MidnightWatcher's Blogspot

What ever happened to Obama’s vow to never allow Iranian nukes? …

By Gil Ronen, INN – “Israel is considering partnering with several Sunni-Muslim Arab states in a U.S.-brokered defense alliance that would be aimed at containing a nuclear Iran, the Sunday Times reported, citing an unnamed Israeli official.

The alliance would see Israel teaming up with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to forge a Middle East ‘moderate crescent’ to ‘contain’ Iran, rather than confront it, according to Russian website RT, which quoted the Times.

According to the report, such an alliance would give Israel access to radar stations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE in exchange for its own early warning radar information and anti-ballistic missile defense systems, the source told the Sunday Times. The report suggested that Jordan would be protected by Israel’s Arrow long-range anti-missile batteries.

‘The plan is to start with information-sharing about Iran’s ballistic missiles,’ said an Israeli official.

The proposal is reportedly known by participating diplomats as ‘4+1’, and is being brokered by the United States.

Turkey has dismissed the report. ‘These are manipulative reports which have nothing to do with the reality,’ a Turkish Foreign Ministry official told Hürriyet Daily News.” Read more.

Flashback: New Intelligence Reveals Iran Closer To Attaining Nuclear Weapon Than Previously Thought – “New intelligence information obtained by Israel and four Western countries indicates that Iran has made greater progress on developing nuclear weapons than the West had previously realized, according to Western diplomats and Israeli officials who are closely involved in efforts to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb. A Western diplomat who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to discuss intelligence information said the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Israel agree on that assessment.” Read more.

Flashback: Walid Shoebat: Iran Will Obtain Nuclear Weapons, Will Destroy Saudi Arabia – “… if you look at the Bible, remember, the Harlot is destroyed by two entities. By … the hand of My people, Israel, and then you have in Isaiah 21, Arise O Elam to destroy what? Arabia. Elam is Iran. Persia will destroy Arabia. I believe Arabia is the Harlot of Babylon. If you look at the Bible — when you read Babylon in the Bible — all the names of the cities, entities, regions within those [areas of] Babylon in the Bible, you will never find any ancient name of any Babylonian city … Every single vicinity [mentioned in Isaiah 21] is in Arabia. The burden against Dumah. Dumah is in Arabia… Dedan, Kedar, those are all in Arabia. It’s born from Babylon. That’s why it’s called the daughter of Babylon. We need to focus on Saudi Arabia because it is mentioned heavily in the Bible.” Watch Video.

By Yoav Zitun, Ynet – “Two Iron Dome batteries were deployed in Safed and Haifa, as a result of tensions in the north.

Following an IDF evaluation of developments in the region, culminating in Israeli strikes on Syria – as confirmed by officials –Israel is bolstering protective measures in preparation for possible retaliatory rocket fire.

Meanwhile, Lebanese official news agency reported Sunday that Lebanon army and UNIFIL forces have increased patrols in the area.

Lebanon is set to file a complaint against Israel with the UN Security Council citing ‘repeated violations perpetrated by Israel, whose planes penetrate the country’s aerial spaces.’

Lebanese Daily Star website quoted FM Adnan Mansour as saying ‘such aggression … represents a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and international resolution including UNSCR 1701.'” Read more.

Syria Says Israel Strike ‘Opens Door To All Possibilities’ – “Syria’s government condemned Israel’s attacks on Damascus early Sunday saying that the ‘Israeli aggression opens the door to all possibilities,’ without elaborating on any potential retaliation. Syrian Information Minister, Omran al-Zoubi, said in a press conference that the Israeli aggression has made the region ‘more dangerous.’ The statement comes after Israeli strikes earlier on Sunday hit a military target outside Damascus. The attack was considered to be the Jewish state’s second reported raid on Syria this week, with residents saying it felt like an earthquake and turned the sky red, reported AFP.” Read more.

Report: Syria Stations Missile Batteries Aimed At Israel – “Syria has stationed missile batteries aimed at Israel in the aftermath of alleged Israeli air strikes in the country, the website of Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV, considered close to the regime of President Bashar Assad, quoted a top Syrian official as saying on Sunday. The report came as Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi said on Sunday that alleged Israeli air strikes against three targets on the outskirts of Damascus ‘open the door to all possibilities.’ … Although Zoabi did not hint at a concrete course of action, he said it was Damascus’s duty to protect the state from any ‘domestic or foreign attack through all available means.'” Read more.

By Dominic Evans and Oliver Holmes, Reuters – “Israeli jets bombed Syria on Sunday, rocking Damascus for hours and sending pillars of flame into the night sky in what a Western source called a new strike on Iranian missiles bound for Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Local people reported massive explosions and internet video showed the capital’s skyline lit by flashes; Syrian opponents of President Bashar al-Assad rejoiced at Israel’s third raid this year, and second in 48 hours, while anger in Tehran highlighted how Syria’s civil war risks spinning further beyond its borders.

Israel, while declining to confirm the strike, stressed its focus was to deny its Lebanese foes new Iranian firepower and not take sides between Assad, long seen as a toothless adversary, and rebels who have won sympathy from Israel’s Western allies but who also include al Qaeda Islamists hostile to the Jewish state.

It appears to calculate that Assad will not risk forces he needs to fight the rebels by attacking a much stronger Israel.

Syrian state television said the bombing around a military research facility at Jamraya caused ‘many civilian casualties and widespread damage’ and quoted a letter from the foreign minister to the United Nations saying: ‘The blatant Israeli aggression has the aim to provide direct military support to the terrorist groups after they failed to control territory.’

People living near the Jamraya base spoke of explosions over several hours in various places near Damascus, including a town housing senior officials: ‘Night turned into day,’ one man told Reuters from his home near Jamraya, also struck on January 30.

CNN quoted Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad calling Sunday’s attack a ‘declaration of war’, and the Iranian foreign minister urged countries to resist Israel. But a senior Iranian commander also said Syria was strong enough to defend itself without Tehran’s help – though he also offered training…

A confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel hoped that by not confirming its attack, it would not force its enemies into serious retaliation. There was little response from Hezbollah, Syria or Iran to an earlier attack on the Jamraya compound, near the Lebanese border, on January 30.

After an Israeli strike on Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama defended Israel’s right to defend itself from Hezbollah, which fired many rockets into Israel during a war in 2006.” Read more.