Gantz: Israel is Ready for Any Scenario

IDF Chief of Staff on the threats facing Israel: Anyone who thinks he can ‘get rid of Israel’ will discover the deadly power of the IDF.

 IsraelNationalNews

By Elad Benari

First Publish: 8/23/2012, 6:16 AM

Benny Gantz

Flash 90

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz addressed the threats facing Israel on Wednesday, warning that Israel is ready for any scenario.

“Explicit threats are being made these days on the security of Israel and its citizens,” Gantz said at the annual memorial ceremony for fallen victims from the IDF’s Golani Brigade.

“These threats indicate an erroneous evaluation of our strength and our capabilities,” he added. “Anyone who thinks he can ‘get rid of Israel’ and try to harm our country will discover the deadly power of the IDF.”

Gantz noted, “We are poised and ready along the borders to handle threats facing our doorstep. The IDF is armed with the best and boldest soldiers and commanders in the world, including the Golani Brigade.”

The Hizbullah terror leadership recently claimed that its missiles can now reach all of Israeli territory.

Nabil Ka’uk announced from the podium that “Hizbullah rockets can reach all Israeli settlements,” referring to Israeli towns and cities. The reference by Ka’uk, who is deputy director for Hizbullah’s terror activities, included all territory, including that liberated in the 1967 Six Day War, and those that preceded it.

In addition to Hizbullah, Iran’s leadership has continued to call for Israel to be wiped off the map. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week called for “wiping the Zionist regime from humanity.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, expressed hope last week that Israel would be wiped off the map, saying, “The light of hope will shine on the Palestinian issue, and this Islamic land will certainly be returned to the Palestinian nation, and the superfluous and fake Zionist (regime) will disappear from the landscape of geography.”

Israel has also expressed concerns that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s chemical weapons will end up in the hands of Hizbullah if his regime falls.

Tags: Benny Gantz ,IDF

Iran war could cost Israel economy $42 billion

Posted by The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond

August 22, 2012 – TEL AVIV - Israel’s economy would incur damages of as much as 167 billion shekels ($42 billion) should Israel attack Iran over its nuclear program, business information group BDI-Coface has projected. Direct economic damage would reach 47 billion shekels, BDI-Coface, a respected research group, said on Tuesday. That would be equivalent to 5.4 percent of Israel’s gross domestic product last year. Indirect damages would amount to 24 billion shekels a year for three to five years due to the collapse of businesses, it said. There has been an upsurge in rhetoric from Israeli politicians this month suggesting the country might attack Iran’s nuclear facilities ahead of U.S. presidential elections in November. Israel, widely believed to be the only atomic power in the Middle East, views Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat, citing threats made by leaders of Islamist Iran to destroy the Jewish state. BDI noted that 32 days of war with Lebanon in 2006 led to a 0.5 percent reduction in Israel’s economic growth. Direct costs such as civil property and infrastructure damage cost the economy another 1.3 percent. “In the event of a war of the same magnitude, duration and damage, it is possible to expect damage of 16 billion shekels,” it said. The war with Lebanon took place mainly in Israel’s north, which produces just 20 percent of the country’s output. “It is reasonable to assume that in the event of a war, it would also involve the center of the country, which produces 70 percent of Israel’s economic activity,” BDI said, noting Israel’s gross domestic product was 870 billion shekels in 2011. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer warned this month of an economic crisis in the event of a war with Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is frustrated that Western diplomacy to try to force Iran to rein in its nuclear program has so far proved fruitless. Senior Israeli officials have said a final decision about whether to attack Iran has not yet been taken, with the military hierarchy unhappy about the prospect of going it alone without full U.S. backing. -Reuters

Egypt Warms Up to Iranian Terror Axis, Morsi to Visit Tehran

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood President Morsi is to visit Tehran this month after a 32-year break in ties between the two Muslim countries.

 IsraelNationalNews

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

First Publish: 8/19/2012, 9:00 AM

US Defense Secretary Panetta visit Morsi in Cairo July 31

Reuters

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi is to visit Tehran this month after a 32-year break in ties between the two Muslim countries and only three weeks afterhosting U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Morsi plans to attend the so-called Non-Aligned Movement meetings Aug. 30, according to Egypt’s officialMENA news agency. Egypt currently heads the Movement, and Iran will take over the rotating presidency at this month’s conference.

Cairo and Tehran broke off relations after the overthrow of the Shah in the Islamic Revolution and Egypt’s recognition of Israel in 1979.

Iran was accused by Egyptian officials in the Mubarak regime of trying to sow unrest in the country. Iran has shown interest in renewing ties, a move that might give it more political and diplomatic clout in its effort to achieve nuclear capability.

Morsi allegedly told an Iranian news agency after he was elected president that he wanted to restore relations, but he denied having granted the interview.

A visit by Morsi would solidify the “terror axis” of Iran – Hizbullah, Syria and Hizbullah-dominated Lebanon in the north and Hamas to the south of Israel. Turkey briefly joined the axis two years ago but has turned against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Morsi’s intended visit to Iran will come at the same time he is trying to convince Israel and the West that he has good intentions towards Israel.

 

Tags: Mohammed Morsi ,Iran ,Egypt -Israel

Iran can build an N-bomb by Oct. 1. Cairo coup hampers Israeli action

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 13, 2012, 9:53 AM (GMT+02:00)

Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak visit scene of terrorist Sinai attack

At its present rate of enrichment, Iran will have 250 kilograms of 20-percent grade uranium, exactly enough to build its first nuclear bomb, in roughly six weeks, and two-to- four bombs by early 2013, DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report. Hence the leak by an unnamed Israeli security source Sunday, Aug. 12, disclosing Iran’s progress in developing the detonator and fuses for a nuclear warhead which can be fitted onto Shehab-3 ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel.
Since 20 percent refined uranium is a short jump to weapons grade fuel, Iran will have the capability and materials for building an operational nuclear bomb by approximately October 1.
This knowledge is not news to US President Barack Obama, Saudi King Abdullah, Syrian ruler Bashar Assad, or Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – and certainly not to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  Netanyahu’s comment at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday: “All threats against the home front are dwarfed by one – Iran must not be allowed to have nuclear arms!” – was prompted by that deadline.
Ex-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not have that information when he “assured” Tel Aviv students Sunday, “Iran’s nuclear program has not reached the threshold necessitating Israeli action now or in the near future.” He further claimed that Israel’s “defense leaders” don’t subscribe to the view that “action now is unavoidable.” Olmert, who stepped down under a cloud of suspected corruption in 2009, has not since then had access to regular intelligence briefings on Iran. So either he spoke out of ignorance or willfully joined an opposition chorus of voices speaking out against Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The fact is that when Olmert approved the Israeli strike for destroying a nuclear reactor under construction by Iran and North Korea in northern Syria in September 2007,  Iran was years away from accumulating enough enriched uranium and the capability to build nuclear warheads.
Both are now within Tehran’s grasp in weeks.

Leading an opposition campaign to bring down the incumbent government is legitimate. Discrediting belated Israeli action to pre-empt a nuclear Iran as fodder for that campaign is not.  If what Olmert and Barack (the same defense minister as today) did in 2007 was necessary then, action now for delaying Iran’s imminent “breakout” to a bomb is many times more necessary and far more urgent.
However Netanyahu and Barak have put themselves in a straitjacket by two lapses:

1.  By foot-dragging on their decision for two years, they have led their opponents at home and in Washington – and Khamenei’s office too – to believe that, by turning on the heat, they can hold Israel back from military action against Iran’s nuclear program until it is too late. The time has been used not just for Iranian nuclear progress, but to enlist ex-politicians and retired generals at home and add them to the voices, especially in the White House, which believe Israel can learn to live with a nuclear-armed Iran.
2.  Netanyahu and Barak have behaved as though a decision on Iran is in their exclusive province, insulated from the turmoil and change swirling through Israel’s Arab neighbors in the past two years.
But the Middle East has a way of catching up with and rushing past slow-moving politicians:
Sunday, at 10:00 a.m. Netanyahu warned his ministers that no threat was worse than a nuclear Iran. At 17:55 p.m., Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi dropped a bombshell in Cairo. In one fell swoop, he smashed the Egyptian military clique ruling the country for decades, sacked the Supreme Military Council running Egypt since March 2011 and cut the generals off from their business empire by appropriating the defense ministry and military industry.
That fateful eight hours-less-five-minutes have forced Israel’s leaders to take a second look at their plans for Iran.
Morsi’s lightning decisions were the finishing touches that proved the Islamist Bedouin terror attacks in Sinai of Aug. 5 fitted neatly into a secret master plan hatched by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood to seize full control of rule in Cairo – a plan DEBKAfile first revealed exclusively last Friday, Aug. 10.
Netanyahu now faces one of the hardest dilemmas of his political career – whether to go forward with the Iran operation, which calls for mustering all Israel’s military and defense capabilities – especially for the repercussions, after being suddenly confronted with unforeseen security challenges on its southwestern border, for thirty years a frontier of peace.

The exceptional talents of Netanyahu and Barak to put off strategic decisions until they are overtaken by events has landed Israel in an especially perilous plight, surrounded now by a soon-to-be nuclear-armed Iran from the east;  threatened Syrian chemical warfare from the north and the Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt to its south.

Jihadist Tells Iran, Uprising in Jordan Can Help Crush Israel

An Islamic Jihad official tells Iran that a popular uprising in Jordan would break the last part of Israel‘s “security chain.”

 IsraelNationalNews

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

First Publish: 8/12/2012, 3:35 PM

Soldiers patrol Jordanian border

Israel news photo: IDF spokesmen

An Islamic Jihad official told Iran that a popular uprising in Jordan would break the last part of Israel’s security chain.”

Abu Sharif stressed that the recent popular uprisings in the region have harmed the interests of Israel, according to the Iran’s controlled FarsNews Agency.

“These developments (popular uprisings) in the region are in theinterest of the regional nations and against the interests of the Zionist regime and have disturbed the power balance between the supporters and opponents of the Zionist regime,” Abu Sharif said.

He cited the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 as the first of several events “inflicted great damage on Israel.” Abu Sharif continued, “The deterioration of relations between Turkey and Israel was the second blow at the regime and Mubarak’s fall in Egypt was another blow.

“If the regional changes reach Jordan, the Israeli regime will lose the last part of its security chain.”

Jordan and Egypt are Israel’s only neighbors with whom diplomatic relations have been established.

The 1979 treaty with Egypt has survived frigid relations in the latter part of Mubarak’s regime, and the Muslim Brotherhood victories in the Egyptian legislative and presidential elections have left the treaty in questionable terms. Egypt is not about to break it, if for no other reason than its economic value and because of political pressure from the United States, which is a major source of foreign aid to Cairo.

However, the terms of the treaty, particularly the extent of armed Egyptian soldiers in the terrorist-infested Sinai Peninsula, may be challenged by the new regime.

Relations with Jordan have been less noisy, but the majority of non-Jordanian Arabs, descendants from families who fled Israel in previous wars, have created a demographic and political time bomb for King Abdullah II.

To the north, Hizbullah controls southern Lebanon and Syria is engulfed n an all-out civil war. To the south, Israel faces Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and cells of Bedouin, Hamas and  Al Qaeda–linked terrorists in the Sinai.

The jihadists see an uprising in Jordan as leaving Israel surrounded by stated enemies with a common principle of annihilating Israel.

Tags: Arab Spring ,Jihad ,Jordan ,Iran

How US And Israel Are Preparing For A Possible Attack On Iran

Posted by truther

Israel continues to “prepare all other options” for a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, as diplomatic talks go nowhere, according toReuters. Talk of a joint U.S.-Israeli military strike on Iran has waned recently, but talk of U.S.-Israel cyberattackshas taken its place.

U.S. defense contracts, Israel’s new submarine acquisitions and Iranian military exercises suggest that all sides are getting ready for the possibility of military conflict.

Among recent U.S. defense contracts that could relate to an Iranian attack, Raytheon was awarded a $338 million contract to provide the Navy with 361 Tomahawk cruise missiles in their most recent configuration.

Of those, 238 of the misses will be designed to launch from submarines and the remainder from Navy ships like the Ticonderoga class Arleigh Burke guided missile cruiser currently operating with the 5th Fleet based in Bahrain east of Iran.

These are the same missiles that started the Libyan Operation Odyssey Dawn bombing campaign last March when 124 were launched from Navy ships and subs against Qaddafi’s missile defense radars and anti-aircraft sites around Tripoli.

The U.S. could simply be renewing depleted reserves from that mission, as well as others, or it could be planning ahead for a specific attack. With work on the contract expected to be completed in 2014, this particular batch wouldn’t be used in any immediate action, but could replenish reserves spent in any upcoming airstrikes.

Taking out radar and aircraft defenses would be one step in an Iranian attack. Another, equally as vital, would be determining where Tehran’s fleet of submarines may be parked in the Persian Gulf.

There are several ways of locating a sub accurately enough to destroy it, and one of them is using theERAPSCO sonar buoy.

The buoys are a one-time-use asset that gets dropped into the water to work with other buoys pinpointing underwater objects. The Navy just ordered 17,000 of them under a $13 million contract days after the Tomahawk order. The buoys can be used for research as well, but in the face of biting defense cuts, it seems possible the Navy has something mission-focused for them in mind. Their delivery is also expected in early 2014, to potentially replenish supplies used before then.

US Navy USS Carl Vinson and the USS Bunker Hill

Both of these acquisitions could be part of a standard ordering cycle that we simply have no idea of, but in light of the following developments we thought them worth mentioning.

On May 9 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012, which seeks to “reaffirm the commitment to Israel’s security as a Jewish state; provide Israel with the military capabilities to defend itself by itself against any threats… [and] expand military and civilian cooperation” among other statements of U.S. policy.

Former counter-terrorism specialist and CIA military intelligence officer Philip Giraldi wrote that the bill “basically provides Israel with a blank check drawn on the U.S. taxpayer to maintain its ‘qualitative military edge’ over all of its neighbors combined.” (To that end the U.S. is stockpiling an increasing number of weapons in Israel.)

The Israeli government has been on lockdown since Netanyahu joined forces with the Kadima party and its Iranian-born leader Gen. Shaul Mofaz.

One senior Israeli figure with close ties to the leadership told Reuters that Netanyahu had made the decision to attack Iran before the U.S. presidential election in November so that the move “will bounce the Americans into supporting them.”

Israel just bought its fourth German-made sub capable of launching nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and German news source Der Spiegel subsequently reported that these are already deployed.

US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet

Iran is not sitting idly by, but gathering its 545,000 active military personnel and some of the most advanced military technologyof anyone out there. And playing a dangerous diplomatic game.

The P5+1 talks that sought to resolve Tehran’s disputed nuclear activities have broken down again, but no one has given any strong indications of what it would take for the conflict to spill over from the cyber realm to the physical world.

Nevertheless U.S., Israel and Iran seem to be ready if it does.

Lavrov: Don’t Threaten Iran Over its Nuclear Program

Russia’s Foreign Minister: Iran should not face threats over its nuclear program, a quick settlement of the standoff isn’t realistic.

IsraelNationalNews

By Elad Benari, Canada

First Publish: 6/23/2012, 2:17 AM

Sergey Lavrov

Reuters

Russia’s foreign minister said on Friday that Iran should not face threats over its nuclear program and that a quick settlement of the standoff over it isn’t realistic.

The Associated Press quoted Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as having said the latest round of talks in Moscow this week between six world powers and Iran has been “quite useful,” even though there was no breakthrough. He said talks must continue without “any artificial deadlines or ultimatums.”

High-level nuclear talks in Russia between Iran and six world powers were suspended this week, but experts from both sides will meet next month to see if there is enough common ground for new negotiations.

AP noted that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is expected to face a strong Israeli demand to take a tougher line on Iran when he visits the Jewish state next week, but Lavrov’s statement signaled that Moscow will likely respond to Israeli calls for stronger action with its usual advice to be patient and continue talks.

“In order to settle the issue, it’s necessary to refrain from constant threats of using force, abandon scenarios aimed against Iran, and stop dismissing the talks as failure,” Lavrov was quoted as having said on Russia’s Rossiya 24 television.

He said the international talks must not be dragged out, but that it would be wrong to “put forward any artificial deadlines and ultimatums and say that if there is no final agreement by the end of July or August — and there simply can’t be any in such a (short) period — then we will end talks and launch some kind of bellicose actions.”

The failed talks in Moscow followed a bruising session in Baghdad in May that failed to make any noticeable progress beyond agreeing a date for more talks.

In a hint of compromise, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that Iran is ready to suspend its controversial enrichment of uranium to 20 percent if Europe guarantees delivery of nuclear fuel for its reactors.

Former Kadima MK Tzahi Hanegbi criticized this week the United States and its conduct during the negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program.

Hanegbi, formerly the chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, accused the United States of taking part in meetings aimed at wasting time and creating a false impression.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned this week that some in Iran “are saying the best thing that could happen to us is be attacked by somebody, just bring it on, because that would unify us, it would legitimize the regime.”

Clinton made the remarks in an interview with Charlie Rose on Wednesday. Theinterview was a joint interview with former Secretary of State James Baker, who said that only the United States – not Israel – would be able to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

At a meeting with Clinton in Washington on Wednesday, Vice Prime Minister and Kadima head Shaul Mofaz said that it was imperative that Iran’s nuclear program be stopped, and that no option should be taken off the table.

“After the failure at the third round of talks with the Iranians in Moscow, it is time for the United States and the Western powers to impose more severe sanctions in the oil embargo and financial sectors in order to stop Iran’s nuclear development program,” Mofaz said at the meeting. He added that in addition to these measures there is a need “to continue to prepare all of the other options.”

Agreeing with Mofaz was former British Prime Minister and current Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair. In an interview on Army Radio Thursday, Blair said bluntly that “all options, including the military option, are still on the table. All these options are terrible,” Blair said, “but Iran cannot be allowed to go nuclear.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)

St. Louis: Iranian ex-Muslim and his Christian pastor receive death fatwa from Islamic Revolutionary Army in Iran

Posted by Jihad Watch

Iran grows bolder by the day in this age of Obama, dhimmitude, willful blindness and Useful Idiocy. “Death Threat From Iran Sent To St. Louis Men,” by Roche Madden for KPLR.com, June 18 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

ST .LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – Two St. Louis areamen said they have received death threats from Iran and they are taking those threats seriously. The said a fatwa, or religious decree, has been put on their heads.The letter was sent to Ali Bahkti and his pastor Mike Salazar. The envelope indicates it is from Tehran, Iran. It is apparently signed by a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Army. Mike Salazar said, ‘It`s a death threat very simply.’ Ali Bakhti added, ‘Religious decree to kill.’ Salazar said, ‘It`s something to be taken seriously.’

Ali Bakhti said he once served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard when he was a teenager. Bakhti said, ‘Dirty bombs, convert civilian streets into a mine fields.’ He said he was even assigned a suicide mission, to blow up an Israeli disco. But, he had a dramatic change of heart and faith and converted to Christianity and moved to the U.S. He met Pastor Salazar at church and since then the two have been spreading their beliefs to church goers. The two men believe that Islam is a religion that could easily radicalize a Muslim into a terrorist.

Salazar said, ‘Our message isn`t to offend Muslims.’ But, it apparently has. Now the two are under a death decree that they fear could be carried out any moment. They say that won`t stop them from preaching what they strongly believe in. Bakhti said, ‘I`m doing it for the kingdom of God.’ Salazar said, ‘Even if you die doing it.’…

Russia, China, Iran plan to stage in Syria “biggest Mid East maneuver”

Posted by truther

Debka

Middle East military tensions around Syria shot up again Monday, June 18, with the news reported by the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars that a joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise is to take place in Syria.

It was described as “the biggest of its kind ever staged in the Middle East” with 90,000 personnel, 400 air planes and 900 tanks taking part.
As part of its preparations, Beijing is reported to have asked Egyptian authorities to permit the passage through the Suez Canal in late June of 12 naval ships heading for the Syrian port of Tartus, where Moscow maintains a naval and marine base. debkafile reported earlier this week that Russian naval vessels with marines on board were heading for Tartus. The Iranian media did not itemize their contribution to the joint exercise.

Debkafile stresses that this would be the first time that substantial Russian and Chinese military strength has ever been deployed in Syria or anywhere else in the Middle East. It means that the two powers are prepared to parade their unabashed partnership with the Iranian and Syrian armies for the shared purpose of obstructing US-European-Arab military intervention in Syria. A large-scale Russian and Chinese military presence in the embattled country would expect to deter the United States from leading a military operation against Bashar Assad and his regime.
No date was attached to the report but the exercise may possibly take place before the end of the month

The large-scale maneuver was announced in Tehran on the first day of the nuclear crisis talks in Moscow between Iran and the six world powers, their third attempt to resolve the crisis by diplomacy. However, Russian and Iranian sources close to the talks were pessimistic about progress. An Iranian delegation member complained the atmosphere was harsh and unconstructive. A Russian source saw no way of bridging US-led Western differences with Tehran when the parties reconvene Monday.

Debkafile also notes that the big joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise “at sea, air and land on Syrian soil,” ws released for publication shortly before US President Barack Obama was due to meet Russian PresidentVladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Mexico.

Russia, China, Iran plan to stage in Syria “biggest Mid East maneuver”

DEBKAfile Special Report June 18, 2012, 8:31 PM (GMT+02:00)

Tags:  Russia   China   Iran   Joint exercise   Syria   Barack Obama   Vladimir Putin 

A cordial handshake between Russian and Chinese admirals

Middle East military tensions around Syria shot up again Monday, June 18, with the news reported by the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars that a joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise is to take place in Syria.

It was described as “the biggest of its kind ever staged in the Middle East” with 90,000 personnel, 400 air planes and 900 tanks taking part.
As part of its preparations, Beijing is reported to have asked Egyptian authorities to permit the passage through the Suez Canal in late June of 12 naval ships heading for the Syrian port of Tartus, where Moscow maintains a naval and marine base. DEBKAfile reported earlier this week that Russian naval vessels with marines on board were heading for Tartus. The Iranian media did not itemize their contribution to the joint exercise.
DEBKAfile stresses that this would be the first time that substantial Russian and Chinese military strength has ever been deployed in Syria or anywhere else in the Middle East. It means that the two powers are prepared to parade their unabashed partnership with the Iranian and Syrian armies for the shared purpose of obstructing US-European-Arab military intervention in Syria. A large-scale Russian and Chinese military presence in the embattled country would expect to deter the United States from leading a military operation against Bashar Assad and his regime.
No date was attached to the report but the exercise may possibly take place before the end of the month

The large-scale maneuver was announced in Tehran on the first day of the nuclear crisis talks in Moscow between Iran and the six world powers, their third attempt to resolve the crisis by diplomacy. However, Russian and Iranian sources close to the talks were pessimistic about progress. An Iranian delegation member complained the atmosphere was harsh and unconstructive. A Russian source saw no way of bridging US-led Western differences with Tehran when the parties reconvene Monday.
DEBKAfile also notes that the big joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise “at sea, air and land on Syrian soil,” ws released for publication shortly before US President Barack Obama was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Mexico.