strike, if they determine that other measures have failed.

"You are not going to make a deal with the Iranians, not under their current leadership," Rabbi Hier said.

Iran has warned it would hit back at Israel if it is attacked, also threatening to strike at American interests in the region.

Ahmadinejad called Israel "a corrupt, anti-human organized minority group standing up to all divine values."

 "Today, confronting the existence of the fabricated Zionist regime is in fact protecting the rights and dignity of all human beings," said Ahmadinejad, with a black and white scarf many Palestinians wear around his neck.

Iran and Israel have been bitter enemies for decades. Khamenei has called Israel a "cancerous tumor" that must be wiped out.

"This is a threat to wipe out the state of Israel," Rabbi Hier said. "We should take these people at their word."

Tensions between Iran and Israel have intensified since 2005, when Ahmadinejad said in a speech that Israel will one day be "wiped off the map."

But Rabbi Hier said he does not "subscribe at all with those who say this is a legitimate form of rhetoric."

"The only way to stop what's happening in Iran is for at least the United States and her allies to say, 'How long are we going to sit by and take this threat?'" he said.

The Iranian president has also described the Holocaust, when 6 million Jews were killed by German Nazis and their collaborators during World War II, as a "myth."

"Most intellectuals in 1939 and 1938 did not think Hitler was serious, they thought they knew better, but they didn't know better, and we paid a dear price that we were not on the right side of history," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/08/17/iran-calls-israel-existence-insult-to-all-humanity/#ixzz23rKQ5bLw


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 20, 2012, 09:41:28 pm

Netanyahu ‘determined to attack Iran’ before US elections, claims Israel’s Channel 10
TV reporter adds: ‘I doubt Obama could say anything that would convince PM to delay a possible attack’


Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is determined to attack Iran before the US elections,” Israel’s Channel 10 News claimed on Monday night, and Israel is now “closer than ever” to a strike designed to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive.

The TV station’s military reporter Alon Ben-David, who earlier this year was given extensive access to the Israel Air Force as it trained for a possible attack, reported that, since upgraded sanctions against Iran have failed to force a suspension of the Iranian nuclear program in the past two months, “from the prime minister’s point of view, the time for action is getting ever closer.”

Asked by the news anchor in the Hebrew-language TV report how close Israel now was to “a decision and perhaps an attack,” Ben-David said: “It appears that we are closer than ever.”

He said it seemed that Netanyahu was not waiting for a much-discussed possible meeting with US President Barack Obama, after the UN General Assembly gathering in New York late next month — indeed, “it’s not clear that there’ll be a meeting.” In any case, said Ben-David, “I doubt Obama could say anything that would convince Netanyahu to delay a possible attack.”

The report added that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak believe Obama would have no choice but to give backing for an Israeli attack before the US presidential elections in November.

There is considerable opposition to an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the report noted — with President Shimon Peres, the army’s chief of the General Staff and top generals, the intelligence community, opposition leader Shaul Mofaz, “and of course the Americans” all lined up against Israeli action at this stage.

But, noted Ben-David, it is the Israeli government that would have to take the decision, and there Netanyahu is “almost guaranteed” a majority.

Other Hebrew media reports on Tuesday also said Netanyahu had despatched a senior official, National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror, to update the elderly spiritual leader of the Shas ultra-Orthodox coalition party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, on the status of the Iranian nuclear program, in order to try to win over Shas government ministers’ support for an attack.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-determined-to-attack-iran-before-us-elections-claims-israels-channel-10/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 20, 2012, 09:43:20 pm
Israeli defense officials consult with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef over Iran strike
Some want the spiritual leader of ultra-Orthodox party Shas to support a strike, others to oppose it. At least one visit, in which the rabbi was briefed on Iran's nuclear program, came at Netanyahu's behest.


   Senior defense officials have recently been visiting the ultra-Orthodox Shas party's spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, to discuss a possible Israeli attack on Iran.

Some want the 91-year-old rabbi to support it, others to oppose it. At least one visit, in which the rabbi was briefed on Iran's nuclear program, came at the behest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is battling for support in the cabinet to strike Iran.

   One of the visitors to Yosef's Jerusalem home was National Security Council head Ya'akov Amidror, accompanied by Interior Minister and Shas political leader Eli Yishai, the Kikar Hashabat website reported.

Yishai reportedly objects to an Israeli attack on Iran in the current circumstances, although he has not made his position clear in public.

It is not known whether Amidror or any of the others succeeded in persuading Yosef. However, on Saturday evening, a day after his meeting with Amidror, Yosef said in his weekly sermon: "You know what situation we're in, there are evil people, Iran, about to destroy us. ... We must pray before [the almighty] with all our heart."

Meanwhile, opposition head MK Shaul Mofaz (Kadima ) yesterday demanded clarifications from Netanyahu over his "intention to lead Israel into war with Iran," saying the costs of such a war would far outweigh its benefits. Mofaz also implied that Netanyahu was opening a rift with the Obama administration in an attempt to influence the November 6 U.S. presidential election, in which the prime minister is widely seen as favoring Republican Mitt Romney.

The Kadima leader wrote Netanyahu a letter asking for an urgent meeting on his plans. According to law, the prime minister must brief the opposition head on a monthly basis.

Mofaz attached a classified document, copies of which were sent to the defense minister, attorney general and chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. According to Army Radio, the attached document included a number of questions concerning Israel's preparedness for a war with Iran and relations with the United States.

Mofaz also asked for explanations of the official American position regarding an attack, and the degree of understanding between Washington and Israel in terms of intelligence, operations, the economy and the political arena.

The Kadima chairman added that an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would achieve limited results, alongside "loss of life, grave damage to the home front and deep erosion of Israel's political situation.

"Such action is immoral and operationally illogical under the circumstances," he wrote.

Mofaz criticized Netanyahu for his handling of relations with the United States. "What is the real goal behind widening the rift with the United States?" he asked. "Administration officials have clearly demonstrated to you, to the defense minister and to myself the dramatic ramifications of an Israeli operation, which would [constitute] a blunt and illegitimate intervention in internal U.S. political processes in the run-up to the presidential election in November this year," he wrote.

He slammed Netanyahu's response to President Shimon Peres' public objection to an attack. "The unrestrained attack you led against the president over the weekend points to a general loss of senses and control," he wrote.

Also, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday night that the United States and Israel have different interpretations of the same intelligence reports on Iran's nuclear program. Dempsey said Israel viewed the threat posed by Tehran's atomic ambitions with more urgency, as a nuclear-armed Iran could endanger Israel's existence.

Dempsey said he conferred with his Israeli counterpart Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz on a "biweekly" basis. "We compare intelligence, we discuss regional implications. And we've admitted to each other that our clocks are turning at different rates," he said.

Dempsey said the U.S. military felt no pressure from Israel to back possible bombing raids. Speaking to reporters aboard his plane before landing Sunday night at Bagram air base in Afghanistan, Dempsey reiterated his view that any air strikes by Israel would delay but not destroy Iran's disputed nuclear project.

Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said yesterday that Israelis were "afraid of their own shadow (and are ) therefore trying to control this disappointing atmosphere by brouhaha and psychological warfare, but should know that propaganda will not resolve their problems."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-defense-officials-consult-with-rabbi-ovadia-yosef-over-iran-strike-1.459547


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 20, 2012, 09:48:29 pm
One day this "war rumor" since 2003 will become reality...let not your heart be troubled...


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 22, 2012, 09:08:05 am
Egyptian Cleric: People Thirst for Jews' Blood

The sermons by cleric Sallah Sultan, who founded the Ohio-based American Center for Islamic Research, were aired on July 27 and August 3. "I travel all over the world," he says, "and I met supporters of Al-Aqsa, of the prisoners, of Jerusalem, and of Palestine – people who thirst for the blood of the Jews, and who are eager for the promised war against the sons of Zion, until Palestine is liberated in its entirety." Sultan goes on to say that "Under the previous [Egyptian] regime over 30,000 Zionists entered Egypt every month, defiling its land. The Egyptian police were forced to protect them, while they were getting drunk and picking fights." "There was a great scandal, when [alleged Israeli spy] Misrati and some Jews entered Egypt, in order to commit all kinds of crimes here: counterfeit dollars, taking photographs of military bases, girls with AIDS seducing young Egyptians in order to infect them, and the vilest act of all...

rest: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/158722#.UDN1mCJOk0M


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 22, 2012, 09:08:35 am
Is Israel Planning EMP Attack On Iran?

Analysts say because Israel now believes diplomacy has failed to halt Iran’s nuclear program and the Jewish state’s very survival is at stake, Israelis have not ruled out a Jericho III missile launch to detonate a single electromagnetic pulse warhead at high altitude over central Iran. The assessment is underscored by recent comments from Israeli officials that the Islamic republic is reaching its “zone of immunity” from conventional military attack on its nuclear sites. In addition, analysts point out the use of long-range aircraft with refueling capability would be highly complex and pose many logistical problems. Israel also probably would not be allowed overflight permission from Turkey, Iraq or Saudi Arabia to reach its Iranian targets. Further, such an approach would minimize any element of surprise. Meanwhile, top religious and political officials in Iran have issued repeated warnings they plan to obliterate the Jewish state.

rest: http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/is-israel-planning-emp-attack-on-iran/?cat_orig=world


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 25, 2012, 11:04:43 am
U.S. sends aircraft carrier back to Gulf to face Iran, Syria

8/23/12

By Daniel Fineren

DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy is cutting short home leave for the crew of one of its aircraft carriers and sending them back to the Middle East next week to counter any threat from Iran, according to the official Navy News Service.

Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told sailors aboard the USS Stennis in their home port of Seattle on Wednesday they were needed back in the Middle East soon, after approving calls from the U.S. Central Command for Stennis to return to the region.

"Obviously, Iran is one of those threats," the U.S. military news service quoted Panetta as saying during a send-off event at a military base on the U.S. West Coast.

"Secondly, it is the turmoil in Syria," he said. "We're obviously following that closely as well."

The Stennis' departure in January from the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operations prompted Iranian army chief Ataollah Salehi to threaten action if it returned, saying Iran was "not in the habit of warning more than once".

The threats started a war of words between Iran and the United States that spooked oil markets, and fears over possible military confrontation remain high.

Panetta cited Iran's nuclear program and its threats to oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz as two concerns the Stennis strike group could counter in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility, which also includes Syria and Afghanistan.

U.S. attention on Syria is focused on providing humanitarian aid, monitoring chemical and biological weapon stockpiles, and offering non-lethal assistance to forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad, he said.

A spokesman for the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said the redeployment was not a build-up in the Gulf because the USS Enterprise is due to leave the region on its final voyage back to the United States before being decommissioned after over 50 years of service.

"The presence of two aircraft carriers changes based on needs and requirements," Lieutenant Greg Raelson said.

Iranian threats to block the waterway through which about 17 million barrels a day sailed in 2011 have grown in the past year as U.S. and European sanctions aimed at starving Tehran of funds for its nuclear program have tightened.

A heavy western naval presence in the Gulf is a big deterrent to Tehran actually trying to block the shipping route through which most of the crude exported from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq sails.

The Stennis had been due to deploy next to the Pacific towards the end of 2012 but its return to active duty has been brought forward by four months because of tension in the Gulf.

(Reporting by Daniel Fineren; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USBRE87M0HY20120823


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on September 01, 2012, 11:01:50 am
U.S. Scales-Back Military Exercise with Israel, Affecting Potential Iran Strike
A smaller U.S. contingent may make it more difficult for the Israeli government to launch a pre-emptive strike on Tehran's nuclear program.


Seven months ago, Israel and the United States postponed a massive joint military exercise that was originally set to go forward just as concerns were brimming that Israel would launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The exercise was rescheduled for late October, and appears likely to go forward on the cusp of the U.S. presidential election. But it won’t be nearly the same exercise. Well-placed sources in both countries have told TIME that Washington has greatly reduced the scale of U.S. participation, slashing by more than two-thirds the number of American troops going to Israel and reducing both the number and potency of missile interception systems at the core of the joint exercise.


“Basically what the Americans are saying is, ‘We don’t trust you,’” a senior Israeli military official tells TIME.

The reductions are striking. Instead of the approximately 5,000 U.S. troops originally trumpeted for Austere Challenge 12, as the annual exercise is called, the Pentagon will send only 1,500 service members, and perhaps as few as 1,200.  Patriot anti-missile systems will arrive in Israel as planned, but the crews to operate them will not.  Instead of two Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense warships being dispatched to Israeli waters, the new plan is to send one, though even the remaining vessel is listed as a “maybe,” according to officials in both militaries.



Read more: http://world.time.com/2012/08/31/exclusive-u-s-scales-back-military-exercise-with-israel-affecting-potential-iran-strike/#ixzz25EbSZftp


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on September 04, 2012, 02:28:40 pm
19 Signs That Israel And Iran Are On The Verge Of War

There is going to be war in the Middle East.  It is just a matter of time until it happens.  Israel has decided that there is no way that it can ever allow Iran to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons.  Iran has gone "all-in" on developing a nuclear program and it has become a matter of national pride at this point.  Iran does not fear an Israeli attack against its nuclear program.  In fact, Iran anticipates that an Israeli attack would cause the Islamic nations of the Middle East to come together and declare war against Israel.  Sadly, there is a very strong chance that an Israeli attack on Iran would actually spark a larger regional war.  But there is no way that Israel is going to allow Iran to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons, and time for a strike may be running out.  It has become quite clear that the Obama administration does not want to strike Iran.  So if Israel wants to do something about Iran, Israel is going to have to be the one to do it.  But if Obama wins the U.S. election in November, he might work to actively block Israel from attacking Iran for his entire second term, and the Israelis believe that by 2016 it will be way too late to do anything about Iran's nuclear program.  If Israel attacks before the election, Obama would be in danger of appearing to be "anti-Israel" if he came out against the attack.  And considering the fact that Jewish voters are a key voting block in swing states such as Florida that is not something he would want to do.  But after the election Obama would not have to worry about what Jewish voters think.  After the election Obama could move to block an attack on Iran indefinitely.

Of course if Mitt Romney wins the upcoming election things would likely be different.  Romney has taken a much harder line against Iran than Obama has.

But the Israelis know that the upcoming election could go either way.

In fact, if the election was held today Obama would probably win.

That is why the next couple of months are such a potentially dangerous time for the Middle East.

If Israel does not move against Iran now, moving against them later could be far more difficult if Obama wins a second term.

So when could we potentially see an attack?

Well, it probably would not happen prior to or during the very important Jewish holidays that are coming up in late September and early October.

That means that the most likely time for a strike would be between mid-October and election day in the United States in early November.

But will it actually happen?

Only time will tell.

The following are 19 signs that Israel and Iran are on the verge of war....

#1 Major drills simulating missile strikes have recently been held in Tel Aviv.

#2 The Israeli military has been distributing brochures to the Israeli population instructing them what to do in the event that Israel launches a strike against Iran.

#3 Israel has ramped up the distribution of gas masks to the general public.

#4 One recent poll found that 25 percent of all Israelis said that they would leave the country if Iran got nuclear weapons.  The pressure on the Israeli government to do something before it is too late is enormous.

#5 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly declared that negotiations with Iran have failed.

#6 Netanyahu reportedly "got into a diplomatic shouting match with US Ambassador Dan Shapiro" recently over what to do about Iran.

#7 According to Ynet News, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is in favor of striking Iran....

"Barak is advocating for action and the defense establishment is investing billions to prepare for an Israeli military operation"
#8 Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren told MSNBC recently that the Israeli clock for a strike on Iran "is ticking faster" than the Obama administration clock.

#9 Former Mossad chief Efraim Halevy made the following statement back at the beginning of August....

"If I were an Iranian, I would be very fearful of the next 12 weeks"
#10 According to a new UN report, Iran's nuclear program continues to grow stronger.  The following is from a recent article in the Jerusalem Post....

"A UN report released earlier in the day revealed that Iran doubled the number of uranium enrichment machines it has in an underground bunker, showing that Tehran continued to defy Western pressure to stop its atomic work and the threat of Israeli attack."
#11 Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami recently gave the following warning about what will happen if Israel strikes Iran....

"They have seen our missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers in the Islamic Republic’s exercises, and in case of an attack, Tel Aviv will turn into ashes."
#12 Iran is planning to hold a "massive air defense drill" during the month of October.

#13 Iran is promising to take military action against Israel if the United States attacks Syria.

#14 A retired Hezbollah general says that Iran wants to build a nuclear weapon to "create a balance of terror with Israel" and "finish off the Zionist enterprise."

#15 Debka's military and intelligence sources are reporting that Iran will have enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear weapon by October 1st.

#16 Something very unusual appears to be happening in Iran.  According to a report that was recently posted on Steve Quayle's website, one Iranian family is reporting that Iranians are being ordered to stay inside for the next two weeks....

The husband said that their government has just shut sown the whole country for 2 weeks. Every business and every dwelling is ordered to close. Every citizen ordered to stay in their home. If they go out they are stopped by police and will have to show their id and or papers. Her husband said they are being told it is because the Arab leaders are meeting with their government for the next 2 weeks, and that's all they were told.
#17 Russian President Vladimir Putin has severed military ties with both Iran and Syria.

#18 The Obama administration is so worried about an Israeli attack in Iran before the election that they are taking very public measures to let Israel know that they will be "on their own" if they decide to go through with it.

#19 A joint U.S./Israeli military exercise scheduled for late October has been dramatically scaled back by the Obama administration according to Time Magazine....

Well-placed sources in both countries have told TIME that Washington has greatly reduced the scale of U.S. participation, slashing by more than two-thirds the number of American troops going to Israel and reducing both the number and potency of missile interception systems at the core of the joint exercise.
Obama is apparently nervous about having a large contingent of U.S. forces over in Israel just prior to election day.  If Israel were to strike Iran at that time, U.S. forces could potentially be caught in the middle of a major conflict.

So will Israel roll the dice and launch an attack before the election even without the support of the Obama administration?

I think the odds of such an attack have increased, but I still believe that it won't happen before election day.

But I could be wrong.

The truth is that war in the Middle East is seemingly inevitable, and when it happens it could very well set off World War III.

War is always horrible.  Nobody should desire death and destruction.  But at this point it is really hard to see how war in the Middle East is going to be avoided.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/19-signs-that-israel-and-iran-are-on-the-verge-of-war


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 04, 2012, 03:10:40 pm
Well, considering the White House's Islamic leanings, it's no suprise they want to put the breaks on Israel. Who they want elected will get elected, so I don't read so much into that affectng the election results somehow. For military action, it stands to reason that one must look at it from a military perspective as well as a pr perspective. With Syria out of control basically, but still contained more or less, and plenty of evidence that Iran is meddling in Syria in support of Assad, it may be a time to move under cover, make a strike, and let it get caught up in the media.

I agree, it looks like the timing is getting real close for Israel to make a move. But does it really matter? I mean we know ultimately this whole thing will blow up on them, so we are just watching the details unfold.

"...Watch."


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on September 04, 2012, 03:33:56 pm
Pro-Israel Language Removed From Democratic Party Platform...
http://freebeacon.com/pro-israel-language-removed-from-democratic-party-platform/


Official Says Obama Will Make Netanyahu Pay After Elections
Israeli security officials on Saturday tried to downplay the Pentagon's decision to significantly scale back its participation in a joint military exercise with Israel next month, but some government officials said the decision came as a response to the growing tensions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office and the Obama administration.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4275749,00.html


U.S. Tells Iran: We Won't Join Israeli Attack
 Senior officials in the Obama Administration sent a message to Tehran in the past few days, according to which the U.S. does not intend to join Israel's side if it decides to attack the Iranian nuclear installations on its own....
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/159563


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on September 05, 2012, 06:40:43 am
Did Obama Just Make A Deal With Israel To Delay The War With Iran Until After The Election?

Barack Obama cares about Barack Obama far more than he does about either Israel or Iran.  And as far as Barack Obama is concerned, delaying the coming war between Israel and Iran until after the election is what is best for Barack Obama.  Just think about it.  If Israel attacked Iran right now, who would that please?  It would mostly please **** Republicans, and they are not going to vote for Obama anyway.  To independents and liberals, Obama would look like a guy that couldn't stop war from happening in the Middle East.  If the U.S. showed support for the Israeli attack, that would greatly discourage his anti-war supporters from going to the polls.  If the U.S. did not show support for the Israeli attack, Obama would potentially lose many of the Jewish voters that he desperately needs in swing states such as Florida.  A war between Israel and Iran is a no-win situation for Obama right now, and as I wrote about yesterday, the Obama administration has been trying to discourage Israel from attacking Iran for weeks.  Well, now it is being reported in major international news sources that a deal has been reached between Obama and Israel.  Obama is going to publicly declare what the "red lines" are that will cause the U.S. to strike Iran's nuclear program, and the U.S. military is going to send some of their most advanced bunker busting bombs to Israel.  Those bombs will come in very handy in getting at the Iranian nuclear facilities that are hidden underground.  In return, Israel has apparently agreed to delay the attack on Iran until after the election.  So would Barack Obama really play politics with war in the Middle East?  Of course he would.  Barack Obama is obsessed with winning a second term and he would make a deal with just about anyone if it will get him closer to his goal.

The Israelis really did not want to go ahead with an attack on Iran without U.S. support anyway.  They feel like time is running out to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power, but without the support of the United States it would have been hard to justify an attack to the rest of the world.

So in the end, it looks like both sides are going to get what they want.  At some point there will be an attack on Iran's nuclear program, and Obama gets it delayed until after the election.

According to Fox News, Israeli officials have admitted that they have been involved in talks with the Obama administration about Iran's nuclear program....

Israeli officials said Tuesday they are in close discussions with the United States over how to deal with the Iranian nuclear program, seeking to ease tensions that have emerged between the two allies over a possible Israeli military strike against Iran.

The dialogue, in which Israel is looking for President Barack Obama to take a tough public position against Iran, suggests the odds of an Israeli attack in the near term have been reduced.
But I have not found a U.S. news source that is reporting on the details of the deal that has apparently been reached.  The following is from an Israeli news source....

The United States may supply Israel with advanced Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker-buster bombs that can penetrate through up to 60 feet (almost 20 meters) of reinforced concrete, reports Maariv Tuesday.

This is part of a deal being worked out between the countries, which also includes the supply of refueling jets.

This equipment will make the job of demolishing Iran's nuclear weapon production array more feasible for Israel, should it decide to do so.

In exchange for the weapons, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will agree to hold off on an independent attack until after the U.S. elections. President Barack Obama fears that a war could negatively affect his chances of being reelected. Israel, on the other hand, fears that Obama's re-election could create diplomatic and military conditions that allow Iran to acquire the weapon it needs for killing millions of Israelis.
The latest generation of bunker busting bombs is reportedly unlike anything that has ever been seen before.  The following is how a recent Wired article described them....

It’s an absolutely ginormous bomb designed to convince rogue regimes that there is no redoubt for the manufacture of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons buried deep enough to escape the U.S. Air Force.
Reportedly, the U.S. Air Force has spent approximately 200 million dollars developing these bombs.

In addition, the Israeli government has been pressuring Obama to take a firm public stand against Iran, and it looks like that is about to happen.

According to the Telegraph, Barack Obama will shortly announce the "red lines" that would cause the U.S. to launch a military strike against Iran.

But of course none of those "red lines" will be crossed until after the election in November.

You can take that one to the bank.

Obama is a political animal and he is going to do what is best for his political career.

So why aren't we hearing about this deal between Obama and Israel in the U.S. media?

Well, it is because the U.S. media is so busy covering all of the other important news items of the day.  Just check out some of the headlines that I pulled off of major U.S. news websites earlier today....

"Katie Couric's new talk show digs a little deeper"

"Michelle Obama on how she'll pick DNC dress"

"When exercise equipment lies"

"Kelly Ripa reveals new 'Live!' co-host"

"Heidi and Seal Top Hollywood's Nastiest Divorces"

"Ready for iPhone 5? Apple is"

"Prince Harry steps out for first time since scandal"

In America, the media tells us what the news is going to be, and the American people accept it.  The media is dominated by just a handful of incredibly powerful corporate conglomerates, so the news is actually not that hard to control.

I would think that it would be important for the American people to know that the date for the war with Iran has been pushed back until after the election because Obama wanted it that way, but obviously the big news networks disagree with me.

What do all of you think?

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/did-obama-just-make-a-deal-with-israel-to-delay-the-war-with-iran-until-after-the-election


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 05, 2012, 10:17:33 am
Quote
What do all of you think?

It's become more obvious that Israel is on its own now(and the bible prophecizes it. Thank you Jesus!). If they wait until after the elections, Obama will likely come up with another excuse to not attack Iran(ie-if he wins re-election, he may say how he needs to reshuffle his cabinet, or if he loses, he may say you're gonna have to wait until Mitt Romney is inaugurated and go on from there).

Or this is how the scenerio could play out - there are natural disasters hitting this country like "the big one" on the West Coast or a false-flag pandemic hitting the East Coast, hence taking our eyes off of the ME...and Netenyahu will use this opportunity to strike Iran.

But that's just what I think(just to answer this writer's question).


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 05, 2012, 10:18:37 am
^^

BTW - I like that web site. Dunno if it's Christian, but at least this "truther" site doesn't have this "But the Zionist Jews run the New World Order" attitude like alot of these "truther" sites do.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 06, 2012, 01:16:46 pm
http://www.debka.com/article/22334/Massed-US-UK-French-navies-for-drill-simulating-breach-of-blocked-Hormuz

9/5/12

The third US aircraft carrier, USS Stennis, is moving into place off the Iranian Gulf coast to lead a 12-day naval exercise of 25 nations on Sept 16-27, that will include a large-scale minesweeping drill simulating the breaching of the Strait of Hormuz against Iranian efforts to block oil passage through the strategic waterway. President Barack Obama may see Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the last day of the exercise. He hopes to present him with proof of US readiness for military action against Iran and demonstrate that an Israeli strike is superfluous.

The Stennis will join two other aircraft carriers, the USS Enterprise and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, and their strike groups, which are already on operational duty off the coast of Iran, ready for the drill which kicks off in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Sept. 16.

US officials say the Stennis will replace the Enterprise, but according to debkafile’s military and Washington sources all three carriers will remain in place opposite Iran in the Gulf region in the coming months. British and French warships are completing their transfer to new stations off Iran for the big exercise in which the Saudi and United Arab Emirates navies will also take part.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 06, 2012, 03:46:09 pm
They now have 3 carrier strike groups in the gulf off Iran? That's a small area for 3 carrier groups to be in. I suspect at least one of them isn't there, but just outside the gulf, basically guarding the front door.

Quote
He hopes to present him with proof of US readiness for military action against Iran and demonstrate that an Israeli strike is superfluous.

Regardless of how the author might know that of the President, one could interpret it as meaning they have their hardware in place as backup in case Israel's strike goes south.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 06, 2012, 10:53:08 pm
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/intelligence-committee-chair-describes-explosive-confrontation-between-netanyahu-and-american-ambassador/262056/

Intelligence Committee Chair Describes Explosive Confrontation Between Netanyahu and American Ambassador

9/6/12

Rep. Mike Rogers, the Michigan Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, says that his much-discussed meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem late last month did, in fact, devolve into an sharp confrontation between Netanyahu and the American ambassador to Israel, the former National Security Council official (and former Obama campaign Jewish liaison), Dan Shapiro.

Rogers told a Michigan radio interviewer earlier this week that he had not previously witnessed such a high-level confrontation, and he described Israeli leaders as being at "wits' end" over what they see as President Obama's unwillingness to provide them with his "red lines" in the effort to stop Iran's nuclear program. He also said that neither the Israelis nor the Iranians believe that Obama would use force to stop the nuclear program. (UPDATE: Rogers said as well he believes the Israelis will "probably" bomb Iran if they don't get clearer red lines from the U.S.)

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 07, 2012, 03:29:10 am
http://counterjihadreport.com/2011/11/23/muslims-use-taqiyya-to-deceive-non-muslims-about-islam/ (http://counterjihadreport.com/2011/11/23/muslims-use-taqiyya-to-deceive-non-muslims-about-islam/)

Quote
The Counter Jihad Report

News ~ Resources ~ Activism


Muslims Use “Taqiyya” to Deceive Non-Muslims About Islam

Posted on November 23, 2011


By Clare Lopez:
 
The Arabic word Taqiyya means “deceit” or “dissimulation.” Unlike the Christian or Jewish religions, Islam not only permits its believers to lie but actually commands it in some circumstances. For the most part, Muslims are not supposed to lie to one another; but, exceptions are made for smoothing over differences between friends (“He who makes peace between the people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar,” Bukhari vol. 3:857 p.533.), lying to one’s wife, and lying in warfare. (Recall: Muhammad himself said, ‘War is deceit,” Bukhari vol. 4:267 and 269)
 
Lying to non-Muslims, though, is another matter. In fact, Islam permits Muslims to lie anytime they perceive that their own well-being, or that of Islam, is threatened. Taking it a step further, if there is an objective to be achieved that is desirable in Islam, then it is permissible for Muslims to lie in order to achieve that objective. The book of Islamic law, Reliance of the Traveller (or the ‘Umdat al-Salik), states on pg. 746:
 
“Speaking is a means to achieve objectives. If a praiseworthy aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to accomplish through lying because there is no need for it.  When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible…”
 
This principle of lying in order to advance the cause of Islam results in serious consequences when it comes to the issue of Muslims seeking to spread Islam around the world and especially in places like the United States (U.S.) and the West, where the majority of people are not Muslim. Shariah-compliant Muslims routinely use deceptive “wolf in sheep’s clothing” type tactics to polish Islam’s image while at the same time avoiding, obscuring, or omitting any of the negative aspects of Islamic doctrine, history, law, and scriptures. This is often done with prospective converts as well as with audiences Muslims hope will be gullible, like academics, government officials, members of the media, and the public at large.
 
(http://www.radicalislam.org/sites/default/files/uploads/taqiyya-tactics.jpg)

For example, Muslims often will cite verses from the (chronologically) earlier portions of the Qur’an (which generally were moderate, peaceful, and tolerant), while neglecting to mention that this was the period in Muhammad’s life when he and his tiny band of followers lived in Mecca, where they were ridiculed, powerless, and mostly unaccepted. Yet, even as they cite such passages, they are fully aware that most of these early verses were abrogated (cancelled and replaced) by later passages of the Qur’an that Muhammad produced after the hijra (migration) to Medina. The replacement verses, from a time when Muslims grew powerful, reflect harsh intolerance for non-Muslims and command violence to subjugate infidels (unbelievers) to Islamic law (shariah).
 
Shariah Muslims do not always express their hostility to unbelievers openly, though. This is where taqiyya comes in. Based on verses from the Qur’an and hadiths (sayings of Muhammad), Muslims can pretend to befriend infidels (in violation of the teachings of Islam) and even display adherence with their unbelief, if this will advance the cause of Islam and protect the believer from harm. Here is one of those verses from the Qur’an:
 
“Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah: except by way of precaution (prevention), that ye may Guard yourselves from them (prevent them from harming you.) But Allah cautions you (To remember) Himself; for the final goal is to Allah.” (Q 3:28)
 
Ibn Kathir was an Islamic scholar who wrote one of the most authoritative commentaries (or Tafsirs) on the Qur’an. This is what he said about this particular Qur’anic verse regarding Muslims pretending to befriend infidels:
 
“Unless you indeed fear a danger from them’ meaning, except those believers who in some areas or times fear for their safety from the disbelievers. In this case, such believers are allowed to show friendship to the disbelievers outwardly, but never inwardly.…‘We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, vol. 2, 141)
 
So, according to this Islamic principle, if under pressure or threatened with force, not only may Muslims deceive non-believers, it is even legitimate for Muslims to behave in ways normally completely contrary to their faith. For instance, given such circumstances, a Muslim may drink alcohol, skip prayers and fasting during Ramadan, renounce belief in Allah and even pretend homage to a deity other than Allah, and utter insincere oaths. It is important to understand the concept of taqiyya so as not to be taken in by such tactics.
 
Clare M. Lopez, a senior fellow at the Clarion Fund, is a strategic policy and intelligence expert with a focus on Middle East, national defense, and counterterrorism issues.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 07, 2012, 11:04:31 am
http://news.yahoo.com/canada-closes-embassy-iran-141421558.html

9/7/12

Canada closes embassy in Iran

TORONTO (AP) — Canada's Conservative government said Friday it is shutting its embassy in Tehran and severing diplomatic relations with Iran, which Canada says is providing military assistance to Syria.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said that the Canadian embassy in Tehran will close immediately and Iranian diplomats in Canada have been given five days to leave.

Baird, who serves in a government that is a staunch ally of Israel, said Iran is the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today.

"The Iranian regime is providing increasing military assistance to the Assad regime; it refuses to comply with UN resolutions pertaining to its nuclear program; it routinely threatens the existence of Israel and engages in racist anti-Semitic rhetoric and incitement to genocide," Baird said in a statement.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 07, 2012, 12:01:04 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/159724#.UEozfK79Xah



'Next 50 Days Most Fateful Since Yom Kippur War' – Hanegbi

Former Head of Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Tzachi Hanegbi, hints at timetable for Iran attack.

"We now stand, in my opinion, before the 50 most fateful days in Israel's history, since perhaps the Yom Kippur War, in which there were also several dozen fateful days."

So said the former Head of Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Tzachi Hanegbi, at a closed meeting of Likud activists in Yafo. A recording of his speech reached daily newspaper Makon Rishon's reporter, Ze'ev Kam.

"The prime minister will have to make decisions that will bear a price tag. Allowing Iranian nuclear weapons has a price tag. The practical result will be a nuclear arms race in the entire Middle East," he explained.

"Today, when we say that we understand the danger of the Iranian threat, and understand that a confrontation bears a price, it is because we want to prevent our sons and grandson from paying unbearable prices," he said.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on September 07, 2012, 08:17:35 pm
NYPD Opens Branch in Israel

 ???  ???  ???  ???

Quote
By: Avi Ashkenazi posted on Wednesday, Sep 5, 2012

The New York Police Department opened its Israeli branch in the Sharon District Police headquarters in Kfar Saba. Charlie Ben-Naim,  a former Israeli and veteran NYPD detective, was sent on this mission.

 You don’t have to fly to New York to meet members of the police department considered to be the best in the world — all you have to do is make the short trip to the Kfar Saba police station in the Sharon, where the NYPD opened a local branch.

Behind the opening of the branch in the Holy Land is the NYPD decision that the Israeli police is one of the major police forces with which it must maintain close work relations and daily contact.

Ben-Naim was chosen for the mission of opening the NYPD branch in Israel. He is a veteran detective of the NYPD and a former Israeli who went to study in New York, married a local city resident and then joined the local police force. Among the things he has dealt with in the line of duty are the extradition of criminals, the transmitting of intelligence information and assistance in the location of missing persons, both in the United States and in Israel.

It was decided, in coordination with the Israeli police, that the New York representative would not operate out of the United States embassy but from a building of the Sharon District Police headquarters, situated close to the Kfar Sava station. The NYPD sign was even hung at the entrance to the district headquarters, and Ben-Naim’s office is situated on the first floor of the building. One of the walls bears the sign: “New York Police Department, the best police department in the world.”
_________________
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/connect-the-dots-in-02-nypd-began-training-in-israel-9-years-later-spying-against-nyc-muslims-exposed.html

Connect the dots: In ’02, NYPD began training in Israel; 9 years later, spying against NYC Muslims exposed
by Alex Kane on October 20, 2011

In 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported:

    Five New York City police investigators are in Israel for a symposium on suicide bombers. The officers are apparently the first members of a U.S. police department to receive training from Israeli counter-terrorism experts.

    "Obviously after 9/11 everyone's world changed," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said. "We have to be as prepared as we can be for any eventuality."

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has a detective "based in Israel" who reports back to department head Ray Kelly.  The relationship continues.

Fast-forward to the present, where in recent weeks a steady drip of outrageous revelations about the NYPD's indiscriminate spying on Muslim New Yorkers continues to be published by the Associated Press.

Israeli "counter-terror" tactics rely on a racist dragnet that labels every Palestinian a threat to Israeli security, much in the same way the NYPD's operation reveal that the department believes every Muslim guilty until proven innocent.

The NYPD, of course, needs no help in learning the tactics of racial profiling when it comes to policing communities of color.  But the close relationship between the NYPD and Israel on counter-terrorism merits a closer look.  Just what insight is the NYPD gathering from Israeli security?

Is the NYPD's spying operation on Muslim New Yorkers yet another example of, as Scott McConnell put it, "anti-Muslim bigotry" becoming embedded in the U.S. due in part to Israeli-centric ideas about counter-terrorism?
________________
http://articles.latimes.com/2002/may/20/nation/na-briefs20.1
NYPD Sends 5 to Israel for Training on Bombers
The Nation | IN BRIEF
May 20, 2002

NEW YORK

*

Five New York City police investigators are in Israel for a symposium on suicide bombers. The officers are apparently the first members of a U.S. police department to receive training from Israeli counter-terrorism experts.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 08, 2012, 03:37:31 am
What in the world is the NYPD doing with an office outside the state of New York? It's a STATE law enforcement agency, not Interpol. ::)

It's the most stupid thing I've ever heard from law enforcement. A state law enforcement agency with an international office? It makes no sense because they have zero juridiction outside New York.

What, is NY now considering itself a seperate country that it does business direct with other coutnries? I'm just amazed at this. It has no legal ground at all. It's a waste of NY money.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on September 08, 2012, 03:43:57 am
What in the world is the NYPD doing with an office outside the state of New York? It's a STATE law enforcement agency, not Interpol. ::)

It's the most stupid thing I've ever heard from law enforcement. A state law enforcement agency with an international office? It makes no sense because they have zero juridiction outside New York.

What, is NY now considering itself a seperate country that it does business direct with other coutnries? I'm just amazed at this. It has no legal ground at all. It's a waste of NY money.

its not the New York state police but New York CITY police.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 08, 2012, 04:50:36 am
Right, it's not even the state police. I meant to say it's state-based, with no jurisdiction outside New York City.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on September 08, 2012, 05:06:14 am
maybe they are pushing for a city-state status like London and the Vatican


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 08, 2012, 05:20:56 am
Well, they can all pile on Manhattan, pull up the drawbidge and have at it! The US will make sure they have a TSA checkpoint at every border crossing. Just think, multiple bodily violations, just to go see your aunty in Jersey!


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 11, 2012, 04:36:28 pm
Okay, so back directly on topic...Obama just dissed Netanyahu on a meeting this month, claiming he is busy with his campaign! True or not, that's a heck of a story to go out, especially at a time like this with Iran. But is it what it appears? The US has seemed to hesitate in fully supporting Israel over Iran. That's a departure from past US policy. Why would the US hassle Israel over Iran? Well, if the US president were Arabic-friendly for some certain reason he denies, then one can see how.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/11/early-frost-white-house-gives-chilly-response-to-proposed-obama-netanyahu-talk/ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/11/early-frost-white-house-gives-chilly-response-to-proposed-obama-netanyahu-talk/)

Quote
Early frost? White House gives chilly response to proposed Obama-Netanyahu meeting
 
Published September 11, 2012
FoxNews.com


The White House has brushed aside an offer by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with President Obama later this month, Israeli officials told Fox News. The apparent snub came despite a state of heightened alert over Iran’s nuclear program and the possibility of Israeli action.
 
Sources said Netanyahu, though he plans to be in New York City during his brief stay, was offering to travel to D.C. to make the meeting happen. However, the White House apparently said Obama’s tight schedule – the president is in the middle of a feverish campaign schedule -- would make a meeting difficult.
 
The turn-down comes amid increasing international anxiety about Iran’s nuclear program. The U.N. reportedly has found new intelligence showing Iran is moving toward nuclear weapon capability.
 
But the exchange between the White House and the prime minister’s office is the most recent in what is seen as a cool, if not strained, relationship between Obama and Netanyahu, despite Israel being considered one of the United State’s closest allies.
 
One well-placed Jewish-American leader told Fox News that the White House has not yet fully ruled out moving things around on the schedule in order to accommodate Netanyahu – but that as of now, Obama is scheduled to be on the campaign trail during the window of time when Netanyahu can make it to Washington.
 
“Discussions are ongoing,” the source emphasized.
 
Asked about relations between the two men, the source acknowledged they “are not warm and fuzzy” and that there is “a lot of tension” between the two governments, given the gravity of the issues under consideration.  But overall, the source said the alliance remains strong, particularly in terms of military-to-military cooperation, and even in day-to-day interactions “up to and including the prime minister.”
 
Republicans were quick, though, to pounce on the apparent snub. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, tweeted:  “How ironic that the #POTUS has time for high dollar $40K-a-head fundraiser with @JayZ and @Beyonce but not for the PM of Israel.”
 
The prime minister’s office told the White House that Netanyahu’s official visit will be short, starting on a Thursday and ending at sundown Friday because of the Sabbath. (cont.)


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/11/early-frost-white-house-gives-chilly-response-to-proposed-obama-netanyahu-talk/#ixzz26CQqkNsI


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 11, 2012, 05:08:19 pm
Okay, so back directly on topic...Obama just dissed Netanyahu on a meeting this month, claiming he is busy with his campaign! True or not, that's a heck of a story to go out, especially at a time like this with Iran. But is it what it appears? The US has seemed to hesitate in fully supporting Israel over Iran. That's a departure from past US policy. Why would the US hassle Israel over Iran? Well, if the US president were Arabic-friendly for some certain reason he denies, then one can see how.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/11/early-frost-white-house-gives-chilly-response-to-proposed-obama-netanyahu-talk/ (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/11/early-frost-white-house-gives-chilly-response-to-proposed-obama-netanyahu-talk/)


He has conflicts with campaign time when these elections are pre-determined to begin with? ::)

Well, try showing THIS news story to the "But the Zionist Jews are running the Illuminati!" crowd...


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 12, 2012, 04:10:30 am
Now the White House is claiming they didn't snub Netanyahu!

Check this spin out...(His schedule is sooo busy, he barely found time to be on Letterman) ::)

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-turns-down-netanyahu-meeting-request-201715077--election.html (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-turns-down-netanyahu-meeting-request-201715077--election.html)

Quote
UPDATE 9:32 p.m. EDT: The White House denied late Tuesday that President Barack Obama had snubbed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by rejecting his request for a meeting when he comes to the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York in late September. A spokesman confirmed an Israeli news reports that the two leaders would not meet but cited the president's uncertain and hectic election-year schedule.
 
"Contrary to previous press reports, there was never any request for a meeting between the Prime Minister and President in Washington, nor was this request ever denied," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told reporters by email.
 
(Obama and Netanyahu later spoke by telephone for an hour "as a part of their ongoing consultations," the White House said. "The two leaders discussed the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program, and our close cooperation on Iran and other security issues. President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu reaffirmed that they are united in their determination to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and agreed to continue their close consultations going forward," it said in a statement).
 
Vietor's comments and the conversation came after Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that the White House had turned down a request for talks. Haaretz said Netanyahu had asked Obama for a meeting during his stay in the United States and expressed a willingness to come to Washington to do so. Earlier, when asked about that report, Vietor had said that the two leaders would not meet.
 
"The President arrives in New York for the UN on Monday, September 24 and departs on Tuesday, September 25. The Prime Minister doesn't arrive in New York until later in the week," Vietor said.
 
"They're simply not in the city at the same time. But the President and PM are in frequent contact and the PM will meet with other senior officials, including Secretary Clinton, during his visit."
 
The Haaretz report said the request was "declined" and that this "marks a new low" in relations between Obama and Netanyahu, who has publicly criticized Washington for not taking a harder line on Iran's nuclear program. (Still, Haaretz noted that "Netanyahu will spend only two and a half days on U.S. soil" and the White House "said that at this time Obama's schedule does not allow for a meeting.")
 
Mitt Romney has repeatedly accused Obama of shortchanging the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
 
But a knowledgeable American official stressed it wasn't personal, saying Obama's schedule was in flux and emphasizing that he doesn't anticipate the president "will have any bilats [bilateral meetings with foreign leaders] at UNGA [the U.N. General Assembly] this year."
 
Still, Obama reportedly planned to appear on David Letterman on Sept. 18, the first day of the annual diplomatic gathering.
 
Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham criticized Obama for not sitting down with Netanyahu, describing themselves as "surprised and disappointed."
 
"It is puzzling that the President can't make time to see the head of state of one of America's closest allies in the world," they said in a joint statement. "If these reports are true, the White House's decision sends a troubling signal to our ally Israel about America's commitment at this dangerous and challenging time, especially as Iran continues to work actively toward developing a nuclear weapons capability."


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 14, 2012, 09:20:12 am
Israel leader says US may not act against Iran

http://news.yahoo.com/israel-leader-says-us-may-not-act-against-105830105.html

9/14/12

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that Israel cannot rely on the U.S. to act against Iran's suspect nuclear program.

In an interview published Friday, Netanyahu hinted Israel may have to strike Iran even without U.S. support to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear weapon.

The comments indicate Netanyahu is not backing down from his thinly-veiled criticism of the Obama administration, despite a phone call from the U.S. president this week that was meant to smooth over their differences.

In the interview in Israel Hayom, a daily that is a staunch backer of the premier, Netanyahu says he has heard those "who say we should wait until the last minute."

Then, he asks: "But what if the U.S. doesn't act?"

Iran denies it is seeking a nuclear bomb.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 16, 2012, 09:00:18 am
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9545597/Armada-of-British-naval-power-massing-in-the-Gulf-as-Israel-prepares-an-Iran-strike.html

Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike
An armada of US and British naval power is massing in the Persian Gulf in the belief that Israel is considering a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s covert nuclear weapons programme.

9/15/12

Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.

Western leaders are convinced that Iran will retaliate to any attack by attempting to mine or blockade the shipping lane through which passes around 18 million barrels of oil every day, approximately 35 per cent of the world’s petroleum traded by sea.

A blockade would have a catastrophic effect on the fragile economies of Britain, Europe the United States and Japan, all of which rely heavily on oil and gas supplies from the Gulf.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most congested international waterways. It is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point and is bordered by the Iranian coast to the north and the United Arab Emirates to the south.

In preparation for any pre-emptive or retaliatory action by Iran, warships from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will today begin an annual 12-day exercise.

The war games are the largest ever undertaken in the region.

They will practise tactics in how to breach an Iranian blockade of the strait and the force will also undertake counter-mining drills.

The multi-national naval force in the Gulf includes three US Nimitz class carrier groups, each of which has more aircraft than the entire complement of the Iranian air force.

The carriers are supported by at least 12 battleships, including ballistic missile cruisers, frigates, destroyers and assault ships carrying thousand of US Marines and special forces.

The British component consists of four British minesweepers and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Cardigan Bay, a logistics vessel. HMS Diamond, a brand-new £1billion Type 45 destroyer, one of the most powerful ships in the British fleet, will also be operating in the region.

In addition, commanders will also simulate destroying Iranian combat jets, ships and coastal missile batteries.

In the event of war, the main threat to the multi-national force will come from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps navy, which is expected to adopt an “access-denial” strategy in the wake of an attack, by directly targeting US warships, attacking merchant shipping and mining vital maritime chokepoints in the Persian Gulf.

Defence sources say that although Iran’s capability may not be technologically sophisticated, it could deliver a series of lethal blows against British and US ships using mini-subs, fast attack boats, mines and shore-based anti-ship missile batteries.

Next month, Iran will stage massive military manoeuvres of its own, to show that it is prepared to defend its nuclear installations against the threat of aerial bombardment.

The exercise is being showcased as the biggest air defence war game in the Islamic Republic’s history, and will be its most visible response yet to the prospect of an Israeli military strike.

Using surface-to-air missiles, unmanned drones and state-of-the-art radar, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and air force will combine to test the defences of 3,600 sensitive locations throughout the country, including oil refineries and uranium enrichment facilities.

Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya air defence base, told a conference this month that the manoeuvres would “identify vulnerabilities, try out new tactics and practise old ones”.

At the same time as the Western manoeuvres in the Gulf, the British Response Task Forces Group — which includes the carrier HMS Illustrious, equipped with Apache attack helicopters, along with the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle - will be conducting a naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean. The task force could easily be diverted to the Gulf region via the Suez Canal within a week of being ordered to do so.

The main naval exercise comes as President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, today to discuss the Iranian crisis.

Many within the Obama administration believe that Israel will launch a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities before the US presidential elections, an act which would signal the failure of one of Washington’s key foreign policy objectives.

Both Downing Street and Washington hope that the show of force will demonstrate to Iran that Nato and the West will not allow President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian leader, to develop a nuclear armoury or close Hormuz.

Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, reportedly met the Israeli prime minister and Ehud Barak, his defence secretary, two weeks ago in an attempt to avert military action against Iran.

But just last week Mr Netanyahu signalled that time for a negotiated settlement was running out when he said: “The world tells Israel 'Wait, there’s still time.’ And I say, 'Wait for what? Wait until when?’

“Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.”

The crisis hinges on Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme, which Israel believes is designed to build an atomic weapon. Tehran has long argued that the programme is for civil use only and says it has no plans to an build a nuclear bomb, but that claim has been disputed by the West, with even the head of MI6 stating that the Islamic Republic is on course to develop atomic weapons by 2014.

The Strait of Hormuz has long been disputed territory, with the Iranians claiming control of the region and the entire Persian Gulf.

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps recently boasted that “any plots of enemies” would be foiled and a heavy price exacted, adding: “We determine the rules of military conflict in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.”

But Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, warned that Iranian attempts to exercise control over the Strait of Hormuz could be met with force.

He said: “The Iranians need to understand that the United States and the international community are going to hold them directly responsible for any disruption of shipping in that region — by Iran or, for that matter, by its surrogates.”

Mr Panetta said that the United States was “fully prepared for all contingencies” and added: “We’ve invested in capabilities to ensure that the Iranian attempt to close down shipping in the Gulf is something that we are going to be able to defeat if they make that decision.”

That announcement was supported by Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, who added: “We are determined to work as part of the international community effort to ensure freedom of passage in the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz.”

One defence source told The Sunday Telegraph last night: “If it came to war, there would be carnage. The Iranian casualties would be huge but they would be able to inflict severe blows against the US and British.

“The Iranian Republican Guard are well versed in asymmetrical warfare and would use swarm attacks to sink or seriously damage ships. This is a conflict nobody wants, but the rhetoric from Israel is unrelenting.”


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 17, 2012, 02:17:20 am
The Brits haven't had an armada since the 1700's!  :D


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 19, 2012, 01:43:53 pm
War With Iran: As An Armada of US and British Ships Builds in the Strait of Hormuz, It Seems War Is Inching Closer
Georgi IvanovinWorld,Iran 7 hours ago

The announcement of major manoeuvres by a naval armada made up of about 25 nations off the coast of Iran — including the U.S. and Britain — signals a huge rise in tensions over the question of whether we are going to fight a war with Iran over its nuclear program. In the following week, Iran is slated to hold its own largest military exercises to date, the primary objective of which is to prove that it can defend against a massed aerial attack on its nuclear and strategic facilities.

Needless to say, tensions are running red-hot over a potential preemptive strike by Israel on Iran, an event which could lead to a domino effect in the region that would engulf many more countries. Building a scenario of winners and losers is pointless, because the scale of such a conflict means that too many people to count will die, especially when they need not lose their lives.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/15001/war-with-iran-as-an-armada-of-us-and-british-ships-builds-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-it-seems-war-is-inching-closer


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 20, 2012, 10:09:21 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-warned-israel-that-strike-on-iran-will-cause-egypt-jordan-to-sever-ties-report-says/


US reportedly warns Israel that strike on Iran will cause Egypt, Jordan to sever ties


Current Arab protests only a ‘preview’ for what will happen after an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, senior Israeli official tells Yedioth Ahronoth

By Times of Israel staff and APSeptember 20, 2012, 8:45 am9

The US has recently warned Israel that an Israeli strike on Iran will likely cause Egypt and Jordan to annul their peace agreements with Israel and sever ties, according to a senior Israeli official quoted by the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday.
 
“These days, Arab leaders don’t rule their people. Rather, the street rules its leaders,” the official was quoted as saying. “An Israeli strike is exactly what the Iranians need: the entire Arab and Muslim street will go out to demonstrate.”
 
The Israeli official reportedly linked between the anticipated Arab reaction to an Israeli strike and the current rage-fueled wave of anti-Western protests in the wake of the publication of a trailer for a new film, “Innocence of Muslims,” that denigrates Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
 
“What we’ve been seeing with the anti-Muhammad film is nothing but a preview for what’s going to happen if Israel attacks,” the official was quoted as saying.
 
The comments come after weeks of speculation about a possible Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Israel has argued that due to its security concerns and reluctance to “outsource” its security to another country — even the US — it cannot afford to let Iran reach a breakout point in its nuclear program, meaning the stage at which manufacturing an atomic weapon becomes merely a matter of time.
 
The US and Israel have recently become embroiled in a standoff after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama publicly said they would not set “red lines” for Iran’s nuclear program, beyond which military force would be deployed.
 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for such measures as a means of calming Israeli apprehensions and, he says, of reducing the likelihood of conflict by making it clearer to Iran that the US is prepared to use force.
 
On Wednesday, a senior Israeli official warned Iran to stop its “direct and blunt threats” against Israel, telling a 155-nation nuclear conference that Israel was ready to defend itself against any nation that menaces its existence. Still, nuclear chief Shaul Chorev avoided any suggestion that Israel was contemplating a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
 
Alluding to Iranian statements questioning Israel’s right to exist, Chorev warned that Israel “does not remain indifferent in view of such direct and blunt threats.”
 
“Israel is competent to deter its enemies and to defend itself,” he told the meeting.
 
On Monday, Iran’s nuclear chief told the same IAEA conference in Vienna that his country’s nuclear facilities could now survive enemy attack.



Title: AP Interview: Ahmadinejad pushes new world order
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 25, 2012, 11:53:25 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-ahmadinejad-pushes-world-order-235145610.html

9/25/12

NEW YORK (AP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that a new world order needs to emerge, away from years of what he called American bullying and domination.

Ahmadinejad spoke to The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly — his last as president of Iran. He was to address the assembly Wednesday morning.

The Iranian leader also discussed solutions for the Syrian civil war, dismissed the question of Iran's nuclear ambition and claimed that despite Western sanctions his country is better off than it was when he took office in 2005.

"God willing, a new order will come together and we'll do away with everything that distances us," Ahmadinejad said, speaking through a translator. "I do believe the system of empires has reached the end of the road. The world can no longer see an emperor commanding it."

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on September 26, 2012, 03:30:49 am
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"God willing, a new order will come together and we'll do away with everything that distances us," Ahmadinejad said, speaking through a translator. "I do believe the system of empires has reached the end of the road. The world can no longer see an emperor commanding it."

Isn't that statement a bit hypocritical? I mean this guy is saying that the world can't see another "emperor", yet he is the one pitching the coming of the Mahdi.  ::)


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 29, 2012, 10:29:21 am
http://debka.com/article/22394/

Fordo sabotage enabled Netanyahu to move Iran red line to spring 2013
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 29, 2012

The sabotage of the Fordo uranium enrichment facility’s power lines on Aug. 17 gave Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu extra leeway to move his original red line for Iran from late September 2012 – now – to the spring or early summer of 2013. The disruption of the underground enrichment plant's power supply caused several of the advanced IR-1 and IR-4 centrifuges producing the 20-percent grade uranium to burst into flames. Work was temporarily halted and the accumulation of 240 kilos for Iran’s first nuclear bomb slowed down by at least six months, debkafile’s intelligence sources report.

Hence Netanyahu’s new red line timeline of “late spring, early summer” - before which preventive action is imperative - in his speech to the UN General Assembly Thursday, Sept. 27.

Our military sources report that the advantage gained is already proving short-lived. Iran has pounced back fast with two aggressive counter-moves on Israel’s doorstep:

1. Thousands of elite Al Qods Brigades officers and men are being airlifted into Lebanon and Syria and deployed opposite Israeli borders (as debkafile has reported);

2. Shortly before the Israeli Prime Minister rose to speak in New York, Syrian President Bashar Assad again removed chemical weapons out of storage. Some were almost certainly passed to the incoming Iranian units. The weapons’ movements were accounted for as a precaution for “greater security,” but in practice they will be ready for use against Israel when the order is handed down from Tehran.

Friday, Sept. 28, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was specifically asked by a reporter if it was believed that “Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or Syrian rebels had been able to get possession of any of the chemical weapons” which the secretary had just disclosed were on the move. He left the door open, saying only that he had “no firm information to confirm this.” That sort of question never comes out of thin air.

It was also the second time in three weeks that the defense secretary mentioned the movements of Syrian chemical weapons out of storage. This time, he said, ‘‘There has been intelligence that there have been some moves that have taken place. Where exactly that’s taken place, we don’t know.” But he did not rule out the possibility that they were being made ready for use.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 12, 2012, 12:32:31 am

Massive U.S. air assets being deployed to Israel in the next 10 days

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=287188



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on October 12, 2012, 01:58:31 am
Quote
The US and Israel will commence the largest-ever joint air defense drill of its kind in Israel on October 21, an army source said on Tuesday.

The exercise, named Austere Challenge 12, was originally scheduled for last spring but was postponed due to regional tensions with Iran.

 On October 14, large numbers of American soldiers are expected to begin arriving in Israel, where they will set up aerial defense positions on Israeli territory and on US Navy vessels off the Israeli coastline.

The three-week drill will simulate various missile defense scenarios, and is expected to end with a live-fire interception of a decoy incoming Patriot missile.

One of the objectives of the drill is to facilitate the rapid deployment of US missile defense systems to Israel and test their ability to operate in conjunction with Israeli defense systems during a conflict. (cont.)


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 16, 2012, 10:11:53 am
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/iranians-planning-to-create-environmental-catastrophe-in-hormuz-strait-a-861343.html


10/15/2012
   
Codename 'Murky Water' Iran's Secret Plan to Contaminate the Strait of Hormuz

Iran could be planning to create a vast oil spill in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a top secret report obtained by Western intelligence officials. The aim of the operation is to both temporarily block the vital shipping channel and to force a suspension of Western sanctions.

If there is a man who brings together all the fears of the West, it is General Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Hardened by torture in the prisons of the former Shah, Jafari was among the students who stormed the US Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979. He later fought in the Iran-Iraq War, and in 2007 Jafari, who has a degree in architecture, assumed command of the Revolutionary Guards, also known as the Pasdaran. The group, founded by revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei to defend the Islamic regime, has since developed into a state within the state.

Today the Pasdaran control several companies and are likely a more effective military force than the regular army. Of the 21 ministers in the Iranian cabinet, 13 have completed Pasdaran training. Within this group of hardliners, Jafari, 55, is seen being particularly unyielding. In 2009, for example, he declared that Iran would fire missiles at Israel's nuclear research center in Dimona if the Israelis attacked Iran's nuclear facilities -- knowing full well that such an attack would result in several thousand deaths on both sides.

Now Jafari and his supporters are allegedly preparing new potential horrors. Western intelligence agencies have acquired a plan marked "top secret" and code-named "Murky Water." Together with Ali Fadawi, an admiral in the Pasdaran, Jafari is thought to have proposed a senseless act of sabotage: to intentionally cause an environmental catastrophe in the Strait of Hormuz.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 15, 2012, 09:45:29 am
http://debka.com/article/22616/

US-Iranian nuclear talks fail. Iran has plutonium for 24 Nagasaki-type bombs
DEBKAfile Special Report December 15, 2012, 12:03 PM (GMT+02:00)

The secret, one-on-one nuclear negotiations President Barack Obama launched with Iran have run into a blank wall. A senior Iranian team member, Mostafa Dolatyar, said Friday, Dec. 14 in New Delhi that the diplomatic process for solving the nuclear issue with Iran was in effect going nowhere, because the demand that Tehran halt its 20-percent enrichment of uranium “doesn’t make sense.”

He went on to say: “They [the world powers] have made certain connections with purely technical issues and something purely political. In so far as this is the mentality and this is the approach from 5 + 1 (the Six World Powers) - or whatever else you call it - definitely there is no end for this game.”

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 01, 2013, 10:57:18 am
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-warns-foreign-planes-near-strait-hormuz-104717601.html

Iran warns foreign planes near Strait of Hormuz
Associated Press – 5 hrs ago

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's navy issued dozens of warnings to foreign planes and warships that approached its forces during a five-day sea maneuver near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a semi-official news agency reported Tuesday.
 
Mehr quoted Adm. Amir Rastgari, spokesman for the exercise, as saying that naval and air defense forces on 30 occasions warned off reconnaissance planes, drones and warships belonging to "extraregional forces" that approached the drill, using a term that the Islamic Republic commonly employs to refer to the militaries of the U.S. and its allies.
 
The five-day naval drill, dubbed Velayat-91, is Iran's latest show of strength in the face of mounting pressures over its disputed nuclear program. The West suspects it may be aimed at producing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.
 
Iran has threatened to close the strait over Western sanctions but has not repeated the threats lately. The strait is the passageway for one-fifth of the world's oil supply.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 10, 2013, 04:21:17 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-discuss-iran-syria-palestinians-obama-115835152.html

2/10/13

Netanyahu to discuss Iran, Syria, Palestinians with Obama

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iran's nuclear ambitions, the civil war in Syria and stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts will top the agenda of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
 
"It is a very important visit that will emphasize the strong alliance between Israel and the United States," Netanyahu, who has had a testy relationship with Obama, told his cabinet.
 
The White House announced on Tuesday that Obama plans to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan this spring, raising prospects of a new U.S. push to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts frozen for the past two years.
 
The White House gave no exact dates for the trip, Obama's first to Israel since taking office. Israel's Channel 10 television station cited unnamed sources in Washington last week saying the visit to Israel would start on March 20.
 
In public remarks at the cabinet session, Netanyahu put Iran at the top of his list of talking points with Obama and referred only in general terms to peace efforts with the Palestinians, stopping short of setting a revival of bilateral negotiations as a specific goal of the visit.
 
"The president and I spoke about this visit and agreed that we would discuss three main issues ... Iran's attempt to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the unstable situation in Syria ... and the efforts to advance the diplomatic process of peace between the Palestinians and us," Netanyahu said.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 18, 2013, 11:19:24 pm
http://www.payvand.com/news/13/mar/1125.html
3/17/13

Iran Launches Indigenous Destroyer In Caspian Sea

The Jamaran-2 destroyer was launched in the Caspian Sea waters Sunday in the northern port city of Bandar Anzali in Gilan province in the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi and Chief of Staff of Iranˈs Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi were also present in the ceremony.

The 1420-ton destroyer is powered by a 20000-horsepower engine with a speed of 30 knots and has the capability to carry helicopters, different surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, advanced artilleries and torpedo system. It is also equipped with electronic war system.

The indigenously-built destroyer has been designed and manufactured by Defense Ministry experts and enjoys state-of-the-art navigation equipment and complex defensive systems.
 
When final tests are completed, the Jamaran-2 will join Iranˈs Navy fleet.

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Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 17, 2013, 11:42:12 pm
'Expect Israeli strikes on Russian arms shipment to Syria-Hezbollah'
5/17/13
U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that another round of Israeli airstrikes could target a new Russian transfer of advanced anti-ship missiles in the near future. Israeli and Western intelligence services believe the Yakhont missiles, which have been sold by Russia to Syria in recent years, could be transferred to Hezbollah within days, the newspaper reported on its website Friday.

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=9329


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 29, 2013, 08:49:29 pm
http://virtualjerusalem.com/news.php?Itemid=9959
Israelis Flock to Get Gas Masks "Just in Case"
5/29/13

Although no one has officially said that a war is imminent, or even on the horizon, the tension in Syria and the reports of missiles launched at northern Israel in recent days has caused a significant increase in requests for gas mask kits, reported the Israel Post Office, which distributes the kits. Until approximately two weeks ago, around 2,000 kits were distributed daily; on Sunday, 4,730 were distributed, a record number for one day.

A similar increase was seen in the number of Israelis who sought customized gas masks, to accommodate children and people with special requirements. Several weeks ago, 200 such requests were made a day; on Sunday, there were 400 such requests.

The Post Office said that so far, 4,800,000 mask kits have been distributed in total. The increase in requests could also be due to announcements recently broadcast by the Homefront Security Ministry, that gas mask distributions will soon end. Israelis can order kits directly to their homes by dialling 171, the Ministry said.

The apparent trigger for Sunday's bumper day of mask distribution was a report over the weekend that a rocket had been fired into Israel, by either Syria or Hizbullah. Lebanese media reported that the rocket had hit within Israel and that a loud explosion had been heard on both sides of the border.

IDF officials said later on Sunday that a search of the area had not yielded any evidence of rocket-fire into Israel, and as such could not confirm if such an event had in fact taken place or not.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on June 01, 2013, 08:33:05 am
New Iranian Missile Launchers Could Overwhelm Israeli Defenses

Iran could have enough launchers to send a salvo of medium range ballistic missiles that would overwhelm Israeli ballistic missile defense systems, according to a Wednesday report from IHS Jane’s.

A May, 26 broadcast on Iranian television showcased a collection of transporter erector launchers (TELs) capable of launching the Iranian Shahab-3 guided ballistic missiles.

“Iranian television footage showed at least 26 TELs lined up in two rows for the event, which marked their purported delivery to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, which operates the country’s ballistic missiles,” according to the report.

The Shahab-3 is based on a North Korean design and is capable striking Israel from Iranian territory.

“The delivery of such a large number of missile launchers demonstrates the Islamic Republic of Iran’s self-sufficiency in designing and building the strategic system and shows the Iranian Armed Forces’ massive firepower and their ability to give a crushing response to the enemy,” Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said in a report carried by Iranian state news.

The more missiles Iran can launch at once, “the greater its chances of overwhelming defensive systems, such as Israel’s Arrow, which only have a limited number of interceptors ready to launch at incoming targets,” according to the Jane’s report

Arrow is a joint U.S.-Israel BMD system which saw its first deployment in 2000.

Despite the Iranian rhetoric, some U.S. analysts doubt Iran’s ability to overwhelm Israel’s defensive systems.

“The Iranians are very good at telling themselves they have terrific and devastating technology which a cynic or skeptic like me may doubt,” naval analyst Norman Friedman told USNI News.
“It is a lot easier to multiply [launchers] than missiles.”

The training and coordination to fire enough salvos to overwhelm a modern BMD system is substantial, former U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Tom Marfiak — the anti-air warfare commander during Desert Shield and Desert Storm — told USNI News.

“Launching a single missile from a mobile TEL is a complex task for a trained crew. Much has to go right,” Marfiak said.
“Launching a number of missiles, nearly simultaneously, from multiple TEL’s, is a good deal more complicated than just lining them up for a parade.”

http://news.usni.org/2013/05/31/report-new-iranian-missiles-could-overwhelm-israeli-defenses


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on July 16, 2013, 03:45:03 am
Russia, China block U.N. condemnation of Iran missile tests

well, there goes America influence and power. The fall is right around the corner.

A U.N. Security Council committee is split over whether Iran's missile tests last year violated U.N. sanctions imposed on Tehran because of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Australia's U.N. envoy said on Monday.

That division effectively rules out any expansion of sanctions against Tehran over the tests for the time being, U.N. envoys said on condition of anonymity.

Diplomats said it was Russia, backed by China, that refused to declare Tehran's missile launches a violation of the U.N. restrictions, as a U.N. Panel of Experts on Iran said was the case.

The rift on the Iran sanctions committee, which consists of all 15 Security Council members, highlights the difficulties Western powers face in persuading Russia and China to join them in keeping up the pressure on Tehran to halt banned nuclear and missile work.

Iran rejects allegations by the United States, European powers and their allies that it is developing an atomic weapons capability. It says the U.N. sanctions against it are illegal and refuses to comply with them.

As long as the sanctions committee remains divided, it will be difficult for the Security Council to add names of any Iranian individuals or entities linked to the missile tests, Security Council diplomats said on condition of anonymity.

Australia's U.N. Ambassador Gary Quinlan, chairman of the Iran sanctions committee, told the council that "a number of committee members expressed the view ... that the launches constituted a clear violation of (U.N. sanctions) and that therefore all member states should redouble their efforts to implement ballistic missile-related sanctions on Iran."

"At this stage some committee members cannot share this view," he added in his latest three-month report to the council.

The tests involved the launch of Iranian Shahab missiles in July 2012 during the "Great Prophet 7" military exercises.

"These included launches of the Shahab 1 and 3, Zelzal, Fateh-110 and Tondar missiles, as well as an anti-ship ballistic missile, the Khalij Fars," the Iran Panel of Experts said in its May report to the Iran sanctions committee.

'HASTY CONCLUSIONS'

The panel said those exercises were conducted by the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Russia, diplomats said, led the dissenters in rejecting the view that the tests were a clear violation of U.N. sanctions.

A Russian delegate explained Moscow's position to the Security Council, saying "hasty conclusions not based on facts must be avoided."

A Chinese delegate reiterated Beijing's stance: "We are not in favor of increased new pressure or new sanctions against Iran."

U.S. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo told reporters, "We're disappointed that the (Iran sanctions) committee was unable in this case to state the obvious."

"There is nothing ambiguous about the ban imposed by the Security Council on such ... missile launches," she said. "Most of the Security Council members agree with us on this issue."

Quinlan's report also referred to alleged arms embargo violations.

Western powers accuse Iran of supplying arms to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and militant groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has been fighting alongside Assad's troops in Syria to defeat rebels in the civil war there.

"Several committee members stated that the evidence presented in the report was sufficient to assert that Iran was in violation of its obligations, illustrating a pattern of sanctions evasion through arms smuggling in the Middle East," his report said.

"Other committee members stated that the lack of stronger evidence as to the provenance of the arms, such as documentation, justified the lack of a definitive conclusion," his report added.

Russia and China were the "other committee members" who opposed finding Tehran in clear violation of the U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports, council diplomats said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/15/us-iran-sanctions-un-idUSBRE96E0Y620130715


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 21, 2013, 07:03:48 am
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/21/19541056-new-iran-president-expected-to-tap-us-educated-advisers-bringing-worldly-outlook-to-tehran?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=1
7/21/13
New Iran president expected to tap US-educated advisers, bringing 'worldly outlook' to Tehran

Several U.S.-educated Iranians are expected to be tapped for key posts in President Hassan Rowhani's new administration, hinting at a break from the antagonistic rhetoric of predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The 64-year-old moderate cleric won an outright victory in June’s election, in which he was the closest thing to a reform candidate running to replace Ahmadinejad.

A sudden thaw in relations with the West is unlikely, most experts agree. But Rowhani's installation could mark the beginning of a more open government and lead to friendlier relations between Washington and Tehran.

“I would not expect a change of agenda, but maybe a change in the way things are done – and that is important when it comes to diplomacy,” said Sasan Aghlani, an expert on Iran at British think tank Chatham House.

After Rowhani is sworn in on August 3rd, he will unveil a new cabinet and team of advisers. Among the names being touted are four veteran Iranian politicians who all hold degrees from U.S. universities.

Mahmoud Vaezi, a senior figure at Rowhani’s Center for Strategic Research think tank, could be appointed foreign minister, according to Bijan Khajehpour, a Vienna-based Iranian business consultant and contributor to regional news site Al-Monitor.

Vaezi graduated with a degree in electrical engineering at California’s Sacramento State University in 1976, and his biography lists two other U.S. degrees and a doctorate from Warsaw University in Poland.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 07, 2013, 01:54:18 pm
Here is a name i havent seen in a while, and was and still is a runner up for Antichrist

Javier Solana suggests Iran and US to create communication channel

The EU's former foreign policy Chief Javier Solana has suggested that Iran and US to create communication channel for proceeding negotiations, during his interview with ISNA news agency.
 
The solutions should be agreed by UN secretary council and EU, because they also have important roles in the negotiating process, he added.
 
Reaching an international agreement is necessary because Iran's nuclear issue is important for the international community, Solana said.
 
He underlined that, Rouhani`s election as president is the opportunity for achieving a solution on Iran's nuclear issue.
 
Rouhani can make decisions because he has mass support of his voters, Solana added.
 
"I have no authority, but still have the influence which can be used for proceeding the negotiations," he said.
 
"Rouhani that I know is intellectual and smart. Rouhani is someone with whom one can negotiate. He understands his counterpart's viewpoints intellectually and this is very important for negotiations," Solana added.
 
He underlined that the failures in negotiations in past is the most important lesson for future negotiations.
 
It should be recalled that Solana previously said in an interview with Iranian Shargh newspaper that Rouhani is someone with whom one can come to an agreement.
 
Solana was the special guest of Rouhani`s swearing ceremony which was held on August 4.
 
On August 3, Rouhani met with the Leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who officially endorsed Hassan Rohani as the country's new president for a four-year term.
 
On 14 June 2013, Hassan Rouhani won the presidential elections in Iran, gathering over 50 percent of total votes.
 
Rouhani previously said that he will work towards the removal of western sanctions, adding that his government will adopt moderate policies and actions.

http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2177352.html

When i can, ill link all the ppf articles i have on this guy


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 07, 2013, 03:17:19 pm
Here is a name i havent seen in a while, and was and still is a runner up for Antichrist

Javier Solana suggests Iran and US to create communication channel


Yeah, I remember this guy - back in 2006 he forged some 7 year treaty b/w Israel and the EU that was to start a couple of years later. I don't remember what became of it, but back then a lot of people(including myself) speculated this could potentially be the Daniel 9:27 covenant. But haven't heard his name again(until now) once the 1st decade of the 21st century ended. I also heard too that he's one of the prominent New Agers out there.

Looks like he hasn't gone away - thank you for posting this!


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 07, 2013, 03:27:18 pm
When i can, ill link all the ppf articles i have on this guy

Take your time - also if memory serves, didn't he help broker the EU in the 1990s?


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on August 07, 2013, 04:34:41 pm
Quote
I don't remember what became of it, but back then a lot of people(including myself) speculated this could potentially be the Daniel 9:27 covenant.

That couldn't be, if there is a pre-trib rapture, because the covenant happens at the beginning of the tribulation period, when he steps up on the world stage somehow and brokers THE deal which includes permission to rebuild the Jewish temple, which he later breaks.

To my knowledge, we are still here, and still no temple. But that doesn't remove him from the list of candidates though.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 07, 2013, 07:35:48 pm
Javier Solana - Antichrist?
       
This article examines the life of Javier Solana, the High Representative for the European Common, Foreign and Security Policy, and the Scriptures concerning the Antichrist, who will strengthen a peace agreement with Israel and the surrounding nations. Please note before reading. I am not saying Javier Solana is the Antichrist. All I am trying to do here is compare well known prophecies in the Scriptures concerning the Antichrist and the feats he will accomplish, with public knowledge of the man, Javier Solana. Another man could well fulfil all these prophecies. But the best we can do until "that Wicked" is finally revealed (2nd Thessalonians 2:8) is to make an educated guess as much as the signs of the times allow. I don't know if the European Neighbourhood Policy is the "seven year covenant with many" or not, all we can do is wait and see. For further information on Javier Solana, check through the news postings using the search function. I have tried to summarize the information as best I can here.
Luke 21:28
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

He shall use peace to destroy many (Daniel 8:25)
Javier Solana has brokered peace agreements throughout the world. His role as High Representative was initially to be involved in bringing Russia and the Caucasus regions closer to Europe. He would also be heavily involved in the Middle East. He was a key player in brokering Iran's suspension of its nuclear programme. Javier Solana has recently taken it upon himself to personally present Iranian President Ahmadinejad with a "package of incentives" agreed by six world powers, a bribe to dissuade Iran from seeking to produce nuclear weapons. World powers scolded the High Representative for what they perceived as a "cloak of secrecy" over the whole affair, with Javier Solana not detailing what was offered to Iran, nor reporting what was discussed at the meetings. He is also involved in trying to bring Turkey closer to the EU. The current peace process in the Middle East is also much a result of this man's doing. Israel initially refused to meet the Quartet who were pushing for the Gaza disengagement to kick-start the "roadmap to peace".

Quote: "Some officials believe Sharon doesn't want Israelis meeting with the Quartet envoys to make sure his "unilateral" pullout plan doesn't look like a diplomatic move. Sharon has portrayed the plan as a security measure meant to reduce friction between Israelis and Palestinians.

The EU has pledged to boost the Palestinian economy with 60 million Euros, and Europe is already training the Palestinian police force. All efforts for peace in the Middle East are already supported by the EU through the Barcelona Process, which started in 1995. When asked how he has been so successful, Javier Solana says the key to his achievement is to never make enemies, and never ask a question to which you do not know or like the answer to.

Javier Solana is now personally involved in the EU's peace efforts in the Middle East. He will be visiting Gaza, Israel and the surrounding nations to co-ordinate a new agreement brokered with the Palestinians, the Israelis and the Quartet (EU, UN, US and Russia) whereby the EU will monitor the Gaza border with Egypt at Rafah. This is the first time Israel has even allowed a third party to monitor border crossings during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And that it is the EU is especially significant - seeing just a few years ago Ariel Sharon told Javier Solana that the EU should let Israel deal with its own affairs, for Israelis up until now considered the EU to be just a financial benefactor rather that a strong regional power. Javier Solana replied to Sharon that Israel "had to deal with the EU whether he liked it or not". But everything is happening just like the Bible said it would.

Quote: "Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declined to meet with Solana, saying that because of an EU vote against Israel (regarding the peace wall) at the UN that Israel would not work with the EU, notwithstanding despite its prominence on the Quartet for Peace in the Middle East. Solana stunned the world, Israel included, by replying that like it or not, both he and the EU were there to stay on the Israeli-Palestinian decision making processes.

He shall honour the god of forces (Daniel 11:38)
He was commissioned to be Secretary General of NATO in 1995. He served on that post during the conflict in Bosnia. He was the only NATO Secretary General who had the power to decide when and where to bomb. Some accuse him of turning NATO - a purely defence organization into an Atlantic attack force, when he sent bombers to break up Yugoslavia using depleted-Uranium shells. This link from my friend Stephen regarding the NATO/EU sponsored break-up of Yugoslavia...

Quote: "When Canadian pilots joined in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in March 1999, we were told by Lloyd Axworthy and Art Eggleton that the intervention in Kosovo was necessary to prevent the violence there from spreading and de-stabilizing the Balkans. Yet we now know that long before the bombing it was NATO countries themselves that were inciting violence in Kosovo and attempting to de-stabilize that Serbian province.

Now Javier Solana is reaping the rewards from his sterling efforts in the Balkans, which he viewed as a great victory for NATO at a time when the alliance was facing irrelevance. Now the divided Yugoslav states are seeking to become full members of the European Union.

Javier Solana was responsible for brokering an agreement with Russia over the future NATO expansion to former Soviet satellite countries, of which Russia previously had great reservations about - NATO being a former cold war adversary. He was given a standing ovation by leaders who though such a deal was impossible. His expansion plan for NATO would see many members added to the club, which now has relations with almost every country in the Northern Hemisphere.

In 1999 he was commissioned to be the Secretary General of  the WEU, the European Union's "military arm". He is currently the West's only foreign minister that is capable of deploying troops on the ground.

On July 12th, 2004 he was appointed head of the European Defence Agency, a body which aims to streamline European Defence initiatives.

Quote: "The need to bolster Europe's military capabilities to match our aspirations is more urgent than ever. And so, too, is the need for us to respond better to the challenges facing our defence industries. This Agency can make a huge difference" - Javier Solana, Head of EDA

He is also advocating the implementation of the EU's 2010 Headline Goal, effectively a military response group which can be deployed in the event of an emergency.

Quote: "4. The ability for the EU to deploy force packages at high readiness as a response to a crisis either as a stand-alone force or as part of a larger operation enabling follow-on phases, is a key element of the 2010 Headline Goal. These minimum force packages must be military effective, credible and coherent and should be broadly based on the Battlegroups concept. This constitutes a specific form of rapid response, and includes a combined arms battalion sized force package with Combat Support and Combat Service Support. Rapid reaction calls for rapid decision making and planning as well as rapid deployment of forces. On decision making, the ambition of the EU is to be able to take the decision to launch an operation within 5 days of the approval of the Crisis Management Concept by the Council. On the deployment of forces, the ambition is that the forces start implementing their mission on the ground, no later than 10 days after the EU decision to launch the operation. Relevant air and naval capabilities would be included. The need for reserve forces should be taken into account

The timing of the formation of this Rapid Response Force also significant. This initiative will be being completed just as the European Neighbourhood Policy will be reaching its mid-term review. Europe will therefore have a force capable of being deployed anywhere in world within 5-10 days, should any particular country decide to step out of line. This is especially significant if the European Neighbourhood Policy does end up being the fulfilment of Daniel 9:27, because we know that the Antichrist does deploy a force in the Middle East, in response to a crisis there...

Daniel 11:41-44
He (Antichrist) shall enter also into the glorious land (Israel), and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon (all Jordan). He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.

European countries are also working towards the goal of implementing the GMES (Global Monitoring of Environment and Security), a network of satellites that will provide Europe with a "Spy in the Sky". The prime aim of the GMES is to provide security to European borders. It will also ensure member states are complying with EU regulations, such as the common agricultural and fisheries policies.

Quote: "Reviewing the various user needs, it was established that GMES has to support the following EU objectives and policy domains:

* Europe's environmental commitments, within EU territory and globally, by contributing to the formulation, implementation and verification of the Community environmental policies, national regulations and international conventions;
* Other EU policy areas such as agriculture, regional development, fisheries, transport, external relations with respect to the integration of the environmental dimension in the respective domains and their specific requirements;
* Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP);
* Other policies relevant to European citizens' security at Community and national levels, notably the potential exists for application to policies related to Justice and Home Affairs activities of the European Union, such as border surveillance.

The pilot stage of the project was officially launched on the 15th of November, and is expected to be completed by around 2010. If Europe intends to have its own army which will capable of being launched to deal with any "situation" in the world within 5-10 days, it will have to have a fast, efficient communication system, and the GMES fills this role.

He shall magnify himself to the prince of the host (head of the EU army - Daniel 8:11)
At the EU Summit in June 2006, Javier Solana was appointed head of the European anti-terrorism force, an EU body comprising of police, civil and military assets pooled from the 25 member nations. The legislation to create this role, along with the pooling of forces across the EU, was originally part of the EU Constitution. European MPs blasted the EU for cherry picking parts of the Constitution which had previously been rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands, and drafting them into European law. This new anti-terrorism role has become possible through Javier Solana's own "Recommendation 666" document, which is commented on at the end of this article.

Quote: "At the Brussels European summit, all 25 member states agreed to pool assets - police, civil protection and military - and place them at the disposal of Javier Solana, the EU's foreign minister-in-waiting. Such a move had been planned in the constitution which was rejected by voters in France and Holland last year. The constitution has been left on the shelf although Europe's leaders want it up and running again by 2008. Minutes of the summit show that the kernel of the counter-terrorism force, the "crisis steering group", will be operational in a fortnight.

On the 21st of November, 2005, European leaders, prompted by the head of the European Defence Agency - Javier Solana, agreed to pool their defence markets in a move that could pave the way for the creation of an EU army. This legislation was also originally part of the Constitution package, but the EU leaders took it upon themselves to adopt it into law behind our backs. This along with the creation of the EU anti-terror force could pave the way for the fulfilment of these verses.

Daniel 11:31
And arms shall stand on his part (Antichrist's behalf), and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength (Temple), and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

Daniel 8:11
Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

He shall not regard the God of his fathers (Daniel 11:37)
His parents may be Jewish. I haven't hard proof of this yet, but I read this on another website. His grandfather, Salvador de Madariaga, who worked for European unity in the League of Nations authored a book on the history of the Jews in Spain, and also wrote a book about Christopher Columbus, exploring the possibility he was a crypto-Jew.

He shall not regard the desire of women (Daniel 11:37)
Some scholars see the desire of women meaning the desire to "give birth to the Messiah". In any case, Javier Solana has a wife and two children, but lives on his own in Brussels since taking the post of NATO Secretary General in 1995.

By his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand (Daniel 8:25)
He has devised, and is responsible for the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The ENP gives financial incentives to states in exchange for political reforms (read "political control"). It has been said that while America's tool for bringing about global security is its army, Europe's weapon is its financial clout, used through subtle means, i.e. "craft". Statecraft is one of the things Javier Solana says he has used to help bring Europe together.

(http://www.evenmore.co.uk/prophecy/images/IMG_1748.jpg)

He shall confirm a covenant with many nations for 7 years, and break it in the middle of those years (Daniel 9:27)
My friend Javier sent me this picture of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addressing the Knesset and the nation on July 17th, 2006. After six days of fighting between Israel and Hizbullah, the Prime Minister stated that he did not want this conflict, but hoped that Israel could soon sign an "eternal covenant of peace" with their Arab neighbours. Javier Solana was the first world leader to visit Lebanon, and has been prompted by European leaders to help find a lasting solution to the crisis.

Quote: ""The crisis in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon make extremely grave and worrisome bounds from hour to hour," the letter said. The two theatres of crisis "place the security and political equilibrium of the entire region in danger," it said. In the "two distinct crises," the EU. "has weight and credibility" that could be used toward finding solutions, Chirac said in the letter, dated Thursday and made public Friday. The letter noted that the president was reiterating a proposal made in June. He suggested that Solana, who visited Beirut last weekend and was currently in Cairo, work in conjunction with the United Nations to meet with all figures necessary to "very quickly make proposals to reach conditions for a global and lasting cease-fire in the region."

Following the conflict between Hizbullah and Israel in July-August 2006, the UN Security Council brokered a cease fire between the two sides. As part of the UN resolution that resulted in the cease fire, it was agreed that the international community would send a force into Lebanon to prevent fighting breaking out again. Europe has mobilized over 7000 troops to patrol the southern border of Lebanon, the biggest force the EU has launched in its history. As a result of this many EU ministers have been stating that Europe has a new-found role in the Middle East, a peacekeeping role that for the first time is backed up by a credible military force. This is exactly the situation what Daniel predicted would be the case during the 70th week or the seven year tribulation period.

Quote: ""The time has come for European efforts to relaunch peace in the Middle East," he [Spanish Foreign Minister Miquel Angel Moratinos] said Friday after his EU counterparts met in Brussels with UN chief Kofi Annan. "Europeans are gaining more in credibility, in presence and engagement in the future of this region, which is our region," he said Saturday. Italy, which will be the the force's biggest contributor with up to 3,000 soldiers and which will take over its command next February from France, was hopeful that the commitment would mark a new era of EU influence in the region. "It's the first time that Europe assumes such a strong responsibility in the region and we hope there will be a change, not only for the stabilisation of the border between Israel and Lebanon, but also to push peace in the whole region" said Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema.

With European troops now on the ground in the Middle East, the EU has an added means of making sure any future peace agreement takes hold in the region. The EU is effectively trying to create an environment in which a peace agreement with many nations could be signed. Javier Solana is now pushing for EU ministers to pave the way for new talks for the Middle East, aimed at bringing security to Israel and a lasting peace to the entire region (or "peace and safety" as mentioned in Thessalonians 5:3).

Quote: "EU President Finland is hosting the meeting in a 17th century fortress in the town of Lapeenranta, where ministers will study how to leverage their growing military presence as peacekeepers in southern Lebanon to bring about regional talks. European officials argue that the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas and continuing Israeli-Palestinian violence can be resolved only by a political process leading to a negotiated settlement. In efforts to win a wider Middle East peace, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he would urge ministers to pave the way for new talks based on a return to Israel's 1967 borders "plus or minus agreed minor adjustments".

And what better man to help broker any future peace agreement than Javier Solana himself? The current EU President Erkki Tuomioja has stated Javier Solana has been given a mandate by EU Foreign Ministers to be directly involved in the Middle East peace process on the behalf of Europe.

Quote: "Ministers agreed that united action by the EU over the summer had made a positive impact on efforts to stabilize the situation in the Middle East. Tuomioja said that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana already has the mandate of the member states of EU to work to move the peace process forward and to be in contact with all the parties involved. He particularly emphasized the importance of cooperation with the United States and Arab nations.

Javier Solana's European Neighbourhood Policy, is to last from 2007-2013, with a mid-term review period, in which Javier Solana himself will be involved. 16 nations have signed up, including Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Israel signed up in December 2004. All countries will have their agreements confirmed on January 1st, 2007. It's prime aim is to bring security and political control to Europe's borders as mentioned above.

Some people have stated, and I was also of the impression, that this agreement could not be the covenant of Daniel 9:27, due to the differences in the prophetic 360 day calendar and our present calendar of 365 days. But examining the workings of the 360 day calendar, this may not pose a problem. The European Neighbourhood Policy lasts for a period of 2557 days, with each year containing 365 days, plus 2 days for leap years. The prophecy of Daniel runs according to the Jewish calendar, which contains only 360 days per year, giving a total of 2520 days. The Jews had a system of adding extra days to their years so that the seasons didn't drift - 30 days after every six years, and 30 days after four years on the seven succession. 

Quote: "The (European) Commission will draw up periodic reports on progress and on areas requiring further efforts, taking into account assessments made by the authorities of the partner country. The Action Plans will be reviewed and may be adapted in the light of progress towards meeting the priorities for action. It is suggested that a "mid-term" report be prepared by the Commission, with the contribution of the High Representative on issues related to political co-operation and the CFSP, within two years of the approval of an action plan and a further report within three years. These reports can serve as a basis for the Council to decide the next step in contractual links with each partner country. These could take the form of European Neighbourhood Agreements whose scope will be defined in the light of progress in meeting the priorities set out in the Action Plans.

Just before the 10th Anniversary (27-28th November 2005) of the Barcelona Process - also known as EuroMed, Javier Solana commented on the progress made so far by Europe in the Middle East region. EuroMed itself is a framework of agreements between the European Union and 10 Middle Eastern nations. These are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. EuroMed is not a peace process in itself, but aims to resolve regional conflicts at the same time as providing political and economic reforms, helping to bring about stability. It was born out of the Oslo agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, and is thought of more as a means of supporting any real peace agreement that may come about in the future. Javier Solana states that the EU is planning to launch a "governance facility" (perhaps the ENP?) with Mediterranean countries. This will provide economic assistance for those states doing their best to bring about political and economic reforms (or "political control" from Europe). Just like the Middle East covenant that will be confirmed by the Antichrist in the book of Daniel, this "governance facility" is to last for seven years - by Javier's own admission.

Quote: "Many Mediterranean countries say they want to advance on the path of political reform but that it should be home-grown and that they need help. I agree. So I am pleased that the EU will launch a so-called governance facility. This will not be a cosmetic initiative, but one that, over seven years, will offer several hundred million euros to those countries that are making the greatest efforts concerning governance reform. They can then spend the extra money on the priorities they have set themselves. This is what I call a true partnership for political reform.

Here's another interesting article on the ENP, from my friend Stephen. It gives a brief outline on how the ENP represents the future for EU expansion, an alternative to enlargement of the union, and explains its aims to offer member states three things, prosperity, stability and security.

Quote: "Prosperity: A lack of economic prospects is linked to political unrest, radicalisation and is one of the factors pushing people to do dangerous illegal migration. We address this through offering trade opportunities, support for macro-economic reforms, advice on investment-friendly business climates. By supporting the countries' own reform efforts, we also benefit the EU since our continued growth requires new markets. (Daniel 7:23, the fourth beast shall "devour the whole earth")
Stability: Lack of democracy, lack of respect for the rule of law, governance failures, all contribute to instability. We offer advice and support on relevant reforms and offer deeper relations to those partners who make progress towards good governance, for the benefit of their own citizens. Democracy cannot be imposed, but it can and must be supported.
Security: ENP enables us to bring together various internal and external instruments more effectively, working with our neighbours to tackle new threats e.g. cooperation against terrorism, tackling the root causes of extremism, thwarting international organized crime, contributing to resolving conflicts. All of these issues are major concerns both for our citizens and for those of our partners.

He shall be the prince of the people that destroyed Jerusalem (Daniel 9:26)
Daniel states that the Antichrist would be the prince of the people that would destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the Temple). In AD 70, Jerusalem and the Temple were literally destroyed by the Roman armies under the command of Titus. The Antichrist will therefore be a prince of the Revived Roman Empire, or in modern terms, "Europe".

In October1999, Javier Solana finished his term as Secretary General of NATO, and became Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The Council of the European Union is the main decision making body for the EU. Javier Solana also holds two other important posts in Europe, the High Representative for the European Common, Foreign and Security Policy, and Secretary General of the WEU. These are possibly the highest posts currently achievable in the three organizations, and Javier Solana has all of them. In that sense Javier Solana is a "prince" or literally a ruler, and not a "king", i.e. he has no kingdom as such (yet). Compare this with Daniel 7:24, which states the ten horns are ten "kings" which shall arise.

That fact that Javier Solana is Spanish may tie in with another Scripture. According to Daniel, Spain may be a significant player in the EU. Daniel 7:24 states, "And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them...". After the ten kings arise, another arises after them. Spain happens to be the 11th member of the European Union (i.e. it arose after the 10). The fact that the Secretary General of the WEU, and High Representative for the CFSP for the EU, and Secretary General of the Council of Europe happens to be Spanish is therefore quite significant. And when you consider that Spain also hosts the Barcelona Process, which aims to bring about peace in the Middle East, is currently calling for a global "alliance of civilizations", and Javier Solana is responsible for a seven year covenant with many nations (The European Neighbourhood Policy) adds to the significance of this statement.

He will head a 10 nation federation (Daniel 7:24)
He is Secretary General of the WEU, the military arm of the EU, and comprises the 10 original member states that signed the Treaty of Brussels. These are the only nations of the WEU that have official member status. Other nations have different statuses within the WEU as described in detail below.

He will be of a kingdom that will engulf the whole world (Daniel 7:23)
Although Javier Solana is Secretary General of the WEU, only a 10 nation federation, the tentacles of the WEU and the EU continue to spread throughout the world.

Of the WEU, there are 10 full members (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxemburg, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, United Kingdom), there are 8 affiliate members (Czech republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovak republic, Slovenia), 3 associate members (Iceland, Norway, Turkey),  2 affiliate associate members (Bulgaria, Romania), 5 observers (Austria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden), 2 affiliate observers (Cyprus, Malta), 1 affiliate associate partner (Croatia), 2 permanent guests (Russia, Ukraine) and 4 special guests (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM or Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro). That makes the WEU a possible alliance of 37 nations.

There are now 25 nations involved in the EU with currently 4 awaiting application for membership, and the European Neighbourhood Policy will directly influence the politics of another 16 nations outside Europe. Russia is being brought closer to Europe, along with all her Soviet satellites states, as was seen in the recent elections in the Ukraine, in which a pro-European President, Victor Yuschenko was elected after a political dispute with a Kremlin backed leader.

He will be of a kingdom that is divided, partly strong and partly weak, and shall not cleave to each other (Daniel 2:41-43)
It's easy to see how Europe is a Revived Roman Empire that is "divided". The very fact there is a WEU of 10 official members and a broader EU of 25 members shows a Europe is still divided. The WEU, under the direction of Javier Solana, was meant to transfer its powers to the EU, but this never happened. It seems instead that the WEU has taken on a new role as being the new military arm of the European Union.
For "partly strong and partly weak", the WEU nations are mainly wealthy and politically strong, while the new members of the EU are generally poor and politically weak and unstable.
And the fact that the nations "will not cleave to one another" has been played out before all our eyes in the Iraq war, the problems of ratifying of the EU Constitution, amid other disagreements which seem to come up from time to time.

He will uproot three kings (Daniel 7:24)
Britain, France and Germany (officially called the E3) have apparently been jockeying for position to hold the lion's share of foreign policy until such times that the EU Constitution is ratified and comes into force. This ambition has been brought to light by the E3's recent dealings with Iran's nuclear programme. The EU Constitution will create the official position of EU Foreign Secretary, which Javier Solana, the EU High Representative currently holds in an unofficial capacity. These three nations would need to be "subdued" in order to give Javier Solana a clear shot at being the "one voice of Europe".

All these nations are also members of the UN Security Council. Javier Solana is seeking to replace these nations' seats on the Council with just one European seat, representing the voice of Europe in world affairs. This event could also fulfil the above Scripture, if a head of the European Union were to "uproot" those seats.

Quote: "In an interview with Die Welt, the EU's high representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, offers some suggestions for how the current crisis in the European Union could be avoided in the future. A "possible cause" for the rift between the EU fifteen is the fact that the EU is not represented by one seat in the United Nations Security Council. "The EU is not represented by one seat in the United Nations. But the problems were created in the United Nations." He noted the differences of opinion ran exactly between the four members of the Security Council - the UK and France (as permanent members) and Spain and Germany (as non-permanent members). "Imagine what influence Europe could have had if it had spoken with one voice?" asked Mr Solana. Speaking with one voice is not just something for the Union in the UN but for "the EU as a whole."

Revelation 13:5
And there was given unto him a mouth (one voice?) speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

On Friday the 22nd of June, 2007, British Prime Minister Tony Blair signed the new European "treaty", an EU Constitution in all but name according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Constitution author Giscard d'Destaing and others. For the first time in history the European Union will have the right to make international treaties without the blessing of member states. The new "treaty" also creates permanent posts of EU President and EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs. The EU will also be given the power to represent all European states at the United Nations Security Council, if and when Europe has common agreement on foreign policy.

Quote: "Provisions, drawn word for word from the old constitution, giving the EU "foreign minister" speaking rights from Britain's and France's UN seats will be included in a draft treaty to be presented to a meeting of foreign ministers on Monday, diplomats have confirmed. "When the Union has defined a position on a subject which is on the United Nations Security Council agenda, those member states which sit on the Security Council shall request that the Union Minister for Foreign Affairs be asked to present the Union's position," the text states.


He will grow great towards the South and the East (Daniel 8:9)
Javier Solana's European Neighbourhood Policy is aimed at developing relations with Middle Eastern and Caucus Nations, directly towards the South and East of the European Union Bloc.

Daniel 8:9-11
And out of one of them came forth a little horn (Antichrist), which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant [land] (Israel). And it waxed great, [even] to the host of heaven; and it cast down [some] of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified [himself] even to the prince of the host (he became the chief of the EU army), and by him the daily [sacrifice] was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down (Temple).

Quote: Javier Solana - "The European Neighbourhood Policy is not a policy aimed at EU enlargement; it neither foresees it nor excludes it. The policy is in the first place aimed at developing closer relations between the European Union and its new neighbours to the East and the South, making them benefit as much as possible from their proximity to the EU. There is so much work to be done and there are so many opportunities to co-operate more effectively in the fields of trade, reforms, in fighting terrorism, crime and corruption, in working more closely together in foreign and security policy that there is no real reason at this stage to think about what might happen in the longer term.

His number is six hundred threescore and six (666 - Revelation 13:18)
In 1999, Javier Solana was appointed the High Representative for Europe's Common, Foreign and Security Policy. His position is linked in two places with the number 666 in official EU documents.

The first document issued in 1998 by the European commission was called Article 666, and which called for the immediate election of a High Representative for the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy who would have a "strong political profile", and be backed by "credible operational capabilities".

Quote: "666. In December the Vienna European Council expressed the opinion that the Secretary-General of the Council and High Representative for the CFSP should be appointed as soon as possible and be a personality with a strong political profile. It invited the Council to prepare common strategies on Russia, Ukraine, the Mediterranean region and the western Balkans, on the understanding that the first would be on Russia. Welcoming the new impetus given to the debate on a common European policy on security and defence, the European Council also noted that the CFSP should be backed by credible operational capabilities

The second document, called "Recommendation 666", which was drafted by Javier Solana himself in 2000, called for special powers to be given to the High Representative, enabling him to take control of European political and military councils in the event of an emergency.

Quote: "12) Support proposals for the WEU Secretary-General and CFSP High Representative to preside over the PSC (Political and Security Committee) and civilian crisis-management machinery and give him powers to convene the Council of the European Union in the event of an emergency;

In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease (Daniel 9:27)
In regard to this prophecy, it's not possible for me to know exactly what will happen, due to the fact that this event is scheduled to occur in the middle of the seven year tribulation period. And it's impossible for me to know if Javier Solana will be the man to fulfil this Scripture. But what is happening in Europe now could eventually become the fulfilment of these verses...

The European Union has agreed an Action Plan that seeks to upgrade the minimum standards of treatment for animals throughout the European Union, and aims to support the protection and welfare of animals throughout the world. This Action Plan will come into force for the period from 2006 to 2010, after which it will become necessary for the document to be reviewed.

Quote: "For the period 2006-2010, five main areas of action are set out to meet this objective: upgrading minimum standards for animal welfare; promoting research and alternative approaches to animal testing; introducing standardised animal welfare indicators; better informing animal handlers and the general public on animal welfare issues; and supporting international initiatives for the protection of animals. Detailed background on each area of action is outlined in the Action Plan, in the accompanying impact assessment and Commission working document, along with an indicative timetable for the planned initiatives.

The European Union currently guarantees the right of the Jewish religion to perform animal sacrifices (shechita), even though no sacrifices have been carried out since the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

Quote: "The Vice President assured the CER delegation that he regards attempts to restrict Jewish ritual slaughter (shechita) as contraventions of EU law and said he would be contacting the Belgian Interior Minister over the issue following attempts in the Belgian Senate to place restrictions on shechita in Belgium.

If the Jewish Temple is reconstructed, the Jews will be required to immediately start performing sacrifices for sin. If this agreement is reviewed by Europe in 2010, which falls in the middle of the seven year European Neighbourhood Policy (the midst of the week), it could be possible that Europe would decide to prohibit animal sacrifices for humanitarian reasons.

New World Order
Javier Solana is also a member of the Club of Rome, and frequently speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations. Javier Solana also attended the secretive Bilderberg meetings during his tenure as NATO Secretary General. He brought then-UK Defence Secretary George Robertson along with him, who later became the NATO Secretary General himself.

http://www.prophecynews.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=27


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 08, 2013, 08:28:20 am
Solana has quite a resume, to say the least! Only read parts of it, and skimmed through the rest, but nonetheless the big picture is that as time has gone on, especially in recent years, this one world system is being set up for the AC's short reign to take over in potentially the near future(who knows?).

Dunno if Solana is the guy, but nonetheless he's one of the many wicked men who's being used to do his part to help build up this future short-lived Babel system.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 08, 2013, 08:30:02 am
Solana has quite a resume, to say the least! Only read parts of it, and skimmed through the rest, but nonetheless the big picture is that as time has gone on, especially in recent years, this one world system is being set up for the AC's short reign to take over in potentially the near future(who knows?).

Dunno if Solana is the guy, but nonetheless he's one of the many wicked men who's being used to do his part to help build up this future short-lived Babel system.

Im not saying he is, but he is worth watching, and now that he is trying to get back into the peace making business, well that pushes him up a couple of rungs. Time is short and events are picking up the pace.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 08, 2013, 08:51:50 am
Im not saying he is, but he is worth watching, and now that he is trying to get back into the peace making business, well that pushes him up a couple of rungs. Time is short and events are picking up the pace.

When we were discussing the 2nd The 2 passage last year(over the rapture of the church and the revealing of the AC), we pretty much came to the conclusion that before the rapture, the AC will be revealed, but not so much he'll come out and say "I'm your new world leader", but just someone who will rise to fame around the world, and painted as someone who'll solve all the world's ills(a lot like our recent Presidents when they ran for election). IOW, Christians will see who he is, but the unbelieving world and the false pseudo-christian church won't.

2The 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Anyhow, didn't mean to start another rapture discussion here, but point being that this is part of watching in these last days according the scripture here(not to pin the tail on the AC donkey, but watch to see who rises to world power, like this Solana guy).


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on August 08, 2013, 12:59:54 pm
One thing to consider also is that knowing the unbelieving is totally carnal and self-absorbed, it may well be that this person would be really hyped in the media, and he won't shun the limelight or accolades, almost to the point of acting like he has all the answers and everybody should listen to him and his ideas and solutions. I think there is a good chance he'll be rather extroverted, having a strong charismatic personality, once the focus is on him.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 12, 2013, 07:39:02 am
Destruction of Israel guaranteed, ayatollah says
 
Iran's supreme leader promises Jewish land to Palestinians


Iran’s supreme leader promises in a newly released audiotape the destruction of Israel and Palestinians’ return to that land.

Fars News Agency, an outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards, last week posted an audiotape of excerpts of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s speeches to Palestinian officials and others with a title “Palestine will surely become free.”
 
In the audiotape, which is partly in Arabic, Khamenei gives blessings to those who fight against Israel and says, “Peace be upon the children of our nation, peace be upon the brave jihadists in Palestinian and Lebanese resistance. Today the Islamic world and the whole world are witnesses to great revelations that show change in international affairs.”
 
The ayatollah promises a restructuring of the Middle East: “Palestine will be free, have no doubt in this. … Palestinians will return there and there will be a Palestinian government … and that is based on the truth revealed by God. A new Middle East will be … an Islamic Middle East.”
 
Khamenei attacks Israel for defending itself: “They attacked Lebanon – a mistake. They attacked Gaza – a mistake. They attacked those (Turkish) ships – a mistake. These mistakes, one after another, show that the murderous Zionist regime of Israel is reaching the final fall and destruction of its own non-existence.”
 
In promising the annihilation of Israel, the supreme leader also says, “There is no doubt that victory awaits the Palestinian people in the future, and the myth of Zionist power over this region will completely vanish, Allah willing.”
 
Become a part of the investigative reporting team uncovering the truths about Iran, and get author Reza Kahlili’s “A Time to Betray” about his life as a double agent inside Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
 
On Friday Khamenei called the current peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority “futile” and said, “The U.S.-brokered talks … are aimed at undermining the Palestinians’ resistance.”
 
He assailed the U.S. for reviving the peace talks between the two.
 
Khamenei’s audiotape comes on the back of a statement by Hassan Nassrallah, the secretary-general of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.
 
“Some think that the fall and destruction of Israel is only good for Palestinians,” Nassrallah said recently. “However, [such an event] will be good for all the countries of the region, and one cannot separate this threat [Israel] from Jordon, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. For this reason, the annihilation of Israel is in the national interest of Jordon, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.”
 
Nassrallah, quoted by Amar news, an Iranian media outlet, recalled a statement by the founder of the Islamic Republic: “Imam [Ruhollah] Khomeini provided a clear and precise definition for Israel when he called this regime [Israel] a cancerous tumor. … And the only way to cure it is not to give it time, not give in to it and eradicate its roots.”
 
The clerics ruling Iran believe that Khamenei is the one named in a centuries-old hadith who will prepare for the coming of the Islamic last messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam, Mahdi. According to the hadith, Israel is to be destroyed before Mahdi’s re-appearance.
 
Mojtaba Zolnoor, an adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei in the Revolutionary Guards, has stated publicly that a number of the Ulama (Islamic scholars) and authoritative grand ayatollahs have announced that Khamenei is quite possibly the fabled “Seyed Khorasani.” According to the Islamic hadith, Khorasani is an individual from the region who is not only a companion of the Mahdi, but also is responsible for setting the stage for Mahdi’s re-emergence.
 
Also, according to close associates of Khamenei, the supreme leader has acknowledged his role in history by telling a confidant (Mohammad Reyshahri) that Khomeini told him personally, “Dear Seyed Ali, it will be during the time of your leadership that the last Shiite Imam, Imam Mahdi, will re-appear.”
 
A video revealed in 2011, “The Coming Is Upon Us,” showed regime intentions: change in the Middle East, destruction of Israel and the coming of Mahdi. The video, produced by the regime, was to be distributed in the Middle East.
 
The Islamic regime, despite its public position on the destruction of Israel and despite several U.N. resolutions and sanctions by the U.S. and Europe, has expanded its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Reports indicate that the regime will not only achieve capability on intercontinental ballistic missile delivery – bringing the U.S. within its reach – by next year, but also the ability to arm those missiles with nuclear warheads.
 
The West, while concerned about the regime’s nuclear program, still hopes to reach a peaceful settlement and has offered further talks over the issue with Iran’s new president, Hassan Rowhani, who took office on Aug. 4.
 
In an Aug. 5 exclusive report, WND revealed a videotape of Rowhani in which he boasted of buying time during earlier negotiations with the West for the regime to build its nuclear program.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/08/destruction-of-israel-guaranteed-ayatollah-says/#8DAK80lPq27qS4Jv.99


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 12, 2013, 11:22:20 am
Quote
The ayatollah promises a restructuring of the Middle East: “Palestine will be free, have no doubt in this. … Palestinians will return there and there will be a Palestinian government … and that is based on the truth revealed by God. A new Middle East will be … an Islamic Middle East.”

Puffed up by the imaginations of his heart...


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on August 12, 2013, 02:39:31 pm
Quote
A new Middle East will be … an Islamic Middle East

Oh, there will definitely be a new Middle East, but it won't be Islamic, or Jewish.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 20, 2013, 11:45:51 am
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/171095#.UhOcdWwo5jp
Prosor: Israel Won't Stand By as Assad Fires Mortars

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations says Israel is losing its patience with the repeated Syrian violations of the ceasefire.

8/20/13

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, hinted on Monday that Israel was losing its patience with the repeated Syrian violations of the 1974 ceasefire between the two countries.

Prosor sent a letter of complaint to the Security Council after the latest incident on Saturday, when the Israeli army fired into Syria after shells from the neighboring country hit the Israeli side of the Golan Heights. The Israeli attack demolished a Syrian military position.

Israel, wrote Prosor in his letter, will not stand idly by while "Assad’s terrorist regime fires mortars at Israeli citizens."

Prosor stressed in the complaint the "blatant violation on Syria’s part of the disengagement agreement of 1974." He added, "Israel has sent repeated warnings and warned the Security Council that such provocations will not be accepted by Israel. It should not be expected Israel will stand by while the terrorist regime of Assad rains down mortar shells on Israeli citizens."

The Golan has been tense since the beginning of the civil war in Syria more than two years ago, but so far there have only been minor flare-ups as Syrian small arms fire or mortar rounds hit the Israeli side, prompting an occasional Israeli response.

Earlier this month, gunfire from the Syrian side of the border hit close to an IDF patrol in the northern Golan Heights. There were no injuries or damages.

Two weeks before this incident, fire was opened at an IDF patrol near Tel Fares in the southern Golan Heights, after the troops identified two Syrians who entered an abandoned military outpost located east of the border fence.

The troops were searching the area when they were fired upon. None of the soldiers was hurt and no damage was caused. The soldiers returned fire.

Prosor recently told the Security Council that it was time to condemn the constant spillover of the conflict in Syria into Israel.

“Unequivocally condemn the firing,” he urged the Council. “The Syrian government systematically violates the separation of forces agreement, which could bring the region to instability."

Meanwhile, Israel continues to receive wounded Syrians from the country’s civil war. On Monday night, two more wounded Syrians were brought to the Ziv Medical Center in the city of Tzfat.

One of the victims brought to the hospital is a 24-year-old man whose condition was serious after suffering gunshot wounds to his pelvis. The second victim, 39, was listed in moderate condition.

On Sunday night, two wounded Syrians were brought by IDF soldiers to the Ziv Medical Center. The two were listed in moderate condition, with one suffering from a bullet wound to his stomach and the other from a fractured hand.

More than 140 wounded Syrians have so far been treated at Israeli hospitals, 25 of them in the last week alone, according to figures published by Kol Yisrael radio.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 11, 2013, 12:12:29 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-renew-offer-supply-300s-iran-092836382.html
Putin to offer Iran 'arms, nuclear deal' at summit
9/11/13

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iran's new president for the first time this week, reportedly armed with an offer to supply missile systems and build a second nuclear power reactor that is likely to gladden Tehran and trouble the United States.

President Hassan Rowhani is set to meet Putin on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation held in Kyrgyzstan on Friday, in the newly-elected centrist cleric's first meeting with a major world leader.

The Kommersant daily reported Wednesday that Putin would offer to supply Iran S-300 air defence missile systems as well as build a second reactor at the Bushehr nuclear plant.

The S-300 offer would be a particularly contentious development given it would essentially revive a contract for similar missile systems that Russia cancelled in 2010 after heavy Israeli and US pressure.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Kommersant that Putin and Rowhani were expected to discuss "working together in the nuclear energy sphere" and "questions of military technical cooperation" at the summit in Bishkek.

However, Peskov denied Wednesday evening that Putin had tasked officials with preparing the new arms agremeent.

"No," Russian news agencies quoted Peskov as saying when asked whether Putin ordered to put together such a deal.

Putin's meeting with the leader of Moscow's long-standing regional ally comes shortly after he hosted Western powers for a G20 summit focused on Syria in Saint Petersburg last week.

Putin will make significant concessions to Iran by offering to supply Tehran with five S-300 ground-to-air missile systems, Kommersant reported earlier Wednesday, quoting a source close to the Kremlin.

Putin would offer to supply Tehran with a modified export version of the S-300 systems called S-300VM Antey-2500, the source said.

The source also said Russia would offer to build a second reactor for the Bushehr nuclear plant, Iran's only functioning nuclear power station whose construction was completed by Russia, as a political gesture.

Putin took the decisions on September 5, the source said.

Russia in 2007 signed a contract to deliver five of the advanced S-300 ground-to-air weapons systems -- which can take out aircraft or guided missiles -- to Iran at a cost of $800 million.

In 2010, then president Dmitry Medvedev cancelled the contract after coming under strong US and Israeli pressure not to go ahead with the sale of the weapons system, drawing vehement protests from Tehran.

Kommersant cited a source as saying that Russia's offer would depend on Iran's withdrawing a $4-billion lawsuit that it has lodged at an international court in Geneva against Russia's arms export agency.

Russia could increase supplies of arms to Iran if Washington decides on military intervention in Syria, the head of the lower house's committee on international relations, Alexei Pushkov, told parliament on Wednesday.

"If the 'party of war' prevails in the United States... then I consider it absolutely justified to suggest considering more serious measures by Russia, including broadening of supplies of defensive weapons to Iran," Pushkov was quoted as saying by Interfax.

Iran is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally and has warned Western powers against intervention in the conflict.

Russia has opposed international military intervention against Assad and is negotiating with Damascus on a plan for it to hand over chemical weapons in order to avoid US strikes.

An arms industry source told Interfax on Wednesday that supplies of Antey-2500 S-300s to Iran "could not be ruled out in the future, but so far no pre-contractual work is being carried out by Russian exporters".

Kommersant also cited the source close to the Kremlin as saying that Russia was ready to build a second reactor for Bushehr power station in a deal that was not "particularly profitable from an economic point of view, but is rather political".

Moscow has cooperated with Iran on nuclear power generation despite international opposition to a programme that Western powers and Israel believe is being used as a smokescreen for building a nuclear bomb, while Iran insists it is peaceful.

Russia had urged the West to soften sanctions against Iran after the election of Rowhani, a centrist cleric, in June, expressing hopes for a major breakthrough in the nuclear standoff. Rowhani has pledged greater transparency in talks.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 24, 2013, 12:12:07 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/at-un-israel-likely-to-stand-alone-against-iran/
9/24/13
At UN, Israel likely to stand alone against Iran

While Western powers appear ready to embrace Rouhani, who will speak later Tuesday, Netanyahu expected to warn next week against trusting new Iranian president


This year’s United Nations General Assembly enters a critical phase Tuesday, with a speech by President Barack Obama and the first appearance on the world stage of Iran’s new president, Hasan Rouhani, who is expected to attempt to convince the West of the Islamic Republic’s peaceful intentions.

As diplomacy takes center stage in New York, the US and Great Britain appear willing to thaw ties with the Islamist regime following a charm offensive by Rouhani, who in recent days has been keen to show his regime’s ostensible readiness to compromise in the nuclear standoff with the West. 

Israel stands alone in its rejection of Rouhani’s overtures, arguing that Rouhani merely put a friendlier face on a rogue regime still bent on acquiring nuclear weapons.

“Iran’s negotiation strategy is entirely consistent with Rouhani’s policy of ‘smile and enrich,’” stated an internal Israeli government document which surfaced Tuesday.

Obama’s address is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. (10 a.m. in New York). Rouhani is scheduled to speak at 1:00 a.m. (6 p.m. in New York). In between the two speeches, the two leaders could meet and exchange a handshake during a reception for heads of state hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon — but no official meeting has been scheduled so far.

Several top Israeli officials are already in New York, including International Relations and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is in charge of peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will land in the US on Sunday, where he will first meet Obama at the White House on Monday and then deliver the final address at this year’s General Assembly on Tuesday.

As he did during last year’s GA, during which he presented a cartoon bomb meant to warn the world of imminent Iranian nuclear weapons capability, Netanyahu will focus his remarks on the Iranian threat, arguing that Rouhani might agree to minor concessions in return to an easing of the sanctions against the regime but seeks to preserve the ability to build a nuclear weapon at any time.

Amid a possible détente between the West and Iran — which has reportedly agreed to close down its Fordo uranium enrichment facility if the sanctions against its banking and oil industries are lifted — the prime minister will warn against any agreement that would allow the Iran to continue its nuclear ambitions.

“A bad agreement is worse than no agreement at all,” Netanyahu is expected to say, the New York Times reported on Sunday, quoting an Israeli official who was reading from a preliminary draft of Netanyahu’s speech. “Iran must not be allowed to repeat North Korea’s ploy to get nuclear weapons. … Just like North Korea before it, Iran professes to seemingly peaceful intentions; it talks the talk of nonproliferation while seeking to ease sanctions and buy more time for its nuclear program.”

The prime minister’s speech has yet to be finalized, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Monday. However, he confirmed that an explicit comparison with North Korea would likely be an integral part of it.

After years of deadlock, Pyongyang in 2005 agreed to suspend its nuclear program in return to assurances that the US would not attack the reclusive regime. However, on February 12, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un authorized an underground nuclear test, raising international concerns and condemnations.

Israeli leaders have drawn comparisons between Pyongyang and Tehran in the past.

“Have tough sanctions stopped North Korea? No. And the fact that they produced a nuclear explosion reverberates everywhere in the Middle East, and especially in Iran,” the prime minister told Jewish Agency officials a week after the North Korean nuclear test.

On April 16, Netanyahu said at an Independence Day reception for the foreign diplomatic corps: “We have recently seen the results of a wild regime that possesses nuclear weapons. We have also seen that heavy sanctions are not always effective against a sufficiently determined regime. Therefore, we have an obligation to ensure that this will not happen again. If Iran achieves nuclear weapons, this will change the world.” Seeing Kim’s blatant disregard for international obligations, despite crippling sanctions, offered an “additional perspective” on Israel’s position vis-à-vis Iran, he added.

The North Korea parallel has been mentioned in the past, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel, but “now it will take center stage.”

Iran’s Rouhani is seeking a deal similar to the one the West struck with North Korea eight years ago — one that reduces pressure on the regime and eases sanctions but nevertheless allows them to continue fostering their nuclear ambitions, the official said. “The international community was obviously not happy about North Korea achieving nuclear capability. So we will say to them: Do not make the same mistake. By raising the North Korean issue we’re raising a precedent that all the policymakers in international community are aware of.”

According to an internal document authorized by the highest levels of the Israeli government, “Iran seeks an arrangement in which sanctions are eased or lifted in exchange for cosmetic concessions, while allowing Iran to retain sufficient nuclear material and — no less importantly — nuclear infrastructure to complete its military nuclear program on short notice.”

Tehran is developing and installing “new and advanced centrifuges” for this purpose, states the document, published Tuesday by the Washington Post. “These centrifuges enable Iran to enrich – within weeks – even low enriched uranium to weapons grade highly enriched uranium, the most critical component in making nuclear weapons. This speedy enrichment capability will make timely detection and effective response to an Iranian nuclear breakout increasingly difficult, if not impossible.”

Therefore, even an Iranian cessation of high enrichment and an agreement to hand existing highly enriched uranium would be “insufficient,” the document states, as Tehran could quickly transform its low enriched uranium to weapons grade highly enriched uranium.

“The prime minister is aware that he’s spoiling the party,” an Israeli official told The Times of Israel, referring to Jerusalem’s skepticism. “Many people in the international community want to believe in Rouhani’s charm offensive. But the prime minister believes firmly that we haven’t seen change of substance. And he will make his case even if there are those who believe that he’s spoiling the party, even if he risks sounding like a broken record. He believes that’s his moral obligation.”

Netanyahu and his aides will bring “relevant, current and timely information” to shed light on these issues to their meetings in Washington and New York next week, the official said, refusing to elaborate. “We have no expectation that we will convince everyone who wants to celebrate the party, but we won’t give up.”


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 27, 2013, 04:59:05 pm
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/27/20722870-obama-and-rouhani-make-history-with-phone-call-thawing-three-decade-freeze-between-us-and-iran?lite
9/27/13
Obama and Rouhani make history with phone call, thawing three decade freeze between US and Iran

President Barack Obama revealed he talked with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, marking the first time leaders from the U.S. and Iran have directly communicated since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

"Just now I spoke on the phone with President Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said from the White House Friday afternoon.

Rouhani has been engaged in a publicity blitz as of late, a streak that began with his sit-down with NBC News' Ann Curry last week. Rouhani spent the last few days at the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, making a number of public addresses indicating that Iran was open to a deeper relationship with the U.S. and the West, and resolving conflict around his country's nuclear program.

"The two of us discussed our ongoing efforts to reach an agreement over Iran's nuclear program," Obama said. "I reiterated to President Rouhani what I said in New York: While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward, and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive agreement."

The president noted that his conversation with Rouhani, which took place Iranian president headed to the airport, "underscores the deep mistrust between our countries, but also indicates the prospect of moving on that difficult history."

Moments before Obama took the podium, Rouhani tweeted the news.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 17, 2013, 12:16:24 am
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-hints-could-consider-wider-nuclear-inspections-092909774--sector.html
Iran hints it could consider wider nuclear inspections
10/16/13

GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran suggested it was ready to address calls to give the U.N. atomic watchdog wider inspection powers as part of Tehran's proposals to resolve a decade-old nuclear dispute with the West.

The comments from Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi appeared to be the first specific indication of what concessions Tehran might be prepared to make in return for the removal of sanctions hurting its oil-dependent economy.

Iran presented a three-phase plan for ending the standoff over its nuclear program during the first day of an October 15-16 meeting with six world powers in Geneva on Tuesday. The talks were due to resume later on Wednesday.

Iran did not give details of its proposal On Tuesday, but said it included monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear body which regularly inspects declared Iranian facilities.

Iran's official IRNA news agency asked Araqchi about the issues of uranium enrichment and the so-called Additional Protocol to Iran's agreement with the IAEA.

"Neither of these issues are within the first step (of the Iranian proposal) but form part of our last steps," he replied without going into further details, in comments reported on Wednesday.

The Additional Protocol allows unannounced inspections outside of declared nuclear sites and it is seen as a vital tool at the IAEA's disposal to make sure that a country does not have any hidden nuclear work.

The world powers have long demanded that Iran implement the protocol. Iran says it is voluntary.

The powers - the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia - also want Iran to scale back its uranium enrichment program and suspend higher-level activity.

Refined uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power plants, Iran's stated aim, but can also provide the fissile core of a nuclear bomb if processed further, which the West fears may be Tehran's ultimate goal.

Western diplomats stress they want Tehran to back up its newly conciliatory language with concrete actions.

Both sides are trying to dampen expectations of any rapid breakthrough at the two-day meeting, the first to be held since President Hassan Rouhani took office, promising conciliation over confrontation in Iran's relations with the world.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on October 20, 2013, 12:32:53 pm
US Fears Israel Now Preparing To Strike Iran Alone

 Talks in Geneva on Iran’s nuclear program are triggering fears within U.S. intelligence agencies that Israel is hardening its stance on Iran and could conduct a military attack to stave off what the Jewish state believes is a delaying tactic for Tehran to buy time to build nuclear weapons.  The clearest indicator of growing Israeli concerns, according to defense officials, is the recent large-scale Israeli air force drill Tuesday in the northern part of the country.     

MORE: http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=15433


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on October 25, 2013, 01:51:59 pm
Iran Announces 34 New Nuke Sites

Working with Russia to boost nuclear program


Iran plans to build many new nuclear plants with atomic reactors along its coastlines with the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea, Iran’s top nuclear official announced on Thursday.
 
The announcement comes just a week after Western nuclear negotiators claimed that Iran was giving ground in talks aimed at ending Tehran’s contested enrichment program.
 
Iranian leaders, however, have remained defiant in the face of talks, announcing on Thursday that Tehran will build “enough atomic reactors to generate a total of 20,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020,” according to the country’s state-run Fars News Agency.
 
Top Iranian leaders and those involved with negotiations have also been quoted in the Persian language press as rejecting key details of the proposed nuclear deal.
 
Iran also announced that it was China’s largest oil supplier in the month of September.
 
“We are considering construction of power plants along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea as well as the Central parts of Iran, but priority is given to the Persian Gulf coasts because we want to pave the way for [the construction of] water desalination facilities to supply drinking water for the Southern provinces of Iran,” Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO),  said Tuesday Fars reported.
 
At least 34 sites have already been designated for future nuclear power plants, according to Fars.
 
Additionally, Salehi announced just two days after nuclear negotiations ended that Russia would help Iran build new nuclear power plants across the country, according to Persian language press reports.
 
Salehi also suggested that Iran’s top nuclear negotiators lack the authority to agree to a deal with the West.
 
The IAEO, he claimed, also plays a role in Iran’s nuclear decision-making and would instruct negotiating officials, according to a Farsi-language Fars article translated by the Open Source Center.
 
Around 13,000 people are involved in Iran’s nuclear sector, according to Salehi, who also revealed that Russia could soon begin construction on a second nuclear power plant in Iran.
 
“We had a meeting [with Russians] at the beginning of this week regarding the signing of a protocol on the construction of the next power plant,” Salehi told Fars in Persian last week. “Once this protocol is prepared, Russia will start the constructing of another power pant in Bushehr.”
 
The latest power plant models “have been designed and are ready to be constructed, and the foundation of the next power plant is prepared in Bushehr,” where the Russians are helping Iran run final tests on another soon to be completed nuke plant, Salehi said.
 
Russia has helped Iran quicken its nuclear pace, according to Salehi.
 
“We worked with the Russians and it is a good opportunity, because it expedites our work and is not aimed at diminishing political pressure,” he said.
 
Iran’s top nuclear negotiators have also been quoted in the Iranian press downplaying progress in talks.
 
Iranian deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi, who played a lead role in the negotiations, said that the Iranian side made “no commitment,” according to Iran’s conservative Tasnim News Agency.
 
Araqchi’s comments run against Western reports claiming substantive progress in the most recent round of negotiations.
 
Iran’s main goal is to preserve its nuclear enrichment program, according to Araqchi.
 
“The country’s proposal presented in the latest talks between Tehran and world powers was aimed at protecting Iranian rights to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” Tasnim reported this week.
 
“The defined goal is safeguarding Iran’s nuclear rights, both in terms of uranium enrichment and in [the] fuel production field,” Araqchi was quoted as saying.
 
Once the West is “assured” that Iran’s nuclear program is “peaceful,” the “sanctions would be totally lifted,” Araqchi claimed.
 
Iran reportedly presented to the West a “three-step plan” and promised to consider a proposal known as the “Additional Protocol,” which would make Iran subject to strict nuclear inspections, according to Tasnim.
 
Araqchi has also been telling Iranian lawmakers that the issue of Fordow, one of Iran’s top nuclear enrichment facilities, is not even on the negotiating agenda.
 
Araqchi reportedly told the West during talks that “Tehran would not stop uranium enrichment and that the closure of Fordow was not on the agenda of the Iranian negotiating team,” according to Iran’s Press TV.
 
Fordow has long been used by Iran to enrich uranium, the key element in a nuclear bomb. Iran has been producing 20 percent enriched uranium at the site for several months now, according to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).
 
ISIS announced in a report late Thursday that Iran would have the ability to create weapons grade uranium by mid-2014, though its ability to produce a working nuclear weapons could come much sooner.

http://freebeacon.com/iran-announces-34-new-nuke-sites/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on October 26, 2013, 11:40:26 am
US should drop atomic bomb on Iran

During a panel at Yeshiva University on Tuesday evening, Sheldon Adelson, noted businessman and owner of the newspaper Israel Hayom, suggested that the US should use nuclear weapons on Iran to impose its demands from a position of strength.

Asked by moderator Rabbi Shmuley Boteach whether the US should negotiate with Iran if it were to cease its uranium enrichment program, Adelson retorted, “What are we going to negotiate about?”

Adelson then imagined what might happen if an American official were to call up an Iranian official, say “watch this,” and subsequently drop a nuclear bomb in the middle of the Iranian desert.

"Then you say, ‘See! The next one is in the middle of Tehran. So, we mean business. You want to be wiped out? Go ahead and take a tough position and continue with your nuclear development. You want to be peaceful? Just reverse it all, and we will guarantee you that you can have a nuclear power plant for electricity purposes, energy purposes’," Adelson said.

REST: http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Adelson-US-should-drop-atomic-bomb-on-Iran-329641


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on October 27, 2013, 03:54:30 am
Quote
Sheldon Adelson, noted businessman and owner of the newspaper Israel Hayom

Noted businessman? That's an understatement. He's one of the riches men in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson)

I'd like to know though how he managed to lose over 90% of his wealth between 08 and 09, then within 2 years, his worth went from just over $3 billion to over $20 billion, and is now worth estimated $34 billion according to Bloomberg. So, according to that, he's made about $10 billion in about 2 years.

Strange. Went from estimated 34 billion by 2008, then by 2009, he lost approx. 93% to about 3.5 billion. And today, he's back up to over 30 billion.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 16, 2013, 12:33:50 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/german-men-sentenced-for-smuggling-nuclear-components-to-iran/

German men sentenced for smuggling nuclear components to Iran

Procurement of parts for Iran’s heavy water reactor in Arak believed to be largest violation so far of trade embargo with Iran


By JTA November 16, 2013, 9:03 am

ERLIN – A Hamburg court sentenced four men for smuggling products for use in Iran’s nuclear program, believed to be the largest violation so far of the trade embargo with Iran.

Critics said the sentences, ranging from four years in prison to 18 months probation, are too lenient, and called for repercussions for the German Office for Export Control. 

According to the Hamburg Abendblatt newspaper, the four men procured reactor parts for Iran’s heavy water reactor in Arak, but claimed they were sending the goods to Turkey and Azerbaijan.

U.S. intelligence services reportedly informed German export authorities about the planned illegal shipments in 2009, but the shipments went ahead in 2010 and 2011.

German Member of Parliament Klaus Barthel, economic policy speaker for the opposition Social Democratic Party,has blasted the Federal Government in recent weeks for refusing to answer questions about the lapse.

This week, the German non-governmental organization Stop the Bomb criticized the lenient sentences and called on Germany to fire the director of the Federal Office for Export Control, Arnold Wallraff.

Despite all warnings, “they still gave their permission for the exports,” Stop the Bomb Executive Director Michael Spaney told JTA. ”It is a major scandal.”

Despite the reported U.S. warnings, a German businessman identified as Rudolf M. was able to deliver 92 valves for nuclear power plants via an Iranian middleman, Hossein Tanideh, who currently is in jail in Turkey. Rudolf M. was assisted by three German-Iranians identified as Gholamali K.,  Kianzad K. and Hamid K.

Gholamali K. also helped organize delivery of nearly 900 valves from India
.

The Hamburg judge said the four men had not only violated the embargo but endangered German foreign relations. “They knew exactly that this was business with a nuclear background,” he said.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on November 20, 2013, 06:24:55 am
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Wednesday that Iran will not step back 'one iota' from its nuclear rights - @Reuters
read more on reuters.com
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/11/20/iran-nuclear-khamenei-idUKL5N0J51IU20131120

Obama backs them too...  ::)
http://endtimesandcurrentevents.freesmfhosting.com/index.php/topic,9627.0.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on November 27, 2013, 06:09:32 am
Experts: Obama's Iran Moves Could Start World War III

According to a recent news report, President Barack Obama has for over a year secretly conducted negotiations with Iran (through his adviser Valerie Jarrett) and the Geneva talks on Iranian nukes now appear to be just a facade providing international legitimacy for Obama's secret deal with Iran. Secretary of State John Kerry's contradictory criticism of Israeli objections to that deal only suggests more bad faith by the Obama administration. Kerry claims that Israel has been kept fully apprised of the negotiations with Iran but then argues that Israel has never seen the terms of the proposed deal with Iran and therefore shouldn't question it. The Obama administration apparently wants to present the nuclear deal as a fait accompli that Israel must simply accept as is. In what is becoming a familiar pattern, Russia is readily moving in to the Mideast areas where U.S. influence has waned because of Obama's many fumbles in the region.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/obamas-iran-moves-could-start-world-war-iii-109169/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on November 28, 2013, 08:43:47 am
'Israel, US to stage large-scale military drill when Iran nuclear deal expires'

Israel and the United States will stage a large-scale military exercise toward the end of the six-month period in which the interim agreement between the P5+1 powers and Iran takes effect... The drill is intended to signal to the Iranians that while the West may prefer diplomacy to solve the nuclear stalemate, it is still keeping the military option alive...

http://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/News/Israel-US-to-stage-large-scale-drill-when-Iran-nuclear-deal-expires-333302 


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 25, 2014, 11:46:15 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-iranian-warships-en-route-to-atlantic/
In first, Iranian warships en route to Atlantic

Khark helicopter-carrier warship and Sabalan destroyer said heading west in historic trip, no military objective mentioned

1/21/14

Iran’s navy has dispatched warships on a mission to the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in history, an Iranian news agency said.

The flotilla, consisting of a Khark logistic and helicopter-carrier warship and Sabalan destroyer, could journey as much as 25,000 nautical kilometers in the next three months, Fars News reported Tuesday.

No specific military mission was identified, and no ports of call were mentioned.

Bidding farewell to the crews, Rear Admiral Seyyed Mahmoud Moussavi said Iran has a message of peace and friendship for the nations of the world and only seeks to display its defensive power capabilities.

But previous statements by high-ranking Iranian naval personnel had declared Iran’s intention to dispatch a next flotilla of warships to the high seas at around this date to protect the country’s cargo ships and oil tankers against pirate attacks.

According to navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, “The navy’s next flotilla will be dispatched to either the Pacific Ocean or the Atlantic on January 21 – February 20.” He underlined that the flotilla will pass through the Mediterranean Sea to reach the Atlantic Ocean.

Since November 2008, the Iranian navy has been operating anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, after Somali buccaneers hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.

The Gulf of Aden — which links the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal — is a critical energy corridor and the primary route for Persian Gulf oil shipped to Western markets.



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on January 25, 2014, 12:50:25 pm
Quote
seeks to display its defensive power capabilities

 :D The "Iranian Navy" is like a contradiction in terms! What navy? They got a couple ships and a bunch of speed boats. They'd have a hard time defending a bath tub.



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Christian40 on January 26, 2014, 05:11:49 am
Quote
Rear Admiral Seyyed Mahmoud Moussavi said Iran has a message of peace and friendship for the nations of the world and only seeks to display its defensive power capabilities.

isnt that wonderful Mr sailor but i dont think you get the game.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 08, 2014, 07:52:09 pm
Iran says warships headed close to US borders
2/8/14
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-says-warships-headed-close-us-borders-192153898.html;_ylt=A0LEVypi2_ZSR0EANcJXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0NmdoNjl0BHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1NNRTI2Ml8x

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian warships dispatched to the Atlantic Ocean will travel close to U.S. maritime borders for the first time, a senior Iranian naval commander said Saturday.

The commander of Iran's Northern Navy Fleet, Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad, said the vessels have already entered the Atlantic Ocean via waters near South Africa, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The fleet, consisting of a destroyer and a helicopter-carrying supply ship, began its voyage last month from the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. The ships, carrying some 30 navy academy cadets for training along with their regular crews, are on a three-month mission.

The voyage comes amid an ongoing push by Iran to demonstrate its ability to project power across the Middle East and beyond.

IRNA quoted Haddad as saying the fleet is approaching U.S. maritime borders for the first time. The Islamic Republic considers the move as a response to U.S. naval deployments near its own coastlines. The U.S. Navy's 5th fleet is based in Bahrain, just across the Persian Gulf.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on February 09, 2014, 05:02:03 am
 :D Two ships.

Well, seeing they claim to be near US shores, they should just cruise right on over to NOB Norfolk and say hello. While they are there, they can see what real navy ships look like.

(http://theaviationist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Norfolk-2.jpg)


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on March 03, 2014, 05:25:06 am
Iranian Official: 'We are Preparing to Liberate Jerusalem'

The Islamist Basij militia force in Tehran ran a special military exercise Thursday and Friday preparing for an Iranian takeover of Jerusalem. ?The exercise, entitled "March to Al-Maqdis (Jerusalem)," included training in the event of such a takeover, including drills for the protection of cities, assistance and rescue, dealing with social unrest, the protection of sensitive and important military centers, dealing with the invasion and landing of "enemy" (IDF) forces from helicopters, and carrying out complicated tactical maneuvers at night.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Controls/SendFriend.ashx?print=1&type=0&item=177965


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 17, 2014, 09:41:23 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-ukraine-casts-pall-over-iran-nuke-talks-131541285.html
Analysis: Ukraine casts pall over Iran nuke talks
3/17/14

VIENNA (AP) — Tehran may have a new ally when Iran nuclear talks reconvene Tuesday — the Ukraine crisis. U.S.-Russian tensions over Ukraine could fray the search for consensus on what Iran needs to do to ease fears it could make atomic arms.

Both Washington and Moscow are emphasizing that their commitment to eliminating any Iranian proliferation threat overrides their clash over Ukraine. But diplomats tell The Associated Press that Moscow and Washington are wide apart on how much Tehran needs to trim its nuclear program, a split that Iran could exploit.

In a more immediate sign of possible trouble ahead, Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency reported that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif cancelled a planned pre-talks dinner Monday with the European Union's foreign policy chief over her meetings with opposition activists in Iran earlier this month.

Ahead of the resumption of the Vienna talks, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said she expects Russia to "remain an active partner" in the attempt to persuade Tehran to agree to long-term nuclear curbs in exchange for full sanctions relief.

A senior Russian diplomat said his country would work "actively" to reach a deal. He demanded anonymity because he did not have permission from Moscow to comment.

But former U.S. nuclear negotiator Gary Samore says any superpower tensions will make Tehran feel "under much less pressure to make concessions."

That, in turn, could affect what the U.S. sees as central goal — reducing the number of Iranian centrifuges set up at uranium enrichment sites.

Iran says its enrichment program is meant only to make lower-enriched fuel for reactors, scientific research or for medical treatments. But because enrichment to very high levels creates weapons-grade uranium that can be used in nuclear warheads, Washington wants Tehran to scale back from nearly 20,000 centrifuges to no more than a few thousand.

Russia's demands are far less strict. Two diplomats told the AP that Moscow was open to Iran keeping many more of the machines — perhaps even the status quo of the nearly 20,000 — with further negotiations on how many would be allowed to operate
.

Moscow's condition would be that Iran ratify an agreement with the U.N. nuclear agency that would give agency experts wide-ranging inspection powers to make sure Tehran's nuclear program is peaceful, they said. The diplomats are familiar with the details of the closed-door talks but demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them.

China usually supports Russia's position at the negotiations, but Moscow's stance is rejected by the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

Moscow and Washington have been able to bridge previous differences over Iran. And former State Department official Mark Fitzpatrick notes that even during the Cold War, the two nations cooperated "despite many periods of intense distrust."

Fitzpatrick, who is now with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, lists Russian-U.S teamwork on bringing about the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and extending its reach as well as concluding several arms control agreements as examples of how common interests can override even the worst tensions.

Still, he says a Moscow at odds with Washington over larger geopolitical issues could put its own agenda — including building nuclear reactors for Iran — above cooperation. Russia, he says, always "marches to its own drum."

Samore, of Harvard's Belfer Center, says Iran is bound to feel "emboldened," and public statements and actions from Tehran seem to mesh with that view, including the reported dinner cancellation. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's spokesman, Michael Mann confirmed only that — contrary to established routine — the two would not meet for dinner on the eve of the upcoming nuclear round.

Formally at least, Ashton is the chief negotiator for the six powers. Zarif leads the Iranian negotiating team.

At the same time Moscow is negotiating on reducing Iran's nuclear program, it is in talks on expanding it by building new reactors there. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said last week his country and Russia had common interests and that Tehran was banking on "Moscow's help to reach the final agreement."

Iran's Fars news agency, meanwhile, appeared to take a dig at veiled U.S. threats of military strikes if negotiations fail and Washington believes that Tehran is working on a bomb. It republished a cartoon showing President Barack Obama peering into an empty paint can marked "Red Line."

The cartoon shows a grinning Russian President Vladimir Putin walking away, with the caption: "I think you used it all on Syria."


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on March 19, 2014, 09:05:30 am
Netanyahu orders IDF to prepare for possible strike on Iran during 2014
Despite talks between Iran and West, senior officers tell MKs 10b shekels ($2.9b) allocated to IDF to prepare for possible attack.


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon have ordered the army to continue preparing for a possible military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities at a cost of at least 10 billion shekels ($2.89 billion) this year, despite the talks between Iran and the West, according to recent statements by senior military officers.

Three Knesset members who were present at Knesset joint committee hearings on Israel Defense Forces plans that were held in January and February say they learned during the hearings that 10 billion shekels to 12 billion shekels of the defense budget would be allocated this year for preparations for a strike on Iran, approximately the same amount that was allocated in 2013.

Some MKs asked the army’s deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, and planning directorate official Brig. Gen. Agai Yehezkel whether they felt there was justification for investing so much money in those preparations, said the MKs present at the meetings, who asked that their names be withheld because of the sensitivity of the issue. They said some lawmakers also asked whether the interim agreement reached between Iran and the six powers in November 2013, and the ongoing negotiations for a full nuclear accord, had caused any change in the IDF’s preparations.

The IDF representatives said the army had received a clear directive from government officials from the political echelon – meaning Netanyahu and Ya’alon – to continue readying for a possible independent strike by Israel on the Iranian nuclear sites, regardless of the talks now happening between Iran and the West, the three MKs said.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit declined to respond to questions by Haaretz on the matter, as did the Prime Minister’s Office.

Ever since the interim accord between Iran and the six powers was reached, Netanyahu has stressed that Israel will not consider itself bound by it. In the last few weeks, as talks on a permanent accord have resumed, Netanyahu has upped his rhetoric on the Iranian issue, and is again making implied threats about a possible unilateral Israeli strike on the Iranian nuclear sites.

“My friends, I believe that letting Iran enrich uranium would open up the floodgates,” Netanyahu said at the AIPAC conference earlier this month. “That must not happen. And we will make sure it does not happen.”

Ya’alon recently indicated during a speech at Tel Aviv University that his view has shifed and he is now likely to support a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran, in light of his assessment that the Obama administration will not do so.

“We think that the United States should be the one leading the campaign against Iran,” Ya’alon said this week. “But the U.S. has entered talks with them and unfortunately, in the haggling in the Persian bazaar, the Iranians were better. ... Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody to look out for us but ourselves.”

The second round of nuclear talks opened in Vienna on Tuesday, with the participation of European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Zarif and senior diplomats from the six powers. This was followed by a session involving the Iranian delegation and representatives of the six powers, and by separate meetings between Iranian representatives and representatives from each delegation. The U.S. and Iranian negotiating teams also met.

After the first day of talks, Ashton’s spokesman, Michael Mann, described them as “positive, serious and substantive.” Iranian media reported that officials with the Iranian delegation said this round of talks will focus on how much uranium enrichment Iran will be permitted as part of a final accord, along with the future of the heavy water plant at Arak and the lifting of sanctions.

In an opinion piece in Britain’s Financial Times this week, Zarif argued that his country is not seeking nuclear weapons and said the West’s suspicions will threaten Iran’s national security. Nuclear weapons are a tool of the past, Zarif argued, writing: “Israel’s nuclear arsenal was of little help in Lebanon in 2006.”

Zarif said Iran must convince the West that it is not seeking nuclear arms, citing the fatwa ostensibly written by supreme leader Ali Khamenei that forbids the production of nuclear weapons. The exact language of this fatwa has never been made public.

“Few now doubt that the only way to ensure that Iran’s nuclear energy programme will remain exclusively peaceful is to reach a mutually acceptable agreement,” wrote Zarif. “This shift did not occur overnight. It was prompted by the realisation that coercion, pressure and sanctions only result in more centrifuges, more resentment and deeper mistrust.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.580701


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Kilika on March 20, 2014, 02:54:20 am
Isn't Israel always in preparation for attacks on their neighbors? ::)


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on May 06, 2014, 12:48:14 pm
Large explosion rocks northern Iranian city

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's semi-official Fars news agency says a heavy explosion has rocked Qazvin city in the country's north, and that authorities expect many casualties.

The Tuesday report said the explosion happened in a storage facility. Qazvin is a commercial city with many stores.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/large-explosion-rocks-northern-iranian-city


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on May 06, 2014, 01:34:51 pm
Large explosion rocks northern Iranian city

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's semi-official Fars news agency says a heavy explosion has rocked Qazvin city in the country's north, and that authorities expect many casualties.

The Tuesday report said the explosion happened in a storage facility. Qazvin is a commercial city with many stores.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/large-explosion-rocks-northern-iranian-city

Iranian official: Fire in Qazvin started in a wood and oil storage facility; no deaths reported - @AP


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on May 27, 2014, 05:53:18 am
Iran’s Supreme Leader: Jihad Will Continue Until America is No More

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, all but said on Sunday that negotiations over the country’s illicit nuclear program are over and that the Islamic Republic’s ideals include destroying America.

“Those [Iranians] who want to promote negotiation and surrender to the oppressors and blame the Islamic Republic as a warmonger in reality commit treason,” Khamenei told a meeting of members of parliament, according to the regime’s Fars News Agency.

Khamenei emphasized that without a combative mindset, the regime cannot reach its higher Islamic role against the “oppressors’ front.”

“The reason for continuation of this battle is not the warmongering of the Islamic Republic. Logic and reason command that for Iran, in order to pass through a region full of pirates, needs to arm itself and must have the capability to defend itself,” he said.

“Today’s world is full of thieves and plunderers of human honor, dignity and morality who are equipped with knowledge, wealth and power, and under the pretense of humanity easily commit crimes and betray human ideals and start wars in different parts of the world.”

In response to a question by a parliamentarian on how long this battle will continue, Khamenei said,“Battle and jihad are endless because evil and its front continue to exist. … This battle will only end when the society can get rid of the oppressors’ front with America at the head of it, which has expanded its claws on human mind, body and thought. … This requires a difficult and lengthy struggle and need for great strides.”

Khamenei cited the scientific advancement of the country. “The accelerated scientific advancement of the last 12 years cannot stop under any circumstances,” he said, referring to the strides the regime has made toward becoming a nuclear power.

As reported on May 19 on The Daily Caller, Iran has put up new roadblocks to reaching a deal with the P5+1 world powers over its illicit nuclear program. The powers are the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany.

Three days of negotiations in the fourth round of Geneva meetings ended recently without concrete results when the Iranian team presented the country’s new “red lines” — diminishing any hope by the Obama administration to claim victory in its approach to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to reports from Iran.

The Obama administration had hoped that with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif showing an eagerness to solve the nuclear issue and address the West’s concerns, there would be a possibility for a negotiated solution. An interim agreement penned last November in Geneva was touted as an “historic nuclear deal.”

Under that agreement, Iran, in return for billions of dollars in sanctions relief, limited its enrichment activity to the 5 percent level with a current stockpile of over 10 tons (enough for six nuclear bombs), converted much of its 20 percent enriched stock to harmless oxide, and agreed to allow more intrusive inspections of its nuclear plants by the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose inspections were limited to only agreed-upon facilities.

The Iranian delegation last week presented new red lines that could not be crossed, including the expansion of the country’s research and development for its nuclear program, the need of the country to continue enrichment, and the fact that the country’s ballistic missile program — despite U.N. sanctions — is not up for negotiation.

At the same time, IAEA officials met again with their Iranian counterparts last week in Tehran to discuss information on the work on detonators and needed collaboration by the regime to clear outstanding issues on its nuclear program as part of seven transparency steps Iran had agreed to fulfill by May 15, which has yet to take place.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/25/irans-supreme-leader-jihad-will-continue-until-america-is-no-more/#ixzz32ucR61cp


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 04, 2014, 03:41:59 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-says-gave-missile-technology-hamas-172659788.html
Iran says it gave missile technology to Hamas
8/4/14

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Hamas is able to fire missiles into Israel because Tehran provided weapons technology to the militant group to defend itself against Israeli attacks, a senior Iranian official said Monday.

Officials from Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards have said in the past that Fajr-5 missiles are part of Hamas' Gaza Strip arsenal, whose technology has been supplied by Iran and produced locally without needing direct shipment.

"Palestinian resistance missiles are the blessings of Iran's transfer of technology," the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, Mohsen Rezaei, was quoted as saying by Al-Alam, the Arabic channel of Iran's state TV. "We need to transfer defensive and military technology to Palestinians so that they can build weapons under the blockade and defend themselves," he added.

Hamas has fired more than 3,200 rockets into Israel during the recent conflict, with some intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defense system and many of the crude missiles landing in open areas away from cities. Israel, which launched its military operation in Gaza on July 8, has since carried out more than 4,600 airstrikes across the crowded seaside area. More than 1,880 Palestinians and over 60 Israelis have been killed in the fighting.

Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guard chief commander, wrote to President Hassan Rouhani this week calling on him to provide air defense systems to Hamas to hit invading Israeli planes. He also said Hamas should dig tunnels to be used as shelter to protect Gaza's population from Israeli assaults.

"I've requested Rouhani to provide air defense systems to Gaza so that Palestinians can defend themselves against invading planes," he said, adding that Iran was not shy to publicly declare its military support for Hamas.

"The Americans in recent days approved about $300 million to strengthen (Israel's) Iron Dome. You should provide air defense systems to Palestinians to be able to defend their people against aerial bombardment," he said in the appeal to Rouhani.

Rezaei also urged Hamas to capture Israeli soldiers to use them as bargaining chips in its battle against Israel.

"Getting their soldiers captured is the weak point of Israelis. Should two or three be captured, all Zionists will surrender," he said.

Rezaei said Israel's goal in the ongoing war was to disarm Hamas and destroy its missile power, but that it has failed to do so despite discovering and hitting some underground tunnels.

"The Zionists seized some tunnels but they can't plow the entire Gaza Strip. Facilities where weapons are produced remain intact," he said.

Iran's Guard commanders have boasted that stone-throwing Palestinians are hitting Tel Aviv with missiles, thanks to Iran's support.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, called on Muslims from around the world last week to help arm Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to defend themselves against Israel.

Iran, a Hamas backer, does not recognize Israel and supports militant anti-Israeli groups such as the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 06, 2014, 01:17:36 pm
http://news.msn.com/world/indirect-israel-hamas-talks-on-gaza-start-in-cairo

Indirect Israel-Hamas talks on Gaza start in Cairo

8/6/14

CAIRO (AP) — Israel and Hamas began indirect talks on a new border deal for the blockaded Gaza Strip as a cease-fire ending their month-long war entered its second day Wednesday.

Israel has said it wants the Islamic militant Hamas to disarm, or at least ensure it cannot re-arm, before considering the group's demand that the territory's borders be opened. Israel and Egypt imposed a closure after the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007.

The indirect talks are being held in Cairo, with Egyptian mediators shuttling between the delegations.

Disarming Hamas tops the list of Israeli demands presented in a meeting with Egyptian mediators late Tuesday, said an Egyptian security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The Israeli delegation has since left for Israel but was to return to Cairo later Wednesday, the official added.

The Palestinian delegation is composed of negotiators from all major factions, including Hamas and was to meet with Egyptian officials later Wednesday to be briefed on Israel's demands, said Bassam Salhi, a Palestinian delegate,.

"The most important thing to us is removing the blockade and start reconstructing Gaza," he said. "There can be no deal without that."

He said the cease-fire, set to expire at 8 a.m. Friday (0500 GMT), would likely be extended if more time for talks is needed.

Talks are still in the early stages, but the outlines of a possible solution have emerged, including internationally funded reconstruction of Gaza overseen by a Palestinian unity government led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Western-backed Abbas lost control of Gaza in the Hamas takeover of 2007.

In a step toward reconstruction, Norway is organizing a donor conference, tentatively set for the beginning of September.

Regarding easing the blockade, a statement by Egyptian intelligence indicated it would not agree to major changes at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, and the onus of lifting the border closure would fall on Israel.

The cease-fire is the longest lull in a war that has killed nearly 1,900 Palestinians — 75 percent of them civilians according to the United Nations. Israel has lost 67 people, including three civilians.

The war broke out on July 8, when the Israeli military began bombarding targets in Gaza in an attempt to stop Hamas from launching rockets at Israel and then nine days later it sent in ground troops to destroy underground tunnels it said were built to attack Israel.

But in the weeks leading up to the war, Israeli-Palestinian tensions had already been rising following the June killings of three Israeli teenagers, whose bodies were discovered two weeks after they disappeared in the West Bank.

Israel accused Hamas of being behind the abductions, and subsequently carried out a massive ground operation in the West Bank, arresting hundreds of Hamas operatives as part of a manhunt. And in early July, an Arab teenager was abducted and burned alive by Israeli extremists in an apparent revenge attack. Six Jewish Israelis were arrested in that killing.

On Wednesday, Israel's Justice Ministry said it had arrested Hussam al-Qawasmi, the suspected mastermind behind the killing of the Israeli teens, in July.

He allegedly led a three-man cell, all of whom were affiliated with Hamas. The militant group has not claimed any connection to the teens' abduction and killings.

In Gaza, people took advantage on Wednesday of the calm to return to their devastated homes and inspect the damage.

People trickled back to their homes making their way over buckled roads, through dangling power lines and overturned trees to inspect their neighborhoods. Along the way, rows of flattened buildings alternated with moderately damaged structures — and rare buildings with no damage.

Cars and donkey carts loaded with household goods and mattresses filled the streets and queues formed at banks as people waited to withdraw cash from ATMs.

Crews from utility companies worked frantically to repair downed electricity and telephone lines. Gaza's only power plant was shut down after it was badly damaged by an Israeli attack and repairs are expected to take months.

The densely populated strip now only has 2-3 hours of electricity a day which trickles in from Egypt and Israel.

In the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, some expressed hope that the intensity of the destruction in this round of fighting — the third since Hamas took control of Gaza — would ratchet up enough pressure on the international community to find solutions to the territory's problems.

"The war was necessary to force the blockade to be lifted," said Mohammed Musleh, 27, as he surveyed his now uninhabital third floor apartment damaged by the shelling. "I hope that this time there will be a really permanent solution for it."


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 07, 2014, 06:46:19 am
Report: Netanyahu, Kerry Phone Call ‘Cut Off’ Sunday, Have Not Spoken Since

A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that ended a month of war was holding for a second day Wednesday, ahead of negotiations in Cairo on a long-term truce and a broader deal for the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata reported from Tel Aviv on Wednesday that despite the longest lull in fighting since the current crisis began, the cease-fire felt more like a standoff, and the prospect of a return to war wasn’t far away; Israeli tanks were still positioned right on the Gaza border.

Whether the calm lasts, said D’Agata, was entirely dependent on the success of the talks in Cairo. Both sides have sent teams to discuss opposing demands that Hamas demilitarize and Israel end its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

But they’ve been fighting over those same opposing demands for eight years, and each minute of the 72-hour cease-fire that passes, is one minute closer to the deadline running out.

In the coming days, Egyptian mediators are to shuttle between delegations from both sides to try to work out a deal.

Some details have emerged about the negotiating points of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, including an internationally funded reconstruction that would be overseen by a Palestinian unity government led by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Meanwhile, Norway is organizing a donor conference and the Western-backed Abbas is expected to take the lead in overseeing the rebuilding in the coastal territory, which his Fatah movement lost to Hamas in 2007.

The Times of Israel reports that a call between Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was disconnected Sunday. The two reportedly have not spoken since.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said “their phone call was cut off” and that there was a “communications issue.”

“Sometimes calls get cut off. [I ]t was a brief call, is what I’m trying to convey,” Psaki said when asked if the Israeli prime minister might have hung up on Kerry in anger. “There was nothing that interesting about it, no. That was not the case. That was not the case.”

The cease-fire is the longest lull in a war that has killed nearly 1,900 Palestinians. Israel has lost 67 people, including three civilians.

The war broke out on July 8, when the Israeli military began bombarding targets in Gaza in an attempt to stop Hamas from launching rockets at Israel. On July 17, Israel sent ground troops into the densely-populated territory to destroy underground tunnels it said Hamas had constructed for attacks inside Israel.

But in the weeks leading up to the war, Israeli-Palestinian tensions were soaring in the wake of the June killings of three Israeli teenagers, whose bodies were discovered two weeks after they disappeared in the West Bank.

Israel accused Hamas of being behind the abductions, and subsequently carried out a massive ground operation in the West Bank, arresting hundreds of Hamas operatives as part of a manhunt. And in early July, an Arab teenager was abducted and burned alive by Israeli extremists in an apparent revenge attack. Six Jewish Israelis were arrested in that killing.

On Wednesday, Israel’s justice ministry confirmed that the suspected mastermind behind the killing of the three Israeli teens had been arrested in July. The suspect, Husam al-Qawasmi, allegedly led a three-man cell that Israeli prosecutors say kidnapped and murdered the teens. It wasn’t immediately clear if al-Qawasmi has been charged.

In Gaza, meanwhile, people have taken advantage of the calm to return to their devastated homes and inspect the damage.

For the first time in nearly a month, CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward said the streets of Gaza were bustling Tuesday, as Israeli troops withdrew completely and both sides stopped firing.

Ward reported that after weeks of relentless bombardment, the full extent of the damage was only just beginning to sink in. Many of the people who were finally able to come home Tuesday found they had no homes to return to. Entire neighborhoods have been completely destroyed.

Cars and donkey carts loaded with household goods and mattresses filled the streets and queues formed at banks as people waited to withdraw cash from ATMs.

Crews from utility companies worked frantically to repair downed electricity and telephone lines, though with Gaza’s only electrical generating plant badly damaged by an Israeli attack, it may be a long while before anything resembling normal service is restored.

In the devastated Shijaiyah neighborhood east of Gaza city, carpenter Mahmoud Al Maghani, 44, surveyed the damage to his property.

“I think my workshop was here, but honestly I can’t make sure of that,” he said. “I came yesterday and all I found was rubble.”

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/08/06/report-netanyahu-kerry-phone-call-cut-off-sunday-have-not-spoken-since/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 07, 2014, 07:48:35 am
Markell slams Carter as friend of terrorists

The leader of a Messianic Jewish ministry says recent comments by former president Jimmy Carter suggests that he hasn't met an Islamic terrorist that he doesn't like.

Jimmy Carter has proven over the years that he is not a friend of the nation of Israel.

Markell, Jan (Olive Tree Ministries)Now as Israel tries to root out Hamas terrorist cells in Gaza, Carter writes in "Foreign Policy" magazine, "There is no humane or legal justification for the way the Israeli Defense Forces are conducting this war."

He also suggested the West should recognize Hamas as a legitimate "political actor" that represents the bulk of the Palestinian population.

Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, alleges that Carter has become the "chief facilitator of modern terrorism."

She recalls that Carter, when president, allowed the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, which she observes has led to the current war with radical Islam.

"It's like Carter has never met a terrorist he doesn't like," she tells OneNewsNow.

Markell says while most of Carter's horrific offenses have been done since he left office, she predicts Barack Obama's anti-Israel legacy will be far worse.

"The last two years of Obama's administration are going to turn on Israel in ways we can't imagine right now," she says, predicting that Obama will prove to be a worse enemy of Israel than even Carter.

Once Obama leaves office, Markell also predicts he will be out of control with his vocal opposition to Israel.

Carter's commentary at "Foreign Policy" can be read here.

- See more at: http://www.onenewsnow.com/politics-govt/2014/08/07/markell-slams-carter-as-friend-of-terrorists#.U-N1X2OhFyI



Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 01, 2014, 09:44:08 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/israels-netanyahu-iran-poses-greater-threat-islamic-state-171215664.html
Israel's Netanyahu: Iran poses greater threat than Islamic State
9/29/14

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday tried to shift the spotlight away from the Islamic State militant group and back to Iran, warning the United Nations that a nuclear-armed Tehran would pose a far greater threat than "militant Islamists on pickup trucks."

Islamic State's seizure of large swaths of Syria and Iraq and its killings of civilians and soldiers have dominated discussions during five days of speeches at the United Nations General Assembly podium and on the sidelines.

But Netanyahu described Iran, Islamic State and the militant group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip as part of a single team, comparing them all to Germany's Nazis, who killed six million Jews in World War Two.

"The Nazis believed in a master race, the militant Islamists believe in a master faith," Netanyahu said in his speech at the annual gathering of the 193-nation assembly in New York. "They just disagree who among them will be the master of the master faith."

"Make no mistake, ISIS (Islamic State) must be defeated," Netanyahu added. "But to defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war."

"It's one thing to confront militant Islamists on pickup trucks armed with Kalashnikov rifles, it's another thing to confront militant Islamists armed with weapons of mass destruction," Netanyahu said.

Iran rejects allegations by Western powers and their allies that it is developing the capability to produce atomic weapons and wants economic sanctions lifted as part of any nuclear deal with six countries negotiating with Tehran.

By describing Iran, Islamic State and Hamas as part of the same team, Netanyahu appeared to play on doubts among U.S. lawmakers about the wisdom of President Barack Obama's decision to engage with Tehran after the 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani, a soft-spoken pragmatist, to resolve the 12-year-old nuclear standoff between the Iran and the West.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 22, 2015, 07:00:10 pm
Israeli TV shows ‘Iranian missile’ that ‘can reach far beyond Europe’
Satellite images taken outside Tehran feature first look at long-range missile newly developed by Iran, TV report says

1/21/15

Iran has built a 27-meter-long missile, capable of delivering a warhead “far beyond Europe,” and placed it on a launch pad at a site close to Tehran, an Israeli television report said Wednesday, showing what it said were the first satellite images of the missile ever seen in the West.

It stressed that the missile could be used to launch spacecraft or satellites, but also to carry warheads.

The Channel 2 news report showed satellite imagery documenting what it said was Iran’s “very rapid progress” on long-range missile manufacture.

It showed one photograph of a site near Tehran, which it said the West had known about for two years, where Iran was working on engines for its long-range missiles.

It then showed a satellite photograph of a second site, nearby, which featured a launch pad, with the 27-meter missile on it — an Iranian missile “never seen before” by the West.

The missile is capable of taking a manned spacecraft or satellite into space, the TV report said.

It is also capable of carrying a conventional or non-conventional warhead “far beyond Europe,” the report added.

The TV report said the satellite images were taken by the Eros B commercial Earth observation satellite, which was designed and manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries, launched in 2006, and is owned by the Israeli firm ImageSat International.

Israel has long charged that Iran is working toward a nuclear weapons capability, and has publicly opposed any negotiated accommodation with Iran that would leave it with a uranium enrichment capability for potential nuclear weapons use.


Read more: Israeli TV shows 'Iranian missile' that 'can reach far beyond Europe' | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-tv-shows-iranian-missile-that-can-reach-far-beyond-europe/#ixzz3PbrH8rZo


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: RickStudy on January 23, 2015, 07:05:54 am
In my opinion a regional war between Israel and her neighbors is more likely then a fight between Israel and Iran.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 24, 2015, 01:04:50 pm
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-22/netanyahu-mossad-split-divides-u-s-congress-on-iran-sanctions
1/21/15
Israeli Mossad Goes Rogue, Warns U.S. on Iran Sanctions

The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has broken ranks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling U.S. officials and lawmakers that a new Iran sanctions bill in the U.S. Congress would tank the Iran nuclear negotiations.

Already, the Barack Obama administration and some leading Republican senators are using the Israeli internal disagreement to undermine support for the bill, authored by Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Robert Menendez, which would enact new sanctions if current negotiations falter.

Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee  -- supported by Republican Senators Lindsay Graham and John McCain -- is pushing for his own legislation on the Iran nuclear deal, which doesn't contain sanctions but would require that the Senate vote on any pact that is agreed upon in Geneva. The White House is opposed to both the Kirk-Menendez bill and the Corker bill; it doesn't want Congress to meddle at all in the delicate multilateral diplomacy with Iran.

Iran's Nuclear Program

Israeli intelligence officials have been briefing both Obama administration officials and visiting U.S. senators about their concerns on the Kirk-Menendez bill, which would increase sanctions on Iran only if the Iranian government can't strike a deal with the so-called P5+1 countries by a June 30 deadline or fails to live up to its commitments. Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister’s office has been supporting the Kirk-Menendez bill, as does the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, ahead of what will be a major foreign policy confrontation between the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government in coming weeks.

Evidence of the Israeli rift surfaced Wednesday when Secretary of State John Kerry said that an unnamed Israeli intelligence official had said the new sanctions bill would be “like throwing a grenade into the process.” But an initial warning from Israeli Mossad leaders was also delivered last week in Israel to a Congressional delegation -- including Corker, Graham, McCain and fellow Republican John Barrasso; Democratic Senators Joe Donnelly and Tim Kaine; and independent Angus King -- according to lawmakers who were present and staff members who were briefed on the exchange. When Menendez (who was not on the trip) heard about the briefing, he quickly phoned Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer to seek clarification.

Barrasso told us Tuesday that different parts of the Israeli government told the delegation different things. “We met with a number of government officials from many different parts of the government. There’s not a uniform view there,” he said.

In a Wednesday morning hearing on Iran at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Corker talked about the Israel visit and said that his bill (not the Kirk-Menendez bill) was acceptable to all the Israeli officials they spoke with. “Some of us were in Israel this weekend over this very same issue. We have heard no one, no one, say that if Congress were to weigh in on the final agreement it would in any way destabilize the negotiations,” Corker said.

Menendez is so livid at the administration, he decried its efforts to avert Congressional action on Iran at the hearing, telling Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken: “You know, I have to be honest with you, the more I hear from the administration in its quotes, the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran.”

Tuesday night, Obama threatened to veto the Kirk-Menendez bill if it passes Congress. Wednesday morning, House Speaker John Boehner responded by announcing that Netanyahu has accepted his invitation to address a joint session of Congress on Feb. 11, just as Congress is likely to be embroiled in a legislative fight over both bills. Boehner told fellow Republicans that he was specifically inviting Netanyahu to address the threat posed by radical Islam and Iran. Netanyahu is expected to deliver full-throated support for sanctions. The administration is upset that Netanyahu accepted Boehner’s invitation without notifying them, the latest indication of the poor relationship between the Israeli government and the White House.

Two senior U.S. officials tell us that the Mossad has also shared its view with the administration that if legislation that imposed a trigger leading to future sanctions on Iran was signed into law, it would cause the talks to collapse.

The Israeli view shared with Corker and other senators also mirrors the assessment from the U.S. intelligence community. “We’ve had a standing assessment on this,” one senior administration official told us. “We haven’t run the new Kirk-Menendez bill through the process, but the point is that any bill that triggers sanctions would collapse the talks. That’s what the assessment is.” Another intelligence official said that the Israelis had come to the same conclusion.

This is not the first time Israel’s Mossad has been at odds with Netanyahu on Iran. In December 2010, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan told Israeli reporters that he had openly opposed an order from Netanyahu to prepare a military attack on Iran. At the time, Obama was also working to persuade the Israeli prime minister to hold off on attacking Iran.

Iranian diplomats have also routinely threatened to leave the talks if new sanctions were imposed. Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, at the end of December said new sanctions would “violate the spirit” of the negotiations that have been going on for more than a year now.

Despite the intelligence analyses, however, predicting Iranian behavior is no exact science. There is still much about Iran’s program that U.S. spies do not know. In November, former CIA director Michael Hayden told Congress that U.S. intelligence assessments do not have a “complete picture” of the extent of Iran’s nuclear program.

On Capitol Hill, the fight over how to proceed against the administration is far from over. The Senate Banking Committee was supposed to mark up the Kirk-Menendez bill on Thursday, but the session was delayed by one week. Some Senate staffers told us that Democrats asked for the delay because Menendez wants to get more Democrats to commit to his bill before he goes public.

A main pitch of the Kirk-Menendez bill is that is could garner bipartisan -- even perhaps veto-proof -- support in the face of Obama's disapproval. So far, most Democrats have stayed on the sidelines, especially after Obama and Menendez got into a heated argument over the bill at last week’s private Democratic retreat. Kirk and Menendez softened their proposal to make it more palatable to Democrats, by giving the president more flexibility than the previous version and providing the administration waivers after the fact.

Corker, Graham and McCain are trying to woo Democrats to their side by arguing that avoiding sanctions language altogether and simply mandating that the Senate get a vote is a more bipartisan approach. There are only a handful of Democrats that will support any Iran bill, so competition for these votes is heated.

At least one senior Democrat, Kaine, is leaning toward the Corker team and away from Kirk-Menendez.

“[Corker’s] bill basically just acknowledges the reality that Congress has to weigh in on this, so I think that’s preferable,” Kaine told us Tuesday. “I’ve always been concerned that anything with respect to new sanctions, even prospectively, would put the focus on the way we are negotiating, not on Iran’s behavior. And I think the focus should stay on Iran’s behavior.”

Kirk and Menendez do have one ace in the hole: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised his caucus members that the Kirk-Menendez bill will be brought to the Senate floor for a vote. Corker, whose bill has not been introduced yet, has received no such assurance.

There are a variety of ways the legislative fight could play out. Corker, who is also on the Banking Committee, could add his bill to Kirk-Menendez next week. Alternatively, he could run his bill through his own committee and then bring it to the floor alongside Kirk-Menendez. The jostling over jurisdiction and control has only begun.

And now the announcement of Netanyahu’s visit to Washington will only add fuel to the fire. And the fight could play out just as the March deadline for the administration to conclude a framework political agreement with Iranians approaches.

No one knows if the administration can get the Iranians to “yes,” but Congress isn’t going to stay silent. And whenever it finishes battling itself over what to do on Iran, it will then have to turn to the administration, which will be well prepared to go to war on whichever bill reaches the president’s desk.

Update, 12 p.m. Jan. 22:

The Israeli prime minister's office released a statement Thursday about Mossad chairman Tamir Pardo’s meeting with the U.S. Senate delegation last weekend. The statement said Pardo didn’t oppose new sanctions on Iran but acknowledged that Pardo used the term “hand grenade” to describe the effect new sanctions would have on the nuclear negotiations with Iran.

“He used this term to describe the possibility of creating a temporary breakdown in the talks, at the end of which the negotiations will be restarted under better conditions,” the statement said. “The Mossad chairman explicitly pointed out that the agreement that is being reached with Iran is bad, and may lead to a regional arms race.”


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 09, 2015, 09:19:47 pm
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/02/breaking-obama-to-aid-to-iranian-nuke-program-sacrifice-israel-in-exchange-for-less-jihad
Breaking: OBAMA to Subsidize Iranian Nuke Program, Sacrifice Israel, In Exchange for Less Jihad
Posted by Jim Hoft on Saturday, February 7, 2015, 2:01 PM

The Obama administration is going to offer the Iranian regime technical aid for its nuclear program in exchange for less jihad in the region. The move will put Israel in great danger.

The Jerusalem Post reported:

At a security conference in Munich, the two leaders met to discuss ongoing negotiations over the nuclear program— and that program only, according to American officials. But the warning from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underscored core motivations driving Western diplomats in the talks: The realignment of Tehran towards cooperation with Washington elsewhere in the region, from Syria and Iraq to Yemen and Lebanon.

That is a departure from their original goal, set explicitly at the beginning of negotiations, to dismember Iran’s nuclear program thoroughly and permanently.

Rare is Zarif’s acknowledgment of US influence in Iranian politics: The 1979 revolution, and the regime born from it, was a sweeping rejection of American involvement in Iran’s domestic affairs. Today, politics within the country fiercely debate whether to accept a nuclear deal— or any deal— with the government’s oldest foe.

But reports began surfacing last week that the Obama administration is offering Iran technical concessions on its nuclear infrastructure in exchange for Iran’s use of its leverage to tamper regional turmoil.

Meeting for over two hours with Kerry, Zarif said that discussions focused on how sanctions will be lifted once a deal is reached, and how many uranium-enriching centrifuges will remain.

Zarif also met with European Union high representative Federica Mogherini, who said publicly that the time was ripe to reach an agreement. The two acknowledged conversations went beyond the nuclear file and covered the conflicts embroiling much of the Middle East.

Three months ago Ambassador John Bolton said Obama was giving Iran, “An open path to nuclear weapons.”

And now Obama’s going to subsidize the program, too.

Did you ever think you’d see an American president compare Christians to Islamic terrorists and offer up Israel to Iran in the same week?


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 19, 2015, 03:47:37 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/us-israel-mischaracterized-us-position-iran-talks-183227637--politics.html
2/18/15
US withholding details of Iran nuke talks from Israel

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Wednesday it is withholding from Israel some sensitive details of its nuclear negotiations with Iran because it is worried that Israeli government officials have leaked information to try to scuttle the talks — and will continue to do so.

In extraordinary admissions that reflect increasingly strained ties between the U.S. and Israel, the White House and State Department said they were not sharing everything from the negotiations with the Israelis and complained that Israeli officials had misrepresented what they had been told in the past. Meanwhile, senior U.S. officials privately blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself for "changing the dynamic" of previously robust information-sharing by politicizing it.

The comments came as a late March deadline to forge the outline of an Iran nuclear deal looms and U.S. and Iranian negotiators prepare for a new round of talks later this week in Geneva, Switzerland.

Netanyahu has angered the White House with his open opposition to a deal he believes threatens Israel's existence, and by accepting a Republican invitation to address Congress about Iran in early March without consulting the White House, a breach of diplomatic protocol.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that sharing all details of the negotiations with governments that are not at the table would complicate efforts to get a deal that would prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon in exchange for sanctions relief. The talks are being held among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — along with Germany and Iran.

"The United States is not going to be in a position of negotiating this agreement in public, particularly when we see that there is a continued practice of cherry-picking specific pieces of information and using them out of context to distort the negotiating position of the United States," Earnest said when asked whether the U.S. was limiting the amount of information it shared with Israel about the talks.

"So, there is an obligation when you're participating in these kinds of negotiations to ensure that those consultations and that those negotiations are carried out in good faith. And that means giving negotiators the room and the space to negotiate," he said.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki went further, confirming that one of the steps the administration takes to ensure that "classified negotiating details stay behind closed doors" is to withhold them from Israel. She also directly blamed Israel for mischaracterizing the talks.

"I think it's safe to say that not everything you're hearing from the Israeli government is an accurate reflection of the details of the talks," she said. "There's a selective sharing of information."

But while Earnest and Psaki said the limitations on information sharing were longstanding, U.S. officials more directly involved in the talks said the decision to withhold the most sensitive details of the negotiations dated back only several weeks.

Those officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the administration believes Netanyahu, who is facing a March 17 election at home, has made a political decision to try to destroy the negotiations rather than merely insist on a good deal. This, they said, had led to politically motivated leaks from Israeli officials and made it impossible to continue to share all details of the talks, particularly as Netanyahu has not backed down on his vow to argue against a nuclear deal when he speaks to Congress.

Neither Earnest nor Psaki would discuss the details of the leaks, but senior U.S. officials have expressed consternation with reports in the Israeli media as well as by The Associated Press about the number of centrifuges Iran might be able to keep under a potential agreement. Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium and diplomats familiar with the talks have said Iran may be allowed to keep more of them in exchange for other concessions under current proposals that are on the table.

Netanyahu has insisted that Iran, whose top officials have sworn to obliterate Israel, should not be allowed to enrich any uranium. The U.S. and its partners say that stance is untenable because Iran would never accept it.

As the talks have progressed, Netanyahu's opposition to an agreement has increased over what he believes to be extreme concessions made to Iran that would leave it as a threshold nuclear weapons power and a direct threat to Israel's existence.

The White House and State Department maintained that the U.S. will not leave Israel threatened. They also insisted that Israel has not been completely cut out of the loop and that overall security cooperation with the Jewish state remains strong.

Administration officials and some lawmakers have said they will not attend Netanyahu's speech.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 23, 2015, 06:44:35 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/phased-us-iran-nuclear-deal-taking-shape-112339907--politics.html
Historic US-Iran nuclear deal could be taking shape
2/23/15

GENEVA (AP) — Edging toward a historic compromise, the U.S. and Iran reported progress Monday on a deal that would clamp down on Tehran's nuclear activities for at least 10 years but then slowly ease restrictions on programs that could be used to make atomic arms.

Officials said there were still obstacles to overcome before a March 31 deadline, and any deal will face harsh opposition in both countries. It also would be sure to further strain already-tense U.S. relations with Israel, whose leaders oppose any agreement that doesn't end Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to strongly criticize the deal in an address before Congress next week.

Still, a comprehensive pact could ease 35 years of U.S-Iranian enmity — and seems within reach for the first time in more than a decade of negotiations.

"We made progress," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said as he bade farewell to members of the American delegation at the table with Iran. More discussions between Iran and the six nations engaging it were set for next Monday, a senior U.S. official said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the sides found "a better understanding" at the negotiating table.

Western officials familiar with the talks cited movement but also described the discussions as a moving target, meaning changes in any one area would have repercussions for other parts of the negotiation.

The core idea would be to reward Iran for good behavior over the last years of any agreement, gradually lifting constraints on its uranium enrichment and slowly easing economic sanctions.

Iran says it does not want nuclear arms and needs enrichment only for energy, medical and scientific purposes, but the U.S. fears Tehran could re-engineer the program to produce the fissile core of a nuclear weapon.

The U.S. initially sought restrictions lasting up to 20 years; Iran has pushed for less than a decade. The prospective deal appears to be somewhere in the middle.

One variation being discussed would place at least a 10-year regime of strict controls on Iran's uranium enrichment. If Iran complied, the restrictions would be gradually lifted over the final five years.

One issue critics are certain to focus on: Once the deal expired, Iran could theoretically ramp up enrichment to whatever level it wanted.

Experts say Iran already could produce the equivalent of one weapon's worth of enriched uranium with its present operating 10,000 centrifuges. Several officials spoke of 6,500 centrifuges as a potential point of compromise, with the U.S. trying to restrict them to Iran's mainstay IR-1 model instead of more advanced machines.

However, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last year that his country needed to increase its output equivalent to at least 190,000 of its present-day centrifuges.

Under a possible agreement, Iran also would be forced to ship out most of the enriched uranium it produced or change it to a form that would be difficult to convert for weapons use. It takes about one ton of low-enriched uranium to process into a nuclear weapon, and officials said that Tehran could be restricted to an enriched stockpile of no more than about 700 pounds.

The officials represent different countries among the six world powers negotiating with Iran — the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the negotiations.

Formal relations between the U.S. and Iran, severed during the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis in 1979, have progressively improved since moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013. Further reconciliation would help the West in a region where Iran holds considerable sway and the U.S. is increasingly involved in the struggle against Islamic extremists.

But even if the two sides agree to a preliminary deal in March and a follow-up pact in June, such a two-phase arrangement will face fierce criticism from Congress and Israel, both of which will argue it fails to significantly curb Tehran's nuclear weapons potential.

Israel was already weighing in.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon warned that such a deal would represent "a great danger" to the Western world and said it "will allow Iran to become a nuclear threshold state."

In Washington, President Barack Obama has been trying to keep Congress from passing new sanctions against Iran that he says could scuttle further diplomacy and rekindle the threat of a new Mideast war.

Iranian hardliners fearing a sellout of their country's nuclear program may also pressure Rouhani, although he appears secure as long as a deal is supported by Khamenei.

The U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency would have responsibility for monitoring, and any deal would depend on technical safeguards rather than Iranian guarantees.

The IAEA already is monitoring Iranian compliance with an interim agreement that came into force a year ago and has given Tehran good marks. Separately, it also oversees Tehran's nuclear programs to ensure they remain peaceful.

Its attempts to follow up on suspicions that Iran once worked on nuclear arms are deadlocked however, with Iran saying such allegations are based on phony evidence from the U.S. and Israel.

That stalled probe and other issues that the U.S. says must be part of any final deal could remain unresolved by June, opening any agreement to further criticism.

For the United States, the goal is to extend to at least a year the period that Iran would need to surreptitiously "break out" toward nuclear weapons development. Daryl Kimball of the Washington-based Arms Control Association said that with the IAEA's additional monitoring, the deal taking shape leaves "more than enough time to detect and disrupt any effort to pursue nuclear weapons in the future."

In exchange, Iran wants relief from sanctions crippling its economy and the U.S. is talking about phasing in such measures.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 23, 2015, 09:56:20 pm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4629801,00.html
Russia ups ante in missile sale to Iran, reports say
Moscow dropped sale of S-300 missiles following US, Israel pressure, but now reportedly offering Tehran more advanced weaponry.

2/23/15

MOSCOW - Russia has offered Iran its latest Antey-2500 missiles, the head of Russian state defense conglomerate Rostec said Monday according to media reports, after a deal to supply less powerful S-300 missiles was dropped under Western pressure.
 
Sergei Chemezov said Tehran was now considering the offer, TASS news agency reported.
 
Russia scrapped a contract to supply Iran with S-300 surface-to-air missiles under Western pressure in 2010, and Iran later filed a $4-billion international arbitration suit against Russia in Geneva, but the two countries remain allies.
 
 The United States and Israel lobbied Russia to block the missile sale, saying it could be used to shield Iran's nuclear facilities from possible future air strikes.
 
There was no immediate response to Chemezov's comments from Iran, Israel or the United States.
 
"As far as Iran is concerned, we offered Antey-2500 instead of S-300. They are thinking. No decision has been made yet," Chemezov was quoted as saying.
 
Rostec includes state-owned arms exporting monopoly Rosoboronexport, which has the sole right to export and import arms in Russia.
 
The Antey-2500 was developed from the 1980s-generation S-300V system (SA-12A Gladiator and SA-12B Giant). It can engage missiles travelling at 4,500 metres per second, with a range of 2,500 km (1,500 miles), according to the company that makes it, Almaz-Antey.
 
The S-300 missiles have a 125-mile range and Russia has stoked tensions with the West by trying to sell them to Syria and other Middle Eastern countries.
 
Chemezov told reporters conflicts in the Middle East had helped boost Russian arm sales, according to TASS.
 
"I don't conceal it, and everyone understands this, the more conflicts there are, the more they buy off weapon from us. Volumes are continuing to grow despite sanctions. Mainly, it's Latin America and the Middle East," he was quoted as saying.
 
Last year, Russian foreign arm sales totalled $13 billion, he added.
 
Chemezov was sanctioned by the US government in April over Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis.
 


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on March 01, 2015, 11:57:11 am
Report: Obama Threatened to Shoot Down IAF Iran Strike
Kuwaiti paper claims unnamed Israeli minister with good ties with the US administration 'revealed the attack plan to John Kerry.'

The Bethlehem-based news agency Ma’an has cited a Kuwaiti newspaper report Saturday, that US President Barack Obama thwarted an Israeli military attack against Iran's nuclear facilities in 2014 by threatening to shoot down Israeli jets before they could reach their targets in Iran.

Following Obama's threat, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was reportedly forced to abort the planned Iran attack.

According to Al-Jarida, the Netanyahu government took the decision to strike Iran some time in 2014 soon after Israel had discovered the United States and Iran had been involved in secret talks over Iran’s nuclear program and were about to sign an agreement in that regard behind Israel's back.

The report claimed that an unnamed Israeli minister who has good ties with the US administration revealed the attack plan to Secretary of State John Kerry, and that Obama then threatened to shoot down the Israeli jets before they could reach their targets in Iran.

Al-Jarida quoted "well-placed" sources as saying that Netanyahu, along with Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon, and then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, had decided to carry out airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program after consultations with top security commanders.

According to the report, “Netanyahu and his commanders agreed after four nights of deliberations to task the Israeli army's chief of staff, Benny Gantz, to prepare a qualitative operation against Iran's nuclear program. In addition, Netanyahu and his ministers decided to do whatever they could do to thwart a possible agreement between Iran and the White House because such an agreement is, allegedly, a threat to Israel's security.”

The sources added that Gantz and his commanders prepared the requested plan and that Israeli fighter jets trained for several weeks in order to make sure the plans would work successfully. Israeli fighter jets reportedly even carried out experimental flights in Iran's airspace after they managed to break through radars.

Brzezinski's idea

Former US diplomat Zbigniew Brzezinski, who enthusiastically campaigned for Obama in 2008, called on him to shoot down Israeli planes if they attack Iran. “They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch?” said the former national security advisor to former President Jimmy Carter in an interview with the Daily Beast.

“We have to be serious about denying them that right,” he said. “If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not. No one wishes for this but it could be a 'Liberty' in reverse.’"

Israel mistakenly attacked the American Liberty ship during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Brzezinski was a top candidate to become an official advisor to President Obama, but he was downgraded after Republican and pro-Israel Democratic charges during the campaign that Brzezinski’s anti-Israel attitude would damage Obama at the polls.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/191966#.VPNSdOHlzkc


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 04, 2015, 09:33:23 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/192056#.VPfpaDKvW4M
3/3/15
Bennett on Fox: Iran Deal is an 'Unmitigated Disaster'

Jewish Home chairman warns that a nuclear Iran would not only endanger Israel but also New York, London and Paris.


Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett, who is currently in the United States alongside Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu where he is explaining Israel’s position on the nuclear agreement with Iran, warned in an interview with Fox News that a nuclear Iran would be dangerous to the entire world.

“The deal that’s being contemplated right now - it’s an unmitigated disaster,” he said. “It’s one of those events in history that, 100 years from now, people will ask ‘what were they thinking?’”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHD1YT4CCtU

The deal, Bennett said, “creates a path for [Iran] to get a bomb within several years and this is unacceptable.”

“Right now Iran is developing intercontinental missiles,” he warned. “Why are they doing that? If they want to hit Israel they’ve got already Shehab 3 missiles. They don’t need that. They need those missiles to hit New York, to hit London, to hit Paris.”

“If we legalize this criminal path it means that America is going to be at risk. It means that Europe is going to be at risk,” Bennett continued, saying that the world has already seen what radical Islam is doing and, if that is matched with nuclear weapons, “that’s a disaster.”

An acceptable deal, Bennett said, would be one that states that Iran cannot enrich uranium. “If they want nuclear power, they don’t have to enrich uranium. There’s no reason to allow them to do it,” he added.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 06, 2015, 08:18:43 pm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/06/us-iran-nuclear-eu-idUSKBN0M20RQ20150306
3/6/15
Good deal is at hand in Iran nuclear talks - EU's Mogherini

(Reuters) - A good deal is at hand in negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Friday.

Mogherini told a foreign policy conference in the Latvian capital that she was committed to bringing the Iranian nuclear talks to a positive end.

"I believe a good deal is at hand. I also believe that there is not going to be any deal if it is not going to be a good deal. And this is something we have to pass as a message to all our friends and partners," she said in apparent reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criticism of the nuclear deal under negotiation.

Mogherini said the "last mile" of the nuclear talks would involve political will more than technical negotiations.

(Reporting by Aija Krutaine, writing by Adrian Croft, editing by Philip Blenkinsop)


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 14, 2015, 05:21:01 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/192595#.VQTPiY7F9GZ
Obama Administration Expects UN to Approve Deal with Iran

State Department says UN would probably endorse final deal with Iran, denies talks on removing sanctions are taking place.

3/13/15

The Obama administration expects that as a matter of course, the UN SECURITY Council would endorse any final nuclear agreement reached between world powers and Iran, the State Department said Friday, according to The Associated Press (AP).

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki also denied reports from Thursday that there are talks already in place to remove the sanctions on Iran, after Western officials said world powers have quietly begun talks on a UN SECURITYCouncil resolution to LIFT sanctions on Iran if a nuclear agreement is struck.

Psaki said that if a comprehensive accord is struck by a June 30 deadline, it would be forwarded to the SECURITY Council for its approval. All five permanent members of the council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — along with Germany are currently racing to complete the outlines of a deal with Iran by the end of this month. They have set the end of June as the deadline for a full agreement.

"We would anticipate that, if we're able to reach a joint comprehensive Plan of Action between the P5+1 and Iran, an endorsement vote would be held by the UN Security Council," she said, according to AP, adding that such a step should not be "a surprise" because of who is negotiating the agreement.

A Security Council vote on a resolution to endorse a possible deal would be separate from a vote to ease or remove United Nations sanctions on Iran, which would come only after Iran is found to be complying the with the agreement, Psaki stressed.

A vote to remove UN sanctions would not affect U.S. sanctions, she added.

The administration has been criticized by members of Congress for pursuing an executive agreement with Iran that would not require their advice and consent as a formal treaty would.

Secretary of State John Kerry told Congress this week that an Iran nuclear deal would not be legally binding, meaning future presidents could decide not to implement it, after a group of Republican senators sent a letter to Iran warning it that any agreement signed with President Barack Obama would be void after he leaves office.

On Thursday, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee warned Obama not to try an end-run around Congress by getting the United Nations to implement a nuclear deal with Iran.

Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said letting the UN consider such an agreement, while at the same time threatening to veto legislation that would allow Congress to vote on it, is a "direct affront" to the American people and would undermine the role of Congress.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you UPDATED until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on May 22, 2015, 10:18:57 am
Iran threatens '80,000 rockets at Tel Aviv and Haifa' over distorted Ya'alon comment

Iranian officials have been thrown into a fit over distorted comments attributed to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon that have swept across the internet and include popular anti-Israel sites.

A report by Iran's Fars news agency on Wednesday claimed that the defense minister supposedly said “We are going to hurt Lebanese civilians to include kids of the family. We went through a very long deep discussion … we did it then, we did it in [the] Gaza Strip, we are going to do it in any round of hostilities in the future,” while speaking at an unnamed "conference in Jerusalem."

The quote was most likely based on Ya'alon's comments from the May 5 Shurat Hadin conference. He was recounting targeting decisions in which he was involved when it first became apparent that Hezbollah was purposely placing weapons in civilian homes in Lebanon. He said that “If we don’t intercept the rocket-launchers in advance, civilians will be hurt, if not killed. If we hit the launchers, it will hurt or kill Lebanese civilians.” He said a “long, deep discussion” regarding the “moral and legal considerations” took place before the final decision to strike the rocket launcher.

Another quote attributed to Ya'alon, for which a basis could not be found, claimed that Israel would act "as the Americans did in 'Nagasaki and Hiroshima, causing at the end the fatalities of 200,000.'"

In response, Iranian Major General Rahim Safavi threatened Israel with violence, saying that "the Zionists and the US are aware of the power of Iran and Hezbollah, and they know that over 80,000 (Iranian) missiles are ready to rain down on Tel Aviv and Haifa."

"We have displayed part of our military capabilities while we have kept many of our achievements and capabilities hidden to outsiders," a comment which comes just a month after P5+1 countries agreed to a framework deal with Iran. "Our response will be crushing not just to the Zionist regime, but to any other aggressor who intends to take action against us."

Iran's UN envoy Gholam Ali Khoshrou also mistook the exaggerated statements for real and issued a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. "Moshe Ya'alon's recent remarks and the Zionist official's implied reference to the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Islamic Republic like what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and also his threats against the Lebanese civilians, including the women and children, shows more than ever the regime's aggressive nature."

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-threatens-80000-rockets-at-Tel-Aviv-and-Haifa-over-distorted-Yaalon-comment-403750


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 12, 2015, 01:12:32 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/us-secretary-state-hopeful-iran-nuke-deal-near-094325871.html
7/12/15
APNewsBreak: Diplomats: Iran announcement planned Monday

VIENNA (AP) — Negotiators at the Iran nuclear talks plan to announce Monday that they've reached a historic deal capping nearly a decade of diplomacy that would curb the country's atomic program in return for sanctions relief, two diplomats told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The envoys said a provisional agreement may be reached even earlier — by late Sunday. But they cautioned that final details of the pact were still being worked out. Once it is complete, a formal, final agreement would be open to review by officials in the capitals of Iran and the six world powers at the talks, they said.

Senior U.S. and Iranian officials suggested, however, there might not be enough time to reach a deal by the end of Sunday and that the drafting of documents could bleed into Monday.

All of the officials, who are at the talks in Vienna, demanded anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the negotiations publicly.

"We are working hard, but a deal tonight is simply logistically impossible," the Iranian official said, noting that the agreement will run roughly 100 pages.

The senior U.S. official declined to speculate as to the timing of any agreement or announcement but said "major issues remain to be resolved."

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 19, 2015, 09:52:04 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/198273#.Vaxf0PlViko
UN Set to Adopt Iran Nuke Deal Monday in Obama Blitzkrieg

Quick vote to be held under a procedure that will expose Israel to isolation if it speaks out against adopting the Iran deal.

7/17/15

In a diplomatic blitzkrieg, the Obama Administration has set this coming Monday at 9 a.m. EST for a vote at the UN Security Council (UNSC) in New York on the adoption of the Iran nuclear deal, which was announced by the world’s leading powers and the Islamic Republic of Iran in Vienna on Tuesday.

A terse announcement by the New Zealand delegation which assumed the monthly rotating UNSC’s Presidency for July revealed the vote session.

“The Iran JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) resolution is now under silence and its adoption has been scheduled for Monday 20 July at 9 a.m.,” read the announcement on the Iran deal vote.

From the New Zealand statement’s use of the diplomatic jargon of “under silence,” it appears the UNSC may employ a rarely used “under silence” procedure in such an important vote at the UNSC.

In an “under silence” adoption procedure, instead of the UNSC holding a normal positive vote, the motion that is set for adoption “under silence” is deemed automatically adopted unless a party specifically objects to the motion. This “under silence” procedure would put the onus on Israel to be the first, and possibly the only, objector to the UNSC’s adoption of the Iran deal.

In the established handbook on diplomacy, G. R. Berridge’s “Diplomacy: Theory and Practice,” the “under silence” procedure is described as being used by the majority where “a proposal with strong support is deemed to have been agreed unless any member raises an objection to it before a precise deadline: silence signifies assent – or, at least, acquiescence. This procedure relies on a member in a minority fearing that raising an objection will expose it to the charge of obstructiveness and, thereby, the perils of isolation.”

So, applying Berridge’s analysis to the “under silence” adoption of the JCPOA at the UNSC, the Obama Administration’s use of the “under silence” procedure would appear to be an attempt to scare Israel into “fearing that raising an objection [to the Iranian nuclear deal] will expose it [Israel] to the charge of obstructiveness and perils of isolation.”

Contrariwise, Israel’s failure to raise an objection would be seen as “assent - or, at least, acquiescence.”  To make matters worse for Israel, with Israel’s objection, the UN Security Council would likely then unanimously vote 15-0 for the Iranian deal.

Given Iranian leaders’ chorus of threatening to “wipe Israel off the map,” it would appear Israel will likely run the gauntlet of President Obama’s “under silence” anyway, and forcefully speak out against the measure.

And for history’s sake, it would be important to have the 15 members of the UN Security Council go on record as having voted for what many have called a modern-day 1938 Munich Appeasement of the Nazis, in a comparison to the Islamic regime's calls to destroy Israel while reportedly building a nuclear arsenal.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on July 21, 2015, 08:10:28 am
ObamaDeal: US to Protect Iranian Nuke Sites from Israeli Attack

The agreement states: Co-operation…to strengthen Iran's ability to prevent, protect and respond to nuclear security threats to nuclear facilities and to protect against… sabotage.

“ObamaDeal” explicitly states that the United States and the other P5+1 powers can help Iran deflect and even “respond” to sabotage and nuclear threats to its nuclear sites.

The damming evidence that ObamaDeal directly allows Western powers to help Iran to protect its nuclear sites, and possibly even to stage a counter-attack on the source of the threat, is stated in Annex III of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Congress is reviewing the agreement and has the option to cancel America’s commitments under the deal.

You have to reach page 142 of the JCPOA until you reach “Annex III: Civil Nuclear Cooperation,” where Section “D 10 states that the P5+1 “and possibly other states are prepared to cooperate with Iran on the implementation of nuclear security guidelines and best practices. Cooperation in the following areas can be envisaged:

    Co-operation in the form of training courses and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to prevent, protect and respond to nuclear security threats to nuclear facilities and systems as well as to enable effective and sustainable nuclear security and physical protection systems [boldface added];

    Co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage, as well as to enable effective and sustainable nuclear security and physical protection systems.

Emphasis should be placed on the word “respond.” It leaves open for interpretation the possibility that the United States and other P5 +1 countries can take action in the form of training and preparing Iran to stage a cyber attack or retaliation in the event of a third-party assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Israel is assumed to have been behind the Stuxnet cyber attacks on Iran’s centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear facility in 2010, which set back the Iranian nuclear weapons program. The agreement provides for assistance from the United States and the other P5+1 countries to thwart “sabotage” on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Al Jazeera reported earlier this year that President Barack Obama threatened Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in 2014 that he would order American fighter planes to down Israeli aircraft if the Israeli Air Force tried to carry out an attack, which reportedly was about to happen.

If (or when) it was discovered that Iran has cheated and is close to developing a nuclear weapon, the complicated review methods in the agreement could take several months or even a year before the United States and other P5+1 nations could prove their findings. In the meantime, Israel could be met by the United States as well as Iran as enemies in the event of an attempt to sabotage or attack the sites where Iran violated the agreement.

Even without the agreement, Iran is on the way to receiving from Russia, one of the P5+1 powers, S-300 anti-missile systems that could possibly deter any Israeli missile attack on Iranian nuclear sites, in which Russia has a heavy investment.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has argued that ObamaDeal not only does not prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon but actually paves the way for a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic.

But the agreement does more than that. It helps make Iran impervious to an attack, whether from the air or from cyber space, and ObamaDeal also ratifies a possible Iranian counter-attack on Israel

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/obamadeal-us-to-protect-iranian-nuke-sites-from-israeli-attack/2015/07/20/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 14, 2015, 11:18:46 am
Israel’s Newest Postage Stamp, Inaugurated at United Nations, Honors a King of Persia

Anyone wandering into the UN Diplomat Dining Room looking for dinner on Monday might have thought they walked into a parallel universe.

Ambassador Ron Prosor, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, was explaining the philosophy behind Israel’s newest postage stamp. “With this stamp, we give our stamp of approval” he said, “to the man who wrote the first known human rights declaration, a king who believed that all people can live side by side in peace, and that everyone is entitled to religious freedom. King of Persia, Cyrus the Great”.

Prosor continued as the new stamp, bearing the iconic Cyrus Declaration, went up on the media screens, “As we celebrate the great achievements of a Persian king here today, we can only regret that there is no king Cyrus sitting in Tehran today, and that the people of this great and ancient civilization known for tolerance and respect live under a ruthless, theocratic and regressive regime.”

The ambassador then introduced three renowned scholars, Dr. Irving Finkel of the Department of Middle East at the British Museum, Professor Faribortz Mokhtari of the Political Science and Economics Department at the University of Vermont, and Dr. David Menashri from the Alliance for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University, who enlightened the audience about the extraordinary man who is an ancestor to the Iranian people and was king of the country that is predecessor to Iran.

Ambassador Prosor summed up, “I hope the people of Iran look to the principles of the Cyrus declaration to inspire them in the present and lead them to a better future, and one day the Iranians will return to the tolerance and freedom promised by the Cyrus Declaration, the most progressive statement of its time.”

The event was co-sponsored by the Iranian American Jewish Federation of New York.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/israels-newest-postage-stamp-inaugurated-at-united-nations-honors-a-king-of-persia/2015/08/13/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 25, 2015, 01:34:55 pm
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Sep-25/316585-pope-praises-iran-nuclear-deal-as-proof-of-political-good-will.ashx
9/25/15
Pope praises Iran nuclear deal as 'proof of political good will' in UN address

UNITED NATIONS: Pope Francis on Friday threw his support behind Iran's accord with major powers as he backed a goal of global abolition of nuclear weapons.

The Iran agreement "is proof of the potential of political goodwill, exercised with sincerity, patience and constancy," Francis said in an address to the United Nations.

"I express my hope that this agreement will be lasting and efficacious, and bring forth the desired fruits with the cooperation of all the parties involved," he said.

Francis made his remarks a day after a friendly welcome at the U.S. Congress, where many Republican lawmakers have vehemently criticized President Barack Obama for negotiating with Iran, an enemy of the United States and Israel since its 1979 Islamic revolution.

In his U.N. address, Francis also appealed anew for the protection of Christians and other people persecuted by extremists in Syria and Iraq.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 23, 2015, 06:57:59 pm
Report: US Spied on Israel, Prepared to Destroy Israeli Bombers to Protect Iran
US moved carriers into the region to prevent Israeli craft from attacking suspected Iranian nuclear plant.

In an explosive report we learn that ever since 2012, the United States has been spying on Israel in order to prevent the Jewish State from attacking suspected Iranian nuclear sites, according to Friday’s Wall Street Journal.

The White House had sent an additional aircraft carrier to the region after learning that Israeli aircraft had flown into Iranian airspace in what U.S. officials feared was a test run for an attack on Iran’s Fordow plant. The carriers had attack aircraft on board prepared to respond to any Israeli attack on Iran.

If that wasn’t enough to strain the conceit that the U.S. is Israel’s strongest supporter, U.S. officials also revealed to the Journal that Israel was responsible for the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists.

Several U.S. officials also claimed that Israel wanted to strike Iran in 2012, and that the United States pressured Israeli officials into retreating.

The U.S. attempted to keep its nuclear power negotiations with Iran concealed from Israel because of disagreements over the extent to which Iran should be permitted to pursue a nuclear program. Israel took the position that because Iran has an abundance of energy resources, it had no peaceful purposes for its nuclear program.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/report-us-spied-on-israel-prepared-to-destroy-israeli-bombers-to-protect-iran/2015/10/23/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 10, 2015, 06:47:40 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/iran-no-longer-dismantling-centrifuges-in-two-uranium-enrichment-plants/
IRAN NO LONGER DISMANTLING CENTRIFUGES IN TWO URANIUM ENRICHMENT PLANTS
A group of 20 hardline parliamentarians wrote to the president last week complaining that the deactivation of centrifuges contradicted the directives of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

11/10/15

IRAN HAS STOPPED DISMANTLING CENTRIFUGES IN TWO URANIUM ENRICHMENT PLANTS, STATE MEDIA REPORTED ON TUESDAY, DAYS AFTER CONSERVATIVE LAWMAKERS COMPLAINED TO PRESIDENT HASSAN ROUHANI THAT THE PROCESS WAS TOO RUSHED.

Last week, Iran announced it had begun shutting down inactive centrifuges at the Natanz and Fordow plants under the terms of a deal struck with world powers in July that limits its nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions.

Iran’s hardliners continue to resist and undermine the nuclear deal, which was forged by moderates they oppose and which they see as a capitulation to the West. “The dismantling process stopped with a warning,” Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the National Security Council, was quoted as saying by the ISNA student news agency.

Only decommissioned centrifuges were being dismantled to begin with, of which there were about 10,000 at Natanz and Fordow, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran has said.

Shamkhani did not specify what he meant by “warning”, but the head of parliament’s nuclear deal commission, Alireza Zakani, told Mehr news agency that the dismantling had stopped in Fordow because of the lawmakers’ letter to Rouhani.

ZAKANI, WHO WAS NOT ONE OF THE SIGNATORIES OF THE LETTER, DID NOT MENTION ACTIVITIES AT NATANZ.

A group of 20 hardline parliamentarians wrote to the president last week complaining that the deactivation of centrifuges contradicted the directives of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei has said that the deal should only be implemented once allegations of past military dimensions (PMD) of Iran’s nuclear program had been settled. The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to announce its conclusions on PMD by Dec. 15.

Centrifuges spin at supersonic speed to increase the ratio of the fissile isotope in uranium. Low-enriched uranium is used to fuel nuclear power plants, Iran’s stated goal, but can also provide material for bombs if refined much further.

Iran denied Western suspicions it was aiming to build a nuclear bomb. source


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 19, 2016, 08:44:06 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/24-hours-after-sanctions-lifted-iran-announces-plans-for-2-new-nuclear-plants/
24 HOURS AFTER SANCTIONS LIFTED, IRAN ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 2 NEW NUCLEAR PLANTS
A handful of European and Asian countries have expressed renewed interest in cooperating with Iran to help develop its nuclear industry now that the landmark nuclear agreement has been implemented, according to Salehi.

1/19/16

THE HEAD OF IRAN’S ATOMIC ENERGY ORGANIZATION ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY THAT THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC, WITH ASSISTANCE FROM RUSSIA AND CHINA, WILL MOVE FORWARD ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF TWO NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS, ACCORDING TO COMMENTS PUBLISHED IN IRANIAN STATE-CONTROLLED MEDIA.

EDITOR’S NOTE: BARACK OBAMA DID NOT STOP IRAN FROM BECOMING A NUCLEAR POWER, HE GUARANTEED THAT THEY WOULD BECOME ONE. 24 HOURS AFTER SANCTIONS WERE LIFTED ON THE TERROR-SPONSORING STATE OF IRAN, PLANS TO BUILD TWO NEW REACTORS WERE IMMEDIATELY ANNOUNCED. NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE IF OBAMA WOULD HAVE STOPPED IT. HE DIDN’T. NOW THE SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR IRAN AND THEIR NUCLEAR ARSENAL. CHINA, RUSSIA AND IRAN. JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAID IT WOULD BE.

Ali Akbar Salehi, who heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told Iranian reporters that construction on these new nuclear plants will begin in the “near future,” according to Fars News Agency.

“Construction of two 1000-MW power plants will start soon,” Salehi was quoted as saying. “We will build two other small power plants too in cooperation with China,” he added.

A handful of European and Asian countries have expressed renewed interest in cooperating with Iran to help develop its nuclear industry now that the landmark nuclear agreement has been implemented, according to Salehi.

“CERTAIN EUROPEAN AND ASIAN STATES, INCLUDING CHINA, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA, ARE READY FOR COOPERATION, AND CONDITIONS HAVE CHANGED COMPARED WITH THE PAST,” SALEHI SAID.

Iran announced in December that it would begin construction on another new nuclear plant that is being built by Russia, which signed a contract to build two reactors in the country.

Iran is permitted under the nuclear agreement, as well as by the United Nations, to continue building nuclear reactors, despite worries from some experts that the technology could be used to clandestinely continue weapons research.

A State Department official confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon last year that this would not violate past agreements with Iran.

“In general, the construction of light water nuclear reactors is not prohibited by U.N. Security Council resolutions, nor does it violate the JPOA,” the official said at the time.

Meanwhile, Iran is reportedly considering building an oil refinery in Spain that has the capability to produce 200,000 barrels a day. source


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 23, 2016, 07:28:30 pm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-01/23/c_135038941.htm
1/23/16
China, Iran upgrade ties to carry forward millennia-old friendship

TEHRAN, Jan. 23, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

TEHRAN, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- China and Iran, two ancient civilizations, agreed Saturday to elevate their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership to boost cooperation on all fronts and carry forward their millennia-old friendship.

The consensus was reached during President Xi Jinping's visit to Iran, the first in 14 years by a Chinese head of state.

China and Iran have no fundamental conflicts, and there are only consistent mutual support and mutual benefit between them, Xi said during summit talks with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani.

In history, there had been no wars or disputes between the two nations, and the two nations had conducted time-honored friendly exchanges and sincere cooperation, which date back to 2,000 years ago thanks to the Silk Road, Xi said.

"The China-Iran friendship is originated from friendly exchanges in history, from mutual assistance in difficult times, from unselfish support to each other on major issues, and from our concepts of mutually-beneficial cooperation. It has stood the test of the vicissitudes of the international landscape," Xi told Rouhani.

Xi's visit comes days after West-led sanctions on Iran were lifted following an announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency confirming that Tehran had scaled back its nuclear program. China played a constructive role in prior negotiations.

China hopes the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), can be implemented smoothly, Xi said, noting that China is willing to see Iran strike a brand-new pose on regional and international stages.

"China stands ready to work with Iran to lift our mutually-beneficial cooperation in such fields as politics, economy and trade, energy, infrastructure, security, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges to a new stage," the president said.

Xi also pointed out that China respects and supports the nations and peoples in the region to independently pursue the political systems and development paths suited to their national conditions, and the international community should help the region achieve economic and social development.

"China is wiling to maintain communication and coordination with Iran to safeguard peace and stability in the region and the world at large," he said.

For his part, Rouhani noted that Xi is the first foreign head of state to visit Iran after its nuclear issue was resolved, which demonstrates the level of positive and friendly relations between the two countries.

The president said the visit will be a milestone in the history of Iran-China relations.

Iran values China's important role in international affairs, bears in mind the long-term support and assistance China has given to Iran and thanks China for its contributions in helping solve the nuclear issue in a political way, Rouhani said.

In a joint statement issued after the summit talks, China and Iran announced that they agree to set up an annual meeting mechanism between the their foreign ministers as a part of the efforts to deepen mutual strategic trust.

The two countries said that they oppose all kinds of use of force or threatening with the use of force, imposing unjust sanctions against other countries, and terrorism in any form.

They believe that controversial or acute international issues should be resolved through negotiations and political dialogue.

The document also said that China supports Iran's application for full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Iran is now one of six observers of the SCO, which was founded in 2001 and now has China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as its full members.

A slew of cooperation deals were also signed Saturday, covering various fields such as energy, industrial capacity, finance, investment, communications, culture, judiciary, science and technology, news media, customs, climate change and human resources.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on March 15, 2016, 05:24:01 pm
Iran Launching Rocket Into Space This Weekend Capable Of Carrying An EMP As Insiders Warn Of Chaos - 'It Would Change The Game, It Would Change The World Order' - The Noah Project Will Help You To Prepare To Survive

"Of the 11 major threats to our society, EMP ranks #1" Newt Gingrich

According to Allen West, who served in the US Army for 22 years and was a member of the US House of Representatives, America now faces a terrifying new threat that the American people need to know about.

Beginning his story with "raining cats and dogs in Dallas just West of Shreveport, Louisiana", West quickly gets into the main point of his story in telling us that Iran is preparing to launch a new long-range rocket into outerspace as soon as this weekend and officials have never seen this specific type of rocket launched in the past.

While such a rocket launch would be an apparent violation of a UN resolution which forbids Iran from working on its rocket program, that's likely the least of our worries as West tells us the 'Simorgh rocket' is designed to carry a satellite into space and officials are concerned because ANY space launch uses the same type of technology that is needed to launch a nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missile into space.

As West also tells us, back in March of 2015, the Washington Examiner ran a story in which they warned us that Iranian military leaders had endorsed an EMP attack against the United States as a way of 'waging a decisive battle' against us. The Examiner story also tells us that an EMP attack upon America is referenced in at least 20 different locations of an Iranian military textbook that had recently been translated.

Why should Americans be concerned? As Jim Bakker tells us in the 1st video below, Americans need to talk about WHY our government isn't even discussing the possibility of an EMP attack upon America when it could eliminate 90% of our population in a year to 18 months. In the 2nd video below, Bernie Carr of Apartment Prepper joins Prepper Recon to talk about the many ways that people who are living in apartments can better prepare themselves for EMP attacks and other disasters. In the final video below, Oath Keeper Ron Hammelman speaks on preparedness against an EMP attack or a Coronal Mass Ejection. Ron is a member InfraGard EMP Special Interest Group, an FBI Partnership with the Private Sector. He is also Member St. Louis FBI Citizens' Academy Alumni Association.

rest: http://allnewspipeline.com/Allen_West_Iran_EMP_Threat_Jim_Bakker.php


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 22, 2016, 11:13:45 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/iranian-military-commander-brags-can-destroy-israel-8-minutes/

Iranian Military Commander Brags That ‘We Can Destroy Israel In Under 8 Minutes’

Khamenei has repeatedly threatened to annihilate the Jewish state, and in September 2015 suggested Israel would not be around in 25 years. In a quote posted to Twitter by Khamenei’s official account on September 9, 2015, Khamenei addressed Israel, saying, “You will not see next 25 years,” and added that the Jewish state will be hounded until it is destroyed.

5/22/16

If supreme leader gives order, Revolutionary Guards ‘will raze the Zionist regime’ quickly, says senior adviser of elite al-Quds unit

“I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” Joel 3:2 (KJV)

Ahmad Karimpour, a senior adviser to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite unit al-Quds Force, said if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave the order to destroy Israel, the Iranian military had the capacity to do so quickly.

“If the Supreme Leader’s orders [are] to be executed, with the abilities and the equipment at our disposal, we will raze the Zionist regime in less than eight minutes,” Karimpour said Thursday, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.

A senior Iranian general on May 9 announced that the country’s armed forces successfully tested a precision-guided, medium-range ballistic missile two weeks earlier that could reach Israel, the state-run Tasnim agency reported.

“We test-fired a missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers and a margin of error of eight meters,” Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi was quoted as saying at a Tehran science conference. The eight-meter margin means the “missile enjoys zero error,” he told conference participants.

Iran in March tested ballistic missiles, including two with the words “Israel must be wiped off the earth” emblazoned on them, according to the US and other Western powers.

Under a nuclear deal signed last year between world powers and Iran, ballistic missile tests are not forbidden outright but are “not consistent” with a United Nations Security Council resolution from July 2015, US officials say.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 05, 2016, 09:19:39 am
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-acknowledges-footage-saw-not-iran-112820756--election.html
Trump acknowledges that footage he saw was not from Iran
8/5/16

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is making a rare admission he was wrong — in claiming he saw a video of a U.S. cash payment going to Iran.

Trump tweeted Friday that "The plane I saw on television was the hostage plane in Geneva, Switzerland, not the plane carrying $400 million in cash going to Iran!"

Trump has been expressing outrage about a $400 million payment the U.S. made to Iran this year. It was delivered on the same day that Iran released four Americans they had detained. Republicans call it ransom; the Obama administration says it was money the U.S. legally owed Iran.

Trump said Wednesday he saw video showing the money being delivered. The campaign acknowledged Thursday that this was incorrect, yet Trump repeated the claim hours later at a rally.


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on August 08, 2016, 03:50:23 am
Iran Is Ready To Attack Israel



The tension between Israel and Iran appears to be heightening. Hossein Salami, deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), recently said: “Hezbollah has 100,000 missiles that are ready to hit Israel to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories if the Zionist regime repeats its past mistakes.”

He added: “Today, the grounds for the annihilation and collapse of the Zionist regime are [present] more than ever.” Salami warned that if Israel made the “wrong move,” it would come under attack.

A few weeks ago, a senior adviser to the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, Ahmad Karimpour, said Iran could destroy Israel “in less than eight minutes” if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave the order.

Rhetoric and Iran’s Military Capabilities

There are several reasons why Iran’s repeated anti-Israel statements may be pure rhetoric. They are most likely meant as a type of psychological warfare, because Iran cannot afford direct conflict with Israel.

Although Iran is larger geographically and in terms of population, its military capacity is inferior. Even regarding missile capabilities, which Iranian generals boast about, Israel’s are greater in range and number.

What fundamentally changes the balance of power is Israel’s nuclear capacity. It is widely believed to have some 200 nuclear warheads that can be used with intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as nuclear-armed submarines.

As such, Iran’s policy toward Israel is to not strike first, as doing so would be suicidal for the ruling political establishment, whose main objective is to maintain power. It would be more effective to fight Israel via its Lebanese Shiite proxy Hezbollah.

Tehran’s repeated boasting about IRGC capabilities is aimed at invoking nationalist sentiment among the public, because Iranian leaders know that the overwhelming majority of Iranians are dissatisfied with the hardliners and the political establishment.

Kazem, 29, PhD student majored in public health, pointed out “I would like to see a regime change in Iran, but I want Iran, ruled by any government even the current clergies, to be stronger than any country in the region including Israel. Iran should be the most powerful nation in the region militarily, technologically and economically as it was under Shah era or thousands of years of the Persian empire”.

In addition, IRGC attempts to maintain and increase the budget allocated to it by showing that it is an indispensable and a must-have force to protect Iranians.

This method has been successful, as polls have repeatedly shown that many Iranians who oppose the political establishment still favor their country becoming a nuclear power or being more powerful than any other country in the region.

Finally, Khamenei and senior cadre of IRGC are appealing to the nationalistic sentiments of Iranians to win their votes by showing that IRGC is a must-have force to protect Iranians and project Iran’s prowess. They are also recalibrating the domestic balance of power, making it clear that they are the final decision-makers. They are appealing to their hardline social base by showing it that they continue to prioritize the values of the 1979 revolution (such as opposing Israel and the US) over other issues, including national interests. And, they are sending a message that the nuclear agreement does not mean Iran would make fundamental changes in its socio-political and socio-economic policies.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/majid-rafizadeh/iran-is-ready-to-attack-i_b_11382198.html


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 24, 2017, 04:12:55 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/obama-iranian-nuclear-deal-released-high-level-muslim-terrorists-prison-lied/

4/24/17
Liberal News Site Politico Drops Obama Bombshell Exposing His Lies and Deceit On Iran Nuclear Treaty
Obama, the senior official and other administration representatives weren’t telling the whole story on Jan. 17, 2016, in their highly choreographed rollout of the prisoner swap and simultaneous implementation of the six-party nuclear deal, according to a POLITICO investigation.


When President Barack Obama announced the “one-time gesture” of releasing Iranian-born prisoners who “were not charged with terrorism or any violent offenses” last year, his administration presented the move as a modest trade-off for the greater good of the Iran nuclear agreement and Tehran’s pledge to free five Americans.

EDITOR’S NOTE: So much of what the Obama administration called his “legacy” was really nothing more than deceit, trickery and lies forced on the American people that they hoped would stay buried when Crooked HIllary won the presidency. But Hillary lost in a landslide, and now even far Left “news” sites like Politico are starting to expose Obama for the criminal that he is. But it sure would have been nice of the liberal fake news media would have done real reporting while Obama was still in office so he could have been impeached.

“Iran had a significantly higher number of individuals, of course, at the beginning of this negotiation that they would have liked to have seen released,” one senior Obama administration official told reporters in a background briefing arranged by the White House, adding that “we were able to winnow that down to these seven individuals, six of whom are Iranian-Americans.”

But Obama, the senior official and other administration representatives weren’t telling the whole story on Jan. 17, 2016, in their highly choreographed rollout of the prisoner swap and simultaneous implementation of the six-party nuclear deal, according to a POLITICO investigation.

In his Sunday morning address to the American people, Obama portrayed the seven men he freed as “civilians.” The senior official described them as businessmen convicted of or awaiting trial for mere “sanctions-related offenses, violations of the trade embargo.”

In reality, some of them were accused by Obama’s own Justice Department of posing threats to national security. Three allegedly were part of an illegal procurement network supplying Iran with U.S.-made microelectronics with applications in surface-to-air and cruise missiles like the kind Tehran test-fired recently, prompting a still-escalating exchange of threats with the Trump administration. Another was serving an eight-year sentence for conspiring to supply Iran with satellite technology and hardware. As part of the deal, U.S. officials even dropped their demand for $10 million that a jury said the aerospace engineer illegally received from Tehran.

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 13, 2017, 04:59:24 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/iran-furiously-building-nuclear-program-obama-treaty-protects-scrutiny/

Iran Furiously Building Nuclear Program Because Obama Treaty Protects Them From Scrutiny
Daniel Coats, America's top spymaster, informed Congress this week in an intelligence briefing that Iran's ballistic missile work continues unimpeded and could be used by the Islamic Republic to launch a nuclear weapon, according to unclassified testimony.

5/13/17

Iran continues to make critical technological strides in its efforts to perfect an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering nuclear weapons over great distances, efforts that violate international prohibitions, according to the director of national intelligence, who informed Congress this week that the Islamic Republic “would choose ballistic missiles as its preferred method of delivering nuclear weapons.”

The disclosure comes just days after Iranian leaders announced the upcoming launch of two new domestically produced satellites. Iran has long used its space program as cover for illicit missile work, as the know-how needed to launch such equipment can be applied to long-range ballistic missile technology.

Daniel Coats, America’s top spymaster, informed Congress this week in an intelligence briefing that Iran’s ballistic missile work continues unimpeded and could be used by the Islamic Republic to launch a nuclear weapon, according to unclassified testimony.
Turns out Obama’s “historic deal” was actually a cover for Iran to build nuclear weapons faster:

more


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 29, 2017, 01:50:09 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/satellite-imagery-shows-iran-used-star-david-target-practice-ballistic-missile-testing/
6/29/17
Satellite Imagery Shows Iran Used Star Of David As Target Practice For Ballistic Missile Testing
The Star of David was used as a target for a mid-range “Qiam” ballistic missile test in December last year, a statement from the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations said. “This use of the Star of David as target practice is hateful and unacceptable,” Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said to the Council.


(https://nteb-mudflowermedia.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/iran-uses-star-of-david-missile-target-practice-united-nations-security-council-933x445.jpg)

Iran recently used a Star of David as a target for a ballistic missile test, Israel’s envoy to the UN said Wednesday, releasing satellite images of the site to the United Nations Security Council.

“And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.” Zechariah 14:12 (KJV)

The Star of David was used as a target for a mid-range “Qiam” ballistic missile test in December last year, a statement from the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations said.

“This use of the Star of David as target practice is hateful and unacceptable,” Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said to the Council.
A grainy image shows the Jewish symbol and next to it an impact crater can be seen.

“The missile launch is not only a direct violation of UNSCR 2231, but is also a clear evidence of Iran’s continued intention to harm the State of Israel,” Danon said, adding that “the targeting of a sacred symbol of Judaism is abhorrent.”

“The Security Council must act immediately against this demonstration of hate and Iran’s provocative violations that threaten the stability of the entire region,” added Danon.

“It is the Iranians who prop up the Assad regime as hundreds of thousands are killed, finance the terrorists of Hezbollah as they threaten the citizens of Israel, and support extremists and tyrants throughout the Middle East and around the world,” he added. source


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on February 10, 2018, 06:26:52 pm
Middle East On High Alert As Iranian Drone Crosses Israeli Airspace And Triggers Attack On Syria

On Saturday night, after hours of consultations with the defense minister and military chief of staff, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the Iranian drone as a “brazen” attempt to violate Israel’s sovereignty, and said it was Israel’s “right and duty” to respond.

Israel launched attacks on Iranian and Syrian positions after it said Iran sent a military drone into its airspace Saturday, raising the prospect of further escalation over the Islamic Republic’s growing presence in Syria.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Middle East is on full alert tonight as an Iranian drone crossing Israeli airspace has triggered a cataclysm of military events including the shooting down of the drown, airstrikes on Syria, and a crashed Israel F-16. Various local military outbreaks are threatening to explode  in a full-on regional war.

Israel struck 12 targets in Syria, including four Iranian targets, in a “large-scale attack” after the drone infiltration, the Israel Defense Forces said. An F-16 fighter plane crashed in northern Israel after coming under fire from Syrian anti-aircraft missiles, and the pilots were hospitalized with moderate to severe injuries.

Saturday’s confrontation, the most serious between the sides since the Syrian civil war began, comes amid Israeli warnings that it won’t let Syria become an Iranian base and will intercept weapons shipments bound for Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Iran and allied militias have fought alongside government troops against rebels and Islamist factions in the seven-year-old Syrian war.

“The question is whether the Iranians will respond or lower the fire at this stage,” said Ephraim Kam, a senior researcher at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies. “My feeling is that they don’t have an interest in escalation.”

On Saturday night, after hours of consultations with the defense minister and military chief of staff, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the Iranian drone as a “brazen” attempt to violate Israel’s sovereignty, and said it was Israel’s “right and duty” to respond.

“Israel’s face is turned toward peace, but we will continue to defend ourselves with determination against any attack on us and against any Iranian attempt to base itself in Syria or anywhere else,” Netanyahu said.

https://youtu.be/bSwXibTIDWs

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Iranian television Saturday that countries are mistaken if they think bombing their neighbors will bring good results, Reuters reported.

Israel has attacked inside Syria frequently since the civil war there began in March 2011, targeting Syrian military posts and arms shipments bound for Hezbollah. Until this weekend, counterstrikes by Syria and Hezbollah against Israel had caused little damage.

Israeli officials wouldn’t confirm if the F-16 had been downed by a Syrian missile, as teams combed the crash site for remains to analyze. Across the border the event was taken as a victory, with dozens of Lebanese celebrating and waving Hezbollah’s flag.

    The downing of the plane marks “the beginning of a new strategic stage that puts an end to violations of Syrian airspace and territory,” Hezbollah said in a statement. “Today’s formulas mean the old formulas have fallen.”

Israeli media reported that the drone was shot down near Beit Shean, close to the border with Jordan, after flying for about 90 seconds in Israeli airspace. Hadashot News reported the Israeli counterattack was believed to have destroyed a significant portion of Syria’s air-defense system.

Netanyahu has made a number of visits to Russia, the dominant player in Syria, to lay out Israel’s red lines and ask President Vladimir Putin to rein in Iran. Netanyahu said he spoke to Putin again Saturday, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and that the Israeli and Russian militaries would continue their coordination to avoid inadvertent confrontation in Syria.

In a statement on its website Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it was concerned about the Israeli attack and said it was unacceptable to create threats to the safety of Russian military personnel in Syria.

Israeli politicians from across the spectrum largely backed the government’s response. Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, from Netanyahu’s Likud Party, said that after Israel’s repeated warnings on Iran in Syria — what he called a “yellow card” for the Islamic Republic — Saturday’s strike represented a “red card.” Tzipi Livni of the opposition Zionist Union faction said the government must do more to build international backing for Israeli attacks in Syria.

“What we’re watching is an attempt by the Iranians to shape the situation in Syria as we approach the end of the civil war in a way that serves Iranian interests,” said Yossi Kuperwasser, former director general of Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry and now a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Israel “showed how determined it is not to allow Iran to have the Middle East the way it wants it.”

A statement attributed to a war operations room that includes the Syrian army and allied militias said the Israeli strike targeted a drone base in the Tayfour military airbase, calling claims that the drone entered Israeli airspace “lies.” It said the drones collect information on militant groups, including Islamic State, for the Syrian army, and said the drone was on a routine mission Saturday morning targeting Islamic State remnants.

“Any new aggression will be met with a tough and serious response,” the statement said.

The current violence is the first direct engagement between Iran and Israel, said Sami Nader, head of the Beirut-based Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs.

“Before, it was done through proxies,” for example by the Syrian regime or the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, Nader said. “The risk is a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran that will encompass Syria and Lebanon.” source

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/middle-east-high-alert-iranian-drone-crosses-israel-airspace-triggers-attack-syria/


Title: Re: Israel sending signals of Iranian attack
Post by: Mark on July 14, 2018, 05:45:01 pm
ALL-OUT WAR: Iranian general says Islamic forces are awaiting orders to ‘eradicate’ Israel

An “international Islamic army” has formed on Israel’s border with Syria and is awaiting orders to attack the Jewish State, according to a speech given recently by the deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).

https://www.jewsnews.co.il/2018/07/13/all-out-war-iranian-general-says-islamic-forces-are-awaiting-orders-to-eradicate-israel.html


U.S. says ready to keep Strait of Hormuz open in face of Iranian threat. It would be a different fight this time

Time and the march of technology have done their work.  As Iran issues a new threat to shipping in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. military issues its recurring assurances that the Gulf will be kept open for business.  But the landscape – and seascape – of warfare are changing, and in the unlikely event of a confrontation, keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and safe for commercial passage won’t look the way it would have 20 years ago, or even 10.

https://libertyunyielding.com/2018/07/12/u-s-says-ready-to-keep-strait-of-hormuz-open-in-face-of-iranian-threat-it-would-be-a-different-fight-this-time/