Things are moving fast in the Middle East (again) - and everything points towards conflict:
Former Revolutionary Guards member tells 'Post' that such a blow to Fordow nuclear facility would harm Iran drastically; says Tehran "has decided to retaliate against Israel from Lebanon."
Iranian dissident-turned CIA operative Reza Kahlili told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that an alleged blast at the Fordow nuclear installation in Iran is "the largest case of sabotage in decades."
Although it has not yet been verified, a report by Kahlili, according to which a massive blast rocked Iran's key Fordow nuclear installation last week, continued to spread on Monday.
Speaking to the Post on Monday, Khalili expressed confidence that the alleged blast will receive "further coverage in the US," and that "more information" will become available to verify the incident.
"This is the center of the Iranian nuclear program. It's essential for the regime, its activities, and its nuclear program. If such a blow was given to Fordow, it definitely harms [Iran] drastically. They were reaching for 20 percent uranium enrichment, and were increasing output," he added.
Situated near the holy Shi'ite city of Qom, the existence of the Fordow enrichment plant, dug deep into a mountain, was kept secret by Iran, until it was discovered by Western intelligence in 2009, and the question of how long it had been in operation remains unanswered.
And where will this lead? The following conclusion of the article may reveal:
Asked why satellite imagery was not being released of rescue efforts at Fordow, Kahlili said only state intelligence agencies have access to live satellite feeds. "Why don't they put it out? My only assumption is that no one wants to take credit because of what the consequences could be by the regime," he said.
"This is a very sensitive time. I'm sure that soon, very soon, more information will leak out. Chatter will get loud enough to provide further information." Kahlili went on to say that the "first suspicion is Israel" within the Islamic Republic. "I have verified information that there was a meeting [called by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei. A decision was made to act in Lebanon. A request was made to [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah to vacate southern Lebanese villages. Islamic Republic Guards are on their way there. A decision has been made to prepare for missile launch from a certain area in Lebanon against Israel," he said.
And this:
Khalili said one of the sources who initially leaked information of the blast came from within the security forces guarding Fordow, adding that precise information of the attack was not being released in order to protect the source. "The source has been collaborating for a long time," he said. A second source came from the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, he said, adding that it was very difficult to safely get information out of Iran.
Iranian authorities have not yet made any progress in their attempt to enter Fordow, Kahlili asserted, adding, "I fear there is radiation involved." Iran's defense ministry dispatched drilling vehicles, "the same they used to carve tunnels and create underground facilities, to see if they can make any headway in opening emergency exists, because they collapsed. Among those stuck in the facility are dozens of foreign nationals. These are contracted scientists," he said.
Kahlili said a second mysterious blast occurred in Tehran last week, at an IRGC base called "21 Hamza." "There are injuries, and there have been arrests of IRGC members who are being questioned. The Intelligence Ministry suspects sabotage," he added.
Israeli intelligence officials have confirmed that a major explosion has rocked an Iranian nuclear facility, according to a report Monday in The Times of London.
The British daily cited officials in Tel Aviv who said the blast occurred last week, as originally reported on the website wnd.com.
Iran is not believed to have evacuated the area surrounding the Fordo plant, according to the same Israeli sources, who said that an investigation into the blast was ongoing.
“We are still in the preliminary stages of understanding what happened and how significant it is,” one Israeli official told the London Times. He did not know if the explosion was “sabotage or accident” and refused to comment on reports that Israeli aircraft were seen near Fordo at the time of the blast.
Amid growing fears in Israel about Syrian chemical weapons use, National Security Council head Yaakov Amidror was dispatched to Moscow for a lighting visit on Monday to convince the Kremlin to take steps to prevent Syria’s stockpiles from falling into the hands of terrorist groups.
In Moscow, Amidror was reportedly to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other top officials, Israeli daily Maariv reported. Russia, a close Syrian ally, has backed embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad but has begun sending signals of waning support for Damascus.
The chaos of the nearly two-year old Syrian civil war has raised deep concerns in Israel and the West that the chemical weapons stockpiled for decades under the Assad regime could make their way into the hands of rogue elements such as Hezbollah or al-Qaeda.
Israel also reportedly fears that advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry, supplied by Russia to Syria, could be acquired by Hezbollah, reducing Israel’s air and armor superiority against the Shiite terrorist organization based in south Lebanon.
The IDF said the move was a routine re-positioning, but it came on the heels of a security meeting held by top officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to discuss the Syrian threat.
Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said Israel could take preventative action if it looked like Syria was attempting to use or transfer the chemical weapons.
With the madness of the general elections receding in the rearview, Israeli politics can return to its normal state of abject panic over the increasingly degrading situation in Syria. The big issue in Monday’s papers is the deployment of Iron Dome batteries in northern Israel and revived concerns of Syria’s chemical weapon stocks falling into the wrong hands.
Yedioth Ahronoth reports on the threat of Syrian chemical weapons falling into the hands of Hezbollah and the deployment of an Iron Dome anti-missile battery near the northern city of Haifa. It says that deployment of multiple Iron Dome batteries in northern Israel of late is “just one of a list of signs testifying to the intensifying security tension on Israel’s northern border.” High-level security meetings among IDF brass and between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro indicate heightened concern over Syria’s stability.
Columnist Alex Fishman reports in the paper that until now Hezbollah had stored its advanced weaponry in Syria, but in recent months, “because of [Syrian President Bashar] Assad’s undermined position, the organization understands that the weapons cannot stay there.” Once those arms reach Lebanon, they will be buried underground and will be impossible to find, he says.
“If chemical weapons are brought into Lebanon,” he says, “it is reasonable to assume that Israel will not hesitate — and will attack.”
Israel could launch a pre-emptive strike to stop Syria's chemical weapons from reaching Lebanon's Hezbollah or al Qaeda inspired groups, officials said Sunday.
The warning came as the military moved a rocket defense system to a main northern city, and Israel's premier warned of dangers from both Syria and Iran.
Shalom told the Army Radio station that the transfer of weapons to violent groups, particularly the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah, would be a game changer.
"It would be crossing a line that would demand a different approach, including even action," he said. Asked whether this might mean a pre-emptive attack, he said: "We will have to make the decisions."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to threats from Syria and Iran at a Cabinet meeting Sunday. Iran is Syria's main regional ally.
"We must look around us, at what is happening in Iran and its proxies and at what is happening in other areas, with the deadly weapons in Syria, which is increasingly coming apart," he said.
Israel views Iran as an existential threat because of its nuclear and missile programs and support for violent anti-Israeli groups in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as repeated references by Iranian leaders to Israel's destruction. Iran denies it is seeking to build atomic weapons, insisting its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
The Nobel Peace laureate, 89, was speaking about prospects in the Middle East at the World Economic Forum.
He said nuclear proliferation in the region triggered by an armed Iran would increase the chances of an atomic war - "a turning point in human history".
He also urged the US and Russia to co-operate in resolving Syria's conflict.
"There has emerged in the region, the current and most urgent issue of nuclear proliferation. For 15 years, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) have declared that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, but it has been approaching," he said.
"In a few years, people will have to come to a determination of how to react, or the consequences of non-reaction.
"I believe this point will be reached in a very foreseeable future," he added.
Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization is setting up bases in Syria close to known chemical weapons storage facilities, according to a source quoted in a report published Monday by Israeli Hebrew-language news outlet Ynet.
Hizbullah, which is generously funded and equipped by Iran, has been working to shore up the government forces backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, together with Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
But even with that assistance, the loyalists are beginning to lose their grip on the country, and it appears likely that Assad’s regime may soon fall.
If it does, there is a strong likelihood that he may first choose to hand over the country’s chemical weapons arsenal to his Iranian patrons. The other possibility is that Hizbullah may simply decide to seize the arsenal before anyone else has a chance to take it or destroy it.
The report follows on the heels of news that Jordan has tightened its security along its northern border with Syria, massing thousands of soldiers along with artillery, armored vehicles and other ordnance in the area.
Israel, too, has beefed up its security as the chaos escalates in Syria. On Sunday, theIDF deployed Iron Dome anti-missile defense batteries at multiple locationsthroughout the north, and stepped up work on the new border fence in the area.
The new fence is embedded with highly technical surveillance systems designed to provide information with pinpoint accuracy about activities taking place within Syria’s inland region.
Chemical weapons are delivered in warheads on missiles fired either from surface-to-air launchers, or dropped on to targets by war planes.
Speaking from a hideout in an Arab nation outside the country several weeks ago, a Syrian source said that two senior Syrian officials transported 100 kilomgrams of chemicals used to create the deadly sarin nerve gas from a base 50 kilometers northeast of Damascus, to a site located closer to Lebanon.
At the time, the source said the Assad regime had developed special vehicles equipped to move and mix chemicals to create the weaponry. The defector who revealed the information told the source that two men with Lebanese accents had arrived at the secret base and were trained to mix the isopropanol and methylphosphonyl difluoride – the combination that produces sarin gas.
Syria is known to possess 500 tons of the two chemicals, but up to that point, had stored them in separate areas so as to avoid the danger of inadvertently creating the lethal combination.
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