Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned Thursday 17, that a nuclear Iran would change the whole Middle East landscape and “we must do something to block” what he called “a catastrophe.” The impending agreement would permit Iran “to deceive the world” and continuing building a nuclear bomb. Western diplomatic sources disclose that Iran has moved this process forward by starting in mid-negotiations to instal new centrifuge cascades at Fordo to double or triple near-weapons grade enriched uranium production.

Special operations units of the Iranian army and Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Tuesday, May 14, began a two-day practice of offensive tactics, for the first time dropping large-scale forces from the air deep behind enemy lines. The many war games Iran has conducted until now focused on defenses of strategic and nuclear locations and repelling invaders. It began on the same day as the US-led multination nation special forces exercise in Jordan and was staged deliberately near the Afghan border.

A new US battle strategy against Iran (ASB) hinges on tightly coordinated air, land, sea, undersea, space and cyberspace capabilities for defeating closure of the (Hormuz) strait, cyber attack, mines, cruise and ballistic missiles. US and Israeli Air Forces, Navies and their special forces are operating on the ABS concept after an Israeli drill which ended in its navy setting up a dense defensive line against enemy sea assault by unconventional weapons. Monday, a large US amphibious marine vessel anchored in Jedda.

Bashar Assad has stepped in directly to halt the covert war his Western and Arab foes are waging against his regime through Lebanon. debkafile’s military sources disclose he is now sending Lebanese army commanders direct orders for cutting arms, money, fighters and medical supplies to the rebels, especially in Homs. Last week, Lebanese Chief of Staff Gen. Jean Kahwagi was given a crude ultimatum: Take care of the Syrian rebels’ backers in Tripoli, or else the Syrian army will enter Lebanon and do the job.

The 60 Iranian experts employed by 11 different Iranian agencies controlled by the Iranian Defense Ministry (under the IRGC) were revealed by names and addresses Saturday, May 12, by the opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI) in the first ever detailed exposure of a highly secret, central Iranian organization working on building a nuclear weapon. debkafile: Through the secret US-Iranian track, Khamenei told Barack Obama that Fordow will not be shut down. Jerusalem: The evolving US-Iran deal is “bad for Israel.”

Beset on two fronts, Bashar Assad rushed his elite Presidential Guard to Damascus Thursday, May 10, as two massive car bombs demolished the command center of the Syrian military security service’s reconnaissance division in the al Qaza district killed 55 people and injured more than 300. Over to the southeast, debkafile reports 12,000 special operations troops from 17 nations, including the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are poised on the Jordanian side of the Syrian border.

Iran is setting up Jihad Islami, its Palestinian arm in the Gaza Strip, as its spearhead for attacking Israel in place of Hamas which Tehran no long trusts, debkafile’s reports exclusively. The radical group is receiving a new range of shore-to-ship radar-guided missiles and a new military industry is being set up in Gaza for the high-speed production of dozens of Qassam missiles in series capable of doubling the intensity and range of attacks on Israel to 200 per day up to Tel Aviv.
 

Iran has transferred nuclear weapon-making installations to secret Dasht e-Kavir (Great Salt Desert) sites, including nuclear-capable ballistic missile plants, debkafile reports. This prompted Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s prediction that Iran is on the way to a capability for building a nuclear bomb in 60 days. To keep the desert installations out of sight, Tehran is bidding to stop IAEA inspections altogether after Parchin. Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak are fighting to keep Israel’s military option on the table against political rivals at home.

 

For the first time since 2006, the Palestinian Authority’s security services on the West Bank have stopped cooperating with the IDF in operations and intelligence-sharing for countering terrorism.  Arrests and interrogations of suspects, the most effective way to thwart terrorist plots, have been discontinued and replaced with the old “revolving door” tactic practiced by Yasser Arafat. Israel has accordingly upgraded its terror alert, fearing a resurgence of Palestinian terrorism.

US Navy, Air Force, ground, intelligence and special forces units based at home, in Europe and the Middle East, took part this week in a special exercise ordered by President Barack Obama to simulate reactions to a potential US/Israel strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, debkafile reports. Advanced US stealth F-22 fighter bombers were also transferred to the Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE. Washington is thinking of attacking core elements of Iran’s nuclear program to weaken its hand in negotiations. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued a strong warning against a military attack on Iran Monday, April 2, saying that a pre-emptive strike would violate international law. His comments, made during a visit to Armenia, stopped short of threatening (the US and/or Israel) of consequences. debkafile: Moscow and Tehran suspect that the US- Israeli-Greek air-naval exercise codenamed Noble Dina which is in progress across an unusually broad stretch of E. Mediterranean is meant to rehearse war action in the Persian Gulf.