According to the AFP, Iran secretly tested ballistic missiles "capable of delivering a nuclear payload in breach of UN resolutions" on Tuesday. Western Governments fear this is the next step in Iran's goal of producing an atomic warhead and is a dangerous escalation of tension in the region. On the second day of Iran's 'Great Prophet 6' or Mohammad annual celebration, the Iranian general Ami Ali Hajizadeh told Fars that the war games were a "message of peace and friendship to countries of the region". If the Islamic states aren't picking up on the message, then the Americans and Israelis certainly are. These actions are the posturing of a nervous country trying to establish a clear message: stay out of Turkey and Syria's affairs. The missile with nuclear capabilities was tested by the Iran's Revolutionary Guards and was an "Iranian-made surface-to-surface" medium-ranged missile. An SSM is a "guided projectile launched from a hand-held, vehicle mounted, trailer mounted or fixed installation or from a ship" (Wikipedia). "Short- medium- and long-range missiles will [also] be fired, especially the Kanlij-Fars, Sejil, Fateh, Ghiam, and Shahab-1 and -2 missiles," the general was quoted. "The range of our missiles has been designed based on American bases in the region as well as the Zionist regime." It was reported by the Iranian media that they had fired "nine Zelzal missiles, two Shahab-1s, two Shahabs-2, and a single medium-range Ghardr" (AFP) at the same time and a single target.
This newest threat came on top of news from a Russian diplomat, Sergei Ryabkov, that Iran's first nuclear plant at Bushehr would start up in August. The West warns that this is in an attempt to build a nuclear weapon, but the Iranians claim it is a peaceful pursuit of cheaper energy. Some believe that the Islamic country has been emboldened by "what it sees as U.S. military defeats in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan" as well as planned American withdrawal of 33,000 troops in Afghanistan by September 2012, which has been controversial with top US Military brass. Both occupied countries still stand on the edge of chaos, with suicide bombers hitting a Kabul hotel, and a man in a wheel chair blowing himself up in front of a police station north of Baghdad on Sunday, wounding 18 people and killing 3. 15 US troops died this month in the embattled Iraq, the highest number since May 2009--4,465 American military personnel have been killed overall since the beginning of the war in 2003, not including civilians (an estimated 1,000,000 Iraqis have died in the conflict). Many in the military believe that the bulk of these casualties came from Shiite militants backed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who have been funneling more weapons into the Iraq and Afghanistan in a push to get the Americans to leave. Iraqi militants have been caught with "smuggled rocket assisted exploding projectiles" (Solomon - WSJ), and in Afghanistan, the Taliban have been using rockets which have doubled their range of attack--weapons which have traced back to the Persian country. The Iranians, for their part, claim that this is American propaganda to continue to justify staying in the region.
The Iranian exercise is reported to last for 10 days, which is "unusually long" for a military game. This just adds pressure to an already boiling region. The Iranians want the Americans and NATO to stay out, especially with a potential conflict headed between the Turks and the Syrians. General Hajizadeh told Fars, "[The American's] military bases in the region are in a range of 130, 250, and maximum 700 km in Afghanistan which we can hit with these missiles" and on Monday revealed underground silos which, an officer claimed, were "numerous" and couldn't be detected by overhead satellites. In the video released, these silos appear to hold the Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, which can reach a range of 1,250 miles (2,000 km). Iran has been accused in the past of receiving assistance from North Korea in arming these silos. Just two years ago, the UAE seized a North Korean ship carrying embargoed arms to Iran. A Maj. Gen. in the Israeli airforce, Ido Nehoshtan, has claimed this "frantic arms race" is happening across the entire Middle East, saying "the race is going on in almost every country in the region, including organizations like Hamas and Hizbullah [an Iranian proxy]", with an official close to the Saudi Arabian prince Turki al-Faisal saying, "We cannot live in a situation where Iran has nuclear weapons and we don't. It's as simple as that. If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, that will be unacceptable to us and we will have to follow suit." Israel has responded to the war games by "positioning one of its new Iron Dome rocket interceptor batteries in the northern city of Haifa" (DEBKA), and the US has moved the USS Enterprise away from the Persian gulf, and replaced it with the USS George H.W. Bush, which has far greatest fire power and carries "a crew of 9,000 and 70 fighter bombers". According to DEBKA, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Bremerton was also detected off the coast of Bahrain and reports if Turkey and Syria do go to war that "Tehran expect[s] the Turkish army to have US air and naval support in case of Iranian reprisals". Iran's game of antagonizing Washington and Ankara doesn't appear to be working. Instead, the West seems to be gearing up for war, even though it could lead to Iranian missile strikes.
Western propaganda against Syria's president Assad is being revved up for this possible conflict. An article titled "Syria: a cornered Assad is losing his marbles" was in the telegraph news Sunday. It quotes him as comparing protesters to germs: “Germs are present everywhere, present on skin and present in the organs. Never through the history of scientific developments did scientists think of eradicating germs. They only thought about how to strengthen the immunity of bodies. That is what we need to think of, more important than analyzing the conspiracy.” The unrelenting government opposition is entering it's fourth month, with "larger protests erupt[ing] throughout the county, including Aleppo and Damascus" (Telegraph's Michael Weiss) and over 1,300 dead and 10,000 arrested. A once blossoming relationship between Syria and Turkey is turning tense. It was reported on June 18th that Turkey had dispatched an envoy to the embroiled country, demanding that Maher Assad, the president's brother, be relinquished his control over Syria's Fourth Division and Presidential Guards, Al Arabiya. The enjoy also included a section calling for "reforms, among them the freedom to protest, freedom of expression, the lifting of a ban on creating political parties, and an end to the 1980 law making membership in the Muslim Brotherhood group an offense punishable by death" (Avi Issacharoff) and promising to protect Maher if he decided to step down. So far, the envoy has been ignored. Meanwhile, the US and EU are also condemning the crackdown, partitioning the UN Security Council to condemn the actions taken by the Syrian government and levying sanctions against it, as thousands of refugees head to the Turkish southern border (over 12,000 are now sheltered there). Both Syria and Turkey have responded by sending more troops, amassing where the refugees are crossing. Ankara is now demanding that the "Syrian military retreat from the border area" (Pakalert), and Damascus says the Turks are acting like Western puppets, being used for outside interests. Pakalert adds that "What makes things even more controversial is that the area where many of the Syrian refugees are encamped actually used to belong to Syria. In fact, many of the maps currently in use inside Syria still show that the area belongs to Syria." Meanwhile, Sectretary of State, Hillary Clinton released a statement, saying, "Syria is headed toward a new political order — and the Syrian people should be the ones to shape it. They should insist on accountability, but resist any temptation to exact revenge or reprisals that might split the country, and instead join together to build a democratic, peaceful and tolerant Syria." You got it. War is brewing.
Iran is dealing with turmoil in it's own political system. It is looking increasingly likely that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be ousted as the Persian president because of his support for "deviant" adviser, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaee. Some see this move happening in weeks, and it could be an ill omen to such a structured state, especially with war on its door steps. The globalists in the West could use any show of weakness by the Persian regime to continue their brush fire across the Middle East. We are already seeing moves by Western-influenced Turkey to restore its military and intelligence collaboration with Israel and reports that Turkish officials are informing Western Powers that it might "launch a military operation in northern Syria" to take down Syria's Baath party in which the Abbas brothers are members. This campaign would include an offensive against the cities of Aleppo, Homs, Hama, and Latakia. This of course is happening the same time Libya is being bombed daily by NATO drones, and the British, French, and Americans talk about a full scale ground war in Libya and Syria. Gaddafi has recently been threatening Europe, saying he will attack "homes, offices, families" and Libyans will swarm like bees in the Mediterranean, if NATO doesn't pull out. Clinton responded, admonishing, “Instead of issuing threats, he should be putting the wellbeing and interests of his own people first. He should step down from power. We need to see this through.” The DHS head, Janet Napolitano, further warns of Libyan weapons being used to strike inside America, rallying the people in support of the controversial "kinetic action", and on Wednesday, Obama opined any fuss about the air strikes were "politics" and that “There may be a time in which there was a serious question as to whether the War Powers Resolution was constitutional. I don’t have to get to the question.” France has also started arming the rebels in Benghazi, which is a break from the rest of the countries bombing the country. In Syria, the Obama administration has moved "the USS Bataan amphibian air carrier strike vessel, along with 2,000 marines, 6 war planes, and 15 attack helicopters to a location just off the Syrian coast" (Chapman, Infowars) It is important to remember that if the US, NATO, and Israel decided to go to war against Syria, Iran would probably decide to enter the fray to protect its ally, as well as their proxy Hizbullah in Lebanon. Hizbullah now has a world presence, especially in Latin American countries like Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. It is very possible agents embedded in the United States and Europe would go active and start igniting bombs and killing people. Lebanon, Venezuela, North Korea, and even Russia and China might eventually be dragged into the conflict. China is especially flirting with war in the South China Sea, and Russia is active in selling arms to Syria and Iran. What makes this so dangerous is that if Syria retaliated against Turkey, then the NATO countries would be obligated to intercede.
Egypt also entered a second day of clashes on Wednesday. Over a 1,000 people have been injured since they began on Tuesday night with protesters demanding that the country's rulers "speed up the prosecution of police officers accused of killing protesters" (CBCnews). Police and demonstrators clashed on the streets outside the Interior Ministry--the protesters threw stones and firebombs, and the police responded with tear gas. Even so, a police officer was sentenced to death on Monday for shooting at protesters in the uprisings last winter; however the former Interior Minister Habib Adli's trial, who was accused of ordering the state security forces to "violently crush the uprising", was adjourned yet again, and Mubarak's was delayed until August. John McCain and John Kerry toured the country on Saturday. It was McCain's second visit since the overthrow of Mubarak. The two senators traveled with American industrialists including the CEO of General Electric, and the upper echelons of Coca-Cola and Exxon Mobile. It is clear America's support for democracy goes as far as wanting to con the Egyptian people out of their resources. This on top of news that globalist George Soros is funding a draft of a new constitution for Egypt. Across the Mediterranean, huge protests erupted in Greece as the parliament decides on new Austerity measures.
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