Oh my: Russia threatens to sell S-300 to Iran if US attacks Syria without UN backing

In an interview as part of the lead up to the G20 summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Associated Press and Russia's state Channel 1 television that his country would consider selling the S-300 anti-missile defense system to 'certain regions' in the event that the United States attacks Syria without United Nations backing. The statement was taken as a veiled hint that Russia would

Kissinger: Yes, there is a good option for Syria

Henry Kissinger, who knew Bashar al-Assad's father Hafez well, claims that there is a good option for dealing with Syria. It involves undoing a nearly 100-year old mistake.

But the West is wrong to think it has no good options. It has a
superb and just option, one that will let history unfold as it should
have long ago. That option — to break up Syria into coherent nations —
was proposed

Report: Assad in Tehran

An unconfirmed report claims that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is in Tehran.


Embattled Syrian
President Bashar Assad
arrived in Tehran, Iran
in a surprise visit on Tuesday evening, al-Nahar news reported. The report has not been confirmed by any reliable source.

 

According to the Iranian state television, a source in the Iranian
Foreign Ministry said that Assad's plane landed

Will the US attack Syria? Should it?

Will the United States of Obama attack Syria, which is an Arab Muslim country? Should it?

The views on this question are all over the map. In my view, whether Obama should attack depends on what he hopes to accomplish, whether he can accomplish it, and whether the price he will pay by attacking (or not attacking) is a price worth paying. I'll elaborate on that toward the end of this post, but

CIA admits it was behind coup in Iran

The CIA has admitted that it was behind the coup that overthrew Mohammed Mossadegh and installed Shah Reza Pahlavi as Iran's ruler 60 years ago today.

"[T]he military coup that overthrew
Mosadeq and his National Front cabinet was carried out under CIA direction as
an act of U.S. foreign policy," the history reads. The risk of leaving Iran
"open to Soviet aggression," it adds, "compelled the

Tzachi Hanegbi plays dumb

Tzachi HaNegbi (left, with Livni and Olmert) posts on his Facebook page that he was contacted by Im Tirtzu's Ronen Shoval and urged not to attend the J Street convention next month (link in Hebrew, translation mine).

This week, in light of my anticipated participation on a panel of six Knesset members at the annual convention of the American Jewish group J Street, I was approached  by Ronen

Iran builds a terror network in Africa

I've reported several times on this blog about Iran's and Hezbullah's operations in Latin America and in the Republic of Sudan (also here and here). But Iran has also made inroads all across Africa that have contributed significantly to its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Iran’s experiences in Sudan demonstrate how traditional diplomacy is
subordinated to the Islamic Republic’s boarder,

Targeting Israel

Israel is being targeted all over the world. Soccer Dad has a summary.

1) Targeting Israel in Syria

First the sequence:

a) Israeli Airstrike in Syria Targets Arms Convoy, U.S. Says by Isabel Kershner and Michael Gordon - January 30, 2013


Israeli warplanes carried out a strike deep inside Syrian territory on Wednesday, American officials reported,
saying they believed the target was a

If Iran has to be hit, there's no better time than now

Evelyn Gordon points out that if Iran has to be hit in order to destroy its nuclear program, this is the best time the US and Israel have yet had to do it.

One of the biggest concerns that opponents of military action in both
Israel and America have always raised is the havoc Iran could wreak in
response an attack. For Israelis, the main fear is massive missile
attacks by both Iran and its

Neturei Karta member charged with spying for Iran

It's been a long day working, but it sure beats the alternatives....

An Israeli member of the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta cult has been charged with spying for Iran.

There had previously been a media blackout on the case and a gag order remains on the haredi man’s identity.

At
an unknown date, the man, 47, decided to make contact with the Iranian
government in order to collect

Desperate for cash, Hamas tries to make up with Iran

The days when Mahmoud al-Zahar (pictured), Ayman Taha and others smuggled millions in cash into the Gaza Strip are long gone, and now the organization is desperate for money. Desperate enough that despite having left Iran's ally, Syria, months ago Hamas has now gone to Iran to beg for money.

Representatives of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group ruling the Gaza
Strip, met with Iranian and