Hamas peacock missiles ‘rattle’.

Hamas peacock missiles ‘rattle’

WITHOUT any introduction, Hamas leader Khaled Meshal suddenly became a nuclear superpower!His latest threats, issued during the burial of a Hamas leader assassinated by Israel in Dubai, prompted the US to intensify security measures in preparation for a possible attack from the group.NATO immediately announced its contingency plan, while the Israeli leaders scampered towards the shelter, wearing gas masks.

In his statements, Meshal threatened as if he had the ability to transform every feather of a peacock into missiles which will be aimed at every continent.The whole world anticipated a destructive explosion after the issuance of threats from one of the suburbs in Damascus.This kind of statement has led to nothing but destruction of Palestinians and use of ‘clean money’ from Iran.
We have criticized the Israeli violations against the sovereign country and blamed it for all the political assassinations, but our brains have been telling us to stand by the truth.Since 1948, we have been hearing one threat after another from the leaders of Palestinian factions like the warning of Hamas when Israel killed Sheikh Ahmed Al-Yasin and Abdulaziz Al-Rantisi.These threats went on to the extent that those who do not understand the nature of Hamas thought that they will soon witness the beginning a global war.However, as time passes, the resentment and threats vanished into thin air.People then realized that Hamas leaders utter nothing but empty words.
Palestinians are the victims of these threats.They have been suffering a crisis instigated by their compatriots.We have been hearing statements and threats beyond the capacity of mercenaries who blindly obey the instructions of their ‘employers’, instead of working in the interest of Palestine.Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in his recent speech, said, “These groups have done nothing for peace.”
Meshal’s recent threats are just part of his simple dream which leads to more Arab bloodshed.Palestine is unlucky as it has mercenaries who sell the nation and lead Israel into carrying out the most inhumane operations.Instead of avoiding destruction and killing, these groups have traded in the people’s blood and divided the ‘profits’ amongst themselves.
Does the tune played recently by Meshal mean the patience of the whole world has run out like that of Egypt?Nevertheless, Egypt’s patience will remain as it is keen on finding an appropriate solution to the Palestinian cause, more than some of the Palestinians who usually trade in their cause and no longer care about national integrity and rights.Meshal believes that the sovereignty of Palestine entails playing and trading in blood.
Meshal should ask his mercenaries to unveil the real identity of Mahmoud Al-Madbouh.The United Arab Emirates government has not revealed the true identity of Al-Madbouh.Does this mean the problem lies in Hamas?
Frankly, the entire world has witnessed one of the most embarrassing moments when Meshal issued statements claiming that he has seen a small black ant inside a huge black rock located thousands of miles away from him.He even went on to brag that he can turn every strand of Al-Madbouh’s hair into a rocket which crosses the continents.Is this a joke?I think it is and you can say more than that!

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

Click on the picture to get enlarged map

Jones was not talking out of the top of his head, but on the strength of solid US intelligence gathered over months on detailed war plans Iran, Syria, Hizballah and Hamas have drawn up to send five Hizballah brigades sweeping across the border to seize five sectors of Galilee, while also organizing a massive Israeli-Arab uprising against the Jewish state.
Hamas would open a second front in the south and in the east. Syria is expected to step in at some stage.
This plan with attached special map was first published exclusively by DEBKA-Net-Weekly 430 on Jan. 22, 2010. Key excerpts appear here.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards instructors at especially established training facilities near Tehran are already well advanced in training a cadre of 5,000 Hizballah fighters in special operations and urban combat tactics to standards equivalent to those current in similar US and Israeli military forces.

At the outset of the course, the group was split up into five battalions, each given a specific northern Israeli sector for capture with details of its topography and population for close study.
(See attached map).

1st Battalion:
This unit will break through the Naqura-Rosh Haniqra border pass and sweep south along seven kilometers to seize Nahariya, the Israeli Mediterranean city of 55,000 – or parts thereof.
UN peacekeepers have their headquarters at Naqura, the other side of Rosh Haniqra, and Israel defenses there are lax, so no military or geographic obstacles to this Hizballah drive are anticipated. This battalion will capture a large number of Israeli hostages for use as live shields against an Israeli counter-attack
A small group of 150 fighters, trained by Revolutionary Guards marines, will also try and reach the coast by swift boats. They are already standing by in Lebanon.

2nd Battalion:

This unit is assigned to capture the northern Israeli town of Shlomi, 300 meters southeast of the Naqura border pass and home to 6,500 inhabitants. Holding this town and its environs will give Hizballah control of a key road hub and stand in the path of Israeli reinforcements heading for Nahariya through routes 89 and 899 from key Israeli bases in the Galilee and Upper Galilee regions to the east. (See map).

3rd Battalion:

Driving further south than any other Hizballah unit, this battalion must reach the three Israeli-Arab villages of  B’ina, Deir al-Asad and Majd el-Krum, which are located north of the town of Carmiel and alongside Israel’s Route 85 which connects Acre on the Mediterranean with Safad in the central Galilee mountains.

Iranian war planners want Hizballah to control the three Israeli-Arab locations for two advantages:

One: As a commanding position for stirring up the disaffected Israeli-Arab villages and towns of Lower Galilee and Wadi Ara to the south into a full-blown uprising. The incoming combat force will be backed up by clandestine Hizballah cells which for some years have established, armed and funded the underground “Galilee Liberation Battalions” in Sakhnin, Araba and Deir Hana, by means of drug smugglers.

Hizballah’s West Bank cells have been active for some time in the Wadi Ara region, through which National Route 65 connects central Israel to the North.
Two:   To gain fire control of Acre-Safed Route 85 from positions in occupied Arab villages and so have a shield ready for the Hizballah units holding Nahariya and Shlomi, and seriously impede the passage of Israeli forces from bases in the center of the country  to relieve these northern towns.  The Israeli Air Force will be constrained from attacking the areas held by Hizballah by the presence of large civilian populations.

4th Battalion:
This battalion will push southeast into the Kadesh Valley, on the rim of which the Makia and Yiftah kibbutzim and Makia moshav are clustered. Capture of these locations would afford Hizballah fire coverage of Israel’s northernmost Galilee Panhandle.

5th Battalion: Hizballah’s Strategic Reserve.

Rocket attacks from Lebanon will focus on disabling Israel’s strategic military sites, such as air force bases, missile bases, its nuclear facilities and naval bases. Targeting Israeli population centers is a lower Iranian priority.
Syria’s initial involvement will be limited to cover by artillery or air for Hizballah operations. But if the fighting escalates or drags on, Hizballah will invite Syrian back-up forces to go into Lebanon; Damascus will open Front No. 4 against Israel from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

The Tehran-Hizballah war strategy is all but ready for any contingency. The obvious trigger would be an Israeli military operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities, but once all the elements are in place, they could be activated by any other pretext conjured up in Tehran or Damascus.

In recent weeks, both Hizballah and its Syrian allies have mobilized their forces while telling the Arab world that the Jewish state is about to attack Lebanon.
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah is straining at the leash to attack Israel however the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program turns out.
Sunday, January 17, he said: “I promise you, in view of all the threats you hear today… that should a new war with the Zionists erupt, we [the Lebanese resistance movement] will crush the enemy, come out victorious, and change the face of the region.

“God willing, Israel, the occupation, hegemony, and arrogance are in the process of disappearing!”

Nasrallah was not alone in anticipating a troubled year for the Middle East.

Report: CIA chief visited Israel; discussed Iran – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Israel’s approach on Iran ‘responsible’.

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US Defying Iran by Arming Arabs – Defense/Middle East – Israel News – Israel National News.

U.S. Speeding Up Missile Defenses in Persian Gulf – NYTimes.com.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is accelerating the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, placing special ships off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in at least four Arab countries, according to administration and military officials.

The Persian Gulf

The deployments come at a critical turning point in President Obama’s dealings with Iran. After months of unsuccessful diplomatic outreach, the administration is trying to win broad international consensus for sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which Western nations say control a covert nuclear arms program.

Mr. Obama spoke of the shift in his State of the Union address, warning of “consequences” if Iran continued to defy United Nations demands to stop manufacturing nuclear fuel. And Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly warned China on Friday that its opposition to sanctions was shortsighted.

The news that the United States is deploying antimissile defenses — including a rare public discussion of them by Gen. David H. Petraeus — appears to be part of a coordinated administration strategy to increase pressure on Iran.

The deployments are also partly intended to counter the impression that Iran is fast becoming the most powerful military force in the Middle East, to forestall any Iranian escalation of its confrontation with the West if new sanctions are imposed. In addition, the administration is trying to show Israel that there is no immediate need for military strikes against Iranian nuclear and missile facilities, according to administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

By highlighting the defensive nature of the buildup, the administration was hoping to avoid a sharp response from Tehran.

Military officials said that the countries that accepted the defense systems were Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. They said the Kuwaitis had agreed to take the defensive weapons to supplement older, less capable models it has had for years. Saudi Arabia and Israel have long had similar equipment of their own.

General Petraeus has declined to say who was taking the American equipment, probably because many countries in the gulf region are hesitant to be publicly identified as accepting American military aid and the troops that come with it. In fact, the names of countries where the antimissile systems are deployed are classified, but many of them are an open secret.

The general spoke about the deployments at a conference at the Institute for the Study of War here on Jan. 22, saying that “Iran is clearly seen as a very serious threat by those on the other side of the gulf front.”

General Petraeus said that the acceleration of defensive systems — which began when President George W. Bush was in office — included “eight Patriot missile batteries, two in each of four countries.” Patriot missiles are capable of shooting down short-range offensive missiles.

He also described a first line of defense: He said the United States was now keeping Aegis cruisers on patrol in the Persian Gulf at all times. Those cruisers are equipped with advanced radar and antimissile systems designed to intercept medium-range missiles. Those systems would not be useful against Iran’s long-range missile, the Shahab 3, but intelligence agencies believe that it will be years before Iran can solve the problems of placing a nuclear warhead atop that missile.

Iran contends that it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons, and that its program is for energy production. The White House declined to comment on the deployments.

But administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the moves have several aims. “Our first goal is to deter the Iranians,” said one senior administration official. “A second is to reassure the Arab states, so they don’t feel they have to go nuclear themselves. But there is certainly an element of calming the Israelis as well.”

As Iran’s nuclear program proceeds — more slowly, American intelligence officials say, than the United States had once thought — Israel has hinted at various times that it might take military action against the country’s military facilities unless it is convinced that Mr. Obama and Western allies are succeeding in stopping the program.

Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, took an unannounced trip to Israel this month, partly to take the temperature of the Israeli government and to review both economic and covert programs now under way against the Iranian program, according to officials familiar with the meeting.

American officials argue that the willingness of Arab states to take the American emplacements, which usually come with a small deployment of American soldiers to operate, maintain and protect the equipment, illustrates the region’s growing unease about Iran’s ambitions and abilities.

Gulf countries are also taking steps of their own to harden their defenses. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have bought more than $15 billion in American arms in the past two years, including missile defense systems. The United States is helping support a plan by Saudi Arabia to triple the size, to 30,000 people, of a Saudi force that protects the kingdom’s ports, oil facilities and water-desalinization plants, a senior military officer said. The Washington Post reported both steps on its Web site on Saturday.

One senior military officer said that General Petraeus had started talking openly about the Patriot deployments about a month ago, when it became increasingly clear that international efforts toward imposing sanctions against Iran faced hurdles, and the administration’s efforts to engage Iran were being rebuffed by the Tehran government. In October, the two countries reached an agreement in principle to move a significant portion of Iran’s nuclear fuel out of the country, but Iran backed away from the deal.

In discussing the Patriots and missile-shooting ships, General Petraeus’s main message has been to reassure allies in the gulf that the United States is committed to helping defend the region, said the military officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the topic. But the general’s remarks were also a pointed reminder to the Iranians of American resolve, the officer said.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

Tags: Gulf Emirates military deployment Saudi Arabia US-Iran

Aegis, US anti-missile missile

The Obama administration took the unusual step Saturday night, Jan. 30, of leaking word to major US media that the United States, Saudi Arabia and Gulf allies – the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain – have accelerated the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks. They are preparing for Iran, or its surrogate Hizballah, to hit back for a possible US or strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
debkafile‘s US military sources confirm that Washington plans to treble the 10,000-strong US troop contingent, already present in Saudi Arabia for guarding its oil fields and port facilities against medium or short-range Iranian missile attack, or sabotage by Hizballah marine units trained for their mission by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Additional US Aegis missile interceptor cruisers with advanced radar and anti-missile systems were also reported to be heading for round-the-clock patrol around Iranian shores, with more Patriot anti-missile missiles to reinforce the eight batteries already deployed in the four emirates.
The Obama administration set these exceptional steps in motion, debkafile reports, in anticipation of  nuclear provocations from Tehran while the regime celebrates the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution from Feb.1-11.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has promised to announce Iran’s attainment of a 20 percent uranium enrichment capability, a short step to weapons grade material.

Some high-ranking Revolutionary Guards officers have also said that Iran will parade a new type of surface missile during the celebrations, without revealing its features, while Iranian space scientists predicted the launch of a new spy satellite of the Toloo series.
All this was taken in Washington as a challenge that could not be left without an appropriate response. Administration officials also feared that Israel might be goaded into going forward with a military operation against Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Gulf Arab states were in need of reassurance too.
The White House’s decision to deploy additional defenses in the Gulf came only a day after National Security Adviser James Jones warned that Iran was liable to react to pressure by having its proxies Hizballah and Hamas attack Israel.  The abruptness of this step pointed to the administration having woken up to the realization that its diplomatic and military position in the region was in grave jeopardy and in dire need of shoring up without delay.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

The British embassy in Tehran

debkafile‘s Iranian sources report that the Basijj militia chiefs have a plan to seize the British embassy in Tehran. Western intelligence agencies monitoring Iran have warned London that radical groups are secretly preparing to overrun the British embassy buildings and living quarters and take the diplomats hostage, replicating the siege of the US embassy in 1979, when extremist students held the staff hostage for 444 days. Those students were the early nucleus of the radical Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Britain maintains two embassy compounds in Tehran – one downtown occupies a 100-yer old landmark building surrounded by a large garden and a wall; the other housing the embassy’s nerve center and living quarters on a large site which the deposed shah presented to Her Majesty’s Government as a gift.

Our intelligence sources report that two Iranian militia teams have been formed to seize the two compounds: one takes orders from Ayatollah Mohammad Mesbah Yazdi, whereas the other is under the command of senior cleric Hojat-ol-Eslam Ahmad Khatami. The plan has been submitted to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad for approval. He favors the project but has yet to set a date. It has also provoked controversy in the Majlis (parliament).

The pretext for the seizure would be that the two sites are the rightful property of the Iranian people. The real reason is that the Iranian regime has been gunning for Britain for some time, scheming revenge for London’s alleged direct role in organizing the wave of opposition protests besetting the government since last June. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has been leveling this charge at the UK for the last six months.

Most of all, the Islamic regime would like to set off a huge row with Britain to overshadow the dispute over another round of tough sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program.

The radical factions behind Ahmedinejad are cheered on by China’s opposition to sanctions and even more bucked up by the letter the US Chamber of Commerce sent to President Barack Obama urging him to refrain from harsher sanctions.

While played up in Tehran, this letter received little media coverage in the US and none at all in Israel.

It states: “The proposed sanctions would incite economic, diplomatic, and legal conflicts with U.S. allies and could frustrate joint action against Iran.”

Iranian radicals believe US business interests took this position under the influence of Tehran’s intransigence in the face of Western pressure to cut back on their weapons-related nuclear projects. They insist that by continuing to play hard ball they will throw the plans for serious military action or economic penalties out of court altogether.

Clinton: China risks diplomatic isolation over Iran – Haaretz – Israel News.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned China on Friday it risks diplomatic isolation and disruption to its energy supplies unless it helps keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Speaking in Paris, Clinton said she and others who support additional sanctions on Iran for refusing to prove it has peaceful nuclear intentions are lobbying China to back new UN penalties on the Iranian government.

She said she understood China’s reluctance to impose new penalties on Iran, its third-largest supplier of oil. But she stressed that a nuclear-armed Iran would destabilize the Persian Gulf and imperil oil shipments China gets from other Arab states in the region.

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There is a new push for sanctions at the UN because of Iran’s continued refusal to engage on the matter with the five permanent members of the Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – and Germany.

Administration officials have invited new talks with Iran, but with no sign that Iran wants to do business, the focus has turned to penalties.

“As we move away from the engagement track, which has not produced the result that some had hoped for, and move forward on the pressure and sanctions track, China will be under a lot of pressure to recognize the destabilizing impact that a nuclear-armed Iran would have in the Gulf, from which they receive a significant percentage of their oil supplies,” Clinton said.

The United States is the most visible leader in the new push for UN Security Council sanctions, and Clinton spent much of her time in Europe this week lobbying major powers whose support she needs to pass and enforce new economic penalties. Some of the additional measures that will be proposed target elements of Iran’s powerful militia structure, U.S. officials said.

The Obama administration has said Iran appears bent on developing nuclear weapons, although Iran claims its nuclear work is peaceful. Iran is thought to have stockpiled more than enough nuclear material to manufacture a single bomb, and more is being made daily.

Clinton said the risks of an Iranian bomb are manifold.

“It will produce an arms race, in the Persian Gulf, and Israel will feel its very existence threatened,” Clinton said in response to a question from an audience member during a speech at a French military academy. “All of that is incredibly dangerous.”

The United States has cautioned Israel publicly against a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s known nuclear facilities, arguing that such an attack would invite an arms race and retaliation.

U.S. Senate approves sanctions on Iran’s fuel suppliers – Haaretz – Israel News.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would let President Barack Obama impose sanctions on Iran’s gasoline suppliers and penalize some of Tehran’s elites, a move aimed at pressuring Tehran to give up its nuclear program.

The sanctions, approved on a voice vote, would target companies that export gasoline to Iran or help expand the country’s oil-refining capacity by, in part, denying them loans and other assistance from U.S. financial institutions.

The House of Representatives has already passed similar legislation. Differences between the two bills will have to be worked out before the measure becomes law.

Lawmakers and the Obama administration fear Iran’s uranium enrichment program will be used to develop weapons, while Tehran says it is for peaceful purposes such as generating electricity.

Many in Congress want to give Obama more tools to pressure Iran. Cutting off gasoline supplies would hurt Tehran’s economy; while Iran has the world’s third biggest oil reserves, it must import 40 percent of its gasoline to meet domestic demand because of a lack of refining capacity.

In his State of the Union address on Wednesday, Obama warned Tehran aced “growing consequences” over its nuclear program. The administration has been working with several other major powers to build a consensus on new sanctions to be imposed jointly.

But U.S. business groups have warned the White House that the lawmakers’ approach threatens to undercut this joint strategy. The critics say broad-based sanctions sought by lawmakers would upset U.S. allies whose companies would be affected, and frustrate joint action with other countries against Iran.

The sanctions in the Senate bill would extend to companies that build oil and gas pipelines in Iran and provide tankers to move Iran’s petroleum.

The measure also prohibits the U.S. government from purchasing goods from foreign companies that do business in Iran’s energy sector.

The Senate acted on the same day that Iran hanged two men convicted in the wake of political unrest in the country. “The situation in Iran is terrible and it’s worsening. People are dying in Iran as we speak,” said Senator John McCain just before the Senate vote.

Other provisions in the bill would:

* Impose a broad ban on direct imports from Iran to the
United States and exports from the United States to Iran,
exempting food and medicines

* Require the Obama administration to freeze the assets of
Iranians, including Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, who are
active in weapons proliferation or terrorism

* Allow state and local governments and private asset fund
managers to easily divest from energy firms doing business with
Iran

* Strengthen export controls to stop the illegal black
market export of sensitive technology to Iran through other
countries and impose tough new licensing requirements on those
who refuse to cooperate