WarSclerotic

Iran supreme leader pans P5+1 offer as ‘minor’ compromiseTehran’s negotiator called last week’s offer to ease sanctions a ‘turning point,’ but Khamenei says it is not a major stepBy Asher Zeiger and Times of Israel staff March 7, 2013, 6:40 pm 1 Email Print ShareIran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks at a public gathering in the northeastern city of Bojnurd, Iran, in October photo credit: AP/Office of the Supreme LeaderIran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks at a public gathering in the northeastern city of Bojnurd, Iran, in October photo credit: AP/Office of the Supreme LeaderRelated Topics Iran’s nuclear program Ali Khamenei Saeed JaliliIran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday blasted recent concessions offered by the West in exchange for Tehran pulling back its nuclear program, saying they were “minor and unimportant.”The statement ran in direct contravention to statements by negotiators on both sides, who called the offer an important turning point.Last week, the P5+1 group of nations — the US, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany – wrapped up a two-day summit in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, offering an easing of some sanctions in exchange for curbs on uranium enrichment.Iran is supposed to respond to the offer at the followup meeting next month, but the statement from Khamenei, who determines the country’s policies, may offer a preview of Iranian intransigence on the issue.Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top official at the summit, called the offer a “turning point” by world powers in the search for a compromise on the Iranian quest for nuclear capability.However, Khameini said that the West did nothing more than acknowledge a small portion of Iran’s national rights. He added that the next round of talks, scheduled to take place again in Kazakhstan in early April, will test the sincerity of the world powers.On Wednesday, Joseph MacManus, the chief US delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, accused Iran of “deception, defiance and delay” in addressing international concerns about its nuclear activities. He also suggested that the US might push for tougher diplomatic action in the coming months.The P5+1 offer, which was seen as a breakthrough after over a year of failed talks, would allow Iran to keep a limited amount of highly enriched uranium, but not make any more. The offer stopped short of demanding the full shutdown of the underground nuclear facility at Fordo, and offered to remove some trade sanctions that have hurt Iran’s economy.An Israeli official was also critical of the West’s offered compromise, telling AFP on Saturday that “the only thing that was achieved in these talks was to give Iran more time to move ahead in its quest for a nuclear weapon.”In Brussels, Belgium on Thursday, President Shimon Peres told European Commission head Juan Manuel Barrosso that sanctions on Iran have accomplished more than was expected, but have not yet accomplished the goal.“Iran is threatening the world not only because of its pursuit of nuclear weapons but also with its blatant disregard for human rights and the killing of innocent people,” he said. “Protecting human rights is not just for our children but also for the wellbeing of Iranians.”Iran denies that it wants nuclear weapons, saying its program is for energy and medical research.The Associated Press contributed to this report.

via Iran supreme leader pans P5+1 offer as ‘minor’ compromise | The Times of Israel.

Special Reports

Target Israel: Jihadists gather in Sinai

As Egypt struggles with more of political violence, Islamist militants, many of them linked to al-Qaida, are creating a stronghold in the Sinai Peninsula.

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Published: March. 6, 2013 at 4:25 PM

EL ARISH, Egypt, March 6 (UPI) — As Egypt struggles to head off another bout of political violence, Islamist militants, many of them linked to al-Qaida, are establishing a stronghold in the vastness of the Sinai Peninsula with a steady supply of looted armed from Libya, and Israel as their target.

Israeli intelligence says most of the attacks out of Sinai in recent months have been the work of Ansar Jerusalem, aka Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which is believed to have several hundred operatives in the mountainous desert wastes that link Africa and Asia.

The Egyptians are unable to mount effective operations against the militants, who call themselves Ansar al Jihad in the Sinai Peninsula and in December 2011 swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden before he was assassinated by the Americans.

Their attacks on Israel, along with the empowerment of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt since the Feb. 11, 2011, downfall of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, pose a threat to Israel’s 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, lynchpin of Israeli and Western policy in the Middle East.

“Jihadist groups are emerging as a major threat in Egypt because of three developments: the permissive atmosphere for Islamist mobilization in general since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, the ruling Muslim Brotherhood’s tolerance toward its fellow Islamists, and the weakness of the Egyptian state,” observed Aaron Y. Zelin of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank.

“Egypt’s declining internal security will give jihadists ample recruitment opportunities as well,” he noted in a January analysis.

“In addition, instability in northern Sinai and attacks against Israel could jeopardize the peace treaty.”

On Dec. 24, Egyptian security services foiled an attempt to smuggle 17 French-made rockets into Sinai. They thwarted an attempted car-bombing in Rafah, near the Gaza Strip on Sinai’s eastern border, Jan. 7. Two days later they seized a truck carrying 1 ton of explosives at a central Sinai checkpoint. The cargo was bound for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The Egyptians said they’d intercepted 5 tons of explosives, automatic weapons and disassembled rockets in three months. Many of the weapons originated in Libya, officials said.

On Feb. 15, another 2 tons of explosives headed for the Sinai from Cairo was intercepted. Two days later the Egyptians uncovered a weapons cache in El Arish, the provincial capital, that included and anti-aircraft gun and six anti-tank mines.

On Feb. 18, Egyptian troops flooded several tunnels between Sinai and the Gaza Strip in a bid to curb the flow of weapons into the coastal enclave.

Israel’s General Security Service, known as Shin Bet, claimed in February that “hundreds” of high-quality weapons, including rockets and advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles from Libya and Sudan were smuggled into Gaza throughout 2012.

The growth of jihadist groups in Sinai stemmed in large part from Hamas driving out similar organizations, which the ruling party had been trying to eradicate since 2007 because they challenged the fundamentalists’ authority in Gaza.

Until recently, the jihadist groups in Gaza had operated independently of each other.

But in 2012 they began to unify. Now they’ve established an operating base in Sinai that’s attracting jihadists from across the Middle East, including seasoned veterans from Iraq, Somalia and Yemen.

Murad Balal al-Shishani of the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington think tank that monitors global terrorism, says this was largely the work of Hisham al-Saidini, aka Abu Walid al-Maqdisi.

Saidini, a jihadist ideologue who led the Al Tawhid and Jihad group in Gaza, was imprisoned by Hamas. But his efforts bore fruit.

The jihadists migrated into the 23,600 square miles of Sinai and unified the cells operating there in the security vacuum triggered when Mubarak was driven from power.

In June 2012, the jihadists announced the formation of the Mujahedeen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem.

Saidini was killed in an Israeli missile strike in October, one of several launched against Gaza militants belonging to “the global jihadist movement.”

Israeli authorities said Saidini had been planning a complex attack against the Jewish state along the Sinai border that involved jihadist operatives in Sinai and Gaza.

The jihadists’ move into Sinai only worsened Israel’s headache.

“Instead of operating in Gaza on a 40-kilometer border with Israel, they can now operate on a 250-kilometer border in Sinai,” a security source lamented.

via Islamists militants are establishing stronghold in Sinai Peninsula – UPI.com.

Canada, key allies storm out of UN nuclear meeting in protest of Iran’s ‘Israeli genocide’ remarks

Mike Blanchfield, Canadian Press | 13/03/07 9:07 AM ET

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Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh (R) greets Venezuela’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali De Jesus Uzcategui Duque (L) during the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting at the UN atomic agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria on March 6, 2013.

Alexander Klein / AFP / Getty ImagesIran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh (R) greets Venezuela’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali De Jesus Uzcategui Duque (L) during the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting at the UN atomic agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria on March 6, 2013.

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OTTAWA — Canada and key allies stormed out of a meeting of the United Nations nuclear agency Wednesday to protest the Iranian representative referring to an Israeli “genocide.”

Envoys from the United States, Australia and New Zealand joined John Barrett, Canada’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, in unceremoniously exiting the room.

Barrett was chairing a meeting of the 35-nation IAEA board at its Vienna headquarters when Iran’s representative, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, went on a lengthy tirade about Israel that included an accusation that it had “a dark record of genocide,” sources said.

“That’s just a red line for us. We stood up and walked out,” said a Canadian official who was not authorized to talk on the record about the incident.

via Canada storms out of UN meeting after Iran’s ‘Israeli genocide’ remark | Canada | News | National Post.

Egypt: Forces abandon Sinai positionsPublished: 03.07.13, 08:45 / Israel News Senior Egyptian military sources told the Palestinian news agency Ma’an that officers and other members of the central security agency abandoned security offices in all the cities in the northern Sinai Peninsula. According to the sources, the officers abandoned their posts in solidarity with the protests in Egypt calling for the dismissal of Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim. Roi Kais

via Egypt: Forces abandon Sinai positions – Israel News, Ynetnews.