‘#Israeli airstrike intended to stop #Syrian scientific military research’
Though Israel has not yet claimed responsibility for an airstrike targeting a military site near Damascus, experts believe that Tel Aviv aimed to further destabilize Syria and undermine its military capabilities.
Initial reports suggested that Israel conducted an airstrike on a convoy carrying sophisticated weaponry that was preparing to cross the Syria-Lebanon border. Israeli officials said the vehicles may have contained chemical weapons and Russian-made anti-aircraft missiles intended for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“This episode boils down to a warning by Israel to Syria and Hezbollah not to engage in the transfer of sensitive weapons,” a regional security source told Reuters.
But the latest reports from Syria suggest that the airstrike hit the Jamraya research center in the suburbs of Damascus, far from the Lebanese border. An anonymous diplomatic source told Reuters that chemical weapons may be stored at the center, and that the vehicles in Hezbollah convoy were unlikely to be carrying such arms.
Israeli officials have not commented on the airstrike, but the assault may have revealed Tel Aviv’s plans, experts believe. After months of sustained rebel assaults on Syrian air defense systems and bases, the Israeli airstrike follows a pattern of other recent attempts to undermine Syria’s military capabilities.
Israeli officials have frequently expressed fears that Syrian President Bashar Assad will lose control of the country’s chemical weapons stockpiles. But Dr. Ali Mohamad, editor-in-chief of the Syria Tribune news website, believes the fears of chemical weapons was a pretext to destroy Syria’s military research centers and ensure that Damascus is unable to produce arms for its military or regional allies.
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See video on ‘Israeli airstrike intended to stop Syrian scientific military research’ — RT
#Syria files #UN complaint over #Israeli airstrike, #Iran warns of ‘serious consequences’
Syria has filed an official complaint to the United Nations over an Israeli airstrike on a military research center near Damascus. The move followed a threat from Iran that Israel would face “serious consequences” for the attack.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Tel Aviv would face repercussions for the Israeli airstrike against a military research center in Jamraya, rural Damascus, the semi-official Fars news quotes him as saying.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi condemned what he characterized as “brutal aggression” against Syria.
“There is no doubt that this aggression is part of a Western and Zionist strategy to push aside the success of the Syrian people and government to return to stability and security,” Hurriyet Daily News cites him as saying.
Salehi said the strike highlights the “alignment of terrorist groups with the Zionists’ objectives.”
However, full-scale military action on the part of Iran regarding the incident is unlikely, Iranian political analyst Seyed Mohammad Marandi told RT.
“If the Iranians say Israel is going to face ‘serious consequences,’ they will have many means to hurt and punish the Israelis. It doesn’t mean they have to be involved directly. They could support countries or bodies that make life for Israelis more difficult.”
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Syria files UN complaint over Israeli airstrike, Iran warns of ‘serious consequences’ — RT
Isfahan residents evacuation order #iran
Iranian officials have instructed residents of Isfahan to leave the city, renewing concerns that a nearby nuclear site could be leaking radioactive material.
An edict issued Wednesday by Iranian authorities orders Isfahan’s one-and-a-half million people to leave the city “because pollution has now reached emergency levels,” the BBC reported.
Isfahan residents evacuation order | Washington Free Beacon, BY: , January 2, 2013 12:26 pm
Israel suspected over Iran nuclear programme inquiry leaks | Guardian
“Israel is suspected of carrying out a series of leaks implicating Iran in nuclear weapons experiments in an attempt to raise international pressure on Tehran and halt its programme.
Western diplomats believe the leaks may have backfired, compromising a UN-sanctioned investigation into Iran’s past nuclear activities and current aspirations.
The latest leak, published by the Associated Press (AP), purported to be an Iranian diagram showing the physics of a nuclear blast, but scientists quickly pointed out an elementary mistake that cast doubt on its significance and authenticity. An article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists declared: “This diagram does nothing more than indicate either slipshod analysis or an amateurish hoax.”
The leaked diagram raised questions about an investigation being carried out by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors after it emerged that it formed part of a file of intelligence on alleged Iranian nuclear weapons work held by the agency.
The IAEA’s publication of a summary of the file in November 2011 helped trigger a new round of punitive EU and US sanctions.
Western officials say they have reasons to suspect Israel of being behind the most recent leak and a series of previous disclosures from the IAEA investigation, pointing to Israel’s impatience at what it sees as international complacency over Iranian nuclear activity.”
Israel missile defence protects military, not people
Interview with Uzi Rubin, who was in charge of Israel’s missile defence about how serious Israeli threats are against Iran over the country’s nuclear research activities.
(by RussiaToday, via @kevskewl)
Armada of naval power massing in the Persian Gulf | #announced #exercise #showofforce
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.
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Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike - Telegraph, via @natif8
More Information
Iran says will hit Hormuz, US bases, Israel if attacked, Times of Oman
Iranian commander: Nothing will remain of Israel, Ynetnews
#US escalates military threat against #Iran
By Bill Van Auken, 4 July 2012
The Obama administration has ordered a major buildup of American military forces in the Persian Gulf, as punishing economic sanctions imposed by both the US and the European Union within the last week have sharply escalated tensions with Iran. The Pentagon has deployed both a large number of warships in the Gulf itself, as well as advanced warplanes in neighboring countries.
The purpose of this buildup, according to a report published Tuesday in the New York Times, is to send various “signals”—to warn Iran against any attempt to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, to convince Israel not to carry out its own strike on Iranian nuclear facilities and to deflect Republican criticisms of Obama as “weak” on Iran.
Whether or not these are the real intentions of the US military buildup, the effect is to put a hair trigger on the threat of an armed confrontation that could provoke a devastating and potentially nuclear war with untold consequences in terms of human life, physical destruction and economic disruption throughout the region and internationally.
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Obama administration sped up cyberattacks on #Iran after #Stuxnet disclosure
04 June 2012
The Obama administration accelerated cyberattacks against Iranian fuel processing facilities after public disclosure of the US-Israeli developed Stuxnet worm, says the New York Times.
The US government – under both the Bush and Obama administrations – and the Israeli government were engaged in a program for years to develop cyberweapons targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, a program that led to the development and deployment of the Stuxtnet worm, according to a report by the New York Times.
Citing anonymous US, Israeli, and European government officials who participated in the program, the newspaper said the Obama administration accelerated the cyberattacks against the Iranian facilities after the Stuxnet worm was accidentally disclosed to the public in 2010.
The accelerated Stuxnet attacks took out nearly 1,000 of the 5,000 centrifuges Iran was using to process fuel for its nuclear reactors, according to the report. This figure corresponds to one arrived at by anindependent study issued by the Institute for Science and International Security in 2010.
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Infosecurity: Obama administration sped up cyberattacks on Iran after Stuxnet disclosure
Note: Separate from the issue of nuclear energy or not, this is economic warfare, it is based on fear, and it might just create what it thinks it is avoiding, just like the drone attacks in yemen, pakistan and afghanistan.
