Iran threatens to bring war to U.S. shores

The deputy chief commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned this past week that any aggression against Iran will expand warfare onto the turf of its enemies.“Our nation is ready to rub the enemies’ snout into dust and send thousands of coffins to their cities,” Gen. Hossein Salami told Fars News Agency.

“Any aggression against Iran will expand the war into the borders of the enemies,” he warned. “They know our power, and we won’t allow any aggression against our land.”

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As reported earlier this year, terror cells have been placed on high alert to attack targets in the U.S. and Europe should Iran be attacked. Hundreds of terror cells have infiltrated America and, in collaboration with Hezbollah, are awaiting orders to strike American targets.

Thousands of cells have also been placed in Latin America.“The Quds Force has established a command and control center in both Bolivia and Venezuela,” a former Iranian official with knowledge of the regime’s terror network recently revealed.

“Though it has presence in Europe and other parts of the world, it has focused on Latin America. Thousands of such cells have been placed in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Venezuela.”A recent report from within Nicaragua indicated that Iran has established a training base in the northern part of that country, where operatives, including Hezbollah terrorists, are being readied for an attack on U.S. and Israeli interests should a war break out with Iran.

Hassan Abassi, a former Guard commander and a current strategist, has stated that many of the cells are of Latin American origin, including from Mexico, and that several hundred targets have been identified in the U.S. for a possible attack.

“If America dares to destabilize the Islamic Republic of Iran, it should have no doubt that we will destabilize America,” Abassi said.Another senior commander of the Islamic regime, Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, recently warned America, “In the face of any attack, we will have a crushing response.

In that case, we will not only act in the boundaries of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf; no place in America will be safe from our attacks.”Khamenei has also warned America that any conflict will expand beyond the region. That same warning was issued days ago by Hassan Nasrallah, the general secretary of the terrorist group Hezbollah.

Full article: Iran threatens to bring war to U.S. shores (WND)

Iran sends terror teams into Turkey

This is likely going to have severe implications for the Iran-Syria axis. Not only has Syria sent in its own units within Turkey, Iran has entered the fray. They already hold a mutual defense pact, so one can logically see why this is being done. However, being that Turkey is a NATO member, expect that NATO will be dragged into any future war. An attack on one is an attack on all. This also means American involvement since NATO is a US-born military construct.

Members of the Quds Forces’ elite Unit 400 have been activated inside Turkey to attack U.S. and Israeli interests and to support the Kurdish separatist movement PKK with violence as needed.

A source within the Revolutionary Guards confirmed the presence of the Iranian assets in Turkey as Iran increases pressure on the Turkish government to stop its support of the rebels against Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

The assets are to attack Western interests in Turkey should war break out against either Syria or Iran and at the same time work to destabilize Turkey as a warning for it not to interfere in Syria’s affairs.

Iranian leaders have continuously warned Turkey, Saudi Arabia and even America about any interference in Syria, that Assad’s regime is their red line.

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At one time Iran and Turkey collaborated in fending off attacks by the Kurdish separatists both in Turkey and Iran, but now Iran, in order to destabilize Turkey, reportedly is supporting PKK guerrilla attacks inside Turkey.

During the last month, PKK fighters have attacked a military convoy and a police station, set off bombs and kidnapped Turks to create an environment similar to Syria’s.

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Turkish security experts said that not only has Iran stopped intelligence collaboration on the Kurdish fighters with Turkey but also that the Islamic regime is actively collaborating with the fighters, the report added.

Iran has warned Turkey that its interference in Syria will have unwanted consequences and that should it get militarily involved in confronting the Assad regime, Iran will attack Turkey to protect a fellow dictator. But even before such a history-changing event, it is increasing its support to Assad by shipping military equipment to Syria over Iraqi airspace, according to The New York Times.

In a meeting last March with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated that, “The Islamic Republic will defend Syria because of its support for the resistance front against the Zionist regime (Israel) and is vehemently opposed to any intervention by foreign forces in Syrian internal affairs.”

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Another commander of the Guards, Mohammad Ali Assoudi, warned on Saturday, “If America were to attack Syria, Iran, along with Syria’s allies, will take action, which would amount to a fiasco for America.”

Ever since the uprising in Syria started, the Islamic regime’s Revolutionary Guards have collaborated with the Assad regime’s suppression of its own people, which so far has killed more than 20,000 people, including women and children.

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For Iran, it’s do or die as the fall of Assad could culminate in much more pressure on the Islamic regime, disconnect the supply line to Hezbollah and provide an opportunity for the West to confront Iran without it worrying that such confrontation would expand to all of the Middle East.

However, the Iranian regime is determined to continue its illicit nuclear program despite much international pressure. It is determined to protect Assad and come out of its current confrontation with the West and regional powers like Saudi Arabia and Turkey as the leader of the worldwide Islamic movement. It is determined to reshape the geopolitics of not only the region but the world.

Full article: Iran sends terror teams into Turkey (WND)

Massed US, UK, French navies for drill simulating breach of blocked Hormuz

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.

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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.

In addition to practicing tactics for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, the exercise will simulate operations for destroying Iranian naval, air and missile bases in the Persian Gulf area.

This war game has three additional objectives, reported here by debkafile’s military sources:

1. To forestall an Israeli offensive against Iran, President Barack Obama wants to convince its leaders as well as Gulf rulers that the US-Western military option for disrupting Iran’s race to a nuclear bomb is deadly serious and ready to be exercised when the need arises – although determining “when the need arises” is the nub of the US-Israel dispute.

The exercise winds up Sept. 27, the day penciled in by the White House for Netanyahu to arrive for talks with President Obama and enable him to show his visitor that there is no need for Israel to act.

2.  The exercise is intended to convey the same message to Iran, that the US military option is real and genuine and will be exercised unless it halts its nuclear weapons program. The awesome might the US-led  coalition is capable of wielding against the Islamic Republic in a prospective war will be brought home to Iran’s military strategists, its Revolutionary Guards, Navy, and Air Force commanders, across their television screens, radar and spy satellites.

3. The drill will assemble massive strength on the spot in anticipation of an Israeli decision after all to cut down the Iranian nuclear menace on its own.

Full article: Massed US, UK, French navies for drill simulating breach of blocked Hormuz (DEBKAfile)

If Israel attacks Iran, US Mid East bases will pay dear – Nasrallah

Regardless of all the concessions and overtures coming from the Obama administration, this is still the end result. They will continue to be committed to the destruction of Israel and the United States, regardless.

Cutting through the US-Israeli debate over where to put “red lines” for Iran, Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Monday night, Sept. 3 that Iran would hit US bases in the Middle East in response to any Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities, even if the Americans were not involved in the attack.

Earlier Monday, the New York Times reported on the debate in the White House over whether US President Barack Obama should declare “red lines” for Iran beyond which the US would act, in response to Israel’s complaint that he has been too vague about how far Iran will be allowed to go.

But even if Obama did set a clear red line now, the NYT admits its credibility would be questionable: “The US and its allies have allowed Iran to cross seven previous red lines in 18 years.”

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Feeling the approaching heat, Netanyahu called a special cabinet meeting for Tuesday, Sept. 4 with the participation of the heads of Israel’s clandestine services, Military Intelligence, the Mossad, the Shin Bet and the Foreign Office Research Division, to hear their annual report.

It is likely to go on all day with updates on the situation in Syria, Egypt and Jordan – all weighty topics. But the agenda will certainly be topped with a detailed rundown on the current state of Iran’s nuclear program.

After that rundown, the prime minister and defense minister will enter the final decision-making stage on war against Iran.
At this critical moment, wit calculated timing, Petraeus is due to land in Israel.

Although the opponents of Netanyahu and Barak are fond of painting them as irresponsible adventurers ready to gamble with Israeli lives, it is Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has now raised the stakes in this game of dare and slapped down the highest cards.

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Nasrallah’s pitch took the scenario straight into stage one of the war to come: “If Israel targets Iran, America bears responsibility,” he told the Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV Monday night.

“A decision has been taken in Tehran to respond and the response will be very great,” he said, citing “Iranian officials.”

Nasrallah carried a triple message from Tehran to Washington and Jerusalem:

1.  Iran believes an Israeli attack will take place before the US presidential election on Nov. 6;

2.  Tehran is drawing on a powerful deterrent: Lest anyone expected a low-key Iranian response to an attack on its nuclear facilities, the Hizballah leader put them right when he said, “the response will be very great” and “America bears responsibility.”

3. By putting Nasrallah out front as a leading Iranian spokesman, Khamenei signaled that Hizballah would take an active role in the coming conflict.

Full article: If Israel attacks Iran, US Mid East bases will pay dear – Nasrallah (DEBKAfile)

Russia is disengaging from Syria: Arms shipments stopped, warships exit Tartus

After the “War in weeks” comment from Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, could this be the beginning of the final stages? This leaves the only backer behind the Assad regime being Iran, possibly China. Once this proves too difficult for Iran to continue supporting, or the loss of some close and high ranking officers of the Assad regime, look for all hell to break loose. Assad will either have a choice to go all-out to keep his last grips on power or plan for early retirement. The former is more likely as evidenced in the continuing bloodshed of his own people and the increasingly brutal methods of doing so.

Russian naval vessels have unexpectedly departed the Syrian Mediterranean port of Tartus and Russian arms shipments to Syria have been suddenly discontinued. debkafile’s military sources reveal that those and other steps indicate that the Russians are rapidly drawing away from the Syrian arena to avoid getting caught up in the escalating hostilities expected to arise from military intervention by the US, Europe and a number of Arab states. Russian intelligence appears to have decided that this outside intervention is imminent and Moscow looks anxious to keep its distance for now.

According to our military and Russian sources, these drastic steps must have been personally ordered by President Vladimir Putin. He is believed to have acted over the objections of some of his army and naval chiefs. This would explain the mixed statements issuing from Moscow in recent days about the disposition of Russian personnel at the naval base in Tartus and Russian military personnel in Syria.

Wednesday, Aug. 22, Commander of the Russian Navy Vice Adm. Viktor Chirkov said that if the fighting in Syria reached Tartus, Moscow may decide to evacuate the base. He stressed that this decision would have to be taken on the authority of President Putin. He was the first Russian official to suggest the possibility of an evacuation.

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A Russian source disclosed that all the remaining Russian personnel in Tartus have gathered on the floating shipyard, except for two officers on shore. This vessel and the remaining personnel are evidently packed up and ready to sail at any moment out of the Syrian port.

Full article: Russia is disengaging from Syria: Arms shipments stopped, warships exit Tartus (DEBKAfile)

Iran warns secret U.S. bases will be hit

In summary, the overall theme suggests a catch 22. Should America become proactively involved, our bases will be hit. Should Israel be hit, there is no escaping any spill-overs as US bases will still take the hit since the Iranian regime is bent on wiping the entire state of Israel off the map.

It’s no secret they have the missile capability in the middle east and even on the American homeland via hundreds, if not thousands of sleeper cell networks discussed here numerous times. What defensive measures (including offense as the best defense) are already set and what they are capable of achieving is yet to be seen.

What’s more, the Iranians know the exact locations, as pointed out in the following article portions:

Six American military bases in Israel will be destroyed by Iranian missiles should Israel attack Iranian nuclear facilities, the Islamic regime is warning the United States.

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“American military bases in the occupied territories are considered secret and most of them are underground,” the diplomat said. “These bases are known by codes ‘Base 51,’ which houses ammunition, ‘Base 53,’ which is located in an Israeli Air Force base, ‘Base 54′ is a hospital close to Tel Aviv used in emergency situations, and bases ’55′ and ’56′ are used as ammunition and armaments reserves,” he said.

The diplomat said another base is in the West Bank, built by a German company to house American armaments.

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As reported by the Washington Times last December, the Revolutionary Guards had warned that any U.S. involvement in an attack on Iran would result in a missile attack on all U.S. bases in the region and terrorist attacks on U.S. interests worldwide, including in America. However, the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had earlier announced that should America stay out of any conflict with Iran, it will be safe.

The Basij report, however, directly warns America that even should it not militarily support an attack by Israel, its military bases within the Jewish state will be targeted.

Full article: Iran warns secret U.S. bases will be hit (WND)

EU welcomes Russia’s accession to WTO

For those that have thoroughly followed developments on Russia in great detail like a hawk, they realize that underlying factors making the Soviet Union communist have never changed, as evidenced by its engineered collapse. Since then, we have been given New Lies for Old in thinking they were a backwards nation striving for democracy. Through a Perestroika Deception during the last few decades they have appeared legitimate and now have been legitimized via duped and/or cooperative nations.The best example of what’s to come from Russia is to look towards China. They formally joined the WTO on Dec. 11, 2001 and look how far 11 years has brought them on the world stage politically and militarily due to their sharp rise in economic gains.

When they start tightening the screws on us as China has done via economic warfare (buying our debt and yet capable of pulling the plug at any moment) or worse, we can’t say we weren’t warned. The United States has been compromised.

Meet the superpower that never was truly gone. The bear is back.

Russia becomes last large economy to agree to global trade rules.

The European Commission has welcomed Russia’s admission today to the World Trade Organization as a “major step” that offers “plenty of business opportunities for both Russian and European companies”.

Karel De Gucht, the European commissioner for trade, said that Russia’s accession – which comes 19 years after it began talks with the global trade body – was “a major step for Russia’s further integration into the world economy”.

Russia, which has a population of 140 million and is a leading exporter of oil and gas, is the 156th country to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the last large economy to join the body, which sets trade rules and helps to resolve trade disputes. According to the WTO, Russia’s accession means that 97% of all world trade will now take place between its members.

De Gucht said that he hoped that membership would “help to accelerate the modernisation of the Russian economy”. Modernisation has become the key word in the EU’s relationship with Russia since 2010, when Russia’s accession process entered its final phase and when the EU and Russia launched a ‘partnership for modernisation’.

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The WTO agreed to admit Russia on 16 December, weeks after Georgia became the last country to agree to Russia’s admission. Georgia withdraw its support for Russian membership in 2006 in response to a series of disputes, and reinforced its opposition in 2008, after Russian forces entered Georgia following Georgia’s attack on the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Tbilisi then insisted that it should monitor trade along the borders between Russia and South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, both of which Moscow recognised as independent states after the war in 2008. Under November’s agreement between Moscow and Tbilisi, a Swiss company will monitor trade between the two countries.

The Russian parliament ratified the WTO agreement on 11 July and it was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 21 July, setting in motion a 30-day preparation for accession.

The Russian government and economists believe that membership of the WTO will be good for Russian consumers and for a range of sectors of the economy, including agriculture, tourism, engineering, metallurgy and petrochemicals.  However, Russian sceptics about the deal fear that WTO rules could hurt Russian businesses operating in industries such as finance, car manufacturing and forestry.

The WTO’s rules will not fully apply in the US, where a Cold War-era restriction that links Russian trade access to rules on emigration – the Jackson-Vanik amendment of 1974 – remains in law. The restriction is, however, routinely waived in practice.

Full article:  EU welcomes Russia’s accession to WTO (European Voice)

Canadian goods destined for Iran’s nuclear program slip through: Documents

OTTAWA — Despite repeated Harper-government boasting about imposing some of the toughest sanctions against Iran, newly released documents show that Canadian customs agents are stretched thin — and have been missing some shipments intended for Iran’s surreptitious nuclear program.

The documents raise questions about the effectiveness of Canadian sanctions — and whether efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring Canadian technology for its nuclear program are mere rhetoric given a lack of resources and personnel.

Canada and other Western allies have been steadily tightening sanctions against Iran in recent years over the country’s rampant human-rights abuses, ongoing support for terrorism and clandestine efforts to establish a nuclear program.

Its nuclear aspirations have been of particular concern because of fears it is trying to acquire a nuclear arsenal.

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The sanctions include prohibitions on the export of anything that could help Iran acquire nuclear weapons, including goods used in the petrochemical, oil and gas industries, as well as items that could be used to build ballistic missiles.

The Canada Border Services Agency is responsible for enforcing those prohibitions — and according to the documents, obtained by researcher Ken Rubin, there have been some successes.

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“These shipments were prohibited because they were to listed entities, involved prohibited (listed) goods, or involved prohibited (oil refining and gas liquefaction),” the paper reads. “Other seizes involve nuclear dual use goods.”

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The paper states that Canada is a target for “clandestine and illicit procurement activity since it is a recognized leader in many high technology sectors, (including nuclear, aerospace, chemical, electronics).”

But the same paper also made it clear the border agency is facing extreme resource limitations in enforcing sanctions against not just Iran, but the more than a dozen other countries against which Canada has placed export and trade restrictions.

“The number of CBSA staff dedicated to export control are very limited (approximately 53 staff members),” the paper reads. “The number of export shipments that the dedicated export teams must target and examine is overwhelming (8,000 to 10,000 per day).”

The paper said because of these limitations, “most of the efforts of CBSA’s export control program are focused on Iran and known transshipment areas,” though nuclear procurement networks from Syria, China and Pakistan are also operating in Canada.

Meanwhile, a secret memo recently prepared for senior CBSA managers outlines the increasing complexities in monitoring and preventing the export of Canadian technology and goods to Iran for suspected use in its nuclear program.

“Although Iranian procurement networks have been identified as working in Canada,” the memo reads, “intercepting export shipments is becoming increasingly difficult as the networks adapt to the increased scrutiny and sanctions enforcement (by) using more transshipment points and circuitous routes to ship their exports.”

And officials admitted some suspect shipments have slipped past them.

“Despite the latest rounds of international and Canadian sanctions,” the memo reads, “Iranian procurement agents have still been able to export items, albeit with more difficulty, greater costs, but effective nevertheless.”

Even when shipments have been stopped or seized, the documents note that prosecution is extremely difficult, though they add that “success can also be considered when procurement efforts are disrupted and/or delayed.”

Full article: Canadian goods destined for Iran’s nuclear program slip through: Documents (o.Canada.com)

Why You Should Pay Attention to Yemen

Nation by nation, Iran is extending its reach in a bid to rein over the Middle East. If allowed to continue taking control of the world’s strategic chokepoints, Iran can affect the world as it sees fit.

On Tuesday, Iran’s Fars News Agency, citing a spokesman for Yemen’s Revolutionary Forces, reported that “the Yemeni people are deeply interested to establish stronger and very intimate relations with Iran.” According to Fars, the spokesman “reiterated that once the Yemeni people take back power from the Saudi-U.S. pivot, Tehran and Sanaa would certainly develop their ties” (emphasis added).

So, what does Iran expect to gain by establishing a strong presence in Yemen?

Take a look at the accompanying map. Basically, Iran wants Yemen for the same reason it wants Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt: to control the Red Sea!

(See full story for map)

Yemen is adjacent to both the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. It sits on the north side of the Bab el-Mandab passageway. Every ship that passes through this passage—and there are thousands every year—would travel within easy range of Islamist missiles stationed in Yemen. Consider the global ramifications: Nearly 30 percent of global oil supplies, more than 2 million barrels per day, pass through the Suez and the Red Sea. Roughly 20,000 ships, an average of 55 per day, pass through the Suez Canal and Red Sea each year. About 15 percent of global maritime trade travels through the Red Sea.

Talk about power and leverage!

Few see it, but ultimately, this is Iran’s grand strategy for endorsing and promoting the Islamification of Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and to a lesser extent, Yemen and Djibouti!

Think about the leverage Iran is gaining. It already effectively controls the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Now, in the 18 months since the Arab Spring touched off the rise of Islamist forces throughout North Africa and the Middle East, Tehran has made enormous strides in gaining influence over the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandab passageway, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. If Egypt takes control of the Sinai, which appears imminent, Iran will also gain a foothold in the Gulf of Aqaba. It’s startling, when you really think about it, the way Iran is quietly, steadily—without hardly anyone noticing—locking down the Red Sea!

Full article: Why You Should Pay Attention to Yemen (The Trumpet)

US, UK, French elite units on standby for seizing Syrian chemical weapons

US C130 transports stand ready at Middle East air bases to fly into Syria US elite units especially trained in combat against chemical and biological weapons and tactics for securing their arsenals. Western intelligence sources reported Thursday, Aug. 23 that those units are on standby at bases in Israel and Jordan. Their assignments are to engage Syrian troops attempting to move those unconventional weapons systems to battle fronts or Hizballah and to prevent them falling into the hands of radical Islamic rebel fighters, especially Al Qaeda.

Those elite units have been issued with special equipment for chemical and biological warfare including anti-contamination suits. The transports are also fitted with purification equipment for operating in polluted terrain.

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Also on standby for stealthy raids into Syria are British special operations forces in Cyprus and French units trained in unconventional warfare in Jordan. Thursday morning, President Obama talked by phone to British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande to wrap up the details of their combined operation in Syria, effectively the onset of direct Western intervention in the Syrian conflict.

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Some – though not all – of the targeted stockpiles of shells and missile warheads are located around centers of the fiercest fighting in Syria’s civil war such as Aleppo in the north.  They may be inadequately guarded since the Syrian ruler may have been forced to throw the units securing them into battle against rebel forces.

Important stress was laid by Obama in his comments Monday on the fact that he had not ordered US military engagement in Syria “at this point.”  In other words, beyond that point, he was free to change that order. debkafile’s military sources report that direct American military involvement in the Syrian conflict has to all intents and purposes begun and looks like expanding in the coming days.

This is a sharp reversal of the military situation in the Middle East. It could lead to all-out warfare exploding in Syria possibly involving Hizballah ahead of a strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons, although this strike could unfold from the Syrian campaign – during its course or at its conclusion.

Washington is hoping that its direct action in Syria, aside from grappling with the unconventional warfare menace looming over the region, may persuade Tehran to cave into American demands for halting uranium enrichment and turn it aside from its race for a nuclear weapon in order to save itself from attack.

Full article: US, UK, French elite units on standby for seizing Syrian chemical weapons (DEBKAfile)

Iran’s supreme leader orders fresh terror attacks on West

Update: Special thanks to those at Balatarin that linked this story. As with all posts, be sure to click the link at the bottom for the original source and full article. We look forward to and welcome the opportunity to being a future resource.

Iran’s Supreme Leader has ordered the country’s Revolutionary Guards to intensify its campaign of terror attacks against the West and its allies in retaliation for supporting the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

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Damascus is Iran’s most important regional ally, and the survival of the Assad regime is regarded as vital to sustaining the Iranian-backed Hizbollah militia which controls southern Lebanon.

The report, which was personally commissioned by Mr Khamenei, concluded that Iran’s national interests were being threatened by a combination of the U.N. sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear programme and the West’s continuing support for Syrian opposition groups attempting to overthrow the Syrian government.

Intelligence officials say the report concludes that Iran “cannot be passive” to the new threats posed to its national security, and warns that Western support for Syrian opposition groups was placing Iran’s “resistance alliance” in jeopardy, and could seriously disrupt Iran’s access to Hizbollah in Lebanon.

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Mr Khamenei responded by issuing a directive to Qassem Suleimani, the Quds Force commander, to intensify attacks against the West and its allies around the world.

The Quds Force has recently been implicated in a series of terror attacks against Western targets. Last year U.S. officials implicated the organisation in a failed assassination attempt against the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington. It was also implicated in three bomb attacks against Israeli diplomats in February, planning to attack the Eurovision song contest in Azerbaijan while two Iranians were arrested in Kenya last month for possessing explosives.

Intelligence officials believe the recent spate of Iranian attacks has been carried out by the Quds Force’s Unit 400, which runs special overseas operations.

“Unit 400 seems to have been involved in all the recent Iranian terrorist operations,” said a senior Western intelligence official. “The Iranian regime now seems determined to retaliate for what they regard as the West’s attempts to influence the outcome of the Syrian unrest.”

Full article: Iran’s supreme leader orders fresh terror attacks on West (The Telegraph)

Europe starts stockpiling oil as Iran conflict looms

European governments are rushing to boost stockpiles of crude oil and fuel, anxious to comply with new EU rules and amid reports that Israel is preparing to launch an attack on Iran.

Belgium and the Netherlands have issued tenders to import a total of around 250,000 tonnes of diesel and gasoline for delivery in September and October, their agencies said.

France has also bought diesel and awarded a crude oil tender this week while Belgium is increasing its crude stocks.

“This is yet another unexpected source of support for oil demand… [It] shows how the geopolitical concerns about Iran and Syria are bullish for oil even in the absence of an actual supply disruption,” said Seth Kleinman, head of energy research at Citi.

Iran tensions

European governments appear to be preparing for further supply disruptions in the Middle East as tensions have mounted between Israel and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Israeli media have reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the Fall.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reacted on Friday, calling Israel a “cancerous tumour” with no place in a future Middle East, drawing an unusually strongly-worded condemnation by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Ashton is acting as chief negotiator for six powers – the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain – that are trying to persuade Iran to scale back its nuclear programme through economic sanctions and diplomacy. They fear Iran’s nuclear programme aims at producing weapons, though Tehran says it serves peaceful purposes only.

EU oil stock directive

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An EU directive passed in 2009 and designed to mitigate the impact of a supply crisis requires EU members to hold reserves equal to 90 days of average daily net imports or 61 days of average daily consumption ahead of a December 31 deadline.

One third of the stocks must be held in products, according to the EU directive.

“We are in the process of building stocks to meet our strategic obligations under the new EU rules,” said Alain Demot, general manager of Belgium’s Apetra, adding that more tenders would be issued in coming months.

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NEXT STEPS:

• 31 Dec. 2012: Deadline for member states to communicate measures taken under the EU’s oil stock directive. Under the directive, oil stocks must correspond “at the very least, to 90 days of average daily net imports or 61 days of average daily inland consumption, whichever of the two quantities is greater.”

Full article: Europe starts stockpiling oil as Iran conflict looms (EurActiv)

Egypt considering violating peace treaty with Israel

A country that has kept stability in the Arab world for over 30 years, now radicalized after being overturned by the current White House administration, has now become openly hostile to a traditional US ally in the region, Israel.

Islamist president sending troops, tanks to border region

NEW YORK – Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi is studying the possibility of keeping tanks in the Sinai Peninsula on a permanent basis, according to a senior Egyptian military official who spoke to WND.

The military buildup would violate a key provision of peace accords signed with Israel in 1979 that calls for the total demilitarization of the peninsula.

Over the last two weeks, there have been reports of Egypt sending in light tanks, armored vehicles and attack helicopters in the Sinai purportedly to fight Islamic groups blamed for a spate of attacks and attempted attacks against both Israel and Egyptian police.

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The Egyptian military leadership has long been considered a quiet ally of Israel’s own defense establishment.

However, Morsi’s most recent unilateral sacking of the Egyptian military brass has now sent alarm bells ringing across Israel. The move signals the centralization of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood coalition and his presidency’s dominance over the military, which has long been seen as an independent force.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders over the years have called for Egypt to abandon the peace treaty signed with Israel. The treaty was the basis for the opening of billions of dollars in U.S. aid that built the Egyptian military into one of the strongest forces in the Middle East today, perhaps second only to Israel.

Full article: Egypt considering violating peace treaty with Israel (WND)

KAHLILI: Iran admits giving WMDs to terrorists

Should one rocket or missile take flight towards Tel Aviv loaded with any chemical or biological weapons, look for Isaiah 17:1 to come to fruition. Whatever side anyone is on in this conflict doesn’t matter at this point, as all bets are off the table if WMDs are used.

Israel will be obliterated by chemical, microbial and nuclear bombs, Iran is warning, but those weapons of mass destruction will be used first on Tel Aviv by Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad at the start of a decades-old Muslim dream of destroying the Jewish state.

An alarming commentary last week in Mashregh, the media outlet of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, confirmed that the Islamic regime not only has WMDs but has armed its terrorist proxies with them. Mashregh speaks for the regime.

It warned Israel that if the fighting in Syria does not stop, an all-out attack on the Jewish state will be launched and that at zero hour, Tel Aviv will be the first city to be destroyed.

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A strategic look at the situation in Syria, it said, shows that in order to safeguard Damascus and Bashar Assad’s regime, it is necessary to destroy “the center responsible for these destructions, which will force the enemy to retreat.” To that end, Iran will break “the security of Israel by targeting Tel Aviv.”

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Should Israel and its allies succeed in unraveling Syria so the legitimate Assad regime loses control, the commentary said, there are but two scenarios:

“Groups armed with weapons of mass destruction (chemical, microbial and nuclear bombs), which have been obtained on the black market, will surely target Tel Aviv.

“Other countries with different motivations from revenge to a change in the balance of power in the region looking for the elimination of Israel from the world’s map will use the chaos created without accepting any responsibility.” (Right below this point, Mashregh put up a picture of an atomic blast.)

Full article: KAHLILI: Iran admits giving WMDs to terrorists (Washington Times)

Batten Down the Hatches: Israel Likely to Strike Iran Before November

In connecting the dots: The Ayatollah Khomeini, afterall, had said war within weeks will come. Israel can no longer depend on the current US administration that isn’t Israeli-friendly, and will likely not take a chance on Obama winning a second term. A second term means Obama has nothing to lose in handling diplomacy as he sees fit with the Jewish state. War is no longer off in the distant horizon. War is now around the corner.

More Washington insiders are coming to the conclusion that Israel’s leaders are planning to attack Iran before the U.S. election in November in the expectation that American forces will be drawn in. There is widespread recognition that, without U.S. military involvement, an Israeli attack would be highly risky and, at best, only marginally successful.

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The recent pilgrimages to Israel by very senior U.S. officials — including the Secretaries of State and Defense carrying identical “PLEASE DON’T BOMB IRAN JUST YET” banners — has met stony faces and stone walls.(Actually, this remarkable parade reminded me (and perhaps even Netanyahu) of the biting comment by Longfellow’s beautiful Priscilla Mullins to a timid suitor, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, Obama, er, I mean John?”)

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Still, Israel’s window of opportunity (what it calls the “zone of immunity” for Iran building a nuclear bomb without Israel alone being able to prevent it) is ostensibly focused on Iran’s continued burrowing under mountains to render its nuclear facilities immune to Israeli air strikes, attacks that would seek to maintain Israel’s regional nuclear-weapons monopoly.

But another Israeli “window” or “zone” has to do with the pre-election period of the next 12 weeks in the United States. Last week, former Mossad chief Efraim Halevi told Israeli TV viewers, “The next 12 weeks are very critical in trying to assess whether Israel will attack Iran, with or without American backup.”

It would be all too understandable, given Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s experience with President Obama, that Netanyahu has come away with the impression that Obama can be bullied, particularly when he finds himself in a tight political spot.

For Netanyahu, the President’s perceived need to outdistance Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the love-for-Israel department puts Obama in a box. This, I believe, is the key “window of opportunity” that is uppermost in Netanyahu’s calculations.

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One source reported that U.S. forces are on hair-trigger alert and that covert operations inside Iran (many of them acts of war, by any reasonable standard) have been increased. Bottom line: we were warned that the train had left the station; that any initiative to prevent miscalculation or provocation in the Gulf was bound to be far too late to prevent escalation into a shooting war.

Full article: Batten Down the Hatches: Israel Likely to Strike Iran Before November (International.to)