WarSclerotic

Azerbaijan nabs Iranian agents setting trap for Israel-made drone.

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report December 17, 2012, 8:37 PM (GMT+02:00)

Hermes-450 UAV made in Israel

debkafile Special: Last week, the Azerbaijani police rounded up six Iranian agents who had infiltrated the country and were looking for the air bases where their government housed the drones purchased from Israel. The spies were found in possession of cash, fake passports, automatic pistols, advanced electronic equipment for tracking aircraft and electronic warfare devices for jamming flying vehicles and down them. Questioning the detainees uncovered an Iranian plot to capture one of the Israel-made UAVs as it flew over the Caspian Sea.

Following the arrests, Azerbaijan barred entry to the Iranian culture attaché serving at the embassy in Baku on his return from home leave in Tehran. No valid reason was offered for this step except that his visa had expired. Azerbaijani investigators were able to establish that he was an undercover agent who was running the captured ring.
The episode which triggered the considerable friction between Baku and Tehran surfaced on Dec. 9 when Iran spread through its media allegations that he US and Israel had stepped up their intelligence surveillance of the Astara Rayon region of southeastern Azerbaijan along the Caspian maritime frontier with Iran.

The Americans were claimed to have expanded the coverage of their radar, while Israel was said to have increased the number of Orbiter ultra-light drones spying on the region, as well as using the 10 Hermes-450 UAVs, made in Israel and recently sold to Azerbaijan. According to Iranian sources, the Hermes drones’ spying operations over the Iranian border are guided by Israeli military satellites.

In Israel, there was little doubt that Tehran was laying the groundwork for an attempt to force down an Israeli-Azerbaijani drone with the same sort of  traps used against two American drones – the ScanEagle, which was downed over the Persian Gulf earlier this month, and the MQ 1 Predator which came under fire from two Iranian Air Force SU-25 fighters as it approached the skies over the Bushehr nuclear reactor.
Referring to the ScanEagle, Revolutionary Guards Navy commander Adm. Ali Fadavi said Tuesday, Dec. 4, that one of his units had captured a US drone flying over his forces in the Persian Gulf.
Catching Israeli drones is a challenge of a different order since none fly near Iranian borders. All the same, Tehran was suspected of planning to net one of the drones Azerbaijan bought from Israel and, despite the purchaser’s military markings, present it as the capture of an Israeli spy drone controlled by the Israeli Air Force and military intelligence, MI.
This would have been a feather in Tehran’s cap on a par with its success on Oct. 6 in keeping an Iranian drone, launched by Hizballah from Lebanon, on the loose for two hours in Israeli airspace before it was downed.

Senators urge Obama to reiterate willingness to use force against Iran | The Times of Israel.

57 legislators from both parties sign letter pressing president ‘to demonstrate that a credible and capable multilateral coalition exists that would support a military strike’

In this Nov. 5, 2012, photo, President Barack Obama makes a call to thank a volunteer as he visits a call center in a campaign office in the German Village section of Columbus, Ohio (photo credit: AP)

NEW YORK — A bipartisan group of 57 senators have signed a letter this week calling on President Barack Obama to take a more aggressive stance against the Iranian regime in order to stop its nuclear program.

Noting that “Democrats and Republicans in Congress have set aside their differences and worked together on a bipartisan basis with your Administration to put in place the most stringent sanctions ever against Iran,” the letter urges Obama “to reiterate your readiness to take military action against Iran if it continues its efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon.”

Initiated by senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the letter openly calls for the Obama administration to undermine the current authoritarian regime in the country and to support more liberal democratic elements.

“We urge you to expand America’s outreach and support to the Iranian people and support of the cause of human rights and democracy in Iran,” the senators wrote, adding, “the current government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will eventually end up in the ash heap of history, not because of the efforts of the United States, but because of the desire of the Iranian people to enjoy the basic freedoms that are their universal right, and that many of their neighbors increasingly are demanding.”

The letter comes against the backdrop of the renewal next month of international diplomatic discussions with the Iranian regime over its nuclear program, and the growing conviction among many observers that 2013 will be a decisive year for Western efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

It also comes amidst speculation in Washington that Obama is looking to appoint former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense, succeeding the retiring Leon Panetta. Hagel, a respected Republican known for working well with Democrats, is in the minority opinion among American political leaders on the Iranian issue, having argued in the past against a military strike opposing the Iranian nuclear program and speculating that the United States might be able to live with a nuclear-armed Iran.

The Iranian government “has continued to press forward with its nuclear program,” the senators charged. “It has quintupled its stockpile of low enriched uranium since 2009,” “taken a significant step closer to possessing weapons-grade uranium by enriching up to 20 percent,” and “raced towards completion of its hardened Fordow enrichment facility, more than doubling the number of centrifuges installed there just since the summer of this year.”

The senators urged Obama “to work with our European and Middle Eastern allies to demonstrate to the Iranians that a credible and capable multilateral coalition exists that would support a military strike if, in the end, this is unfortunately necessary.”

According to the senators, “there is no national security challenge that is more urgent and essential to resolve during your second term.”

Iran: Newtown massacre was Israeli conspiracy – Israel News, Ynetnews.

( This defies any comment beyond noting that it is its own parody. – JW )

Tehran news website quotes ‘expert’ alleging horrific Connecticut shooting that claimed lives of 20 children, six adults was Israeli scheme meant to exert revenge on US following ‘humiliation at UN’

Dudi Cohen

“The Newtown massacre was the result of an Israeli conspiracy” an Iranian news website proclaimed Tuesday.

The United States is still reeling from the murderous rampage that left 20 children and six adults dead in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday. Tehran – which on Sunday offered its condolences to the victims and their families – is now promoting an alternative explanation to the horrific event.

Harris, reportedly citing the “numerous inconsistencies” in the shooting’s “cover story,” said that “This is another case where Israel has chosen violence and terrorism where their bullying in Washington has failed.”

Iran‘s Press TV website quoted Michael Harris, former Republican candidate for governor of Arizona and GOP campaign finance chairman, as saying that “An Israeli death squad was involved in the Sandy Hook shooting.”

According to the report, Harris called the Newtown tragedy a “terrorist attack,” adding that it was “Israel’s revenge” and that it was meant to “teach the US lesson,” following the Palestinian’s status upgrade in the UN.

According to the report, the shooter, Adam Lazna, was meant to be the scapegoat.

President Obama speaking at Newtown vigil

Press TV failed to note where Harris was interviewed. The website also dubbed him an “intelligence analyst,” but the GOP member has no known ties to the intelligence community in the US.

The report further quoted him as linking the Connecticut incident to Anders Behring Breivik’s murderous spree in Norway, in 2011.

“This is exactly what Israel did in Norway; the political party that voted for sanctions against Israel was retaliated against by a ‘lone gunman’ who killed 77 children.

“This is what Israel always does, they go after the children… The same thing happened at Sandy Hook. Nobody buys the lone gunman story anymore, not with the Gabby Giffords’ shooting, not with the Aurora ‘Batman’ shooting, certainly not with Breveik, and certainly not in Connecticut,” he said.