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The Alpha-Omega Report's

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Mideast News Spotlight

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For 12--13-09

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Iran and Syria signed a defense agreement on Friday, according to an Iranian Press TV report, just as Iran is coming under strong international pressure to clarify aspects of its nuclear program.

The agreement ends a week-long series of high-level talks and an exchange of military and intelligence information. Iran's delegation to Damascus included a large contingent of high-level officers. Never before has Iran sent so many military officers to another country for collaboration.

For more details, LINK HERE.

 

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Iran's Defense Minister and a large delegation of Iranian military commanders travelled to Damascus this past week for two days of strategic military discussions. The meetings held under the auspices of a joint defense treaty and part of an effort to fine-tune military cooperation between the two nations in the event that Israel launches air strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities.

During the visit, Iran's Defense Minister, Ahmad Vahidid warned Israel that if in the event of any Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, Iran would retaliate by targeting its ballistic missiles at Israel's nuclear, chemical, and bio-warfare sites. Syria's Defense Minister added that any attack on Iran would considered an attack on Syria and would result in commensurate retaliation.

The Syrian Defense Minister reiterated support for Iran's right to develop its nuclear program. The two-day meetings were conducted on Wed/Thur (12/9 - 12/10) as tensions in the region increase as diplomatic initiatives have failed. There is a renewed guessing game across the Mideast now as to whether or when Israel might abandon Western diplomatic efforts as futile and launch military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

There are some expectations in the region that Israel may well launch its military operation shortly after the New Year when the official time limit expires for the UN's diplomatic efforts at a compromise.

For more on the Iran-Syria defense meetings - LINK HERE. Also more on President Assad Meets with Iran delegation at LINK 2. Additional meetings with proxy terror groups - LINK 3

 

Uh Oh...

Iran now has the technical capability to build a nuclear bomb and the only thing separating it from the bomb is the decision to go ahead and build one, said Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz, head of Military Intelligence's research division, on Monday.

Speaking at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Baidatz said Iran had successfully enriched 1,800 kilograms of uranium, enough to build over one bomb.

Baidatz also said that Iran had been upgrading its missile arsenal, and that it had developed missiles with the capability of carrying nuclear weapons that could reach Israel.

Prime Minister Binaymin Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian nuclear threat at the committee meeting. The prime minister said that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities was Israel's "central problem."

"In the last year, two things have happened," he told the FADC. "Iran has advanced its military nuclear program, and the international community has lost its legitimacy." - Story - LINK HERE.

 

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According to an Israeli newspaper's underground sources inside Iran, Iran's Supreme Ayatollah Khamenei was surreptitiiosly taken to a secret hiding location for his safety amidst renewed civil protests and rioting. The Israeli paper quotes an unnamed Iranian activist who stated that Iran's religious leaders are "scared."

Israel National News reports that their primary source is an activist in the pro-democracy movement inside Iran and is involved in assisting some 30,000 students in Tehran and other major cities throughout Iran. The source said the Ayatollah had disappeared and is quoted as saying: "Iam told that Khamenei was taken to a secret place to monitor the situation and perhaps for his safety, and a helicopter was ready with a pilot in it to perhaps fly him out to Russia if the situation got out of hand. I am also told that prominent clergy went to meet with him hoping to force him to show leniency ... [ Our consensus] is that  [the] mullahs are scared."

There has been no immediate confirmation of this report from foreign journalists as the international media community in Iran are limited by government constraints. Phone networks have been cut, and internet connections are reported to be spotty at best as the government is apparently struggling to maintain control of the nation in this latest round of unrest.

There are new reports that many of the regime's enforcers, the police and militia no longer have the stomach to carry out orders to commit brutal aggression against the students and civilian population. Many law enforcement agents have begun to realize the negative nature of the regime's leaders. Some have openly confessed their sorrow for their brutal actions vis-a-vis Twitter connections.

Demonstrations were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday to commemorate an attempted uprising in 1953 and another demonstration is scheduled for Saturday, the 11th of December. For more details, LINK HERE.

 

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Iranian citizens have took to the streets last week to again protest against the ruling government of President Hahmoud Ahmadinejad. The protests began on Monday with 200+ protestors arrested in the streets of Tehran. Bloody clashes broke out betwen police and university students on Monday. The clashes were not limited to merely the capital city but spread to campuses across the nation.

Violence continued to develop in renewed protests on Tuesday at Tehran University even though security forces were using tear gas and arresting students. Flashes of intormation are reaching the international community thanks to texting and video clips being transmitted via Twitter and internet postings.

Protests turned even more violent when pro-government protestors clashed with anti-government protestors at large squares near Tehran University. The new protests continued despite warnings from Iran's chief prosecutor who warned of harsher measures and less restraint, warning that "anyone who, in any way endangers security must be dealt with."

The protests are the worst since massive protest began shortly after last June's presidential elections, sparked by reports of voting fraud. For more details on this developing story, LINK HERE.

 

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Iranian political turmoil continued on Saturday as students staged additional political protests. Regime leaders and clerics supporting the regime responded to the week's protests by alleging that the protesters seek to halt the Islamic revolution in Iran.

Regime clerics contend that the opponents of the regime seek to remove powers of the office of Supreme Ayatollah and the Guardian Council.

Earlier in the week and again on Saturday, students carried slogans and issued chants denouncing the clerical establishment and the Supreme Ayatollah because the religious establishment is viewed as having aided the Ahmadinejad government of rigging the presidential elections of last June. Some students desecrated pictures of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution, the late Ayatollah Khomenei who led the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979. Students also called for the removal of the current Supreme Ayatollah.

An Israeli newspaper, quoting Iranian sources, indicated that the Iranian Supreme Ayatollah Khameini had been secretly evacuated from his residence to a secret hiding spot, fearful for his life and of an overthrow attempt against the government.

Iran's clerical leaders are not united in their support for the ruling regime. Instead the clerical hierarchy appears to be split on support for the Supreme Leader and for President Ahmadinejad.

As the political turmoil continues to unfold, the Iranian government itself is seemingly paralyzed in its ability to carry out certain elements of foreign policy. The regime is locked into a continuation of Iran's nuclear weapons program whether it wishes to do so or not. Opposition leaders have been critical of any suggestions of compromise with the UN over the nuclear program. With regime opponents also supporting a continuation of Iran's nuclear weapons program, the regime has little choice but to continue the program without any room for compromise.

For more details on the inner turmoil inside Iran - LINK HERE.  Universities remain in lockdown mode - details, LINK HERE.

 

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Iran's Supreme Leader issued a statement condemning recent protests that included desecrating photos of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as desecrating photos of himself. The Ayatollah warned opposition leaders that supporting such actions would lead to criminal prosecution. The Supreme Leader also urged for calm across the nation.

It still remains unclear as to where the Ayatollah is located. Reports surfaced last week that the Supreme Leader had been spirited from his home and taken to an undisclosed, safe location after renewed street riots broke out in Tehran and major cities across the nation. For more on this story, LINK HERE.

 

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Turkey's  Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the West last week for being too hasty in voting for censure of Iran for its nuclear program. The Prime Minister's remarks came as he met in Washington with President Obama.

Obama, who welcomed Erdogan Monday to the White House, said Turkey could be "an important player" in dealing with the issue. "I believe that was a very rushed process because certain steps could be taken in a more consultative fashion," said Erdogan, speaking at a press conference through an interpreter.

Erdogan said that diplomacy was the only way to deal with Iran's nuclear program, and that Turkey had no problem with the program as long as it was for peaceful purposes, as Tehran says. More details, LINK HERE.

 

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There has been some diplomatic whispers and rumors that perhaps Turkey might be able to step in arbitrate some sort of compromise on Iran's nuclear program, but that idea was nixed this past week, when Tehran ruled out such a possiblity. More details, LINK HERE.

 

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The U.S. national security adviser says Washington is still open to nuclear negotiations with Iran, but the picture is not a "good one." Last week, NSA Chief Jim Jones stated that the "clock is ticking" toward the end of the year, when President Barack Obama plans to review U.S. diplomatic efforts with Iran.

Senior U.S. officials have proposed pursuing new sanctions at the U.N. Security Council if Iran does not cooperate with the international community on its nuclear program. For more on this story, LINK HERE.

 

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German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said on Tuesday that Iran's nuclear programme threatened not just Israel but the entire free world, in a speech to military officers and the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

'This allows a new, dangerous challenge to develop for Israel, NATO and the EU (European Union), but also - and we should never exclude this - for the states of the Arab world,' Guttenberg told military staff and American Jewish representatives in Berlin.

The defence minister spoke at an event celebrating 15 years of 'partnership and trust,' between the German military, or Bundeswehr, and the AJC, which aims to promote Jewish interests and pluralistic democracies around the world.

'This celebration is a sign of the trust which has grown between the German federal state and the Jewish community in the US and in Israel, as well as in this country,' Guttenberg said.

'The advocacy of Israel's right to exist unites Germany and the AJC on the political and the practical level,' the defence minister added.  LINK HERE.

 

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A simulation conducted at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government over the weekend predicts that the United States will fail in its efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and will, for lack of other options, attempt to convince Iran not to use those weapons. The simulation further predicts that a serious crisis will break out between Israel and the U.S., as Washington pressures Jerusalem not to take any defensive action against Iran's weapon, while Israel insists on its right to self defense.

According to sources at Harvard, the results of the simulation will be presented to U.S. President Barack Obama. LINK HERE.

 

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Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stated that if Israel crossed over into Turkey’s airspace in order to bomb Iran then their answer to Israel shall be like that of an “earthquake“.

Erdogan’s response was due to a question, in an interview with Lebanese newspaper “Al Safir”, over information indicating that Israel had violated Turkish airspace in the process of spying against Iran.

Erdogan continued,saying that certainly “the information [stating that Israel was using their airspace to spy on Iran] is incorrect,” but he stated that, “if Israel did so, they will receive a response equal to that of an earthquake.”

He also said it was not reasonable that Israel went to Gaza and “swept” the population and later had the audacity to believe that they would still be permitted to train with Turkish defense forces after they have wrought havoc on the Gaza Strip. More details, LINK HERE.

 

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Iran's foreign minister revealed over the weekend that his nation was willing to compromise on the UN's IAEA proposal to swap enriched uranium. The IAEA's standing proposal called for Iran to relinquish 75% of it's low-enriched uranium stock for medical-grade uranium rods for its medical reactor in Tehran. Iran's new compromise proposal would submit only 25% of its enriched uranium stock instead of 75%.

The new Iranian proposal comes as the United States prepares diplomatic efforts to bring a measure before the UN to mandate, new, harsher, economic sanctions against Iran due to its failure to abide by previous UN Security Council resolutions demanding that Iran halt its uranium enrichment program. As we post this article, there has been no official reaction from the U.S. or any other nation to the latest Iranian proposal, however, it would appear to be a non-starter proposal as previous offers were also rejected by the IAEA. The IAEA was firm on its requirements to be the absolute minimum levels that would be accepted.

More than likely, the latest Iranian proposal will be considered by the international community to be yet, another attempt to stall for time while it continues its march towards acquiring nuclear weapons. For more on this story, LINK HERE to a New York Times article.

 

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Allegations...

Allegations have surfaced that Iran has bought equipment related to its nuclear enrichment program from Taiwanese companies. A Taiwanese government official admitted over the weekend that the Taiwan government was investigating such allegations. For more details, LINK HERE.

 

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Confidential intelligence documents obtained by a British newspaper, "The Times," show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb.

The notes, from Iran’s most sensitive military nuclear project, describe a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion. Foreign intelligence agencies date them to early 2007, four years after Iran was thought to have suspended its weapons programme.

An Asian intelligence source last week confirmed to The Times that his country also believed that weapons work was being carried out as recently as 2007 — specifically, work on a neutron initiator For the full details on this developing story, LINK HERE.

 

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Iran has accused the US of abducting one of its nuclear scientists who has been missing since June. For full story details, LINK HERE.

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Rumbling Rumors...

There are rumbling rumors circulating around Washington, that the Whote House may agree to support or allow the Palestinians to bring a measure before the UN to recognize the Palestinian Authority's declaration of statehood and accept their declared bondaries.

Our souces however indicate that President Obama would net be so foolish as to throw away his chance for re-election. Such a development would instantly signal his loss of the Jewish vote and it could turn Jews into permanent Republicans, which would not sit well with most members of Congress.

Should President Obama pave the way, prematurely for a Palestinian nation without a simultaneous peace treaty with Israel, Obama might even find himself being charged with impeachment by his own Democratic Party.

For these reasons, we find it odd that WorldNetDaily would put forward an article that strongly suggests the President has virtually made such a deal with the Palestinians, regardless of what Palestinian Authority sources are telling WND. To read the WND story, LINK HERE.

 

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Commander-in-Chief of Iran's Republican Guard Mohammed Ali Ja'aferi has asked Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to OK a plan for attacking the Yemeni and Saudi embassies in Tehran.

The plan comes in an effort to pressure the two neighbors to relax as the war on the Houthi insurgents, Shiite rebels, on their common border continued to intensify.

It appears to be similar to the attack on the U.S. embassy in the Islamic Republic of Iran in the wake of the 1979 Revolution. More details, LINK HERE.

 

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