Iran masses troops for controlling Iraqi-Syrian routes. Soleimani hits defiant Iraqi Shiite militia

 

While the US and Israel confer on a military offensive against Iran in Syria, Iran’s Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani is busy with preemptive steps – in Iraq, DEBKAfile reports.

Fiercely resistant ISIS seizes two Iraqi cities

 

US soldiers were Monday ordered to use gas masks after ISIS poured oil on a sulfur mine 70km south of Mosul that continues to burn near the US and Iraqi military center at Qayyarah.One obstacle after another – often unforeseen – is slowing the coalition’s advance on Mosul – as debkafile was the first publication to reveal last week. It is becoming obvious that ISIS is following a plan to circle around Mosul in a wide radius and pouncing on important spots for diversionary attacks:

Last week, they overran Kirkuk; this week, Sinjar and Rutba.

Erdogan Wants Much of Syria, Iraq in New Ottoman Empire

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Team Turkey in Ankara would love to have the old Ottoman Empire back, American Kurdish Information Network Director Kani Xulam told Sputnik.

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“A prone Syria and Iraq may be a cause for concern elsewhere, but not in Ankara. Annexations may not be its stated policy, but dependencies are part and parcel of its long-term plans,” Xulam explained.

Iraq turns to Russia to fill void left by “unserious” Obama

What’s been warned about here time after time is coming to fruition. First it’s the Middle East, then eventually it will be Europe where America will be kicked out. The ‘mistakes’ being made by the current administration are too huge to be mistakes.

 

The Washington Post reports that Iraq plans to set up a joint-intelligence-sharing hub with Syria, Iran, and Russia to fight ISIS. The center is expected to be operational within a matter of weeks, according to a spokesman for the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

The Post’s Loveday Morris explains the meaning of this move:

The deal is the latest indication of expanding Russian influence in the region as Moscow embarks on a major buildup of troops and military assets along the Syrian coast. A larger role in Iraq could come at the expense of U.S. clout, with Washington struggling to compete with Iran for influence on the battlefield.

Thousands of US paratroops head for Iraq. Tehran braces for onset of ISIS terror attacks on cities

The United States this week began transferring to Iraq and Gulf bases elite units of the US 82nd Airborne Division. debkafile’s military sources report that the first batch of 500 officers and men will be deployed in Baghdad and the Kurdish republic’s capital of Irbil, followed by another 500 in July and 250 in December. Altogether, by the end of 2015, the US will have posted another 1,250 officers and men to augment the American force already present at a base ner Habbaniya in the western Iraqi Anbar province. This force, roughly the same size as the incoming contingents, came from the US 3rd Division’s Combat Team which set up the base six months ago to train Iraqi troops to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – ISIS.

Iranian Rev Guards ready to intervene in Syria to save Assad. Soleimani: Expect major events in Syria

Please see the article source for the video.

 

Tehran is believed to be preparing to dispatch a substantial Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) special operations unit to Syria to tackle the separate rebel and ISIS advances closing in on the Assad regime, Western and Arab intelligence sources report. They say the Syrian army is already setting aside an area in northern Syria for the Iranian troops to take up position.

If this happens, debkafile’s military sources note that it would be the Revolutionary Guards first direct intervention in the nearly five-year Syrian war. Up until now, Tehran has carefully avoided putting Iranian boots on the ground in both Syria and Iraq. The only place where Iranian forces are directly engaged in battle is at Iraq’s main refinery town of Baiji, where small infantry and artillery units have been trying – without success thus far – to dislodge ISIS forces from the refinery complex.

Iraqi officials fear Islamic State ‘water war’

Jihadists close gates of Ramadi city dam, drying Euphrates river and cutting supplies to strategic communities

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Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said after the May 17 fall of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, that his men would take it back within days but operations are moving slowly.

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As they edge towards Ramadi, officials said Iraqi forces risked coming under attack because IS had closed the gates of a dam in the city to dry up the Euphrates.

The move will enable IS fighters to cross the river more easily and to infiltrate more territory.

Assad pulls air force out of Deir ez-Zour, the third Syrian air base surrendered to ISIS

It looks as if Assad might be taking his last stand. As mentioned a few years ago, the loss of critical military installations/bases would mean it’s right around the corner. See also HERE, HERE and HERE for further past references. This is a critical indicator of his last hold on power. He saw exactly what happened to Gaddafi and Mubarak, as well as Saddam Hussein. When his last grip on power starts to give way, he will likely choose to set the entire Middle East on fire rather than retire and spend the rest of his life retired and live in a secluded beach house.

This means an attack on his own people, neighboring countries such as Israel and Turkey. From there, the situation explodes to a war with NATO and a possible razing of Damascus as prophesied in Isaiah 17:1.

Don’t forget Iran joining in on the fun as it has a mutual defense pact with Syria or don’t be surprised to see it take advantage of all the distractions and attempt to impose its hegemonic ambitions over the Middle East. You should also expect Iran to activate sleeper cells within the United States to carry out attacks on the American homeland. All this of course would have an effect globally, politically, socially and economically. You might as well also consider other nations such as China attempting to take advantage of the distractions and take Taiwan.

The possible scenarios are unlimited and it’s a rabbit hole nobody wants to jump into.

Please see the source for the video.

 

Just a week after losing the big Palmyra air base to the Islamic State – and with it large stocks of ammo and military equipment – Syrian military and air units Wednesday, May 27, began pulling out of the big air base at Deir ez-Zour. This was Bashar Assad’s last military stronghold in eastern Syria and the last air facility for enabling fighter-bombers to strike ISIS forces in northeastern Syria and the western Iraqi province of Anbar.

His surrender of the Deir ez-Zour base is evidence that the Syrian president has run out of fighting strength for defending both his front lines and his air bases. He is also too tied down to be able to transfer reinforcements from front to front. He is therefore pulling in the remnants of his army from across the country for the defense of the capital, Damascus.

Isis on the run? The US portrayal is very far from the truth

The map issued by the Pentagon to prove that Isis had lost territory shows how false optimism dominates the actions of the outside powers towards the Middle East

A graphic illustration of Western wishful thinking about the decline of Islamic State (IS) is a well-publicised map issued by the Pentagon to prove that the self-declared caliphate has lost 25 per cent of its territory since its big advances last year.

Unfortunately for the Pentagon, sharp-eyed American journalists soon noticed something strange about its map identifying areas of IS strength. While it shows towns and villages where IS fighters have lost control around Baghdad, it simply omits western Syria where they have been advancing in and around Damascus.

Report: Islamic State to wage war on Iran for its nuclear secrets

Sunday Times cites manifesto written by member of ISIS war council, proposing to offer Russia control of Anbar gas fields in return for Moscow cutting ties with Tehran and handing over its nuclear knowhow.

The Islamic State is preparing to wage war on Iran in order to obtain the secrets of its nuclear program, according to a manifesto attributed to a member of the Islamic State war cabinet uncovered by the Sunday Times.

The manifesto, believed to have been written by Abdullah Ahmed al-Meshedani, calls on ISIS militants to prepare for war against the Islamic Republic.