WarSclerotic

Massive Paris protest calls for toppling of Iranian regime.

Several prominent international figures joined a rally of 100,000 people protesting the policies of the Iranian regime. (Al Arabiya)

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Thousands of Iranian protestors gathered in the French capital Paris to demand the toppling of the regime while waving the flags of Arab Spring countries.

Key public figures from all over the world joined the massive rally that saw 100,000 protestors coming together to declare solidarity with the Iranian opposition in the northern Paris suburb of Villepinte.

This is the right to step in and try to save Iran, said former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani who took part in the protest.

“We have to support the Iranian opposition and stop the regime’s nuclear program to help the people gain their freedom,” he told Al Arabiya.

Former French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he joined the protests to tell the Iranian people that they have support.

“We are supporting the Iranian people until they get their freedom and liberate all Iranians from a corrupt regime that is not fit for ruling in the 21st century,” he told Al Arabiya.

Ambassador of European Union to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion Tasha de Vasconcelos said she sides with the Iranian people in their demands for freedom.

“I am with the change that Iranian youth want to effect,” she told Al Arabiya.

Maryam Rajavi, leader of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran and which organized the rally, gave a 90-minute speech in which she talked about the tyranny of the Iranian regime and the necessity of liberating prisoners of conscience.

“I can hear the proud vices of prisoners who are resisting in the cells of Khamenei as they look forward to eliminating this regime,” she addressed protestors.

Rajavi criticized all the parties that underestimate the danger of Iran’s nuclear program and said that toppling the regime is the only way to end this danger.

“Iranian people who want their country to be free of nuclear weapons have to get rid of the regime to achieve this goal.”

The rally was supervised by former president of the Belgian Senate Anne-Marie Lizin, former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, and president of the Norwegian Friends of Free Iran Committee Larsh Receh.

Among the speakers were former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and former U.S. ambassadors at the United Nations Bill Richardson and John Bolton in addition to several members of the European Parliament as well as the German and Italian parliaments.

Two Arab female politicians also spoke at the rally: Nagat Bou Baker, member of the Palestinian parliament and Nariman al-Rouasan, member of the Jordanian Parliament.

Israel Hayom | The way to stop Iran is through Putin, Israeli official says.

( Through Putin?  What does that say about Obama’s USA? – JW )

“The way to stopping Iran passes through [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” a senior official in Jerusalem said on Saturday. “The Russians are a game changer … As soon as Putin wants there to be change, it will happen. However, for now it seems they have no reason to change their conduct.”

Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers have remained silent ahead of Putin’s visit to Israel on Monday, officials believe they plan to ask Putin to drop opposition to heavier sanctions against Iran and Syria.

Sources in the political echelon said Netanyahu was staying quiet before Putin’s arrival to avoid upsetting the Russian president.

Putin’s visit falls at a time when officials in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry have been critical of Russia’s support for both Syria and Iran. Putin has stood in the way of tougher Western sanctions against Iran and has prevented U.N. military intervention in Syria, amid reports of Russia providing weapons for the “axis of evil” as well.

However, both the Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry have chosen not to publicize explicit criticism of Russia’s policies in the region to avoid tension with Putin. Political sources doubt that Putin’s position can be changed. The Russian president opposes weakening the Iranian regime through sanctions and supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces are engaged in the massacre of Syrian citizens.

In Jerusalem, the commonly held view is that after years of dithering, the West has woken up to the Iranian threat — but Russian and Chinese reluctance to support a crippling regimen of sanctions and pressure is emboldening the Iranians, decreasing the chances that they will back down and increasing the chances for an attack of last resort.

“The message [the Russians] will receive is that Israel can’t tolerate a nuclear Iran. Of course we prefer a diplomatic solution, but we will use all means to protect Israel’s survival,” said Yacov Livne, head of the Russia desk at the Foreign Ministry, on Thursday.

“We expect Russia, as a member of the Security Council, to demonstrate responsibility and help to prevent the Iranian nuclear race,” he said. “I think that will be the most important subject, the central subject here next week.”

Upon his arrival in Israel on Monday, the Russian president is slated to go straight to Netanya, where he will attend an unveiling of a monument to commemorate the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany.

He is then scheduled to hold a press conference with Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, in Netanya, home to a large Russian population, residents have expressed excitement for the prospect of meeting Putin.

“I’m very excited,” said one eager waiter at the Winery Restaurant in the city, following rumors that Putin intended to have lunch there. “To see Putin face to face, and here in Israel, who would have dreamed it? It sounds crazy. But I’m certain that both my mother and grandmother will come to work with me during this shift.”

Israel Hayom | Gulf states hope for US action on Iran.

BBC News – Turkey: Jet ‘downed by Syria in international airspace’.

Turkey’s foreign minister has said the fighter jet shot down by Syrian air defence forces on Friday was in international airspace when it was hit.

Ahmet Davutoglu said the unarmed plane was not on a secret mission related to Syria, but had mistakenly entered Syrian airspace before the incident.

Syria maintains that it engaged the aircraft in its airspace “according to the laws that govern such situations”.

The Turkish and Syrian navies are still searching for the two crew members.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meeting the leaders of the three other parties in parliament to discuss how to respond.

Turkey had also called a meeting of Nato member states on Tuesday.

“Turkey has requested consultations under article 4 of Nato’s founding Washington Treaty. Under article 4, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened,” Nato spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told the Reuters news agency.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said Syria’s actions were “outrageous” and underlined “how far beyond accepted behaviour the Syrian regime has put itself”.

“It will be held to account for its behaviour. The UK stands ready to pursue robust action at the United Nations Security Council.”

‘Training flight’

In an interview with TRT television on Sunday, Mr Davutoglu asserted that the unarmed F-4 Phantom had “momentarily” entered Syrian airspace by mistake on Friday but had left when it was shot down 15 minutes later.

“According to our conclusions, our plane was shot down in international airspace, 13 nautical miles (24km) from Syria,” he said.

According to international law, a country’s airspace extends 12 nautical miles (22.2km) from its coastline, corresponding with its territorial waters.

Mr Davutoglu also insisted that the jet had not been on a “covert mission related to Syria” but had instead been carrying out a training flight to test Turkey’s radar capabilities.

He said the plane had not “shown any hostility”, been clearly marked as Turkish, and that he did not agree with the Syrian military’s statement that it had not known to whom it belonged.

Privately, senior members of the governing AK Party have accused Syria of violating international law, says the BBC’s Jonathan Head in Istanbul.

Earlier, Mr Davutoglu spoke by telephone to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has urged restraint by both sides, and the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Turkey wants to be sure of the strongest backing once it decides its official response, our correspondent adds.

The government has promised that it will be strong, decisive and legitimate, and that it will share all the information it has with the public.

‘Unidentified target’

The Turkish military said it lost radio contact with the F-4 Phantom at 11:58 (08:58 GMT) on Friday while it was flying over Hatay province, about 90 minutes after it took off from Erhac airbase in the province of Malatya, to the north-west.

Later, the Syrian military said an “unidentified air target” had penetrated Syrian airspace from the west at 11:40 local time (08:40 GMT), travelling at very low altitude and at high speed.

It said that in line with the laws prevailing in such cases, Syrian air defences engaged the craft, and scored a direct hit about 1km (0.5 nautical miles) from its coastline.

It burst into flames, and crashed into the sea at a point 10km (5 nautical miles) from the village of Om al-Tuyour, off the coast of Latakia province, well within Syrian territorial waters, the statement added.

Syrian television showed a map charting the aircraft’s movements, coming in from over the sea near northern Cyprus.

The Syrian military statement said that after it “became clear the target was a Turkish military plane which had entered our airspace”, the naval commands of the two countries were in touch, and a joint operation was going on to find the missing crew members.

Relations between Nato-member Turkey and Syria, once close allies, have deteriorated sharply since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011. More than 30,000 Syrian refugees have fled the violence across the border into Turkey.

After a cross-border shooting by Syrian security forces in April that left two refugees dead at a camp near the town of Kilis, Turkey said it would not tolerate any action that it deemed violating its security.

Alleged flightpath of downed Turkish F-4 Phantom

1. F-4 Phantom takes off from Erhac airbase, Turkey, at approximately 10:28 local time (07:28 GMT), on 22 June

2. Syria says the jet enters its airspace at 11:40 (08:40 GMT)

3. Turkish military loses contact with the plane at 11:58 (08:58 GMT), while it is over Hatay province

4. Syria says its air defences engaged aircraft about 1km (0.5 nautical miles) from the coast and that it crashed into the sea 10km (5 nautical miles) west of Om al-Tuyour. Turkey says the plane was 24km (13 nautical miles) from Syria, which under international law is considered international airspace

Turkey-Syria tensions rising – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Ankara blames Syria for defaulting on military norms, shooting down its jet without warning. Iran urges both sides to exercise restraint

News agencies

Tensions between Ankara and Damascus are rising, following the downing of a Turkish jet by the Syrian Air Force over the weekend.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Sunday that Syria “gave no warning” before shooting down the jet.

He also accused Damascus of spreading “disinformation” about the incident: “They have created the impression that Syria felt like it was an act of aggression and they shot it down…. from our perspective that’s not the case,” Davutoglu told reporters.

In the first official response by Turkey to the incident, Ankara’s FM stressed that international warfare rules in cases of a suspected breach of airspace were clear, and that Syria had failed to adhere to them.

The incident area (Image: EPA)

“You have to first send a caution, a warning… If the warning doesn’t work, you scramble your planes, you send a stronger signal, you force the plane to land. There wasn’t enough time to do any of that in the time that our plane was in Syrian airspace.

“We have to question how it is that an unarmed, solo flight got this response from the Syrians,” Davatoglu said, adding that the jet was participating in a test of Turkey’s national radar system.

Turkish TV reported Sunday that the wreckage of jet was located at depth of 1,300 metres in Syrian waters.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehiurged Turkey and Syria to show restraint following the incident.

In a telephone conversation with Davutoglu, Salehi said he hoped the two sides would “settle the issue peacefully to maintain regional stability.”

Signals from both sides suggest neither want a military confrontation over the incident and the countries have started a joint search for the missing airmen.

Envoys from NATO member states will meet on Tuesday at Turkey’s request for consultations over the incidnet.

“Turkey has requested consultations under Article 4 of NATO’s founding Washington Treaty. Under Article 4, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened,” NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

“The NAC (North Atlantic Council) will meet on Tuesday at Turkey’s request. We expect Turkey to make a presentation on the recent incident.”

Al Qaeda behind anti-Israel attacks from Gaza, Sinai. Egypt posts elite unit.

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 24, 2012, 12:25 PM (GMT+02:00)

Members of Egypt’s elite 999 anti-terror unit

Al Qaeda fighting elements from Libya are spearheading much of the violence against Israel from Sinai and the Gaza Strip since early June  –  a dangerous development Israel, Hamas, Egypt and the US prefer to conceal.

Deeply concerned, Cairo has just posted its elite counter-terrorist “999 unit” in El Arish, on Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip and along the northern sector of its frontier with Israel, in an effort to counter the newly-arrived jihadis.
Israel also faces a menacing al Qaeda presence on its northern border with Syria.
Reporting this, debkafile’s military and counter-terror sources also disclose that this week, a special mechanism was quietly set up in Washington to coordinate intelligence and military operations against the burgeoning al Qaeda incursion around Israel’s borders. It is headed by David Michael Satterfield, head of the Multinational Force (MFO) in Sinai, whose original task was to oversee the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace accord.
Monday, June 18, Satterfield was urgently summoned to Washington after it turned out that the ambush of Israeli vehicles on Route 10, in which a workman was murdered, was a suicide attack by two members of Al Qaeda-Libya, a Saudi and an Egyptian, assigned by their masters in Benghazi to carry out a cross-border attack on Israelis from Sinai.
It was the Libyan al Qaeda wing’s first suicide attack on Israel from the Egyptian peninsula. Washington, Jerusalem and Cairo took it to be the opening shot of a bid by Libya’s warring Islamist militias to extend their field of operations to Egyptian Sinai and southern Israel.
This move appeared to be tie in with al Qaeda-Iraq’s foray into Syria, believed to be part of a master plan, the brainchild of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, for the purpose of creating a ring of fire around Israel from the north and the south.
Cairo was alarmed enough by the escalation at its back door to rush Egypt’s most professional elite unit for fighting external terrorist threats (Unit 777 specializes in countering domestic terrorism.) – even in the middle of the high-noon moment awaiting the announcement of the winning presidential candidate Sunday afternoon, June 24.
The ruling supreme military council was clearly concerned that the anti-Israel violence radiating from the Gaza Strip and Sinai might also spill over into Egypt itself or even touch off strife between the two countries.
According to debkafile’s military sources, the Gaza Strip’s two main terrorist militias,  the Hamas and Jihad Islami, decided to stay more or less clear of the week-long missile offensive against (except for Tuesday, June 19). They wanted no part of the offensive conducted by al Qaeda and its Gaza affiliates which had been armed with Qassam and Grad missiles from Libya.
And indeed, Hamas twice called for a ceasefire in the tit-for-tat attacks, after taking the brunt of Israeli punishment. Saturday night, June 23, Hamas spokesman Hayman Taeh announced ongoing efforts to persuade fellow Palestinian organizations in the Strip to hold their fire (“Peace will be met with peace”).
No sooner had he spoken, than 5 Grad missiles were aimed at the town of Ashkelon. All five were intercepted by an Iron Dome battery.
IDF retaliatory tactics have two goals:

1)  To force Hamas to rein in local Palestinian Jalalat groups which are branches of Al Qaeda Sinai and obey its orders; and 2) To appease the angry Israeli population enduring yet another battering from the Gaza Strip unaware of any difference between this one and the repeated missile poundings plaguing its homes and lives in the last decade.

Turkey: No Syria warning before downing jet – CNN.com.

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Istanbul (CNN) — Syria gave no warning before shooting down a Turkish military jet that strayed into its territory, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davatoglu said Sunday in a strongly worded appearance where he also accused Syria of spreading “disinformation” about the incident.

“They have created the impression that Syria felt like it was an act of aggression and they shot it down…. from our perspective that’s not the case,” Davatoglu told reporters.

The plane in the Friday incident was unarmed, not sending hostile signals, and identifiable as Turkish, he said.

“You have to first send a caution, a warning,” he said in the first detailed Turkish statement on the international incident. “If the warning doesn’t work, you scramble your planes, you send a stronger signal, you force the plane to land. There wasn’t enough time to do any of that in the time that our plane was in Syrian airspace.”

“We have to question how it is that an unarmed, solo flight got this response from the Syrians,” he said.

The plane was participating in a test of Turkey’s national radar system, he said.

Turkish boats and helicopters are searching for the two-man crew inside Syrian waters, he said. He said the search-and-rescue mission was not a joint operation with Syria, but was being coordinated with Damascus because it is in their territory.

Davutoglu has spoken with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the foreign ministers of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and Iran, and the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton since the incident, spokesman Selcuk Unal told CNN on Saturday.

The Syrian military shot down the plane Friday as it flew just off the Mediterranean coast. A Syrian military spokesman said anti-aircraft artillery shot down what was an unidentified aircraft that entered its airspace at a very low altitude and high speed.

While on fire, the jet fell into the sea 10 kilometers, or more than six miles, from the shore of the town of Um Al-Tuyoor, the spokesman said.

On Saturday, Syrian state news agency SANA quoted a military spokesman as saying “the target turned out to be a Turkish military plane that entered Syrian airspace and was dealt with according to laws observed in such cases.”

Turkish President Abdullah Gul acknowledged Saturday that the jet may have entered Syria’s airspace, the Anatolia news agency reported.

“When you take in to account the speeds at which jet planes travel over the sea, it is routine for planes to go in and out of borders,” the news agency quoted him as saying.

“It is something that happens without bad intentions and that happens due to the high speeds.”

He added, “It is not possible to cover something like this up. Whatever needs to be done will be done, without a doubt.”

The U.N.’s Ban expressed his “deep concern” about the situation and the potential implications for the region during a phone call with Davutoglu on Saturday, the United Nations said.

He commended Turkey for the “restraint” it has shown.

The Turkish government called an emergency meeting after the warplane went missing near the border.

The Turkish military said the plane took off from Malatya Erhac Center and lost radar communication over the sea near Hatay province, which borders Syria.

The jet’s disappearance could spark an international crisis. Relations between the two neighbors have already deteriorated amid the bloody uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Erdogan has repeatedly called on al-Assad to step down, and Turkey has withdrawn its diplomats from Damascus.

Davatoglu pointedly refused to express support for al-Assad on Sunday, saying Turkey stands with “the Syrian people.”

However, Gul suggested the two countries were still liaising despite their differences.

“We pulled out representatives from Syria because it was not safe. This does not mean we are not in contact with them (the Syrians),” he said, according to Anatolia.

More than 30,000 Syrian refugees have spilled onto Turkish soil, and Turkey is hosting a number of Syrian opposition groups.

‘Sounds of War Everywhere’ in Western Negev – Defense/Security – News – Israel National News.

Children take cover from incoming rockets in Kibbutz Kfar Aza

Reuters

“You hear the sounds of war everywhere,” says a Western Negev resident as Gaza’s missile war on Israel continues. Meanwhile, Home Front Minister Matan Vilnai maintains that “quiet in exchange for quiet is proving itself so far.”

Terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza attacked the agricultural communities of the Eshkol Region with two more mortar shells overnight, causing no damage or physical injuries but leaving area residents in shock.

The latest barrage is one of dozens of rounds of missile and mortar shell attacks in the 11-year-old Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War, which broke out in September 2000 and escalated after the Israeli government ordered the expulsion of all Jews out of Gaza and the withdrawal of all soldiers in the summer of 2005.

One missile scored a direct hit on a home last week. A mother and her child miraculously escaped to a bomb shelter before the rocket exploded. Dozens of children also were saved when they boarded a school bus minutes before a missile struck their bus stop near a kibbutz.

Tazpit News Agency’s Anat Silverman reported that Eshkol Regional Council  spokeswoman Ronit Minaker said, “This has been a very stressful time for us. You hear the sounds of war everywhere, and there is this feeling of constant pressure on your mind and in your body. You’re always watching yourself, thinking where you will take cover the next time the siren goes off.

“Not everyone here has a bomb shelter. The worst is for the families. There are parents who lay over their children to protect them when the siren sounds.”

Mainstream news agencies usually report that the missile attacks on the agricultural region of the Western Negev explode “harmlessly” in open areas, neglecting to mention that hundreds of people have been hospitalized the past several years for shock and trauma.

Minor injuries also are usually not reported. Tazpit stated that a kibbutz farmer, Max Yadger, was plowing his fields a few hundred feet from the Gaza security fence when an Arab terrorist fired at him, hitting the glass around the cab of the tractor and causing a light scratch on his face.

“I crawled down from the tractor and hid behind the big wheel for protection, waiting for 15 minutes until IDF troops came get me,” Yadgar said. “It was a very scary experience and I’m still not completely past it. I took a few days off and time has been the best medicine so far. I went to a synagogue and prayed. All I have is a scratch on my face from this attack but inside I’m rattled.”

With the return to relative calm Sunday, Home Front Defense Minister Vilnai told IDF Army Radio that the security situation is complicated. Egypt has brokered another ceasefire with Hamas, which has had difficulty controlling rival terrorists.

He said the government does not want to escalate the fragile situation.

The uneasy quiet may erupt later Sunday, depending on Hamas’ reaction to the announcement in Egypt of final election results and if the next president will be from the Muslim Brotherhood party, which spawned the Hamas terrorists movement decades ago.

Israel also wants to avoid a large-scale counterterrorist operation while Russian President Vladimir Putin visits this week.

Eyeballing Iran? US commissions 361 cruise missiles – Israel News, Ynetnews.

US Navy to get 361 new Tomahawk cruise missiles, most of which are meant for Fifth Fleet destroyers based in Bahrain. Meanwhile, pressure to mount military strike against Tehran is permeating presidential campaign

Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON – The United States has commissioned 361 new Tomahawk cruise missiles, and some 238 of them are meant to find their way to the Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, Ynet learned on Sunday.

According to the Business Insider, the deal – inked on the backdrop of repeated deadlocks in the nuclear negotiations between the West and Iran – may suggest that the US is gearing for a possible military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

US defense contractor Raytheon won the deal, for a reported $331 million.

According to the report, the deal – which follows repeated statements by both Israel and the US that “all options are on the table,” and in view of Iran’s recent naval maneuversand military exercises – is another sign that “all sides are getting ready for the possibility of military conflict.”

The missiles commissioned, the report added, “Will be designed to launch from submarines and the remainder from Navy ships currently operating with the Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain east of Iran.”  

Similar missiles were used by the US against Muammar Gaddafi‘s regime in Libya.

Additionally, the US Navy has commissioned 17,000 advanced submarine detection systems, for a reported $13 million.

‘Time to act’

Meanwhile, Washington is still trying to devise diplomatic ways to stem Iran’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities.

Dennis Ross, who served as a special advisor on Iran on the National Security Council, said that the only way to get Iran to suspend its nuclear activities is to make it realize that the threat of war is real. He further suggested “calling Iran’s bluff” by offering Tehran civilian nuclear capabilities.

Former Secretary of State James Baker said that should nothing change and Iran does, within one year’s time, reach nuclear capabilities, then the US should be the one to lead a strike against it, because it has the necessary force to end Tehran’s nuclear program.

The pressure on US President Barack Obamato present a viable military option against Iran is growing, as 44 senators – Democrats and Republicans – demanded the he set clear preconditions for continuing the nuclear talks.

The pressure to mount a military strike is also permeating the presidential campaign: The Emergency Committee for Israel, a neo-conservative organization headed by Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, aired a special spot in Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – key states in the presidential elections – urging Obama to strike Iran.

“President Obama has spent four years talking – Iran has spent four year building a secret nuclear site,” the video says. “Obama is still talking and Iran has enough fuel for five nuclear bombs. Talking isn’t working – it’s time to act.”

Iran urges restraint over downing of Turkish jet; 16 troops killed in Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has often been ridiculed for making loud, and empty, threats against the Syrian regime. (Image courtesy Khaled Jalal)

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