Dep. Chief of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards Gen. Hossein Salami Thursday, Dec. 29, warned: "The United States is in no position to tell Tehran what to do in the Strait of Hormuz. Any threat will be responded [to] by threat." Earlier, a US air carrier entered the Sea of Oman where Iran is conducting a big naval drill.  In Israel, chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz spoke of the mounting potential of a regional conflict, adding Israel could not afford to stay on the defensive.

Iran has squirreled away 50 million barrels of oil in giant tankers on the Red Sea as its trump card for fixing prices and bypassing sanctions. America wants Israel to harass the tanker fleet and its warship escorts, including submarines, stationed there since July, and chase them away from Israel's ...

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.

Turkey's Operation Barbarossa aims to establish a naval and air force presence on six world seas while making a grab to wrest oil and gas from Israel and Greek Cyprus (Jews and Christians). DEBKA-Net-Weekly's military experts note that the Turkish Navy has 19 frigates, 14 submarines, 7 corvettes, 75 navy aircraft and 108 fast attack craft, manned by a total of 48,600 personnel. They are not up to challenging the US and European Mediterranean fleets and would be outmatched qualitatively even by Israel's much smaller navy ...

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan this week coolly moved his country towards an armed clash with Israel – not just over the Palestinian issue, but because he covets the gas and oil resources found opposite Israel's shores. He has ordered Turkish warships to enter the eastern Mediterranean in the belief that by breaking Israel's Gaza blockade, he will win kudos as the first Muslim leader to challenge Israel militarily on behalf of the Palestinians and Arab acclaim as the big shot of the region.

The lion's share is promised France of Libya's oil reserves with smaller stakes for Britain, Italy and Qatar. But the rebels may be counting their chickens too fast. First, the war is not yet won and the promises may stay on paper and second, only the US has the ...

The chaotic slipstream of the Arab Revolt is keeping the sensitive oil industry and the nuclear arms race situation in constant turmoil.  Saudi Arabia is ready to cripple Iran's oil exports and strike Syria's energy resources. Berlusconi hopes to beat Obama to an deal for Libyan oil by secretly ...

Saudi protesters tried to grab limelight of Middle East by bringing forward its Day of Rage demos by four days to Monday, March 7. However, the organizers failed. debkafile's sources report exclusively that they had planned to start the demonstrations against the Saudi throne in the western and southern regions Monday. This was to have build up to a powerful climax in Riyadh and across the kingdom Friday and execute the scenario most feared by the Saudi throne: a mainstream-Shiite protest merger.

The pro-Qaddafi forces' offensive to recover Libya's most important towns and oil centers, launched Friday, March 4, resulted Saturday in the recapture of the key town of Zawiya and most of the oil facilities around the Gulf of Sirte.  In Washington and London, talk of military intervention on the side of the Libyan opposition was muted by the realization that field intelligence on both sides of the Libyan conflict was too sketchy to serve as a basis for decision-making.

Hundreds of US, British and French military advisers have arrived in Cyrenaica, Libya's eastern breakaway province, debkafile's military sources report exclusively. This is the first time America and Europe have intervened militarily in any of the popular upheavals rolling through the Middle East since Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution in early January.  The advisers, including intelligence officers, were dropped from warships and missile boats at the coastal towns of Benghazi and Tobruk Thursday Feb. 24, for a threefold mission:

In its latest issue out Friday, DEBKA-Net-Weekly outlines Muammar Qaddafi's war plans for his opponents – at home and abroad. With a war chest stuffed with petrodollars, the Libyan ruler is capable of venting his fury by making a bonfire of oil and gas pipelines and facilities across the Middle East.
This special issue also contained a behind-the-scenes survey of the crises bedeviling Middle East regimes or looming over them – with a close-up of Saudi Arabia.

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In a long, fiery speech broadcast by Libyan state TV Tuesday, Feb. 22, Libya's ruler Col. Muammar Qaddafi declared war on his enemies at home and abroad. He accused the Cyrenaicans of the East of conspiring to establish an Al Qaeda emirate that would bring the Americans over and create the same situation in Libya as in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Straight after his speech, Tripoli announced that Libyan oil and gas exports were blocked to Europe, causing pandemonium and Libyan missile ships began pounding Benghazi from the sea.