Daily Headlines

Iran Holds Air Defense Drills As IAEA Says Iran Blocks Access To Key Nuclear Site

As if the market needed another bizarro catalyst to ramp even higher courtesy of an even more pronounced drop in corporate earnings courtesy of soaring energy costs, that is just what it is about to get following news of further deterioration in the Nash equilibrium in Iran, where on one hand we learn thatIAEA just pronounced Iran nuclear talks a failure (this is bad), and on the other Press TV reports that the Iran army just started a 4 day air defense exercise in a 190,000 square kilometer area in southern Iran (this is just as bad). The escalation "ball" is now in the Western court. And if Iraq is any indication, after IAEA talks "failure" (no matter how grossly manipulated by the media), the aftermath is usually always one and the same...

Khamenei: No Obstacles Can Stop Iran's Nuclear Work

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Tehran's nuclear course would not change regardless of international sanctions, assassinations or other pressures.

"With God's help, and without paying attention to propaganda, Iran's nuclear course should continue firmly and seriously ... Pressures, sanctions and assassinations will bear no fruit. No obstacles can stop Iran's nuclear work."

Jordan's King Abdullah Blames Israel For Stalled Peace Talks

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday blamed Israel for the deadlocked Middle East peace process, the officialPetra news agency reported.

Petra reported that King Abdullah was specifically concerned over Israel's “unilateral policies”, including changing the identity of the Arab sector in east Jerusalem and tampering with Muslim holy shrines there.

The details of the exact “package” offered by Netanyahu were not revealed, but a recent unconfirmed report said that Netanyahu plans to announce a plan to uproot communities and carry out mass evictions in Judea and Samaria.

The report said that due to the political impasse between Israel and the PA, Netanyahu is expected to propose a final status solution that would leave Israel with only the major settlement blocs and eastern Jerusalem.

More Stoning Of Christians On Temple Mount

Muslim mobs again hurled stones at Christian tourists and Jewish visitors atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Tuesday following a similar attack earlier in the week.

One police officer who was among those escorting the Christian and Jewish groups was injured, and two Muslim assailants were arrested.

Police were already on high alert for clashes atop the Temple Mount after local Muslim websites posted calls to "protect" the mosques occupying the Temple Mount from Jews who allegedly planned to desecrate them by praying there.

IDF Gearing Up To Invade Gaza

Israeli media this week reported that the IDF is gearing up for another large-scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip to halt terrorist rocket fire and curb the threat posed by groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The Jerusalem Post reported last month that the IDF General Staff had ordered the Southern Command to draw up plans for a Gaza incursion. Over the weekend, the paper revealed that a growing number of senior officers in the Southern Command are not pushing for the order to be given to begin the attack.

The article below may be the most important one of the day. Note the bolded statements. We appear to be closer to war today than at any point in the last several years:

Iran Cuts Down To Six Weeks Timeline For Weapons-Grade Uranium

Western and Israeli intelligence experts have concluded that the transfer of 20 percent uranium enrichment to the underground Fordo site near Qom has shortened Iran’s race for the 90 percent (weapons) grade product to six weeks.

The International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said Tuesday night, Feb. 21: “It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin.” This is the site were Iran conducts experiments in nuclear explosives and triggers.

This diplomatic understatement came amid three major reverses in the quest for a non-military solution to halt Iran’s drive for a nuclear weapon:

1. Iran placed a large obstacle in the path of resumed negotiations with six world powers on which US President Barack Obama had pinned his strategy for averting a war to arrest its nuclear weapon program. This strategy depended heavily on Iran eventually consenting to making its nuclear projects fully transparent, as his National Security Adviser Tom Donilon assured Israeli leaders earlier this week.

2. The transfer of 20 percent uranium enrichment to Fordo is taken by Western and Israel intelligence experts to have accelerated the pace of enriching large quantities of 20 percent enriched uranium to weapons grade and shortened to an estimated six weeks the time needed for arming a nuclear bomb after a decision in Tehran.

3. The threat that Iran will not wait for “its enemies” – Israel and/or the US - to strike and will act first.

Senior Israeli military and intelligence sources said Wednesday, Feb. 22, that Israel’s strategic and military position in the Middle East has taken a sharp downturn.

As one Israeli source put it: “Since Wednesday the rules of the game have changed.”

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