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The Alpha-Omega Report's

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Middle East News Spotlight

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For June 28, 2010

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CIA Director Leon Panetta reported over the weekend that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to make 2 nuclear weapons, but Panetta cautions that it would take one year to actually produce a weapon and probably another year to configure it to a ballistic missile nose cone. His assertions are in dispute with non-governmental experts who believe Iran already can fit a warhead to a missile nose cone. For more on Panetta's remarks, .

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An official for the Hamas terror organization claims that a wave of humanitarian aid flotillas will sail for Gaza after the completion of the World Soccer Cup games are completed. The official states that as many as 8 vessels will sail for Gaza after the soccer tournament in an effort to break the Israeli naval blockade. More details, LINK HERE.

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The Israeli Air Force has begun establishing an air base in Saudi Arabia in the past week. Large quantities of military gear have been unloaded according to various news media accounts around the Middle East including Iranian news outlets and Israeli newspapers.

The base is reported to be at a Saudi military air base near the city of Tabuk. Reports come from airline passengers at Tabuk who witnessed the Israeli activity at the base next to the civilian airport before civilian operations were halted and the commercial airport closed to the public.

For more on this story, see Israel's YNET News for coverage - LINK HERE.

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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is mobilizing military equipment and personnel to the country’s northwestern border. According to the Iranian Television Channel “Press TV”, one of the Corps’ commanders, Brigadier-General Mehdi Moini, explained that mobilization is due to the presence of American and Israeli forces on the western border.

The general said reinforcements are being dispatched to West Azerbaijan Province because some western countries are fuelling ethnic conflicts to destabilize the situation in the region. The province of West Azerbaijan, located in the northwestern part of Iran, borders on Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. More - LINK HERE.

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Iran has postponed indefinitely it's plans to send two freighters loaded with humanitarian aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip. Initially, two freighters were to be escorted by Iranian naval vessels with Revolutionary Guard Marine volunteers aboard the freighters for extra security. The effort would be synchronized with another large flotilla being organized by the Turkish government along with a vessel from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Not long after the Iranian announcement, the Lebanese government developed cold feet and signalled their refusal to allow the Hezbollah freighter to leave port for Gaza out of fear that such a move would provoke a devastating war with Israel. Iran then announced it would speed up its effort to match a Turkish effort with a second ship to follow several days later. The Turks then signalled a delay in their efforts and Iran changed its schedule once again indicating it would depart towards the end of June after Hezbollah announced it was sending its ship. Turkish officials however announced an indefinite postponement of their efforts. This left Iran standing alone in challenging the Israeli naval blockade. At the end of last week, Iran announced an indefinite postpoinement for its anti-blockade efforts.

It appears that Iran "blinked" and backed away from a naval confrontation after word spread that a US aircraft carrier battle group along with Israeli and German warships were steaming towards the Persian Gulf after passing through the Suez Canal. Iranian leaders thought better of the idea about challenging Israel under such a show of force by America and European nations. Not only would the Iranians have to deal with the American flotilla, but on the other side of the Suez Canal in the Mediterranean Sea, Iran would have to deal with 3 additional aircraft carrier groups, one each from Britain, France and Italy. Iranian leaders decided not to test American and Europe in supporting Israel. There's more to this story, and we cover the additional background details in our new A-O Intelligence Digest edition within The A-O Insider Report in our A-O Donor's section of the website.

For more mainstream media details of Iran's postponement see the .

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The U.S. Navy conducted successful test flights June 8 and 9 of four Trident II D5 Fleet  Ballistic Missiles (FBMs) built by Lockheed Martin. The Navy launched the unarmed missiles from the submerged submarine USS Maryland (SSBN 738) in the Atlantic Ocean.

This test marked the 131st, 132nd, 133rd and 134th consecutive successful test flights of the Trident II D5 missile since 1989 - continuing a more than 20-year record of reliability that is unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle. More - LINK HERE.

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As unconfirmed reports of an imminent Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities pick up steam in the Middle Eastern media, a US-based strategic intelligence company has released a chart showing US naval carriers massing near Iranian waters.

The chart, published by Stratfor and obtained by the Zero Hedge financial blog, shows that over the last few weeks a naval carrier -- the USS Harry S Truman -- has been positioned in the north Indian Ocean, not far from the Strait of Hormuz, which leads into the Persian Gulf. The carrier joins the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was already located in the area. The chart is dated June 23, 2010.

An article  in the Gulf Daily News, largely dismissed by Western observers, did not mention any Saudi involvement but said Israel is preparing to attack Iranian targets from the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The claims that Israel may be preparing for an assault on Iranian nuclear facilities were strengthened this weekend by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who told reporters at the G8 summit in Canada that G8 leaders "believe absolutely" that Israel will "probably" strike Iran.

“Iran is not guaranteeing a peaceful production of nuclear power [so] the members of the G8 are worried and believe absolutely that Israel will probably react preemptively,” Berlusconi said, as quoted at Ha'aretz. LINK HERE.

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The Arab world continues to buzz with talk of an imminent attack against Iran by Israeli and US aircraft staging from air bases in Azerbaijan. Here's one example of such rumor - LINK HERE. Another story exmple: LINK HERE.

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