WarSclerotic

U.K., Germany, U.A.E. deny banning fuel for Iran planes – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Iran says passengers planes refused fuel in wake of U.S sanctions; U.A.E.: We’re honoring contracts; Germany: Unaware of any incidents; U.K.: We haven’t ordered ban, but individual companies may have taken own action.

Iranian officials accused Germany, Britain and the United Arab Emirates on Monday of refusing to refuel Iranian passenger planes due to unilateral U.S. sanctions imposed over its nuclear program, and threatened to retaliate against the move.

	Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves as he boards his plane on April 22, 2010
	Photo by: AP

“Since last week, our planes have been refused fuel at airports in Britain, Germany and UAE because of the sanctions imposed by America,” Mehdi Aliyari, Secretary of the Iranian Airlines Union, told Iran’s ISNA news agency.

A British government spokesman said it was unaware of any Iranian planes being denied fuel in Britain. The German transport ministry said there was no ban on refuelIng Iranian aircraft, and an airport in the United Arab Emirates said it was honoring contracts to fill Iranian air craft normally.

The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority said it had not ordered companies to refuel Iranian planes – but tadded hat individual fuel forms were free to make their own decisions on the matter. The refueling of Iranian planes, she said, was not something which either EU or UN sanctions have banned.

Germany’s Transport Ministry said the refueling of Iranian planes was not banned under E.U. or UN sanctions and that a future ban of this order was not foreseeable.

There is no ban,” a spokesman for the ministry told Reuters, adding that he could not comment on whether any individual providers were refusing to fuel Iranian aircraft.

An airport company in the U.A.E capital Abu Dhabi denied that any such measure was in place. “We have contracts with Iranian passenger flights and continue to allow refueling,” said a spokeswoman for Abu Dhabi Airports Co (ADAC).

If confirmed, the new measures will be evidence of a determined intention to make these sanctions really bite.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law far-reaching sanctions on Iran that aim to squeeze the Islamic Republic’s fuel imports and deepen its international isolation.

The unilateral U.S. action and other measures planned by the European Union go well beyond a fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran approved on June 9.

Iran is the world’s fifth-largest oil producer, but imports various oil products for lack of sufficient refining capacity.

Unlike the U.S. measures, the U.N. sanctions stop short of targeting Iranian imports of refined products.

Western powers believe Iran is trying to build bombs under cover of a civilian nuclear program. Tehran says the programme is only for electricity generation and medical purposes.

Aliyari said Iran Air, the national carrier, and Mahan Airlines had run into refueling problems so far. “Refusing to provide fuel to Iranian passenger planes by these countries is a violation of international conventions,” he added.

An Iranian lawmaker said his country would retaliate in kind against countries denying fuel to its transport industry.

“Iran will do the same to ships and planes of those countries that cause problems for us,” ISNA quoted Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh as saying. “Iran should react firmly to the action taken by some countries like the U.A.E.”

ANALYSIS / In tit-for-tat with Obama, it’s Netanyahu’s turn to move – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Netanyahu wants Obama to act against Iran and Obama wants Netanyahu to curb the settlements and reach an arrangement in the West Bank.

By Aluf Benn

	Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama.
	Photo by: AFP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama will have two issues on the agenda at their meeting at the White House this evening – stemming Iran’s growing strength and Palestinian statehood.

Netanyahu wants Obama to act against Iran and Obama wants Netanyahu to curb the settlements and reach an arrangement in the West Bank.

This deal, foiling Iran’s nuclearization for stopping the West Bank settlements, has been on the agenda since the two were elected. Each one knows what the other wants, but is trying to lower the price. Netanyahu would have been happy for America to strike Iran while Israel continued ruling the territories. Obama would have been happy for Israel to remove all West Bank settlements, withdraw to the Green Line and clear the area for an independent Palestine, without having to confront Iran.

During their first year in office the two did not reach an agreement or move toward their mutual goals. Iran is enriching uranium and there is no Palestinian state. But Obama did strengthen Israel in its arms race against Iran and protected it from international investigation committees and courts, in exchange for a partial construction freeze in the settlements, removing roadblocks in the West Bank, strengthening the Palestinian Authority’s defense forces and alleviating the blockade on Gaza.

Now they have reached a turning point. Obama has formed an international front supporting new sanctions against Iran and signed legislation for stricter sanctions. It won’t stop the centrifuges in Natanz, but it does herald the end of a conciliatory policy toward Iran and the beginning of the slide toward confrontation.

Now that Obama has made his move on the Iranian front, it is Netanyahu’s turn to give him something on the Palestinian front. The Israeli political arena is preoccupied with whether Netanyahu will resume construction in the West Bank when the freeze expires at the end of September. But this is a marginal issue. Netanyahu needs a reward that would enable him to extend the freeze. For example, a Palestinian agreement on direct talks. Or freezing construction only outside settlement blocs, in exchange for allowing the building of the new Palestinian city Rawabi, near Ramallah.

The more important question Obama will ask Netanyahu is what the latter would do to realize his vision for “a demilitarized Palestinian state beside the Jewish state.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants Netanyahu to accept in principle the borders and security formula – the ’67 lines as a basis for arrangement, with agreed territorial swaps on a 1:1 scale and an international force on the ground – as a basis for direct negotiations. In these talks the maps will be drafted and other core issues will be discussed. The Kadima government headed by Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni agreed to this formula.

Netanyahu will probably propose a counter formula that will water down the Palestinian demand. For example “defensible borders on the basis of the ’67 lines and territory swaps.” This will give Netanyahu greater room to maneuver in the negotiations.

Obama and Netanyahu will try to appraise each other’s political strength this evening. Netanyahu will try to understand to what extent his host fears mid-term elections in November and how much pressure he can apply to Israel.

Obama will estimate how stable his guest’s seat is and how much he needs to make a move toward peace to keep Labor in the coalition.

Both are stronger than before. Obama passed a healthcare reform bill and sanctions against Iran and displayed leadership in replacing Gen. Stanley McChrystal with David Petraeus as commander in Afghanistan. Netanyahu gained control of his party and has no rivals in Likud or the opposition to harass him, topple him or defeat him in elections.

The two men’s weakness lies in the international front, not at home. Obama needs an achievement to show the world that America is not lost. Netanyahu wants to reverse Israel’s growing international isolation.

Here is a basis for understanding – which will remain discreet if achieved. Netanyahu will not announce an extension of the freeze two-and-a-half months in advance, avoiding pressure and leaving some wiggle room in talks with the Palestinians. Obama will make no promises he would find difficult to keep.

The visit will generate no big headlines. Its results will only emerge at the end of summer.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

Tags: Israel-Greece

Greek FM George Panadreou shows interest

Israel has finally moved on from its fractured relationship with Turkey – notwithstanding the impression conveyed by some US and Israeli circles that the damage is not beyond repair. This week, the Israeli Minister of Trade and Labor Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer made last-ditch bid to save the relationship by initiating a meeting in Zurich with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutolu. It went badly and was hotly debated at the Israeli cabinet meeting Sunday, July 4. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he thought it was worth a try, but most ministers said that given Ankara’s harsh hostility, it should never have taken place.
Meanwhile, as Western and Turkish media outlets harped on Israel’s loss of its only Muslim ally in the Middle East, Jerusalem was busy acquiring a new strategic partner:  Greece, a NATO member like Turkey with plenty of Middle East interests, has shown interest in stepping into Turkey’s shoes and investing in stronger military and intelligence ties.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly 450 reported on June 25 from sources in Athens and Jerusalem that this development was not so much planned in Jerusalem as initiated by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who boasts many Jewish and Israeli friends and business contacts, some of whom hold high political and intelligence positions in Israel. He saw Athens’ chance to slot into Ankara’s place in Jerusalem and transform their present diplomatic, economic, military and intelligence ties into a thriving strategic alliance, that would carry the same advantages to both sides as did Israel’s former relations with Turkey.
According to some sources, Papandreou also hopes this alliance will help ease some of his country’s financial woes. But most of all, he is looking to Israel for help in speeding the upgrade of his armed forces and helping transform them into the Christian mainstay of NATO in the Balkans and southern Europe – in place of the Muslim Turkish army.

This notion was not the direct outcome of Israel’s break with Turkey or the clash aboard the Turkish Mavi Marmara on May 31 between Israeli commandos and pro-Palestinian Turkish activists. It has been evolving for some time, first broached in the summer of 2008 when Papandreou allowed 100 Israeli F-15 and F-16 fighter-bombers to pass through Greek Mediterranean air space for practicing long flights and in-flight fueling.

The distance between Israel and Greece there and back is 1,900 kilometers, identical to the distance between Israel and Iran.

The Greek prime minister went out of his way to be of assistance, making available to the Israeli Air Force the crews and advanced S-300 PMU1interceptor missile batteries Athens purchased from Russia back in 2000. They were allowed to practice bombing sorties against these batteries, in case Moscow decided to sell them to Iran and Syria.

The severe financial crisis besetting Greece this year enhanced the friendly ties between Athens and Jerusalem. While European Union countries spent long months discussing whether to bail Greece out and save it from collapse (eventually granting a €110 billion package), Papandreou turned to Jewish financial titans in Europe and the United States for help to keep the Greek economy afloat.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

Iran Air grounded by US sanctions

The new US sanctions covering the sale to Iran of refined oil products including gasoline and jet oil, which President Barak Obama signed into law Friday, July 2, have gone into action, debkafile‘s Iranian and military sources report. Monday, July 5, Mehdi Aliyari, secretary of Iranian Airlines Union, said airports in Britain, Germany, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates had refused to refuel Iranian passenger planes. He said the cutoff affected the national carrier Iran Air and the biggest Iranian private airline Mahan Air, both of which operate several flights to Europe.

Following this announcement, a spokeswoman of the oil giant BPsaid “we will comply with any international sanctions that are imposed.  And that goes also for the new round of US sanctions following a decision by Congress.” Around Friday, BP sent faxes to its refueling operations in some European countries, including those owned with partners, ordering a ban on refueling for several Iranian airlines, including Iran Air.
BP is under US pressure over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The fuel cutoff comes in the middle of the summer holiday rush to and from Iran, forcing holiday-makers to resort to the few foreign airlines putting into Tehran for their overseas flights.

Tehranis particularly put out by the refusal of the United Arab Emirates’ international airport in Dubai to provide fueling services. It is a transit hub for the many of millions of Iranians who fly to Persian Gulf and Middle East destinations. So central is this facility to Iran’s international air connections that it has two terminals, one for ordinary traffic and one just for Iranian flights.
Pervez Sorouri, a lawmaker and member of Iranian parliament’s committee on foreign policy and national security, warned Tehran would take retaliatory action for these sanctions, especially towards the United Arab Emirates. An Abu Dhabi Airports Company spokeswoman later denied it had stopped supplying Iranian jets with fuel.
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority reacted to the Iranian statement by saying this move would be down to individual fuel companies and Germany’s Transport Ministry would not comment on whether individual providers were refusing to fuel Iranian aircraft.

Both commented that US sanctions prohibit the sale to Iran of refined petroleum products worth more than $5 million over a year and were being careful not to exceed this amount.
But all three were clearly prompted by the Iranian threat of retaliation to issue equivocal statements about their actions.
According to debkafile, the Iranian man in the street will very soon feel the rough edge of the new American measures. The cost of foreign air travel will very shortly shoot up, along with domestic flights which are the lifeline of business activity in the country. The rising price of gasoline is bound to affect food prices; so too will soaring insurance rates for shipping fuel and other merchandize to the Islamic Republic.
Since Friday, Iranian leaders have been telling the public that the new US sanctions will not affect their lives and their government has set up alternative arrangements to bypass them. But they will now have a hard time explaining away penalties that affect the life of every individual and family.
Saturday, after learning its passenger flights would be denied fuel, Iran’s leaders held an emergency conference to decide how to react. When President Obama signed the new sanctions Friday, our Iranian sources reported that Tehran was bound to retaliate – either against oil shipping bound for the US, Europe and the Far East from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf – with immediate effect on world oil prices – or some other means.
For debkafile‘s report on the first Iranian threats in response to the new US sanctions, click here