French and Israeli intelligence sources affirmed Saturday, Dec. 29, that, contrary to reports appearing in the United States Friday, Iran has accelerated rather than slowed down its 20-percent grade enrichment of uranium and is racing toward a nuclear weapons capacity.
Furthermore, for the moment, there is not the slightest indication that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has any intention of accepting the Obama administration’s latest plan for a nuclear deal.
As debkafile has revealed, this plan would require Iran to discontinue production of 20-percent enriched uranium (which can be quickly converted to weapons grade material), and confine itself to producing low 5 percent uranium in agreed amounts. Tehran would also have to accept the removal from the country of its entire stock of 20-percent refined uranium.
The same sources point to the first appearance this week of Iran-made Fateh A-110 high-precision, short-range missiles in the use of the Syrian army against rebel fighters, under the guidance of Iranian officers and instructors, as underscoring the inter-dependence Tehran draws between the Syrian and nuclear issues.
Khamenei now links an acceptable solution for the Syrian dilemma to his possible nuclear flexibility.
debkafile: When Iranians talks about an inter-power solution for ending the Syrian war, they mean a deal between Washington, Moscow and Tehran on both issues.
The Fateh missiles are being fired quite openly by Iranian military personnel in command of Syrian missile units as Tehran’s answer for the deployment of US, German and Dutch NATO Patriots on the Turkish side of the Syrian border. They also carry a message in response to Israel’s threat of offensive action against Syria if it becomes necessary to thwart its use of chemical weapons. According to our French and military sources, Tehran is using the Fateh missiles and the Iranian military presence in Syria to warn that there is no bar to their use against Turkey, Jordan and Israel as well, in the event of a US or Israel attack on Syria’s chemical stores.
On no account, will Iran permit the overthrow of Bashar Assad’s regime in Damascus. At most, Tehran conceives of his departure in stages and handover to an emergency government led by the military or an armed forces faction to which certain opposition elements may be co-opted. Elections, in the Iranian view, must be deferred until hostilities end and the security situation is stable.
American and French sources agree that Tehran and Moscow have attained full coordination in their strategies for Syria and also on Iran’s nuclear program. They note that it was not by chance that the Russian Navy Wednesday, Dec. 26, launched its largest sea maneuver ever in the Mediterranean and the approaches to the Persian Gulf, just two days before Iranian warships, submarines and aircraft embarked on their week-long Velayat 91 sea exercise in the Straits of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, and northern parts of the Indian Ocean.
The command centers of the Russian and Iranian war games are under orders from Moscow and Tehran to jointly exhibit naval muscle in order to bolster the Assad regime against collapse.
Parallel to the influx of Fateh missiles from Iran to Syria, Moscow is rapidly expanding the deployment of its highly-sophisticated S-400 air and missile interceptors in Russia’s southern military region near the Turkish border.
December 29, 2012 at 3:40 PM
Russia will soon get burned,rumor from nato is enough is enough expect to see some sunken Russian ships in the next couple of weeks,worst still i dont see now how obama can back down its time to fully arm the rebels with all the associated risks which it come i hope the turks get a real beating before anyone defends them they deserve it..as i have said all along it was russia pulling the strings from the start,well better dead than red
December 29, 2012 at 4:14 PM
Reports: Israel operating in Syria, US preparing to join
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23592/Default.aspx
The Jordan-based leader of one of the Syrian rebel groups said that after toppling Assad, Syria’s new rulers will turn their guns on Israel.
“We tell Benjamin Netanyahu…get ready. The army of the Prophet Mohammad is coming your way,” declared Abed Shihadeh, who added that after “taking Damascus” his group and its allies will “head for Tel Aviv.”
December 29, 2012 at 4:58 PM
yea i saw that this morning,and people in my family are telling me that natos already in syria who would know due to who they are
December 29, 2012 at 7:59 PM
A friend of mine in the RAF was home for Christmas, hes currently deployed in Jordan. He simply said the situation was ‘grim’ and wouldn’t be suprised if the first shot was fired before March.
December 29, 2012 at 5:10 PM
What the arabs really think about Putin, Russia, Iran and the future of Syria ? Read this :
http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2012/12/29/257649.html
December 30, 2012 at 3:28 AM
Good article. The same should apply to the Mad Mullahs in Iran.
December 30, 2012 at 3:34 AM
One more thing Luis. With Iran and Russia linked so closely to Assad, wouldn’t his fall make them look weak in the eyes of the Middle East? Could be a real game changer in the making.
December 30, 2012 at 3:21 AM
Fateh missiles…big freaking deal. The Iranoturds would be raving fools to fire one at NATO. Iran sending a message??? Come on Debka, you really believe half the BS you write?
December 31, 2012 at 2:14 AM
steve wouldn’t you agree that the real thing misunderstood by debka and the Israelis is the russian snake,and just how far it will go
December 31, 2012 at 5:42 AM
Good point Justice.
December 30, 2012 at 4:25 AM
The Ayatollahs see the big and little satans as weak for wanting negotiations. They believe the will of Allah guides
them, therefore, the threats and sanctions of men are less than meaningless.
Compromise, a tenet of Western Civilization is merely lack of strength, something to be scorned
by the evil that resides in Tehran.
The same evil that was Nazi Germany has resurrected itself in the form of fascist radical Islam.
As with the Nazis, the West waits and waits hoping for the best allowing evil time to grow. The West nearly waited too long
to defeat evil during WWII and 70 million died because of it. How many will dies this time if evil gets its hands on atomics?
December 30, 2012 at 6:20 PM
The Guardian is reporting more Russian warships heading to Syria
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10591121
December 30, 2012 at 9:12 PM
somethings going to snap soon,amphibious landing ships you don use for evacuation it sounds more like invasion,i bet the rebels have a lovely welcoming party for the Russians with some nice surprises
December 30, 2012 at 10:52 PM
The russian maritime presence is now mainly for evacuation. No serious person here is really thinking that our dear russian friends will put any boots on the ground. That will be a killing heaven for the jihadists. By the way, we call them ” the death tourists ”, because they are travelling from all the world corners to the killing fields in Syria and they enjoy that.
December 30, 2012 at 11:14 PM
Hmm dont underestimate Russian stupidity,because the word on the street in russia coming from the dissidents and underground anti putin is that there is something going on,
December 31, 2012 at 2:07 AM
I hope debkas wrong on this but its not looking good
December 31, 2012 at 2:08 AM
http://www.debka.com/article/22642/Failed-Syria-envoy-Brahimi%E2%80%99s-mission-brings-chemical-war-closer
December 31, 2012 at 5:13 PM
Jordon clash http://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-and-jordanian-armies-reportedly-clash-on-border/