Free Republic

‘This is the new America. We had better get used to it,’ says TV commentator after president leaves door open to Iran’s sanctions demand, defends Putin’s missile sale Israeli analysts expressed shock and amazement Friday night at President Barack Obama’s stated openness to Iran’s demand for the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions, and his defense of Russia’s agreement to supply a sophisticated air defense system to Iran. There was no immediate official Israeli response to the president’s comments, which were made after the start of Shabbat in Israel, when politicians generally do not work. “Jaws dropped” around the studio,...

On Monday, Israeli officials reported that Iran has upped its delivery of weapons to the Lebanese Shiite terror group Hezbollah in the past few weeks. Channel 2 stated that the shipments have been made to both Lebanon and the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. In addition, the report stated that Iran was sending weapons to Hamas chiefs in Gaza and arming Hamas members in Judea and Samaria. Channel 2 asserted that the ease in sanctions on Iran from the present nuclear negotiations would allow it to spend “billions of dollars” shipping weapons to Israel’s enemies. The increase in Iranian...

Even if the Senate gets a clue and does shut-down Obama's bizarre non-agreement with Iran, cascading collateral damage has already begun: Gulf states are looking to get their own atomic weaponry, US prestige and credibility has suffered yet another heavy blow (Obama/Kerry don't even know how to surrender), and now the Russians are sending their advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Tehran... Putin signed something that cleared the way for the (bartered for crude oil) missiles yesterday- a system that experts say could leave Iran 'untouchable'... the only way to get by that would be a large stealth fleet...

Russia has lifted a ban on supplying Iran with a sophisticated air defence missile system, the Kremlin has said. Delivery of the S-300 system was cancelled in 2010 after the UN imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. But the Russian president gave the go-ahead after Tehran struck a deal with world powers curbing nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Iran may get Russian S-300 interceptors after all - via Venezuela Russia appears ready to sell Venezuela the same five advanced S-300PMU-1 air defense missile battalions it withheld from Iran because of international sanctions. Military sources report Venezuela's ruler Hugo Chavez, offered to buy them when he met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow Thursday, Oct. 14. Israel immediately turned to Washington to try and block the transaction. Clearly, the highly-sophisticated interceptors are bound for their original client, Iran, through its good friend Chavez. This time, the deal will be much harder to stop. Our military sources stress that Iran...

Last week, Reuters first reported Russia was preparing an oil-for-goods deal with Iran worth up to $20 billion. An unnamed Iranian official told the news service that the barter would include Russian weapons. And that was before further signs of Russia’s shadow invasion of Ukraine emerged Monday, when crowds spontaneously appeared in three major eastern cities to welcome the troops amassed over the border. The Daily Beast reported that associates of Viktor Yanukovych, the deposed and Kremlin-friendly Ukrainian president, were meeting with pro-Russian activists. One keen-eyed photographer captured a man wearing a Russian Airborne forces tee-shirt at one of the...

(BEFORE IT'S NEWS) -- Is Barack Obama in his completely insane move of attempting to start World War 3 TRYING to get America and our Navy destroyed? Russia has just sent their most advanced anti-ship missiles to Syria in a clear warning that any attack against Syria will not go unanswered. The New York Times quotes unnamed US officials as saying the missiles could be used to counter any potential future foreign military intervention in Syria. The P-800 Oniks Russian П-800 Оникс; English Onyx, also known in export markets as Yakhont, English ruby or sapphire, is a Russian/Soviet supersonic anti-ship...

An attack two weeks ago that destroyed an advanced Russian missile shipment delivered to Syria’s Assad regime should also serve as a warning to Iran – and to those complacent Western diplomats who have (dangerously in my view) reconciled themselves to the idea of allowing Iran to go nuclear and then trying to contain it. For it seems that the July 5 attack on an arms depot near the Syrian naval base of Latakia, which has been attributed to Israel, came not from the air (as CNN and the New York Times reported last weekend) but from under the water....

REUTERS/Baz Ratner New reports of strikes on Russian anti-ship missiles near the port of Latakia, Syria, seem to indicate another possible Israeli strike, Reuters reports. This would be the fourth such strike this year.From Reuters:Rebels described huge blasts - the ferocity of which, they said, was beyond the firepower available to them but consistent with that of a modern military like Israel's.Israel has not confirmed or denied involvement. The Syrian government has not commented on the incident, beyond a state television report noting a "series of explosions" at the site.As has been the trend, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the strikes.Israel...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese troops blocked streets in Beirut with tanks and barbed wire for several hours on Sunday after the killing of a protester outside the Iranian embassy raised factional tensions already inflamed by the war in Syria. The man died during a clash between rival groups of Shi'ite Muslims after militiamen from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement opened fire when protesters drew up at the embassy, the latest sign of Syria's violence spilling over to its neighbors. In Syria itself, fighting intensified in the north, where rebels said President Bashar al-Assad's forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies were preparing...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Moved by the Assad regime’s rapid advance, the Obama administration could decide this week to approve lethal aid for the beleaguered Syrian rebels and will weigh the merits of a less likely move to send in U.S. airpower to enforce a no-fly zone over the civil war-wracked nation, officials said Sunday. White House meetings are planned over the coming days, as Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government forces are apparently poised for an attack on the key city of Homs, which could cut off Syria’s armed opposition from the south of the country. As many as 5,000 Hezbollah...

(Reuters) - Russia could speed up delivery of anti-aircraft missiles to Syria if the West intervenes, but also floated the idea of suspending the shipment, Russian media reported on Friday, as Moscow set out its negotiating position ahead of peace talks.A Russian arms industry source was quoted by Interfax news agency as threatening to hasten delivery of the hotly-contested S-300 missiles if the West were to impose a no-fly zone or Israel were to launch new air strikes.However the source also "did not exclude that the delivery of the S-300 to Syria could be frozen for a period of time"...

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has not received advanced surface-to-air missiles despite reports to the contrary, according to Fox News, which cited two senior United States officials "privy to sensitive intelligence matters" on Thursday.... .....

Just when the Obama administration finally starts talking about establishing a no-fly zone over Syria, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin sends the Assad regime the means to shoot U.S. planes down. There are competing strategies at work: “leading from behind” versus “up yours, America.”

<p>JERUSALEM — Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon Tuesday signaled that his military is prepared to strike shipments of advanced Russian weapons to Syria, in a rare implied threat to Moscow.</p> <p>Yaalon issued his warning shortly after a top Russian official said his government reserves the right to provide Syria with state-of-the-art S-300 air defense missiles.</p>

Escalations continued on all sides in Syria’s civil war except, curiously, among the Syrians.  The EU decided not to renew the embargo on arms sales to Syrian rebels, which prompted the Russians to pledge delivery of anti-aircraft missiles, which prompted Israel to implicitly warn that they would make great targets for their air force.  In the middle of all this, John McCain got a photo op with a Syrian opposition that’s being dominated by radical Islamist militias, including an al-Qaeda affiliate that forms the core of their military operations.In other words, it’s a mess, but let’s start with the embargo’s...

Army Radio reports that Israeli officials are concerned about the growing strength of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in recent days • Assessment is that a victorious Assad would be more dependent on Iran, increasing the threat facing Israel. Israeli officials are concerned about the growing strength of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in recent days, Army Radio reported. Senior Israeli officials were quoted as saying that "al-Qaida control over Syria would be preferable to a victory by Assad over the rebels." This view is based on the assessment that a victorious Assad would be much more dependent on Iran...

Are S-300 missiles on their way to Syria right now? A report on CNN Thursday said that American intelligence units had observed several Russian warships on their way to Syria. The ships are currently in the eastern Mediterranean, and information gathered by the intelligence groups indicates that the ships are carrying parts for the S-300 missiles. According to the report, the U.S. has been keeping track of the Russian ships for several days, ever since they left a military base in Russia. Satellite data indicates that the ships are carrying cargo that appears to be suitable for use in a...

Times of Oman reports Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Moscow had not yet delivered its sophisticated S-300 missiles to the Syrian regime for fear this would upset the delicate balance of power in the volatile region. .....

Russia has not yet delivered advanced S-300 missiles to Syria, despite rather vague Syrian indications to the contrary, reported two Russian media outlets on Friday. The Russian business daily Vedomosti said that it was unclear whether or not the air defense systems would be delivered this year, while the daily Kommersant reported that the S-300 missiles would only be delivered in the second quarter of 2014. According to Kommersant, the systems need another six months of testing and training before they become operational.