The United States has finally given Israel a green light to attack Iran – but only its Red Sea warships not its nuclear sites. But Israel is wary of an armed clash with Iran – at least until Gilad Shalilt is safe at home and it can be sure ...

The Obama administration has never wavered from its ambition to see the Muslim Brotherhood in government in Egypt or its policy of linking Egypt's destiny with a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  It hopes to discourage the burgeoning Muslim Brotherhood from casting its fate with Tehran on the grounds that Iran has no influence on Israel whereas American leverage on Jerusalem is substantial.

A worldwide advisory published in Washington Wednesday, Oct. 12, warned US citizens to beware of Iranian-instigated terrorist attacks following the uncovering of an Iran-directed plot to assassinate Saudi Arabian ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir and bomb the Saudi and Israeli embassies. The US holds Iran accountable for its actions, said Attorney General Eric Holder, following which Tehran accused the US of warmongering. Iran believes the Shalit deal will start cutting it out of Palestinian affairs and may act to torpedo it.

Five days after defeating a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution condemning Bashar Assad's savagery against his opposition, Moscow turned the heat on him by inviting an opposition delegation for a visit Monday, Oct. 10 and offering to host talks between the Syrian government and the opposition umbrella Syrian National Council.  Syrian Foreign Minister Wallid Moallem threatened unspecified "tough measures" against any countries recognizing the council, fearing a repeat of the Libyan rebel NTC exercise which toppled Muammar Qaddafi.

Has the Arab revolt reached Saudi Arabia? Wednesday, Oct. 5, the Ministry of Interior in Riyadh warned it would "strike with an iron fist" the enemies of the country's stability and security after 11 security officers were injured by automatic fire and Molotov bombs in Qatif, Saudi Arabia's richest oil center  The Saudis did not name Iran, but blamed a "foreign country" for inciting the region's Shiites to armed violence against the royal regime.

A US and/or Israel strike against Iran suddenly looked tangible this week following a warning of its probability by a French diplomat and a large-scale Russian-Central Asian military exercise simulating Iranian retaliation for a hypothetical strike on US-owned Caspian oil fields. A British diplomat ending his term in Pyongyang quoted North Korean officials who told him that NATO would not have attacked Libya if Muammar Qaddafi had not given up his nuclear weapons. Tehran appears to have reached the same conclusion.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the driving force behind Iran's nuclear program and most vocal of Israel's enemies, is on his last legs as president. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stripped him of most of his powers and shut the door against his allies running for the Majlis (parliament) in March 2012.  debkafile's Iranian sources: The coming men in the presidential stakes of 2013 are Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, a former nuclear negotiator with the West, and ex-foreign minister Ali Akhbar Veliyati. Both are hardliners.

Helped by highly sophisticated contraband weapons smuggled out of Libya, Iran and Hizballah are getting the Palestinian Hamas equipped for another round of hostilities with Israel. debkafile's military sources report that Sunday, Sept. 25, Egyptian security forces homed in near Ismailia on a large half-empty cache of advanced Libyan SA-24 anti-air infrared missiles (a version of the US Stinger). They grant Hamas high-, medium- and low-altitude capabilities. Many of the empty crates had also contained sea mines.  

Washington seeks a broad give-and-take deal for cooperation with Iran and guarantees of security for US troop units staying in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iran wants Syria and Bahrain in the package.

After persuading Ali Saleh to step down as Yemeni president, Saudi King Abdulla got down to setting up a unified Yemeni military offensive against the Houthis threatening the Saudi border. Washington assigns higher priority to tackling Al Qaeda.

Russian antiaircraft officers ambushed an Azerbaijani Air Force Israeli-made drone to gain access to its secrets, warn Israel to keep its hands off the Caspian region, and signal Tehran its willingness to cooperate in halting the spread of Azerbaijani and Israel influence.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ruthlessly chopped President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad down to size to diminish his UN appearance. The continued detention until Wednesday of the two jailed US hikers was intended to bring Washington to heel.

The US, Turkey, Iran and the Iraqi Kurdish government have joined hands to liquidate the Kurdish rebellions against Ankara and Tehran. They have been temporarily distracted from their campaign against Syria's Bashar Assad.

Monday night and Tuesday, Aug-29-30, three international heavyweights - Russia, the European Union and  key Muslim nations – gave Syrian President Bashar Assad tough ultimatums for ending his barbaric crackdown on protest. Nevertheless, on Monday, his troops shot dead 17 people in Syrian cities - even as he received Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov who arrived in Damascus with a last warning from President Dmitry Medvedev. Pushed into a tight corner, Assad may opt for war on his neighbors.

Three Scud missiles flying from Iraq to Kuwait early Friday, Aug. 26 were launched by the Iran-backed Ketaeb Hizballah of Iraq. They exploded harmlessly, but debkafile's sources report that the first such attack since the US 2003 invasion of Iraq carried a warning to Kuwait: Halt construction of the Grand Mubarak Port opposite the Iraqi shore - or else face a destructive barrage. It was also the first time any Middle East terrorist group had used Scud missiles.

The role of Iran and Hizballah in manipulating the ongoing Palestinian war on Israel from Gaza is now manifest, debkafile's military sources report. They planned, orchestrated and funded the coordinated attacks on the Eilat Highway Thursday, Aug. 18 and its sequel: volleys of 90 missiles launched day and night from Gaza against a million Israeli civilians. The Netanyahu government hesitates to send the IDF to stop the missiles flying from Gaza lest the same aggressors open another front leading to a regional war.

After ruling out direct military intervention, most governments concerned in the drive to oust Bashar Assad find that arming the rebels and pumping thousands of Sunni volunteers into Syria are the only feasible option.  But before this plan is up and running, he is expected to preemptively employ the Lebanese ...

Kuwait prepares for war on Shatt al-Arb outlet to Persian Gulf after Iranian proxy threat against mega-port. Al Qaida threatens Paris, tries to hitch a ride on Britain's mob riots. And Saudi Arabia is braced for dangerous Sunni street protests against the throne.

Less than 24 hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu handed Bashar Assad in Damascus "a final warning," to stop the bloodshed or else, Assad demonstrated coolly that he is not scared by the prospect of Turkish or NATO military intervention or deterred by new US sanctions against Syria's biggest bank and mobile phone company. The day after his Turkish guest departed, Wednesday, Aug. 10, Assad launched provocative military assaults on three towns in the Turkish border region - following receipt of a missile shield guarantee from Iran.

The Iraqi Prime Minister's delay in confirm his deal with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta for an American military nucleus to remain in Iraq after the pullout persuaded the US official to cut a back-up deal with semi-autonomous Kurdistan to provide the US army and air force with ...