WarSclerotic

Iran’s Ahmadinejad seeks strategic axis with Egypt | Reuters.

(Reuters) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on the first visit to Cairo by an Iranian leader in more than three decades, called for a strategic alliance with Egypt and said he had offered the cash-strapped Arab state a loan, but drew a cool response.

Ahmadinejad said outside forces were trying to prevent a rapprochement between the Middle East’s two most populous nations, at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and Egypt’s signing of a peace treaty with Israel in the same year.

“We must all understand that the only option is to set up this alliance because it is in the interests of the Egyptian and Iranian peoples and other nations of the region,” the official MENA news agency quoted him in remarks to Egyptian journalists published on Wednesday.

The two countries have not restored diplomatic ties since Egypt overthrew its long term leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but its first Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, gave Ahmadinejad a red-carpet welcome on Tuesday to a summit of Islamic nations.

“There are those striving to prevent these two great countries from coming together despite the fact that the region’s problems require this meeting, especially the Palestinian question,” Ahmadinejad said.

Egypt’s foreign minister played down the significance of the visit, telling Reuters the Iranian leader, one of several heads of state to get the red-carpet treatment, was in Cairo chiefly for the Islamic summit beginning on Wednesday, “so it’s just a normal procedure. That’s all.”

He had earlier reassured Gulf Arab countries that Egypt would not sacrifice their security.

Egypt’s leading Sunni Muslim scholar scolded Ahmadinejad on Tuesday when he visited the historic al-Azhar mosque and university over Tehran’s attitude to its Gulf Arab neighbors and attempts to spread Shi’ite influence in Sunni countries.

In his meeting with Egyptian reporters, MENA said Ahmadinejad denied accusations Iran was interfering in Bahrain, where a Shi’ite majority lives under minority Sunni rule.

Three Egyptians and a Syrian were detained on suspicion of trying to attack the Iranian president at another mosque, security sources said. They were held overnight but released on bail of 500 Egyptian pounds ($75) each on Wednesday.

Video footage shot by a Turkish cameraman appeared to show a bearded man trying twice to throw a shoe at Ahmadinejad as he was mobbed by well-wishers on leaving the Hussein mosque.

The president was not hit but was hustled to his car by security men, stopping to wave before he was driven away.

The security sources said the three Egyptians held were all members of the al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, a hardline Islamist group that took up arms against the state in the 1990s but has moved into mainstream politics since Mubarak was toppled.

In the Arab world, throwing a shoe is a serious insult. An Iraqi journalist hurled a shoe at then-U.S. President George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in 2008, forcing Bush to duck to avoid being hit.

Al-Ahram daily quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in an interview that Iran had offered to lend money to Egypt despite being under international economic sanctions over its nuclear program.

“I have said previously that we can offer a big credit line to the Egyptian brothers, and many services,” he said. He did not say if there had been any response.

The president said the Iranian economy had been affected by sanctions but it is a “great economy” that was witnessing “positive matters”, saying exports were increasing gradually.

The United States and its Western allies have sought to choke off Iran’s vital oil exports by embargoing imports from the Islamic republic and cutting its access to shipping, insurance and finance.

Egypt disclosed on Tuesday that its foreign reserves had fallen below the $15 billion level that covers three months’ imports despite recent deposits by Qatar to support it.

Tourism has been badly hit by unrest since the uprising that toppled authoritarian Mubarak, and investment has stalled due to the ensuing political and economic uncertainty.

Ahmadinejad said there had been scant progress on restoring ties between the two countries.

“No change happened in the last two years, but discussions between us developed and grew, and His Excellency President Mohamed Mursi visited Iran and met us, as he met the Iranian foreign minister. And we previously contacted Egypt to know about what is happening with Syrian affairs,” he said.

One persistent obstacle to ties in Cairo’s eyes was the naming of a street in Tehran after an Egyptian Islamist militant who led the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, who signed the treaty with Israel.

“On the question of the street name or its removal, these are matters that will be dealt with gradually,” Ahmadinejad said.

(Writing by Paul Taylor; editing by Philippa Fletcher

Netanyahu: Those responsible for Burgas ‘will pay the price’ | The Times of Israel.

Statement comes day after Bulgarian probe said Hezbollah, backed by Iran, was behind the 2012 bus bombing

February 6, 2013, 1:55 pm

JERUSALEM (AP) — The prime minister has told relatives of victims of last year’s attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria that those responsible for the killings “will pay the price.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday in a statement that the head of Israel’s counterterrorism bureau told the victims’ families in his name that “Israel will do everything so that those responsible for the crime will pay the price.” The office did not elaborate.

The promise comes a day after a Bulgarian probe found that Iranian-backed Hezbollah was behind the 2012 bombing that targeted a bus carrying Israeli tourists. Five Israelis and the Bulgarian driver were killed in the attack. As a result, some countries called on the European Union to designate the group as a terrorist organization.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Despite sanction, Iran offers Egypt aid package – Israel News, Ynetnews.

( Can there be any doubt that Morsi’s Egypt is part of the axis rather than the allies?   He joins Turkey as an “ally” that supports the enemies of the West.  – JW  )

Iranian President Ahmadinejad offers Egypt’s Morsi to use Tehran’s ‘expertise’ to boost struggling economy; asserts Islamic Republic is a nuclear power

Roi Kais, Reuters

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is on an official visit to Cairo, has reportedly offered Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi an aid package meant to resuscitate Cairo’s struggling economy.

Iran’s own economy has been crippled by international sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

The Iranian leader visited the historic al-Azhar mosque and university on Tuesday and met its grand sheikh, Egypt’s leading Sunni Muslim scholar, but received a stern rebuke over Iran‘s attitude towards Gulf Arab states and its attempts to spread Shiite influence in Sunni countries.

The two countries do not have diplomatic relations but Morsi gave Ahmadinejad a red-carpet welcome on Tuesday, when he became the first Iranian leader to visit Cairo since 1979.

“I have said previously that we can offer a big credit line to the Egyptian brothers, and many services,” Ahmadinejad told the Egyptian daily al-Ahram in an interview. He did not say if there had been any response.

The president said the Iranian economy had been affected by sanctions but it is a “great economy” that was witnessing “positive matters”, saying exports were increasing gradually.

Egypt disclosed on Tuesday that its foreign reserves had fallen below the $15 billion level that covers three months’ imports despite recent deposits by Qatar to support it.

Tourism has been badly hit by unrest since the uprising that toppled authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak two years ago, and investment has stalled due to the ensuing political and economic uncertainty.

Ahmadinejad said there had been scant progress on restoring ties between the Middle East’s two most populous states: “No change happened in the last two years, but discussions between us developed and grew, and President Mohamed Morsi visited Iran and met us, as he met the Iranian foreign minister. And we previously contacted Egypt to know about what is happening with Syrian affairs,” he said.

One persistent obstacle to ties in Cairo’s eyes was the naming of a street in Tehran after an Egyptian Islamist militant who led the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, who signed the treaty with Israel.

“On the question of the street name or its removal, these are matters that will be dealt with gradually,” Ahmadinejad said.

Secretary of State Kerry to visit Israel, PA – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Head of US foreign affairs reportedly plans February visit to Palestinian Authority, Israel ahead of expected springtime presidential visit

Atilla Somfalvi

US Secretary of State John Kerry is planning to visit the Palestinian Authority in mid February, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds reported Wednesday, citing “sources in the know.”

This will be Kerry’s first visit to the region since taking office.

Kerry is also expected to visit Israel ahead of US President Barack Obama‘s visit, which has been set for spring.

A source familiar with the details of the visit told the newspaper that “These American measures are important since they emphasize the US commitment to peace.

“We hope this will assist in putting pressure on Israel to reach a two-state solution, stop settlement-building and release of all prisoners.”

Also Wednesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas‘ spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said that the Palestinians hope that Obama’s visit to the region will “mark the beginning of a new US policy in the Middle East.”

“We hope that President Obama’s visit to the region is the beginning of a new US policy that leads to the realization of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the territory of the State of Palestine occupied since 1967, in accordance with international resolutions,” he said.

Roi Kais and AFP contributed to this report

US ambassador to Israel sheds light on Obama visit – Israel News, Ynetnews.

US envoy to Israel, says president’s expected spring visit to send message of, ‘strong, deep connection between both countries’

Atilla Somfalvi

The arrival of US President Barack Obama in Israel will send a message to the citizens of the Jewish State, to its neighboring countries and to the American nation regarding, the “strong and deep connection between both countries,” US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said on Wednesday morning.

In an interview with Ynet, Shapiro added that, “The president and prime minister spoke a few days after the Israeli elections and both felt that the beginning of a new second term and the beginning of a new Israeli government would be a good time to meet and to really look at the whole common agenda we have in the region and all the common efforts we’re making to deal with Iran and prevent Iranian nuclear weapons.”

Shapiro also said that this is the time, “To deal with the collapse of Syria and the spread of chemical weapons and to work towards the resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for a two-state solution.

The US ambassador also said that Obama “Wanted this to be the first visit of his second term and that a date hasn’t been exactly set yet, but it will be in the spring and to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.”

Does President Obama intend on putting pressure on the prime minister regarding the Palestinians?

“Renewing the peace process with the Palestinians for a two-state solution continues to be our goal and continues to be Prime Minister Netanyahu’s goal. I don’t have a specific expectation about that in respect to the visit, this is a part of that effort.”

There are those who claim that the news of the visit is intended as a signal to Netanyahu to form a moderate government that can advance a political process.

Shapiro said that the US respects Israel’s internal political process and that it will work in conjunction with the new government. The president wouldn’t visit prior to the formation of the new government. The advancement of the talks is the agenda of all governments in recent years.

Netanyahu, Obama at the White House (Photo: AFP)

The White House released a statement on Tuesday night saying that Obama will arrive in Israel in the spring and Channel 10 reported that the visit was set for March 20th.

This will be Obama’s first visit as president. His previous visit to Israel was in July 2008, when he served as senator and a then-presidential candidate.

Shapiro and Netanyahu (Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO)

The Reuters news agency published a report by a White House source saying Obama’s decision to visit Israel was made during a phone conversation which took place between the American president and Prime Minister Netanyahu on January 28, six days after the 19th Knesset elections.

When asked how the visit is to be perceived based on the strained Obama-Netanyahu relations, Shapiro said that the two have met nine or 10 times, spoke numerous times by phone and have authorized their governments to be in tight cooperation on security issues. There is a very close collaboration between the two countries’ intelligence services, and that is a byproduct of their respective leadership.

Regarding the signals the Obama visit will send to Iran and neighboring countries in the region, Shapiro said that this visit sends a message to all countries, friendly or not. If anyone doubted the close ties and the commitment the US has towards Israel, this visit will no longer leave them wondering.

He continued saying that this visit will send a message to the Israeli nation, to neighboring countries and to the American nation regarding the strong and deep connection between the two countries. The mere fact that this is the first visit of the president’s second term, sends a clear message.

Obama has been criticized for not having visited Israel. On this, Shapiro said that criticism will exist whether he visits or not. The president is expectant of direct contact with the Israeli public. Obama proved his unprecedented support for Israel in his first term, via assistance with anti-missile defense and intelligence and security-related cooperation.

Obama ‘wants to host Netanyahu-Abbas meeting during visit’ | The Times of Israel.

Israel’s deputy foreign minister says efforts to set up summit already under way

By Adiv Sterman and Times of Israel staff February 6, 2013, 12:36 pm

Netanyahu, Obama and Abbas during a meeting in New York in 2009 (photo credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO/Flash90)

US President Barack Obama wants to host a summit between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit here this spring, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Wednesday.

Ayalon said he was “certain” that efforts to arrange such a meeting were already under way.

Interviewed on Army Radio, Ayalon said that Obama plainly would not be visiting Israel unless it was already clear that the visit would mark some kind of substantive agreement. A three-way Obama-Netanyahu-Abbas meeting would presumably mark a resumption of peace negotiations.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to a conference for ambassadors and international diplomats at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on January 03, 2013. (Photo credit: Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Asked whether the president, in announcing the visit before the new Israeli government was in place, was trying to influence the composition of the next coalition, and whether the Americans would prefer to see someone other than Avigdor Liberman running the foreign ministry, Ayalon said he did not believe the US looked at Israeli politics in that way. Ayalon was ditched by Liberman from the Yisrael Beytenu party’s Knesset slate, is no longer an MK, and is set to testify against Liberman in the fraud and breach of trust case that forced Liberman’s resignation as foreign minister in December.

A day after Obama’s visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories was announced, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Abbas, said Wednesday that the PA welcomes the visit, which Abbas hopes will result in the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Earlier Wednesday, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro confirmed that Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts would be high on the agenda for the president’s trip, but that Obama “will not set forth any specific demands on his upcoming visit.”

The president and Netanyahu have “urgent” and “complex” issues to discuss, the ambassador told Army Radio, mentioning “our efforts to prevent Iran achieving a nuclear weapon,” to “prevent Syrian chemical weapons falling into dangerous hands” and to “bring Israel and the Palestinians to the negotiating table.” That’s why Obama would be coming so soon after the US and Israeli elections, he said. “It’s best to start as soon as possible.”

Breaking the news of Obama’s visit on Tuesday night, Israel’s Channel 10 said the president was pressing for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks “without preconditions.” That has been Netanyahu’s demand, while the Palestinians have demanded a West Bank settlement freeze.

Ex-intelligence chief: Obama hesitant to use force against Iran | The Times of Israel.

Amos Yadlin says the recent appointments of Hagel and Kerry ‘weaken’ the military option against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program

The Obama administration’s recent selections of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense and John Kerry as secretary of state are an indication that the US president will be hesitant to take military action against Iran’s nuclear program, former IDF military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said on Tuesday.

The two former senators, Hagel, who has yet to be confirmed, and Kerry, who was confirmed and became secretary of state on February 1, are “very cautious” about the use of force and will be reluctant to commit to further American military involvement in the region, Yadlin said.

“I was among the minority who argued that Obama could take military steps [to halt Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon], but there is no doubt that both of these appointments weaken that position,” Yadlin said, adding, however, that the decision ultimately rests on the president’s shoulders alone. He was speaking to reporters in a briefing organized by the Israel Policy Forum, an American lobby group focusing on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He said that the US would likely put forth a new diplomatic proposal “within the next few months” in a final attempt to induce Iran to stop the process of producing the highly enriched uranium necessary for a nuclear weapon, and repeated his assessment that Iran will have the capability to do so within half a year.

Last week, European diplomats said that Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it wants to install thousands of high-technology machines at its main enriching site at Natanz, in central Iran. The machines are estimated to be able to enrich up to five times faster than the existing equipment.

Ahmadinejad: Iran has already ac… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

Iran already has nuclear capabilities but is not interested in attacking Israel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview published Wednesday in the Egyptian media.

Ahmadinejad arrived in Egypt on Tuesday on the first trip by an Iranian head of state since the 1979 revolution, underlining the thaw in relations since Egyptians elected an Islamist head of state last year. The president’s visit to Cairo is for an Islamic summit due to begin Wednesday.

The world must now relate to Iran as an atomic power, Ahmadinejad told Al-Ahram, as it is “already a nuclear state.” He said that Tehran does not seek a military confrontation with Israel, and did not threaten to strike the “Zionist entity.” In fact, Al-Ahram quoted him as saying, all of Iran’s military capabilities are “defensive”.

Reuters contributed to this report

Chuck Schumer’s blessing for Chuck Hagel—Editorial – NYPOST.com.

• Last Updated: 10:23 PM, February 5, 2013
• Posted: February 06, 2013

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer says he gave his hechsher to Chuck Hagel’s bid for defense secretary after the nominee convinced him that he’d toughened his views on Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Yesterday, Bulgaria blamed Hezbollah for a terror attack there last year — the bombing of a tourist bus that killed five Israelis and a Bulgarian driver. Sofia’s declaration is highly embarrassing for the European Union, which has resisted labeling Hezbollah a terrorist outfit. But it should also be embarrassing for Schumer and Hagel.

Back in 2006, the two senators were on opposite sides when Schumer signed, and Hagel refused to sign, a letter urging the EU to label Hezbollah terrorists. Schumer says he doesn’t hold that against Hagel, because the latter assured him that his views have changed since “five, six years ago.”

AP

Charles Schumer

As Schumer explained it, Hagel told him the reason he’s changed is that “Iran is a different country. Hezbollah and Hamas are different organizations.”

Really? Different? In 1983, a Hezbollah bombing in Beirut killed 241 US servicemen. In the 1990s, a Hezbollah attack on the Israeli embassy in Argentina killed 29 and another on a Jewish center there killed 85. In 2006, Hezbollah fired countless rockets into northern Israel.

This record was what Schumer and 87 other senators were referring to when they invoked Hezbollah’s “long history of terrorist attacks around the world.” If Hagel was so blind to Hezbollah then, what makes anyone think he’d be any better today — the Bulgarian tragedy notwithstanding? Ditto Iran, Hamas and other enemies of the United States he’s been soft on.

At least in public, Hagel has changed his tune on these issues. But his sad, incoherent performance before the Senate last week only heightens questions about what he really believes, and how he would behave if confirmed as defense secretary.

As for Schumer, if he wants the rest of us to buy the idea that he finds persuasive the argument that Hezbollah is a different organization from the one it was five or six years ago, Hagel’s not the only one with credibility issues.

Israel unlikely to retaliate after Bulgaria report | The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu signals he will step up efforts to press EU to designate Hezbollah a terrorist group rather than take military action

The bombed Israeli tour bus in Burgas, July 2012 (photo credit: Dano Monkotovic/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Tuesday welcomed a Bulgarian report implicating Hezbollah in the deaths of five Israelis in a bus bombing last summer, signaling that it will use the findings to focus on a diplomatic battle rather than military retaliation against the Lebanese terrorist group.

Israel has long blamed Hezbollah for the attack, which targeted a bus carrying Israeli tourists in the Black Sea resort town of Burgas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the report “further corroboration of what we have already known, that Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons are orchestrating a worldwide campaign of terror that is spanning countries and continents.”

The bomb exploded as the Israeli tourists boarded a bus from the airport to their hotel. The blast also killed the Bulgarian driver and the bomber.

Instead of hinting at retaliation, Netanyahu signaled he would step up his efforts to press the European Union to declare Hezbollah a terrorist group. “We hope the Europeans learn the proper conclusions from this about the true character of Hezbollah,” he said.

Analysts said they did not expect Israel to retaliate now that Bulgaria has named Hezbollah.

“When Israel acts, it is in order to prevent a security threat, to prevent a concrete attack. It is not in order to punish,” said Israeli counter-terrorism expert Boaz Ganor.

Last week, US and regional officials said Israel struck a military research center and a convoy carrying sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles from Syria to Hezbollah. Israel has not officially confirmed it carried out the airstrike, though its defense minister this week strongly hinted at Israeli involvement.

Israel and Hezbollah have a violent history. The two fought an inconclusive monthlong war in 2006, when Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets at Israel. Israel’s heavy aerial bombardments caused much damage to civilian infrastructure but ultimately were unable to stop Hezbollah from continuing to amass a large stockpile of rockets just beyond Israel’s northern border.

Hezbollah accuses Israel of assassinating a top commander, Imad Mughniyeh, in 2008, when a bomb tore through his car in Damascus, Syria.

Israel, meanwhile, accuses Hezbollah of maintaining a network of operatives around the world who plot against its citizens. Israel has attributed a series of attacks on its citizens in recent months to Hezbollah, and by association, its patron, Iran.

Israel has prodded countries to brand Hezbollah a terror organization. A few countries, like the U.S. and Canada, have agreed. While Holland and Britain have also listed Hezbollah, Israel has so far been unable to persuade the European Union as a whole to take action. Bulgaria is an EU member.

Organizations placed on the EU terror list would struggle to function in the countries in which they are banned. Hezbollah operatives and lawmakers could be prohibited from entering Europe, and activities such as planning attacks or fundraising could be hindered.

An Israeli official said Israel plans to continue sharing intelligence on Hezbollah with European allies as it has in the past, but that in light of the report, it would press the Europeans harder to punish Hezbollah. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the Bulgarian investigation with reporters.

Efraim Inbar, head of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, said the Bulgarian report could force the EU into action.

“An official Bulgarian investigation — from a country which is a member of the European Union — will make it difficult for the Europeans not to put them on the list,” he said.