DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

Tags: Al Qaeda Jordan US Sinai force

Missile hits main street of Aqaba, Jordan

US, Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian counter-terror experts are following leads indicating that the Grad missiles fired at Aqaba early Monday, August 2, killing a Jordanian security officer and injuring four people, was part of a coordinated attack against  Jordan, a US ally, and the US-led Multinational Force & Observers Organization in Sinai -MFO. This is reported by debkafile‘s counter-terror sources.
The explosions, which also caused extensive damage to the Intercontinental Hotel in Aqaba, were heard clearly in the Eilat, the Jordanian resort’s Red Sea twin at 7.45 a.m. Monday. However, Eilat is ruled out for now as an objective.
At the same time, too, the MFO’s command base at Al Gura, northeast of the northern Sinai port of El Arish on the Mediterranean was also attacked. Al Qaeda was apparently demonstrating its ability to hit two US or US-allied Middle East targets at the same time.
While the Jordanian government published the Aqaba attack in detail, Egypt and the MFO command’s Rome headquarters have imposed a news blackout on the Sinai end of the attack. However, it is confirmed by Israeli military sources and local witnesses. MFO personnel are also taking part in the wide-ranging search in which Egypt, Jordan and Israeli are working together for the location from which the attack originated.
The search is focusing on discovering whether the missiles for both attacks all came from Sinai, which would indicate two launch-teams – one firing from the north and one west of central Sinai, where of Al Qaeda has established hideouts – or whether Aqaba was hit by a separate missile team firing from inside Jordan.
This was be the first time that Al Qaeda branches in Jordan and Sinai have been known to synchronize their operations – but not the first time the jihadists have targeted the thriving Jordanian resort of Aqaba, a tourist favorite alongside next-door Eilat.
It was last hit on June 8, 2007, when al Qaeda’s missiles smashed into a Jordanian military target, killing a soldier, and just missed the USS Ashland docked which was docked at the time in Aqaba. One of those missiles reached nearby Eilat airport.

Rockets may have all crashed on Jordan soil, police says – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Rockets apparently launched from Sinai days after Katyusha and Qassam strike Negev, and after IAF retaliatory bombing of Gaza.

No evidence has been found indicating that any of the five rockets that were launched earlier Monday landed in the southern city of Eilat, the city’s police chief Meir Yitzhak-Halevi said, adding that it was likely that all of the rockets had likely landed on Jordanian soil.

Earlier Monday it was reported that a Jordanian man had died after one of the rockets, apparently fired from the Sinai Peninsula, exploded near him in port city of Aqaba.

	Wreckage of cars damaged by a rocket attack is seen at a hotel area in the Jordan’s Red Sea city of Aqaba August 2, 2010.
	Photo by: Reuters

The man succumbed to his serious wounds a few hours after the incident. Three other Jordanian were wounded, but there were no casualties in Eilat.

A total of five rockets were launched toward Aqaba, situated near the Israeli city of Eilat, just beforer 8 A.M.

	The southern Israeli city of Eilat
	Photo by: Archive

Two of the rockets apparently struck the Red Sea, another exploded in an open area near Eilat, and the other two hit central Aqaba, one of them in front of the city’s Intercontinental Hotel.

Jordanian Communications Minister Nabil Al-Sharif confirmed that a Grad rocket hit a main street in Aqaba and said he was certain that the salvo had not been launched from within Jordanian territory.

Another Jordanian source, when asked where the rocket had been launched from, told Reuters without elaborating: “It came from the west.”

Two of the wounded were taxi drivers and one of their cars was destroyed, said witness Mohammad Shudeifat, who was on his way to work in the area when the blast struck.

Eilat District Port Commander Moshe Cohen said that while it was too early to know where the rocket had been fired from, “it is reasonable to assume that it came from the southern area,” referring to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian security sources, however, were quoted by the state news agency as saying rockets could not have been fired from Sinai.

A sixth rocket was fired hours later, according to Army Radio, and exploded within Sinai territory next to an international peace-keeping force.

The coastal Israeli city was last hit by rockets in April, when two were fired from Sinai. That incident was the first time a rocket has been fired at the resort town in almost five years.

Eilat, at the northern tip of the Red Sea, is a popular resort for Israelis and foreign holiday-makers. It was largely spared the violence faced by other Israeli cities during the Intifada and subsequent years. The city was hit in January 2007 by a suicide bomber, killing three people.

In 2005, rockets were fired at U.S. warships in Aqaba’s port but missed their target and killed a Jordanian soldier on land. A group claiming links to al-Qaida said it was behind the attack.

In 2001, Jordan’s security forces captured Hezbollah activists from Lebanon who planned to fire missiles at Eilat from Aqaba. A year later, an unknown Beirut-based organization said it was planning to bomb several areas in Israel from Jordan, including Eilat, Beit She’an and Tiberias.

The Israel Air Force late Saturday bombed two smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, after a Katyusha rocket struck Ashkelon on Friday and a Qassam hit the western Negev within just 24 hours.

Iran is feeling the heat.

By C. KRAUTHAMMER
08/01/2010 22:22

The Islamic Republic is beginning to realize that even President Obama’s patience is limited.

Mullen confirmation of Iran Battle Plan Is Strongest Signal Yet : NewsTime : World News.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has confirmed on Sunday that a military option for Iran is undesirable but a battle plan is in place if the decision is made to rid the threat of it acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.

While Iran denies that it has ambitions to achieve anything other than commercial nuclear benefit from its program many among the international community are sceptical.

Tehran is one of the world’s leading sponsors of terrorism, has a major domestic problem which required security forces to use live rounds on demonstrators who don’t accept that President Mahmoud Amadinejad won the recent Iranian election and poses a threat to its Sunni neighbours in the region as well as Israel.

Mullen voiced concerns about unleashing unintended consequences in an extremely volatile region and expressed the sincere hope that negotiations would achieve a result without the necessity of implementing a solution requiring force.

Having said that he conceded that allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapons capability was totally unacceptable.

Up until now the threat and even the implementation of increasingly harsh sanctions has failed to deter Ahmadinejad from his goal of achieving this capability. Representatives have been dilatory in their dealings with the IAEA and the world powers, a nuclear plant which Tehran thought was hidden away was exposed and Ahmadinejad even crossed the globe in order to enlist Turkey and Brazil’s help in trying to ward off UN Security Council sanctions.

What is clear is that no matter the hardship to his people, Ahmadinejad intends attaining a nuclear umbrella under which he can quell any domestic unrest, train whichever terrorists groups he desires and project power in the region and beyond.

What is becoming noticeable, with Mullen’s confirmation today as well as the crash of an Israeli Sikorski CH-53-type helicopter taking part in a joint Romanian-Israeli drills this week, is that while military force is the least desirable option on the table it is fast becoming the most likely one.

Israel warns Hamas after rocket fire – World news – Mideast/N. Africa – msnbc.com.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister issued a stern warning Sunday to Gaza’s Hamas rulers after a weekend of rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory on Israeli communities.

Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet that Israel holds the Islamic militant group responsible for the rare flare-up in violence and would retaliate for any attack against its people.

“I see the Hamas as directly responsible for any attack that comes from the Gaza Strip toward the state of Israel and the international community should see it this way as well,” Netanyahu said. “Israel reserves the right to defend its citizens and we will continue to use all means to protect the people of Israel and the children of Israel.”

The attacks caused damage but no injuries. No Palestinian group took responsibility for the attacks.

Israel responded with a series of airstrikes on militant targets in Gaza, including one that killed a senior commander of the Hamas military wing.

Years of rocket fire from Gaza has largely subsided since Israel launched a fierce offensive in the Palestinian territory in December 2008.

The three-week war dramatically reduced the number of rockets hitting Israel, but devastated the densely populated and impoverished Palestinian territory and drew international criticism.

Most of the rocket fire since has been carried out by smaller militant groups that do not necessarily accept Hamas’ authority. Hamas has largely refrained from launching attacks, apparently because of concerns about Israeli retaliation.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Netanyahu of trying to “invent pretexts for new attacks” on Hamas.

Iran official: We’ll burn down Tel Aviv in case of attack – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Islamic Republic’s UN envoy says preoccupation with Israeli strike symbolizes ‘enemies’ fear’

Dudi Cohen

‘We will resume suicide attacks’.

Assad warns of growing threat of Middle East war – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Syria’s president says unwilling to negotiate over Golan Heights, calling its ‘liberation’ an ‘ingrained right’.

Syria will not negotiate with Israel over letting it keep the Golan Heights, President Bashar al-Assad said Sundat, days after Israel’s prime minister expressed interest in resuming talks with Damascus.

In a statement on Syrian army day published in official media on Sunday, Assad repeated his assessment that the possibility of another Middle East war was rising in the absence of what he called Israel’s willingness to make peace.

	Bashar Assad overseeing military maneuvers.
	Photo by: Reuters

“If anyone thinks that Syria might negotiate over its occupied land then they are mistaken,” Assad said.

“The liberation of the Golan is a deeply ingrained right. Peace requires restoring all the occupied soil until the line of June 4, 1967,” he added.

The Six-Day War broke out a day after this date and Israel swiftly defeated the armies of Syria, Jordan and Egypt.

Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel, which annexed the territory in the early 1980s but did not build settlements on it as heavily as in the West Bank. A United Nations Security Council resolution declared the annexation illegal.

Assad said that while Syria was sticking to its pursuit of peace with Israel the army had to be prepared for war.

“The world is certain now that Israel is the one putting obstacles in front of peace and its requirements,” Assad said.
“The specter of real peace in the region is disappearing and the possibility of war is increasing,” he added.

Tension between Syria and Israel rose this year after President Shimon Perez accused Syria of supplying Scud missiles to the Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah, which is also supported by Iran.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman went further, saying Assad would lose power in any future war.

Syria said it could target Israeli cities next time and that while it was not arming Hezbollah, the Damascus government will not guarantee the security of Israel.

Israeli leaders have stepped up their accusations about suspected military cooperation between Hezbollah and Syria, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel remained interested in negotiating peace with Syria.

U.S. has plan in case attack on Iran needed, says army chief – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

Both Israel and U.S. keeping military option on table; Iran envoy to UN: We’ll set Tel Aviv ablaze if Israel strikes us.

By The Associated Press

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said Sunday that the U.S. military has a plan to attack Iran if necessary, but clarified that he considered such a strike to be a bad idea.

Mullen, the highest-ranking U.S. military officer, has often warned that a military strike on Iran over its contentious nuclear program would have serious and unpredictable ripple effects around the Middle East. At the same time, he has called the risk of Iran developing a nuclear weapon unacceptable.

	Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Navy Admiral Michael Mullen
	Photo by: Reuters

Mullen would not say which risk he thinks is worse, but told NBC television’s Meet The Press that a military strike remains an option if need be. Should come to that, Mullen added, the military has a plan at hand. He did not elaborate.

Both the U.S. and Israel have declared that the option of attacking the Islamic Republic must remain on the table.

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations earlier Sunday warned that the Islamic Republic would set Tel Aviv ablaze if Israel dares attack it.

“If the Zionist regime commits the slightest aggression against Iranian soil, we will set the entire war front and Tel Aviv on fire,” Mohammad Khazai said, Kashmar, the Farhang-e Ashti daily reported.

Last month, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said world leaders “believe absolutely” that Israel may decide to take military action against Iran to prevent the latter from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“Iran is not guaranteeing a peaceful production of nuclear power [so] the members of the G-8 are worried and believe absolutely that Israel will probably react preemptively,” Berlusconi told reporters following talks with other Group of Eight leaders.

Iranian military officials said last week that the United States and Israel would not dare attempt a military strike of Iran’s nuclear sites, adding that they were confident that Tehran would easily repel such an attempt.

The United States, the United Nations and the European Union have each imposed new restrictions on Iran over its nuclear enrichment activities.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

Tags: Ali Larijani Iran nuclear US-Iran

Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani

The statement by parliament speaker Ali Larijani July 31 that Iran can obtain nuclear and missile technology is theclosest any Iranian official has come so far to admitting his country is within reach of acquiring a nuclear weapon, debkafile‘s military sources report.
Further turning up the heat on Washington, the foreign ministry in Tehran announced Sunday, Aug. 1, that the three American hikers detained a year ago would stand trial for illegally crossing the Iranian border – and possibly on security charges.  Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, who accidentally strayed into Iran while hiking in northern Iraq, have therefore become hostagesin a sharpening face-off between Tehran and Washington.

The admission warns Washington that while Iran has not yet begun building bombs, it has the technology available and more pressure through sanctions or covert operations will only tip Tehran over into warhead production. The comment also demonstrated how far Iran’s nuclear and missile programs have progressed since last October when the group of five powers plus Germany challenged the Iranians to halt uranium enrichment at their negotiations in Geneva.
Yet the same demand remains on the table for the next round of talks next month, although Iran has gone way past that point and UN, US and European sanctions have been clamped down in the interim.
In response to those penalties, Larijani announced they were no deterrent, just the opposite. Last month, parliament in Tehran passed a law ordering the government to proceed with uranium enrichment up to 30 percent, which is a short jump to weapons-grade fuel.

“When the United States questions why Iran has nuclear and missile technology it is because we have the ability to obtain such technologies,” he said, adding, “They (the Americans) claim that Iran has nuclear weapons but they never say a word about the Zionist regime, which is their friend and possesses nukes.”

Turning to two other fronts, the Iranian Majlis Speaker said: “If the Zionist regime bullies Palestine, we will stand against it and if it decides to attack Lebanon, Hizballah will confront it.”

A division of labor was thus drawn by the powerful Speaker. It commits Iran to defend the Palestinians in any future attack, while leaving the Lebanese front against Israel to its surrogate, the Hizballah.

Tehran has already laid the groundwork for the first part of this equation, forking out $250 million to Hamas for the creation of a new Palestinian Popular Army in the Gaza Strip, as first revealed by debkafile on July 31.

Also Saturday, Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, accused Washington of stepping up its war of nerves against Iran.
“US Congress Bill 1553 which gives the hated Zionist regime a free hand to confront Iran is part of a propaganda and psychological warfare scenario coupled with military plans… to affect Iranian nuclear insiders,” said the Iranian general.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he warned other nations against “US and Israeli mischievous acts in the high seas.”

This was a reference to the UN sanction authorizing searches of Iranian vessels suspected of carrying prohibited freights, such as items for its nuclear production.