WarSclerotic

EU open to talks with Iran, with… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

(I’ve lost track of how many times Iran has used phoney “talks” as a stalling tactic. – JW)

   BRUSSELS – The European Union is open to meaningful talks with Tehran provided there are no preconditions on the Iranian side, an EU foreign policy spokesman said on Saturday.Earlier, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency quoted a senior official as saying that Iran’s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili will write to the EU’s foreign affairs chief to express Tehran’s readiness for fresh nuclear talks with major powers.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report December 31, 2011, 12:16 PM (GMT+02:00)

USS Stennis cruises Persian Gulf waters

By a media trick, Tehran proved its claim that closing the Strait of Hormuz is as “easy as drinking water,” debkafile reports.  First thing Saturday morning, Saturday, Dec. 31, Iran’s state agencies “reported” long-range and other missiles had been test-fired as part of its ongoing naval drill around the Strait of Hormuz. Ahead of the test, Tehran closed its territorial waters. For five hours Saturday, not a single warship, merchant vessel or oil tanker ventured into the 30-mile wide Hormuz strait, waiting to hear from Tehran’ that the test was over.

Instead, around 0900 local time, a senior Iranian navy commander Mahmoud Moussavi informed Iran’s English language Press TV that no missiles had been fired after all. “The exercise of launching missiles will be carried out in the coming days,” he said.
For five hours therefore, world shipping obeyed Tehran’s warning and gave the narrow waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, a wide berth. They stayed out of range of a test which, debkafile‘s military sources report, aimed to demonstrate for the first time that Shahab-3 ballistic missiles which have a range of 1,600 kilometers and other missiles, such as the Nasr1cruise marine missile, are capable of reaching Hormuz from central Iran.

The Moussavi statement was not aired on Iran’s Farsi-language media. It was not necessary; Tehran had demonstrated by this ruse that it could close the vital waterway for hours or days at any moment.

Friday night, shortly after Tehran reported the missile-firing test was to take place the next morning, Washington announced the $3.48 billion sale to the United Arab Emirates of 94 advanced THAAD missiles with supporting technology.

Like the $30 billion sale of 84 F-15 fighter jets to the Saudi Arabia announced this week, delivery dates were not specified.  The first F-15s for Saudi Arabia are due some time in 2015. It must therefore be said that the announced sophisticated US arms sales to the Persian Gulf nations bear only tangentially on the current state of tension in the region around Iranian threats.
The Hormuz missile stratagem has given Tehran three advantages in its face-off with Washington and the Gulf Arab governments:
1.  It gave credibility to the threats issued by Iranian military chiefs last week regarding free passage in the Strait of Hormuz and Western sanctions:
On Dec. 29, Navy commander Adm. Habibollah Sayari said it was “really easy” for Iran’s armed forces to shut the strait, adding “But today, we don’t need [to shut] the strait because we have the Sea of Oman under control and can control the transit.”

The next day, Deputy Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Gen. Hossein Salami said the United States was not in a position to tell Tehran “what to do in the Strait of Hormuz. Any threat will be responded to by threat… We will not relinquish our strategic moves if Iran’s vital interests are undermined by any means.”

2. For Tehran, closing the vital waterway to international traffic without firing a shot – even for a few hours – served to rebut the warning given by US Fifth Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Rebecca Rebarich on Dec. 29. She said: “Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations: any disruption will not be tolerated.”

It also addressed the dispatch of the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier through the strait into the Sea of Oman in proximity to Iran’s ten-day Velayati 90 naval drill. The Stennis, accompanied only by a single destroyer, demonstrated US confidence in its military muscle against any Iranian threat.
As the Stennis passed through the big US air base at al-Udeid, Qatar, went on high alert.
3. Tehran did not explain why its war game, designated in advance a display of Iranian naval and air control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman, suddenly morphed into a ballistic missile test; nor its postponement.

debkafile‘s military sources report that the Iranians were in fact sending a message to the Gulf rulers and the US bases on their soil that they would not escape missile retaliation for a possible US or Israel attack on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities or harsh sanctions.

Iran’s navy commander says test firing of missiles has been delayed, denies earlier report.

Al Arabiya

Saturday, 31 December 2011

A rocket is fired from an Iranian military vessel during war game exercises on the Sea of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. (Reuters)

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Iran’s senior navy commander denied state media reports that the Islamic Republic had test-fired long-range missiles during a naval drill on Saturday, saying the missiles would be launched in the coming days.

Mahmoud Mousavi told Iran’s English-language Press TV : “The exercise of launching missiles will be carried out in the coming days.”

He did not say exactly when the launches would start, but explained they would involve tests of “medium- and long-range missiles” to evaluate their operational effectiveness.

The navy exercises started December 24 and are due to end on Monday.

The semi-official Mehr news agency quoted a senior official as saying that nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili would write to EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton to express Tehran’s readiness for fresh nuclear talks with major powers.

“Jalili will soon send a letter to Catherine Ashton over the format of negotiations … then fresh talks will take place with major powers,” said Iran’s ambassador to Germany Alireza Sheikh Attar.

Talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, plus Germany (P5+1) stalled in January.

The EU is considering a ban ─ already in place in the United States ─ on imports of Iranian oil, although diplomats and traders say awareness is growing in the EU that such a ban could damage the bloc’s economy without doing much to hurt Iran.

Syrian National Council joins hands with other groups to chart ‘transition period’.

Al Arabiya

Saturday, 31 December 2011

Two major Syrian opposition forces have come together and signed an accord which sets out rules for a transitional period as and when the regime is toppled. (Reuters)

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The Syrian National Council (SNC) opposition group has signed a political agreement with another faction of dissidents laying the ground rules for a “transitional period” should the regime be toppled, a statement said.

The SNC, a major umbrella of factions opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, signed the deal with the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, NCB chief Hassan Abdel Azim told AFP on Saturday.

According to the statement received by AFP in Nicosia, the NCB and the SNC signed an agreement “which sets out the political and democratic rules for the transitional period,” should Assad be ousted by a pro-democracy uprising that erupted in March.

The accord also “determines the important parameters for Syria’s future which aspire to ensure that the homeland and every citizen’s rights are treated with dignity, and for the foundation of a civil democratic state,” according to an English-language text from the NCB.

As many as 38 people were shot dead by the Syrian security forces, Al Arabiya reported on Friday citing Syrian activists at the Local Coordination Committees.

Syrian forces were accused of firing nail bombs Friday to disperse protesters as tens of thousands of people flooded streets across the country to make their voices heard to Arab monitors, according to AFP.

Friday also saw more than 100,000 protesters stage a sit-in in Douma as the Arab observers toured the city, Syrian activists said.

The Arab League mission has been tainted by some controversy, with some opposition members unhappy with the head of the observers General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi — a veteran Sudanese military intelligence officer.

For some, Dabi is a controversial figure because he served under Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes committed in Darfur region.

“The observers must remain in the cities they visit to protect civilians,” said prominent human rights lawyer Haytham Maleh who is also a member of the main opposition Syrian National Council.

Around 66 monitors are currently in Syria but there are plans to deploy between 150 and 200 observers.

More deaths, protests in Syria – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians rally across nation; dozens killed, including troops

Associated Press

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians poured into the streets across the nation Friday in the largest protests in months, shouting for the downfall of the regime in a defiant display invigorated by the presence of Arab observers, activists said.

As many as 38 people were killed by security forces in several cities across Syria, al-Arabiya reported, citing Syrian activists.Five members of the security forces were also killed in a shooting in the city of Homs, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Rami Abdul-Raham, who heads the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the crowds were largest Friday in Idlib and Hama provinces, with 250,000 people each. Other massive rallies were held in Daraa province and the Damascus suburb of Douma, he said.

Despite skepticism over the Arab League mission, it has energized the protest movement, with tens of thousands turning out this week in cities and neighborhoods where the observers are expected to visit.

The huge rallies have been met by lethal gunfire from security forces, apparently worried about multiple mass sit-ins modeled after Cairo’s Tahrir Square. In general, activists say, security forces have launched attacks when observers were not present. But there have been some reports of firing on protesters while the monitors were close by.

The Local Coordination Committees, an activist coalition, said at least 130 people, including six children, have been killed in Syria since the Arab observers began their one-month mission on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Pro-Assad groups turned out for rallies in Damascus and several other cities, waving portraits of the president, in an apparent bid to show the regime has public support during the observer visit. On Friday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said an initial assessment by Arab League observers in Syria was “reassuring.” Moscow is one of Syria’s few remaining allies following more than nine months of violence.

“Moscow appraises with satisfaction the real beginning of the Arab League activities in Syria,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The situation there is reassuring, clashes have not been recorded.”

Reuters and Ynet contributed to the story

US seals $3.48B missiles, technology sale to UAE – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Deal includes 96 missiles, supporting technology and training intended to boost Mideast alley’s defense

Associated Press

The United States has reached a deal to sell $3.48 billion worth of missiles and related technology to the United Arab Emirates, a close Mideast ally, as part of a massive buildup of defense technology among friendly Mideast nations near Iran.

Pentagon spokesman George Little announced the Christmas Day sale on Friday night. He said the US and UAE have a strong defense relationship and are both interested in “a secure and stable” Persian Gulf region.

The deal includes 96 missiles, along with supporting technology and training support that Little says will bolster the nation’s missile defense capacity.

The deal includes a contract with Lockheed Martin to produce the highly sophisticated Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, weapon system for the UAE.

Tom McGrath, vice president and program manager for Lockheed Martin’s THAAD program in Dallas, said in a statement it was the first foreign military sale of the THAAD system.

THAAD interceptors are produced at Lockheed Martin’s Pike County Facility in Troy, Alabama. The launchers and fire control units are produced at the company’s Camden, Ark., facility.

Building up allies’ defense

Wary of Iran, the US has been building up missile defenses of its allies, including a $1.7 billion deal to upgrade Saudi Arabia‘s Patriot missiles and the sale of 209 Patriot missiles to Kuwait, valued at about $900 million.

On Thursday, the Obama administration announced the sale of $30 billion worth of F-15SA fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

Under the fighter jet agreement, the US will send Saudi Arabia 84 new fighter jets and upgrades for 70 more. Production of the aircraft, which will be manufactured by Boeing Co., will support 50,000 jobs and have a $3.5 billion annual economic impact in the US.

All the sales are part of a larger US effort to realign its defense policies in the Persian Gulf to keep Iran in check.

The announcement came as US officials weighed a fresh threat from Tehran, which warned this week it could disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital Persian Gulf oil transport route, if Washington levies new sanctions targeting Iran’s crude exports.