While the Obama administration is pleased with the progress of secret diplomacy with Iran, Supreme Leader Khamenei does not expect practical results despite Iranian concessions on its nuclear program.

US President Barack Obama hauled Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas over the coals when they talked by phone Monday, March 19. He coldly demanded that the Palestinians return without further delay to the talks in the Jordanian capital of Amman which they quit abruptly after several rounds. Their conversation ended on a harsh note when Abbas refused to return to negotiations.
Monday, Palestinian ex-prime minister Ahmad Qurai (Abu Ala) proclaimed the death of the two-state solution in an Al Quds article.

The Middle East has unknowingly been living for ten days under threat of a regional war, which debkafile’s military sources disclose was delivered by Syrian president Bashar Assad to UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan Saturday, March 10. Assad warned him that Syrian missiles would reach any countries preparing for military intervention in Syria before they moved. debkafile: Four European naval and air forces stand ready to seal off security zones in Syria against Assad’s troops and planes.

Israel’s Binyamin Netanyahu gave President Obama breathing-space for a decision on the timing of an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, debkafile reports. The US president’s possible July visit to Israel will aim to boost his bid for re-election, depending on such imponderables as whether it comes before or after this attack and who ends up staging it.  Meir Dagan, ex-Mossad chief claims there is still time for diplomacy because Tehran (whose leaders are sworn to destroy Israel and forging ahead with their nuclear program) are rational.

Obama and Netanyahu narrowed the gap between their timetables for attacking Iran to three months – between May and August. In July they meet again – possibly in Israel - for another shared intelligence update and reassessment.

Obama plans to confront Iran with seven conditions for keeping nuclear negotiations with the big powers going – from the word go. One is to sign NPT protocols authorizing spot IAEA inspections of suspicious site. Since no one expects Tehran comply, the military option will soon be back on ...

Barack Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu have both appointed trusted commanders to take charge of preparations for their respective attacks on Iran: Adm. William McRaven, head of US Special Operations Command-SOCOM and Israel’s Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan. Whether they led joint operations or act separately ...

The slogan “Israel must be master of its fate” was born of the intelligence reaching Binyamin Netanyahu that Washington had promised Tehran to restrain Israel from an attack on its nuclear sites behind his back. At that point he resolved not to give Obama a heads-up on ...

Only on DEBKA-Net-Weekly: In the latest edition out Friday, find out what the US President and the Israeli Prime Minister really said to each other and the measure of understanding they reached with regard to military action against Iran this year. We can reveal in which areas they agreed on separate US and Israel steps for the common purpose of cutting down Iran’s nuclear weapon capability and in which they will work in harness. Timetables are the key.

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US military officials said Wednesday, March 7, that President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke away from their dispute over an attack on Iran on March 5 for a serious discussion of the Syrian crisis and Bashar Assad's, hundreds of surface-to-surface missiles armed with chemical and biological warheads. Because this peril has risen to the top of America’s chart of the threats looming over Israel and Turkey, Obama advised Netanyahu to hurry up and mend ties with Ankara.  

American sources disclosed Tuesday March 6, that President Barack Obama had decided to supply Israel with weapons systems suitable for long-range military operations and strikes against fortified underground targets. They include four KC-35 aerial refueling aircraft, doubling the number already in the Israeli Air Force inventory, and GBU-31 Direct Attack Munition-JDAMs, which serve US bombers especially those based on aircraft carriers. Also reported was the Six Powers offer to Tehran to resume negotiations on its nuclear program.
 

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu brought 14,000 pro-Israel lobby cheering delegates to their feet repeatedly when he pledged Monday night, March 5, “Never again would our people have to live in the shadow of annihilation.” debkafile: At the White House earlier, Obama admitted the Fordow underground plant could no longer be destroyed by bombs or missiles, only stifled by blocking its vents. Netanyahu: Iran already has ten Fordows. "We can’t wait much longer" to stop Iran acquiring a nuclear tool of terror.

US President Barack Obama and Israeli President Shimon Peres in addressing the opening of the pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC convention in Washington, Sunday, March 4, condemned a nuclear Iran as a threat to the US, Israel and the world. President Obama urged the efficacy of diplomacy backed by pressure since “Iran does not yet have a nuclear weapon” and there was still time for Iran’s leaders to make the right decision. debkafile: Iran has used this policy to accelerate its nuclear program as never before.

Expectations that the meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Monday, March 5, will produce accord on how and when to stop Iran going nuclear are likely to prove unfounded, say debkafile’s sources. Obama was always dead against pursuing military action before sanctions and negotiations ran their course. Now he also wants to show Israel the limits of its influence in Washington. He will leave Netanyahu with a lone decision on how to deal with the prospect of an Iranian nuclear bomb.
 

In an interview to The Atlantic Friday, March 2, US President Barack Obama held to the line that “Iran does not yet have a nuclear weapon” and cautioned against a “premature attack” on the Islamic Republic. debkafile: This assessment is certainly not shared by Israel and ignored its call for red lines to warn Iran it will be attacked if it takes its nuclear weapons program beyond them. Neither did the president mention the advanced stage of the shielding of Iran’s nuclear facilities in bunkers.

When the Saudis discovered the US was backing off military operations against both Iran and Syria, they retaliated by letting oil prices float upward without lifting a finger. This week oil prices hit an all-time high carrying the message to Barack Obama: Either attack Iran, or we’ll let oil ...

A special intelligence assessment listing the prospects and risk of the various options for Ayatollah Khamenei conclude that Barack Obama will not hazard an attack on Iran before the November election but if he is returned to the White House he will go to war early in 2013. The ...

Washington suspects Saudi Arabia and Israel have revived their intelligence cooperation. The Obama administration will bend over backwards to prevent Israel using Saudi or other Gulf bases for an attack on Iran, even to providing refueling planes for Israeli bombers conducting the attack.

After learning in a caustic exchange with Hillary Clinton that Obama had turned down the safe havens military plan Syria, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal offered Arab air forces for an operation against Assad. Riyadh also stepped up arms deliveries to Syrian rebels.

In a significant policy U-turn on Iran, anonymous Pentagon officials disclosed Thursday, March 1, that “military options being prepared start with providing refueling for Israeli planes and include attacking the pillars of the clerical regime.” This was the first Washington reference to possible joint US-Israeli military action against Iran.  Israel earlier called on the US to set red lines for Iran’s nuclear projects and to spell out military contingencies instead of the worn-out “all options are on the table” mantra.