WarSclerotic

CAIRO – US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday the US effort to determine whether Syria has used chemical weapons is a “serious business” that cannot be decided in a rush just because several countries believe evidence supports that conclusion.

“Suspicions are one thing, evidence is another,” Hagel told reporters as he wrapped up a visit to Egypt that included talks about Syria and other regional issues.

“I think we have to be very careful here before we make any conclusions (and) draw any conclusions based on real intelligence. That’s not at all questioning other nations’ intelligence. But the United States relies on its own intelligence.”

The United States has warned that any chemical weapons use by Syria, now convulsed by civil war, would cross a “red line” that would trigger some unspecified response.

Hagel rejected suggestions the United States was undermining its credibility by saying it was continuing to assess the issue, even as France, Britain and Israel have concluded evidence suggests chemical arms have been used in Syria’s conflict.

A top Israeli military intelligence officer said on Tuesday that evidence supported the conclusion Syrian government forces had used chemical weapons – probably sarin – several times against rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad.

The officer’s remarks came in the final moments of a three-day visit by Hagel to Israel.

Hagel, who had not previously commented on the Israeli report, said that while he had discussed the Syrian conflict and chemical weapons with Israeli leaders, he had not been given the findings cited by the intelligence officer.

“When I was in Israel they did not give me that assessment. I guess it wasn’t complete so I haven’t seen the specifics, haven’t talked to any Israeli officials, nor have I talked to any of our intelligence officials specifically about it.”

US defense officials said it wasn’t immediately clear whether the intelligence report reflected the final conclusions of the Israeli government or simply the Israeli military.

Hagel declined to elaborate on his discussions about Syrian chemical weapons with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

Asked whether the assessments by France, Britain and Israel put pressure on Washington to make a judgment more quickly, Hagel said, “I don’t think you judge these kinds of serious matters based on a time line.

“This is serious business and you want to be as sure as you can be on these kind of things, and until I see our intelligence assessments and the results of those, I can’t respond any further,” he said.

The Syrian government and rebels each accused the other of launching a chemical attack near the embattled city of Aleppo last month.

Syrian authorities last year acknowledged having chemical and biological weapons and said they could be used if foreign countries intervened in the conflict, a threat that elicited strong warnings from Washington and its allies.

Iran crossed the red line Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu set in his speech at the UN in September, former military intelligence head Amos Yadlin said on Tuesday.

“By the summer, Iran will be a month or two away from a decision about the bomb,” the current director of iNSS said at a conference in Tel Aviv. According to Yadlin, a decision will made after the Iranian presidential elections in June.

Once Iran reaches this stage, “it will be very hard to stop Iran,” Yadlin said. “If the US, Iran and Israel all stand behind its announcements, then we are on a course of collision towards the end of the year,” he added.

According to Yadlin, Tehran already has enough 3.5% enriched uranium for six bombs and nearly enough 20% enriched uranium for one bomb. “They have no problem reverting back what they allegedly turned to nuclear fuel. Within a week it could be turned into nuclear material for a bomb,” he warned.

The Arak nuclear reactor would become operational by 2014, he said.

Yadlin stressed that without a drastic change in the sanctions placed on the Islamic Republic, Iran would continue buying time and expanding its nuclear program. “There will be no agreement if there is no motivation to reaching an agreement,” he said.

He added that the credibility of the American military action is a condition to the success of the negotiations. “This credibility will be achieved if the US aims a precise strike to stop the Iranian nuclear program and show that it can deal with the escalation that would follow this strike.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu drew a “red line” for Iran in a speech he made at the UN General Assembly in September. The prime minister said that red line should be before they have stockpiled enough low-grade and medium-grade uranium to begin working on high-grade uranium and a nuclear detonator.

“Iran has completed the first stage. It took them many years, but they completed it and they’re 70 percent of the way there,” the prime minister said. He said Tehran was well into the second stage, and would be able to move onto the final stage by next spring or summer.

Iran has kept its stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 percent below 250 kilograms, the amount that would be needed, if further processed to weapon grades fuel, to make one nuclear bomb, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The 250 kilogram mark was noted as the “red line” for a military strike which Iran should not be allowed to pass by Netanyahu in his speech.

Earlier this month, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayayollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly  decided to rein in the country’s nuclear progress in order to avoid passing Netanyahu’s “red line.”

Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons – likely nerves gas – on armed rebels in the civil war raging in his country, the head of the research division at military intelligence Brig.-Gen. Itay Brun told a defense conference at Tel Aviv University on Tuesday.

Brun told said the iNSS conference that there is increasing use of chemical weapons in Syria, an

“There’s a huge arsenal of chemical weapons in Syria. Our assessment is that the [Assad] regime has used and is using chemical weapons,” Brun said.

Photos of victims showing foam coming out of their mouths and contracted pupils were signs deadly gas had been used, Brun said. “To the best of our understanding, there was use of lethal chemical weapons. Which chemical weapons? Probably Sarin.”

Brun also warned that the use of weapons of mass destruction could be interpreted by the Assad regime as a legitimate act as a result of the lack of any response from the world to it.

“How this develops is a good question. We need to be very concerned with the fact chemical weapons might reach less responsible hands that don’t consider the consequences of their actions,” he cautioned.

Last week, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the BBC that Israel is prepared to defend itself should Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons and anti-aircraft weapons fall into the wrong hands.

“The main arms of concern to us are the arms that are already in Syria – these are anti-aircraft weapons, these are chemical weapons and other very, very dangerous weapons that could be game changers,” he said.

Netanyahu warned these weapons could change the balance of power in the Middle East, and stressed that it is not just in Israel’s interest to stop these weapons from getting into the wrong hands, but it’s in other countries’ interest as well.

Despite this, Netanyahu echoed past statements that Israel doesn’t seek to interfere in the Syrian civil war.

There have been three alleged chemical weapons attacks – the one near Aleppo and another near Damascus, both in March, and one in Homs in December. The rebels and Assad’s government blame each other for all of them.

The Syrian government is only willing to allow the UN to investigate what it claims was a rebel chemical attack near Aleppo last month. The opposition has blamed Assad’s forces for that strike and also wants the UN team to look into other alleged chemical attacks by the government.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The man was reportedly planning a series of terrorist attacks against both the embassy and Israeli tourists in Kathmandu, Channel 2 reported.

The man, who was arrested on April 13, was identified as Mohsin Khosravian. He was handed over to the Kathmandu police.

Security officials at the embassy suspected the man, who was carrying a tourist map of the Lazimpat area, was scouting the facility with harmful intention.

According to the report, the man made “frequent and suspicious visits” to the Israeli Embassy area.

He hid his Iranian passport and used a fake Israeli passport instead when arriving at the Tribhuvan International Airport on April 3. Investigation found he used his original passport to enter Malaysia on March 31 and apparently acquired the fake Israeli passport in Kuala Lumpur.

Mohsin claimed that after facing loss in his garment business, he arrived in Nepal intending to go to Europe to seek asylum. He was discovered when his Thai wife and two of his Iranian relatives arrived in Kathmandu from Bangkok, where Mohsin has been residing for five years.

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Monday, vowing that the US would continue to help Israel maintain its military qualitative edge in the region, particularly in the air, by providing the Jewish State with the means to carry-out long-range strikes.

Hagels’ comments came as he finalized an arms deal that will enable Israel to improve its long-range strike, aerial patrol and troop transport capabilities.

The arms sale included V-22 Osprey aircraft, refueling tankers, advanced radars for fighter jets and anti-air defense missiles.

Hagel, speaking at a joint press conference with Ya’alon, stated that the US was providing to Israel military equipment  “that we have not given to any other country.”

Hagel stated that the US military aid would “ensure Israel’s air superiority in the future and allow the Israeli Air Force long-range capabilities.”

Ya’alon for his part thanked the US for its support, saying that the countries share security information and intelligence.

He stated that while Israel prefers a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear program, the IDF is prepared to defend itself by itself.

Israel Air Force pilots have begun training on the tili-rotor V-22 aircraft, which uses rotors to take off and land vertically before flying on missions as an airplane. It can match the speed of a Hercules and refuel from it during sorties. The V-22 will improve the IAF’s aerial patrol capabilities, and can also transport troops a considerable distance.

Israel also purchased the KC-135 military refueling plane, which will form a substantial addition to the IAF’s current fleet of modified Boeing 707 refueling aircraft, of which the air force is believed to have around 10.

The arms deal is part of a wider $10 billion package involving US sales to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, designed to provide Washington’s allies in the region with enhanced military capabilities against Iran. The UAE will take stock of 25 F-16 Desert Falcon jets worth nearly $5b.

Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.