I wonder why Project 2049 Institute has an odd year like 2049 in the name? You could probably figure out why they have this year in their organization’s name. Energy, oil, maritime trade, technology, the Navy, future wars, Cobalt/Nickel and other Rare earth minerals used for batteries, military armament, international politics and alliances certainly play a role there.
I believe that the US withdrawal of their support for the Israeli underwater gas pipeline to Cyprus, Greece and Europe was a trade off to Russia.
One clue is Turkey’s sudden benign approach to Armenia lately. Russia certainly has something to do with it. Biden’s administration’s statement that minor intrusions by Russia into Ukraine is not really a casus belli for a US intervention gives us a clue that the United States wants a war against Iran as soon as possible, preferably involving a UN intervention, and they are really not interested in fighting two or more different adversaries. I am thinking of Iran, Russia and China.
”But at present there are no plans to send US ground troops to defend Ukraine.”
”We want Ukraine to be able to defend itself, not go to war with Russia,” the deputy US ambassador to Sweden told Studio Ett.
First, it is hardly Ukraine that is waging war against Russia. Ukraine is defending itself against the belligerent Russia. Does Biden’s administration want Ukraine not to defend itself if only Russia would limit its military influence to eastern Ukraine? ”But we do know it’s playbook,” as Blinken said in late 2021.
WIN January 20, 2022
EastMed pipeline said to be politically “destabilising” as well as economically and environmentally unviable.”
By David Hellerman, World Israel News
U.S. officials have notified Israel, Greece and Cyprus that Washington no longer supports a joint gas pipeline intended to supply Europe with natural gas.
Greek media reports, which broke the story, cited a U.S. “non-document” or unofficial position paper which characterized the EastMed pipeline as a “primary source of tension” and something “destabilising” the region because of Turkish opposition.
The joint pipeline, a $6.8 billion initiative, was expected to provide Europe with ten percent of its energy needs, reducing the continent’s dependence on Russian natural gas.
A widely cited Reuters report quoted a source who said, “The American side expressed to the Greek side reservations as to the rationale of the EastMed pipeline, (and) raised issues of its economic viability and environmental (issues).”
In 2018, Israel signed an agreement with Italy, Greece, and Cyprus to lay the mostly underwater gas pipeline. Running from the Israel’s Leviathan gas field to Italy via a Cypriot gas field, Crete and the Greek mainland, the EastMed pipeline planned to traverse 1,900 kilometers (1,242 miles). The project won U.S. support in 2019.
The pipeline was supposed to be operational in 2025 and eventually carry 10 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe annually.
Media reports say the initiative has not secured funding. None of the EastMed partner countries have publicly commented on what Washington’s position means for the pipeline’s future.
Turkey, which doesn’t recognize Cyprus as a nation, claims the island and its offshore resources for itself, and opposed the endeavor. On numerous occasions, the Turkish Navy harassed Israeli and Cypriot vessels doing exploratory work.
The EastMed project was also competing with a Russian-Turkish pipeline, the Turkstream, which began delivering gas to Europe in 2020.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters, “If [Israeli gas] would be brought to Europe, it could only be done through Turkey,” according to a transcript released by Erdogan’s office. “Is there any hope for now? We can sit and talk about the conditions.”
The pipeline also faced the formidable geophysical challenges of passing through very deep water, sometimes at depths of 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) in an area known for seismic activity.
I had to include the whole WIN article from January 20 above, because it looks like the Biden administration has struck a deal with Russia. ”We do this for you if you restrain Turkey in the coming US war, Putin.” Biden is raking the manege for the coming war. It doesn’t look like the Israelis are aware of Biden’s plans in the North involving Russia and war.
It is in the interest of the United States that Turkey be kept in check during an American war in Syria against Iran, and Russia’s goodwill is absolutely necessary for that to happen. That is why the course of events between Russia, Turkey and Armenia is benign in January of 2022. There you see, if you just want it hard enough, you can very quickly create peace and harmony in the world. If you can trust World Israel News (WIN) from January 19 2022 Israel wants it bad enough [temporarily].
”…Diplomatic talks are ongoing with Israel, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a press conference late Tuesday, underlining that his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog may visit Turkey soon…” Quote; WIN
However, not to mention something important. Biden warned Russia about Russia invading Ukraine, according to Sveriges Radio the 20th of January 2022. ”Do I think he’ll test the West, Yes, I think he will! But I think he will pay a serious and dear price for it.” Quote; Joe Biden
Sunni-Muslim Sudan is the next country together with Morocco and Oman to be on the Israeli list of charm offensives, according to the news site United With Israel from the 13th of October 2021.
Of course it helps that Israel can become a conciliator between Sudan and Egypt concerning the fresh water from the Nile and dam projects in Sudan. And why do Israel want to be friends with Morocco? Two words; precious Phosphates, needed by the US farmers. And Oman is strategically located at the inlet to the Persian gulf. That’s it, at least as far as I understand it.
A reiteration: A good two thirds of the world production of phosphates are mined in China, the United States and Morocco/Western Sahara. Morocco and the, by Morocco occupied Western Sahara account for 30 percent of the world export market. US phosphate reserves will last for nearly 30 years for US use only. The United States does not export phosphate ore. Neither does China. The world’s phosphate reserves are estimated to be around 15 billion tonnes, which is sufficient for the world’s consumption for 90 years with current technology, according to the US Geological Survey. Phosphate production in the world will not come to a critical low level before the world’s oil reserves peter out. Thus, phosphate production in Morocco/Western Sahara is strategically secondary, or should be. But this did not prevent the US from making a bilateral trade deal with Morocco in 2006. The European Union didn’t jump on the train until two years later. And the early US bilateral trade deal with Morocco is also a spoiler for us Europeans. Are the US and Israel thus heading for a war on Iran in order to hog the oil from the Persian Gulf? Short answer, Yes. Long answer, don’t forget about Taiwan and the Chinese ambitions.
Also, UAE and Bahrain have been charmed by the Israelis already. The US is going to get a severe oil shortage sometime around 2024. The US wants war, Israel wants war, not necessarily for the same reason, short term. There is going to be a war against Iran, unless Iran complies with their then master the US. Do you think that it is a coincidence that the Arab states, Saudi-Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and UAE suddenly changed their negative policies into an including policy on israel? No, the Arabs on the Arabian peninsula in particular would all too happily see an American and Israeli war against Iran. Iran isn’t just Israel’s worst enemy, it is in practice the Arabs’ worst enemy too. They feel very threatened by Iran. They themselves do not want to fight Iran but would happily fuel the war and support the US use of the American bases in Qatar, Bahrain and UAE.
Saudi-Arabia knows they are not ready to fight Iran, and they probably never will be ready for a fight against Iran. Israel on the other hand is ready for a war. But I am sceptical about how it could be possible for the Israelis to strike the bunker systems at Mashad in Iran where the strategic nuclear forces will be located, at least with the Israeli Air Force without help from the US.
A quote from a seemingly well informed Israeli: ”Indeed, it won’t be easy for the IDF. They do have some bunker-buster technology, but what they need for the Iranian deep, heavily armored and hardened bunkers is re-entrant hypervelocity Mach 10+ bunkerbusters. Those are launched from space and only the US has that capability. The good news is that these are, due to the extreme speed, horrendously powerful. Although completely conventional, one single penetration hit has the equivalent explosive damage as that from a medium-yield nuclear weapon.”
Does the US really have such a space weapon? Who knows, they certainly have become more restricted with publishing information about their military technical progress and achievements.
It seems that Biden will follow in Trump’s footsteps and continue to oust Sweden. Biden has thus made an active choice. They can no longer excuse themselves for not having any control over their wicked fellow countrymen. Biden can no longer pretend to be ignorant or pretend that he can do nothing about what is happening. Biden did not want to share with us. Biden, on the other hand, wants to share with the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. Shared power is double power. It is an active choice that Biden and his predecessors have made. In March 2021, Biden invited 40 world leaders to a summit, and he included the prime ministers of Denmark and Norway, but not Sweden’s prime minister. The summit topics were officially about climate change and measures to rectify it, and Covid 19. In reality, the summit was about energy and alliances, ”who is in and who is out”. But then the participants are also required to be able to read between the lines. Saying things straight in plain words is far too hazardous for a world leader.
Stefan Löfven’s press secretary announced in the newspaper Expressen, that questions about the invitation list are referred to the US administration and that it is still too early to say whether Sweden will ”conspire with” neighboring countries before the meeting. Quote; fPlus, March 28, 2021
Conspiring with means teaching our less initiated neighboring states.
In fact, I’m extremely relieved to no longer have to worry about helping the giant babies in the United States presidential administration. Biden, the old 60’s racist, is hoping for an American Saudi Arabia where the Americans have full control over their women. He will get a Brazil.
The stranding of the Panama-registered Japanese ship Evergreen Ever Given in the Suez Canal on March 23, 2021 led to delays. Ever Given is a long-term leased container-ship to the Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen Marine, and at the time of the accident the ship had an Indian crew. The ship is 400 meters long and that makes it one of the world’s largest ships. The oil from the Persian Gulf, the oil that goes to the East Coast of the United States, passes through the Suez Canal. It would take about 1+ months extra time to round South Africa and it is not certain that the tankers and container vessels have fuel tanks with fuel that is enough for a month extra travel time without refueling fuel oil somewhere in West Africa. Ever Given was stuck in the Suez Canal for barely a week, until March 29, 2021.
But what does Biden’s announced withdrawal of e.g. at least three Patriot batteries, and more or less permanently stationed aircraft carriers, from the Persian Gulf mean?
The aircraft carrier called Nimitz, which is also the first aircraft carrier in the Nimitz class, was on assignment for almost a full year without rotation or leave for the staff, and without any ship maintenance that could not be accomplished on board, until very recently when Nimitz was called home. Nimitz is expected to retire soon, and it is very costly to dismantle and scrap the nuclear reactor on board. Scrapping Nimitz will cost billions of dollars. If you have to risk one of the aircraft carriers, in the Persian Gulf, when provoking Iran, it is the Nimitz. The aircraft carrier Nimitz has been in active service since 1975 when Gerald Ford was president.
Does Biden’s announcement mean tha
the oil infrastructure is now built and ready in Uganda and the region surrounding Lake Victoria, and that the expected oil is now flowing, that it is flowing to the United States and that the oil has been proven to be gasoline oil of West Texas Intermediate comparable quality?
Or does Biden’s announcement mean that
Iran is not taking the bait of war, time to rethink.
If so, what role will Israel and Syria play in the new game? Will the Iranians dare to expand their influence in Syria? Will they take the new bait and will the future war take place in Syria? What role will Russia then play, given the Russian bases on the Syrian coast at the Mediterranean in Latakia and Tartous. What role will Turkey play?
What does this mean for us here in Sweden?
Does it mean that the Biden administration will use the UK, France and Germany to ease sanctions on Russia, so that Russia will cooperate in Syria. For example by closing its eyes to Gazprom’s/Nordstream’s gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. A kind of barter.
Or does it mean that
the Biden administration is open to the possibility of shifting the event horizon northwards, thereby shifting the US pivotal from roughly the Indian Ocean towards the northern parts of Russia, by focusing on Syria and Israel rather than the Persian Gulf, thereby hitting two birds with one stone, while at the same time being able to assure its allies in NATO support and/or protection?
Given China’s ambitions in the Persian Gulf, what are the short-term and long-term risks of this? In the short term, this probably means no major military risks for the United States, which would not be to the United States fortune, as China lacks an expeditionary fleet and army and only has two aircraft carriers. Albeit, they can use these two aircraft carriers more efficiently because they can be more ruthless to the crews long-term. But the necessity of overhauls of aircraft carriers and a dependence on bases and friendly ports are still major factors.
In the long run, China will strengthen its economic oil situation in the Persian Gulf if the United States partially withdraws militarily. But maybe China would have succeeded with that anyway. They have so far. Practically every state in the Persian Gulf, including Saudi-Arabia, do more business with China than they do with the US. Perhaps China will also strengthen its position militarily if it is allowed to build air bases in Iran. But then they will probably have to invest in large scale infrastructure projects and production of aeronautical components in Iran. So the solution of partially withdrawing from the Persian Gulf is not optimal, and Biden would not have gone so far if he had had an alternative. But Iran, through its Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, actually made an agreement with China already in March-April 2021, through China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. As usual, Mohammad Javad Zarif taunted the Americans during the photo shoot of the two dignitaries.
So timely then that Iran’s air force is like a garment of sackcloth and ashes, from the time of the Shah. According to the New York Times, the parties decided on a Chinese investment of 400 billion US Dollars in Iran over a period of 25 years. However, it can become problematic because the deal was apparently settled in US Dollars and not in Chinese Yuan.
China also recently signed a multi-billion dollar agreement with Saudi Arabia. But it is probably just a manifestation of economic opportunism, on the part of Saudi Arabia.
For the United States, it is important to first and foremost involve the four Arab countries below and win them over on their side, while Israel is guaranteed to stay safe. Before Trump, people thought this would be an impossibility. But the Arabs think like Trump and understood him, and they connected with the former president. The four countries that first Trump and now Biden are trying to get onboard the ship are;
1. Syria
2. Jordan
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Iraq
The rest of the Persian Gulf countries they hope will follow suit. If there is no war against Iran, all the better. Only as long as the Iranians fall in line.
If there’s going to be a war, it’s not Joe Biden’s fault, it’s Donald Trump who put his foot in his mouth fault. His for the public covert war-mongering against Iran has led to the situation Biden is in now. Trump did not step on with woolen socks exactly, so the Iranians could hear the war thunder approaching and they also understand in general terms why Trump sought war with them. However, they probably do not understand that the United States is doing well without Iranian oil, they do not understand the bigger picture very well. The Iranians conclude that Iranian oil means war, they mistakenly believe that the United States is out to steal their oil and that is all there is to it.
Associated Press, Dec. 8, 2020:
”As the Pentagon pulls troops out of the Middle East in the coming weeks, under orders from President Donald Trump, U.S. military leaders are working to find other ways to deter potential attacks by Iran and its proxies and to counter arguments that America is abandoning the region./…/ The Pentagon announced last month that the U.S. will reduce troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan by mid-January, asserting that the decision fulfills Trump’s pledge to bring forces home from America’s long wars. Under the accelerated pullout, the U.S. will cut the number of troops in Afghanistan from more than 4,500 to 2,500, and in Iraq from about 3,000 to 2,500.”
Why pull out from Iraq and Afghanistan if they want a war? Because it is not optimal to wage a war against neighboring Iran from inside of Afghanistan. And they need to build up much larger forces in Iraq than they already have in Iraq. This takes time and is revealing and risky. It is much more optimal for the US to deploy their forces from the Mediterranean area, if and only if they can get Russia to go along with it.
It is not thankful to be the 46th president of the United States and take office after Trump. Biden has basically no choice. It seems like it’s time for a new US war president. Or what do you think?
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said in June 2021 that ”it remains unclear whether Iran will comply with nuclear deal”.
“We’re not even at the stage of returning to compliance for compliance,” Blinken said. “We don’t know if that’s actually going to happen. We’ve been engaged in indirect conversations, as you know, for the last couple of months, and it remains unclear whether Iran is willing and prepared to do what it needs to do to come back into compliance. So we’re still testing that proposition.”
Wow, they are not even at the stage of returning to compliance for compliance. That is like saying; ”We haven’t yet been in contact with a Kennel to make our dog understand who’s the boss.” Remember POTUS George W. Bush’s talk of weapons of mass destruction prior to the Gulf War? Anyone?
But this time it is probable that there are attempts to make weapons of mass destruction. Iran is trying to produce sufficiently enriched Uranium for use in missile warheads, and they have developed long range missiles.
By reading the article in The Algemeiner by Benjamin Kerstein, one can ascertain that the course to war is straight and the ’Fog of war’ is thick. War against Iran via the Mediterranean and Syria et.c. in the first place, the Persian Gulf in the second. Israel has a crisis of confidence in the United States, but Biden, Blinken and the United States are trying to make Israel understand that the course is fixed and that only the methods have changed back to the pre-Trump era methods.
Also, it is very interesting how one after another Iranian Naval vessels in the Persian Gulf catches fire and gets disabled or sinks, as reported by Israeli media in an error-prone manner. The latest reported and most noteworthy incident is from June 2nd 2021 when Iran’s largest Naval ship dubbed Kharg caught fire and sunk. However could a Naval ship sink from a fire onboard if there is no hole in its hull? Why would you even report it as if a fire caused the ship to sink? They are not idiots the Israelis you know. They ended one news report with the words;
”…One thing remains clear. Sailing in the region can be very hazardous.., for the wrong ship!”
The narrator emphasizing the words ”for the wrong ship”. They were also asiduous in pointing out the Iranians involvement in previous hostile mine operations in the Persian Gulf. So the Iranians are just reaping what they sowed. But it almost feels like if the Israeli media are hiding the true scope of this string of disasters, and Israels involvement in making it happen.
This bromance between the Israelis and the Arabs lately prior to the US presidential election in 2020, that Trump lost, was all to superficial from the Arab side. I knew it was too good to be true. Now the Saudis seem to flip-flop. But why? Because there was going to be a war under Trump, aginst Iran, it was definitely decided in Washington D.C. a couple of years ago or so. Proof? I have no decisive proof, except for that the CIA Factbook unintentionally reveals that the US is going to run out of oil on its own territory at some point in time in this decade. But think of it this way:
The only reason why Saudi-Arabia ever reached out to Israel was because of Washington’s elaborate plans to push Iran into making a limited attack on American forces in the Persian Gulf or elsewhere, so that the US gets an excuse to start the war. That is why the US, already under Obama’s administration, had to withdraw from Afghanistan in such a hurry, to free troops for the coming war against Iran. It is also why the US at one time started showing interest in Iraq again and wanted to increase its troops there. The Saudis knew that under Trump they had to tolerate the Israelis and they welcomed Israel’s contribution in the coming war against the Saudis’ arch enemy Iran. To the Saudis, Iran is a bigger threat than Israel. And they are. Now when it looks like if the not so Israel friendly Joe Biden is going to be president in January, the Saudis turn on Israel with some uncertainty. The rest of the Gulf states will probably follow suit now that the Arabs are hoping for a war led by Biden against Iran.
It is important even for the sitting U.S. administration, that Biden doesn’t get bogged down in domestic bickering about him being a warmonger, which is why there were news reports (leaks) coming out from the white house in November 2020 about Trump wanting a war against Iran. Israel cannot be shut out of the deal by the Saudis, because they will not succeed then. Whether the Saudis realize this or not is another question. The Saudis had in late 2020 opened up for civilian Israeli air traffick over Saudi-Arabia, but they wanted to stop this after Trump lost the US presidential election when it looked like if Trump was defeated for sure. World Israel News quotes; ”In recent weeks, Saudi Arabia has allowed a precedent-setting move for Israeli planes to use its airspace on their way to the UAE and Bahrain, and in recent months there has also been harsh criticism of the Palestinians by senior Saudi officials.” World Israel News, November 23, 2020.
The Saudis’ foreign minister denied, according to another article in the web-based WIN, that Netanyahu participated in a meeting that happened in November 2020. ”No such meeting occurred. The only officials present were American [Pompeo] and Saudi [the Saudi crown prince]” he tweeted.
But if the US is going to provoke a war, when will this war take place? I even know the answer to that. It’ll be within a four year period, if they can succeed with their shady sceme. The aircraft carrier ship dubbed USS Nimitz is patrolling the waters of the Persian Gulf since late November 2020. Since 2012 Nimitz is the oldest serving carrier in the US Navy. Due to the big stakes of America’s future, with severe oil shortage, it is possible that the Trump administration are prepared to sacrifice USS Nimitz if it means that the Iranians, conveniently enough to the American administration, will start the war by attacking USS Nimitz. This is not very controversial, it is something they have to consider for and in any possible future war. They have done it before, in the Tonkin bay, but with smaller ships. A World Israel News quote:
”US promised UAE it would not greenlight Israeli sovereignty until 2024” Quote from a WIN headline September 13, 2020.
The article states among other things;
”The 2024 time frame lines up with the four-year window within which Israel is obligated to negotiate with the Palestinians under the Trump administration’s Mideast peace plan.”
That is their time-plan. Peace means war, war means peace.
But there was an obstacle and the name of the country is Qatar. Qatar had been put under a covert commercial and political blockade by land sea and air since January 2017 by Saudi-Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt (from the first month of never-started-any-wars and nominated-to-the-Nobel-peace-prize Trump administration), till January 5 2021 (from the first month of the lets-go-back-to-the-nuclear-deal Biden administration) Why? Qatar had to much relations with Iran due to the two countries shared gas field in the Persian Gulf. The US initially supported the blockade, since the Trump administration wanted to push Iran into the corner and force them to make a limited military attack on American forces. Qatar stood in the way, albeit there is an US Airbase in Qatar. Qatar’s answer to the blockade was to strengthen ties with Russia, Turkey and China. Still not convinced?
Quote WIN December 22, 2020: ”He [senior Trump Advisor Jared Kushner] also said he expects Morocco to join an investment fund created by Israel, the U.S. and the UAE for investing in projects in the Middle East.
“There are several countries in the region that have approached us for projects”, he said. He added that the Democrats have signaled that the incoming Biden administration will continue to advance these business developments.”
I let the quotes speak for themselves. Note that the Biden administration at first seemed to have halted the war plans from the former Trump administration. It looked like if secret war preparations were being made public, and this makes it possible for people like me to find confirmatory information. I wasn’t in the dark before, but the fog of war was thick.
Press stop!
American bombers flew into Syria at dawn on the 26th of february 2021, and the target was an Iranian-backed Shiite militia group in Syria, a group that almost two weeks ago counterproductively, as usual, carried out a rocket attack on an US base in Iraq. The Biden administration is greatful. Because right after or the following day, the Biden administration slaps some of the minions of the Saudi Crown Prince and lets the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself off the hook for the gruel killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
”The relationship with Saudi Arabia is larger than an individual”, says Foreign Minister Tony Blinken.
So it is business as usual then! I knew that Biden wasn’t a freshman, so it is no use being surprised. But at least the Biden administration intends to make sure that such gruel murders don’t happen again.
”The United States will not tolerate threats or attacks from Saudi Arabia outside its borders against activists, dissidents or journalists,” Tony Blinken said a couple of hours after the air raid. Convenient.
If I had any doubts before I don’t have them any longer. There is going to be a war. I am writing this in february 2021. If there is going to be a war, please God let the US win, because there are no good exit options from a third world war for us Nordic people! At least they have a sober and intelligent chauffeur now. It is important that we Swedes remain pragmatic. Never have a small country known so much but being able to do so little. Hence the little prayer here.
Russia has sold or is selling S-300 air defense systems to Iran.
Iran has at least five bases on the Strait of Hormuz. The bases are located at Bandar Abbas, Bandar Lengeh, Sirik, Kish Island and Abu Musa, the latter two being islands.
The Americans have several air bases near or in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The bases are called Isa Airbase (Bahrain), Al Udeid (Qatar) and Al Minhad and Al Dhafra (UAE).
In addition, the Americans have a naval base in Bahrain, and one on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, and a base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. They also have a large base with combat personnel on the British island of Ascension 2,500 km west of Africa halfway to Brazil in South America.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the sale of the S-300 air defense system will stabilize the situation in the Middle East. But more likely it will do just the opposite, destabilizing the situation in the Middle East. Israel felt an urge to take action against Iranian nuclear facilities in the near future before Iran had deployed air defense systems. The Iranian news organization Tasnim reported on July 19, 2016 that Iran had obtained the first S-300 PMU-2 air defense systems which Russia sold to them.
If Israel does not strike while they can, if Iran becomes a nuclear weapons country with operational nuclear weapons with sufficient range and accuracy, then because of the Iranian mullahs’ unpredictability, it could turn into a disaster for Israel, or at least develop into a cold war between Israel and Iran. The Iranians have not been late in involving other stakeholders in the conflict, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, which risks tipping over the balance of power to Israel’s disadvantage and strengthen Iran’s position in the region. That would probably lead to a new Arab war against Israel. It could also mean that more states in the region would try to develop nuclear weapons.
Nor is there anything to guarantee that Russia will not sell the nuclear weapons carrier missiles to Iran, once Iran has received and deployed its air defense systems. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasizes that the weapons are defensive and pose no threat to neighboring countries, including Israel. Israeli intelligence minister Yuval Steinitz made a statement; “Instead of demanding that Iran cease its terrorist acts in the Middle East and the world, it now allows the country to acquire advanced weapons that will only lead to increased aggression.”
Iran also supplies crude oil to Russia in exchange for grain and building materials. In this way, we are already being affected in our part of the world as Russia exports its surplus of oil to strengthen its economy. The so-called P5 + 1 group, consisting of the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, reached an agreement in July 2015 on Iran’s nuclear program, which meant that Russia and Iran stood as winners. President Putin said in a statement on the Kremlin’s website that the world could take a relieved breath. In Israel, the sentiments were of another kind. The country’s Prime Minister Netanyahu did not mince words and called the agreement a big mistake of historical proportions. The sanctions against Iran were supposed to be lifted. The agreement meant that;
A) Iran would scale down its nuclear program while opening the doors for UN inspectors to all its nuclear facilities, including military ones.
B) The arms embargo against Iran was stated to remain for five years.
C) In addition, according to the IAEA, a roadmap had been signed to investigate Iran’s previous nuclear activities.
D) But even if a contract was in the clear, it would take months before it could take effect. The US Congress and Iran’s parliament would now approve the agreement.
E) The West’s sanctions against Iran, which isolated the country financially, could be lifted and several billion dollars of Iran’s frozen assets thawed thereafter.
Whether or not the sanctions under Obama really were lifted is an assessment question for anyone to figure out for himself.
Source; Euromaidan Press, April 2015; SR; Ekot, July 2015
Homework:
Do you think that Hezbollah with Iran’s help can tip the balance in the Middle East? And if they do, will there be another “Yom Kippur”? If you don’t know what Yom Kippur is I suggest that you read up about it. But I can tell you that it was the Arab war against the Israelis in October 1973 and it is also a Jewish Holiday, which they named the war after since the Arabs attacked Israel on the last day of the yearly Jewish fasting. The Jews were taken by surprise back then in the year of 1973.
Roger M. Klang, defense political spokesman for the Christian Values Party (Kristna Värdepartiet) in Sweden
The strategist cowboy 