Israel & the Middle East

Defence sources told the Jerusalem Post they were considering going it alone in a strike on Iran.
Conventional military thinking states that Israel would need America’s backing if only to allow Israeli warplanes to reach Iran by overflying Iraq, where the airspace is controlled by the United States Air Force.
But the paper said Israeli planners had [...]

By Joel C. Rosenberg
(Jerusalem, Israel, December 3, 2008) — On Monday, I did a telephone interview with reporter who asked a number of intriguing and provocative questions. Here are three, with an executive summary of my answers: 
1. What is the most serious foreign policy challenge facing the incoming Obama Administration? 
A: Without a doubt, the biggest [...]

 
Iran has expanded its controversial nuclear programme and now operates more than 5,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, the country’s nuclear chief has said.
The figure released on Wednesday is a significant rise from the 4,000 Tehran said were operational in August at the Natanz plant in central Iran.
Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, said [...]

by Emanuel A. Winston, Mid East analyst & commentator
ROOT CAUSE
Saudi Arabia and Iran, together with Venezuela, abetted by the Big Oil multi-national companies, sought to drive oil prices sky-high. The goal of the Saudis, Iran and Venezuela was not only to make more money, but to damage the Western economy that is dependent on oil [...]

DEBKfile Special Report

Amid rising Iranian-Israel tensions, state prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi charged Tuesday, Nov. 25 that the three accused spies had been trained in Tel Aviv and three other Middle East countries “in assassinations, explosions, professional motorbike riding and working with special cameras, computers and satellites.”
DEBKAfile: The mounting spymania in Tehran is part and parcel of [...]

Weakening international pressure on Iran will embolden Teheran to make major strides next year toward developing a nuclear bomb, according to assessments from Israeli intelligence officials obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Delays in activating Iran’s nuclear reactor will not hold up its development of nuclear weapons, because Teheran’s main focus is enriching uranium, the officials [...]

Ex-IDF Chief Ya’alon: We must consider killing Ahmadinejad
By Haaretz Service
Former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe “Boogie” Ya’alon told an Australian newspaper this week that the West must consider all options necessary to stop Tehran’s nuclear program, including assassinating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“We have to confront the Iranian revolution immediately,” Ya’alon said in [...]