Rumors of War: Saudis Aiming Missiles at Israel and Iran

Article Source Israelnationalnews.com

Chinese Ballistic Missiles  

Saudi Arabia is targeting both Israel and Iran with powerful ballistic missiles, new satellite photography shown by military experts to the BritishTelegraph suggests.

Images analyzed by experts at IHS Jane's Intelligence Review has revealed a previously undisclosed surface-to-surface missile base deep in the Saudi desert, with capabilities for hitting both countries, theTelegraph reported on Wednesday.

Analysts who examined the photos spotted two launch pads with markings pointing northwest towards Tel Aviv and northeast towards Tehran, according to the report.

The pads are designed for Saudi Arabia's arsenal of lorry-launched DF 3 missiles, which have a range of 1,500-2,500 miles and can carry a two-ton payload.

The base, believed to have been built within the last five years, gives an insight into Saudi strategic thinking at a time of heightened tensions in the Gulf.

While Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, it has long maintained discreet back channel communications as part of attempts to promote stability in the region.

The two countries also have a mutual enemy in Iran, though, which has long seen Saudi Arabia as a rival power in the Gulf. Experts fear that if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would seek to follow suit.

Analysts at IHS Jane's told the Telegraph that the kingdom is currently in the process of upgrading its missiles, although even the DF3, which dates back to the 1980s, is itself potentially big enough to carry a nuclear device.

The missile base, which is at al-Watah, around 125 miles southwest of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, was discovered during a project by IHS Jane's to update their assessment of Saudi Arabia's military capabilities.

It serves as both a training and launch facility, with the missiles stored in an underground silo built into a rocky hillside, according to the Telegraph. To the north of the facility are two circle-shaped launch pads, both with compass-style markings showing the precise direction that the launchers should fire in.

The Chinese-made missiles, which date back to the 1980s, are not remotely-guided and therefore have to be positioned in the direction of their target before firing.

"One appears to be aligned on a bearing of approximately 301 degrees and suggesting a potential Israeli target, and the other is oriented along an azimuth (bearing) of approximately 10 degrees, ostensibly situated to target Iranian locations," said the IHS Jane's article quoted by the Telegraph.

While the lorry-launched missiles can theoretically be fired from any location, the idea of having pre-planned directional markers is to ensure that they can be deployed in accurate fashion as quickly as possible, said Allison Puccioni, an image expert at IHS Jane's.

"There is a marked out spot for the launch truck to park in, which will facilitate an expedited launch," she told the Telegraph.

Robert Munks, deputy editor of IHS Jane's Intelligence Review, told the newspaper, “Our assessment suggests that this base is either partly or fully operational, with the launch pads pointing in the directions of Israel and Iran respectively. We cannot be certain that the missiles are pointed specifically at Tel Aviv and Tehran themselves, but if they were to be launched, you would expect them to be targeting major cities.

"We do not want to make too many inferences about the Saudi strategy, but clearly Saudi Arabia does not enjoy good relations with either Iran or Israel," he added.

Officials at the Saudi Embassy in London did not get back with a response when contacted by The Telegraph. The Israeli Embassy in London said. "We have no comment on this matter."

Rumors of War: Iran Still Racing Toward Bomb

Article Source ynetnews.com

Iran President Elect Hassan Rohani- No Change in Iranian Policy

Israeli PM tells cabinet, CBS Rohani's election has not slowed Islamic Republic's nuclear program; calls for harsher sanctions, 'credible military option', promises not to wait until its too late

“A month has passed since elections were held in Iran, and Iran continues to race toward the development of military nuclear capability,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

The PM said that under President-Elect Hassan Rohani‘s leadership Iran is “expanding and perfecting its (uranium) enrichment while simultaneously developing a plutonium reactor to produce material for a nuclear bomb.

“At the same time, Iran is also developing its ballistic missile force. These (developments) threaten not only us, but the entire West. We are determined to stand behind our demands, which must also be the demands of the international community,” Netanyahu told his ministers.

The Israeli premier went on to list the demands from Iran: “Stop all uranium production, remove all enriched material (from the country) and close the illegal nuclear facility in Qom.

“We believe that now more than ever, in light of Iran’s progress, it is important (that the international community) tighten the economic sanctions and make Iran face a credible military option,” the PM said.

A Pentagon report stated that China, Iran and North Korea are aggressively developing nuclear missiles capable of striking the United States and proliferation among these nations of technology is rife, the British newspaper Daily Mail reported over the weekend.

The Department of Defense report, the findings of which were first published by the Washington Times, confirms the assessment of US intelligence agencies that Iran is set to test an intercontinental ballistic missile as early as 2015.

Rumors of War: Syria, Israel exchange fire on Golan Heights

Source Reuter by Dominic Evans

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria said its troops destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed into its territory from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday and warned that any attempt to violate its sovereignty would meet "immediate and firm retaliation".

Israel said the incident took place on its side of the Golan ceasefire line, that the vehicle was damaged but not destroyed, none of its soldiers were hurt and they returned fire.

The clash highlighted the potential for renewed conflict along a frontline that has become increasingly fraught after nearly four decades of calm overseen by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his father.

It also followed Israeli airstrikes near Damascus against suspected missile stockpiles two weeks ago, after which Syria threatened to retaliate.

Assad is battling a two-year-old uprising in which rebel forces, including radical Islamists, have taken swathes of rural territory and attacked army posts near the Golan frontier.

There are frequent reports of cross-border gunfire from Syria during clashes between army and rebel forces but Tuesday's incident was the first time since the start of the crisis that Syria's armed forces said they targeted Israel's military.

"Our noble armed forces destroyed an Israeli vehicle ... which entered from the occupied territories and crossed the ceasefire line," Syria's military leadership said in a statement broadcast on state media. The incident occurred at 1:10 am (2210 GMT, Monday), it said.

Shortly afterwards, Israeli forces fired two rockets towards a Syrian position, without causing any casualties, Syria said.

The Israeli military's chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, said the Israeli army vehicle had been patrolling on the Israeli side of a border fence when it came under repeated fire.

"They fire on it once. They fire on it twice. They fire on it a third time, from a clear Syrian position," he said in a speech. "One time, okay. Two times, okay. Three times, too many. The position was destroyed."

Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said: "Our policy on Syria is clear: We are not intervening there, of course, in the civil war ... But as for the situation in the Golan Heights, we are not allowing and we will not permit a spillover of fire into our territory."

AGGRESSION

Tension in the Golan Heights region has been fuelled by the fighting on the Syrian side and several recent abductions by rebel fighters of U.N. peacekeepers, who have monitored a narrow zone of separation between Syrian and Israeli troops since 1974.

The abductions led the Philippines government to say it was considering withdrawing its troops from the UNDOF observer mission. Austria, the other main troop contributor, is concerned that French and British calls to drop an EU arms embargo on Syrian rebels would render its continued presence untenable.

Adding to the sense of alert, the militant Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said two weeks ago it was forming combat units to try to recapture the Golan, after Assad and Lebanon's Hezbollah said they would support such operations.

The announcement followed Israel's air strikes near Damascus against suspected missiles stocks destined for Hezbollah, which fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006.

Syria's Foreign Ministry sent a written complaint to the United Nations on Tuesday, saying Israel's actions violated the United Nations charter and a 1974 military disengagement agreement between the two foes.

Syria's military command said the incident showed that Israel was supporting the anti-Assad rebels and aimed "to raise their morale which collapsed after the tough blows struck by our noble armed forces ... especially in Qusair."

Syria's army, backed by Hezbollah, has launched an offensive to capture the central town of Qusair, which has been in rebel hands for most of the two-year uprising which has now killed more than 80,000 people, according to the United Nations.

"The blatant Zionist aggression confirms that any violation, or attempted violation of the country's sovereignty will be met with immediate and firm retaliation," the Syrian army said.

Rumors of War: Philippines protests Chinese warship's presence

Source AP by Jim Gomez

Philippines protests presence of Chinese warship, fishing boats in disputed Spratly Islands

CAVITE, Philippines (AP) -- The Philippines has protested the presence of a Chinese warship, two surveillance vessels and fishing boats off a shoal occupied by its military in the disputed Spratly Islands, in the latest territorial squabble between the Asian countries, officials said Tuesday.

President Benigno Aquino III warned, meanwhile, that the Philippines is ready to fight back against any threat and announced plans to buy more warships and aircraft for its ill-equipped military, including anti-submarine attack helicopters.

"Our message to the whole world is clear: what belongs to the Philippines belongs to the Philippines," Aquino said in a speech at a naval base in Cavite province south of Manila. "We can fight back and defend ourselves every time somebody will threaten us right in our own home ground."

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the Philippines denounced the "provocative and illegal presence" of Beijing's ships off Ayungin Shoal in the South China Sea, adding the area is "an integral part of our national territory."

"The Philippines calls on China to respect sovereign rights and jurisdiction," he said.

Chinese diplomats did not immediately react to the protest, which Hernandez said was filed two weeks ago at the Chinese Embassy in Manila.

The shoal, 196 kilometers (122 miles) from the southwestern Philippine province of Palawan, is guarded by a Filipino marine unit based in a rusty warship that ran aground on a coral outcrop several years ago. The shoal lies near Mischief Reef, which the Philippines has claimed but was occupied by China in 1995, sparking intense protests from Manila.

By allowing fishermen in several boats to fish off the shoal, China has violated the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which grants coastal states exclusive right to exploit marine resources in waters within 370 kilometers (200 nautical miles) of their coast, Hernandez said.

It's the latest territorial rift between the Asian countries, which also are locked in other long-simmering disputes in the South China Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim parts of the Spratlys, a chain of islands, islets and reefs.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said another protest might be lodged if authorities confirm that two ships which chased a Philippine official's ferry boat last week near Ayungin Shoal were Chinese government vessels.

Eugenio Bito-onon, mayor of a chain of Philippine-occupied islands in the Spratlys, said he was traveling with 178 crewmen and companions on a boat to Palawan at night last week when two unidentified ships chased them away from Ayungin. The ships focused spotlights on Bito-onon's boat, preventing him and his companions from identifying the vessels, he said.

He said a suspected Chinese warship also cut through his four-boat convoy twice last October while he and his staff were traveling to a Philippine-occupied island in the Spratlys. He said he took pictures and video of the gray ship, its hull marked with the number 995, and reported the incident to the military.

Israel Prep for Next War with Hezbollah

Source Associated Press

Matthew 24:6 click here to read.

REVIVIM JUNCTION, Israel (AP) — On a dusty field in Israel's southern desert, the military is gearing up for the next battle against a familiar foe: Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

As the Syrian civil war intensifies, military planners are growing increasingly jittery that the fighting could spill over into Israel, potentially dragging the Islamic militant group that is allied with President Bashar Assad into the fray. After battling Hezbollah to a stalemate in 2006, the Israeli military says it has learned key lessons and is prepared to inflict heavy damage on the group if fighting begins again.

The Israel-Lebanon border has remained largely quiet since that last war. But Hezbollah has since replenished its arsenal and has waged a shadow war with Israel around the world. The fall of the Syrian leader or alternatively an Israel strike against Hezbollah's other main patron, Iran, could spark another full-fledged war.

"There is an increase in tension because of Syria," a senior commander in the military's northern command said about a possible battle with Hezbollah. The commander, who traveled south to observe Thursday's exercise here, spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol.

In 2006, weeks of Israeli air raids killed more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of Hezbollah fighters, and key infrastructure was destroyed. But the heavy onslaught failed to prevent Hezbollah from firing some 4,000 rockets into Israel, and the fighting ended in a U.N.-brokered truce.

While the truce has largely held, Israel says Hezbollah has systematically restocked its arsenal with tens of thousands of even more powerful rockets and missiles capable of striking virtually anywhere in the Jewish state. Israeli military officials frequently say it is only a matter of time before the next war erupts.

In the meantime, Israel and Hezbollah have fought a covert war outside the borders of their countries. In 2008, Hezbollah's top military commander Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a car bombing in the Syrian capital of Damascus, an attack widely thought to be the work of Israeli agents.

Hezbollah, for its part, is thought to be responsible for a bus bombing in a Bulgarian resort town last July that killed five Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian driver, as well as failed attempts to bomb Israeli diplomats in Thailand, India and Georgia.

Israeli military officials believe that Hezbollah, which is preoccupied with its own domestic problems and the precarious position of its Syrian ally, has no desire to reignite hostilities. But they say the Syrian civil war, as well as Israel's tensions with Iran, could easily upset the fragile balance.

As Assad's grip on power weakens, Israeli military planners fear that Syria, backed by Hezbollah, might try to open a new front in order to deflect attention. Israel also fears that sophisticated Syrian weapons, including a chemical arsenal, could be transferred to Hezbollah. Israel has all but confirmed it carried out an airstrike in Syria in January that destroyed a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles allegedly bound to Hezbollah.

Likewise, an Israeli attack on Iran would almost certainly draw a Hezbollah reprisal. Israel has repeatedly hinted it is prepared to attack Iran's nuclear installations if it determines that international sanctions and diplomacy have failed to curb the Iranian nuclear program. Israel and much of the West believe Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the potential link between Iran and Hezbollah.

"A nuclear-armed Iran would dramatically increase terrorism by giving terrorists a nuclear umbrella," he told members of the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC. "That means that Iran's terror proxies like Hezbollah ... will be emboldened to attack America, Israel and others because they will be backed by a power with atomic weapons."

Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has warned that anyone who thinks Hezbollah is vulnerable because of Syria's civil war is mistaken. He also said the group has all the weapons it needs in case war breaks out with Israel, and it would not need to import them from allies Syria and Iran.

"The resistance will not be silent regarding any aggression against Lebanon," Nasrallah said last month.

Israel is also taking a fiercer tone, saying it will act with far less restraint than it did in 2006, when it took out electric grids, roads and city blocks during the month long war that was sparked by a deadly cross-border raid by Hezbollah. Military officials say entire villages that host Hezbollah's arsenal would be considered fair targets.

During Thursday's exercise, near the Revivim collective farm, scores of Israeli reservists in full battle gear participated in a drill meant to simulate Israel's capture of a strategic hill overlooking a southern Lebanese village.

In the drill, three tanks kicked up dust as they charged forward and fired live rounds. In front of them, groups of soldiers lay flat on the ground and opened fire with propped-up guns as other soldiers stormed up the hill. Their targets were small cutout cartoon heads meant to represent Hezbollah fighters.

On a nearby Israeli army base, reservists have also been practicing urban warfare recently on a set made to resemble an Arab village, complete with concrete homes, narrow alleyways and mosque minarets.

Military officials say that while Hezbollah has upgraded its capabilities, Israel has also made important offensive and defensive changes since 2006, when it came under heavy criticism for its lack of preparedness and perceived sloppy performance.

They say the military now possesses sophisticated real-time intelligence and upgraded drones. For any potential land operation, it has fortified its armored personnel vehicles, activated a new tank defense that can shoot down anti-tank rockets and recently deployed "Iron Dome," a defense system that shot down hundreds of rockets during a recent round of fighting against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Despite its arsenal and political clout in Lebanon, Hezbollah's maneuvering space has been significantly reduced in recent years.

Hezbollah still suffers from the fallout of the 2006 war, which many in Lebanon accused Hezbollah of provoking by killing and kidnapping Israeli soldiers from the border area. Since then, the group has come under increasing pressure at home to disarm. Though Hezbollah has been accused of fighting alongside the military in Syria, the group has largely been cautious with regards to the Syria conflict, knowing that any action it takes could backfire.

In addition, the group's reputation has been tarnished because its leader has supported Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, but has backed the Assad regime in Syria.