Russia behind Iran - to start WW3

[Honza Malina]

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January 25th, 2006

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When we are approached with times when Iran becomes a threat to America - which is now, we have to ask ourselves who was always standing behind Iran since the time of Khomeini ?

Russian communists have always supported Iran after the Iranian revolution,
as a matter of fact the entire region was a strategic place of interest for the Russian communists, for the KGB.

The reason why the Russians were so much interested in laying their hands on Iran, and the entire Middle East region for that matter, is very simple:
- the oil that comes from that region is a strategic material to supply the capitalists and to allow their economies to flourish.

To cut them off from this supply will ensure that at the time of war America
and her western NATO allies will be left without supplies and their military force will be crippled.

In order to prevent America from gaining substantial access to Middle Eastern oil, Russian communists had to come up with a scheme that in fact subverted
[almost] the entire region and brought these Moslem countries into the Soviet camp.

The scheme will be understood very well when we ask the question why these Islamic tyrannies want to remain as such - and exactly what tools these tyrants need in order to survive: - they need weapons !

Russian communist "helping hand"....

In the historical context when we look at the communist Cuba it was Fidel Castro
who asked the Czechoslovak communists to help him prevail in his revolution and to protect his rule from being overthrown - again by supplying weapons.

In his book Red Cocaine Joseph D. Douglass Jr. wrote:

In the late summer of 1960, just a year and half after Fidel Castro seized power, his brother Raul Castro visited Czechoslovakia in search of military aid and assistance.

At that time, Fidel and the Soviets distrusted each other, which is why the Cubans first approached Czechoslovakia rather than the Soviet Union. [Czechoslovak general] Jan Sejna was responsible for receiving the Cuban delegation and serving as their host during their visit. One of his first actions was to arrange for Raul to visit the Soviet Union and meet Khrushchev.

Following that visit, the Soviets directed Czechoslovakia to work
with the Cubans and pave the way for an eventual Soviet takeover
of Cuba. The Soviets wanted Czechoslovakia to take the lead,
hiding the role of the Soviet Union.

Cuba and Czechoslovakia signed an agreement whereby the Czechoslovaks would help the Cubans obtain military equipment, train the Cubans in military planning and operations, and help organize Cuban intelligence and counter-intelligence.

In return, Cuba agreed to become a revolutionary center in the West and to allow Czechoslovakia to establish an intelligence station in Cuba.

We have to ask whether the Russian communists would supply any of their weapons to any country or a terrorist group that would not agree
to cooperate with them [much to agree be controlled by them] ?

Is there any such possibility and would there be such a lax communist policy
that would allow such an armament of a country that could eventually become
an enemy of the communists ? Of cause such possibility is out of question.

In reality it is a known fact that the Russian KGB created several terrorist groups including the PLO, Hamas and others, in order to use these terrorist proxies against the hated capitalists and themselves remain unnoticed behind these operations.

Let us go back to Red Cocaine:

Sixteen Czechoslovak advisors went to Cuba to provide training
and help establish intelligence and counterintelligence operations.
Roughly 50% of the Czechoslovak advisers and intelligence
agents who went to Cuba were actually Soviets operating under Czechoslovak cover.

Within three years, all Czechoslovaks in key positions would be replaced by Soviets. Thus, from the beginning, Cuban intelligence and military structures were heavily influenced by the Soviets. In less than ten years the Soviets were in complete control.

Now let us take a look at Iran.
These are Russian supplied weapons and Russia is standing firmly behind Iran. What the average American mind is not yet able to comprehend is how and
why Russian "former" communists are now involved in helping those who
stand against America ?

The answer is simple - Russian communists have never given up communism and they are only following their long range plan which was set up long ago
by their predecessors.

Iran might as well be the first country which will start the World War 3 for the Russians - and without them being recognized behind it. It is always the plan of the communists to use any necessary proxy to start the conflict to cripple and eventually destroy the enemy and not being harmed themselves.

By covering up their tracks the Russians are simply ensuring that they won't be attacked back and America would in fact be involved in a real nuclear conflict.

By supplying nuclear, biological and chemical weapons to Iran Russia and the "former" Warsaw Pact communist countries are only supplying their own agents who will carry out the first strike against America, against the hated capitalists,
in order to destroy them. In his book Red Horizons, former Romanian chief of espionage Ion Mihai Pacepa says the following:

During the last six years of my other life, as a Romanian intelligence general, the main task of the Soviet bloc espionage community
was to transform Yasser Arafat's war against Israel and its main supporter, the United States, into an armed doctrine of the whole Islamic world.

America was our main enemy, and a billion adversaries could inflict far greater damage on it than could a mere one million. Islamic anti-Semitism ran deep.

Our task was to convert its historical hatred of the Jews into a new hatred of the United States, by portraying this land of freedom as an imperial Zionist country financed by Jewish money and run by a rapacious Council of the Elders of Zion, the Kremlin's epithet for the US Congress.

The long range policy of the Russian communists was in fact followed
to the letter throughout the 1990s, and Russian, Czech and other "formerly"
communist countries spread out information that Iran is seeking to obtain
their nuclear, biological and chemical capabilities.

It was also spread deliberately that Iran and other Middle Eastern Moslem countries are in fact seeking such weapons of mass destruction. By using this scheme Russian "former" communists were able to maneuver America against these Islamic enemies and make it look like these conflicts are of a religious background.

At the same time the sole beneficiary will always be world communism,
led by Russia and China.

Russian "former" communists are at the same time using their usual deception as they were claiming already in 2001:

PRESIDENT PUTIN served notice to America yesterday that Moscow would proceed with arms sales to Iran and complete construction of a nuclear power plant there.

After talks in the Kremlin with President Mohammad Khatami of Iran, the Russian leader said: "For economic reasons, Russia is interested in [military] co-operation. And the political reasons are that we believe that Iran must be an independent state capable of defending its national interests."

While America is being crippled from within by various Marxist groups,
these communist enemies of America are gearing up under the disguise
of Islamic terrorism and state sponsorship thereof.

By chasing these Islamic terrorists and their Islamic state sponsors, America
is being weakened militarily on the home front and she becomes a ripe fruit for the Russian and Chinese communists to pick. In such a conflict, when no nuclear, biological and chemical weapons will be held in reserve by the Russian, Chinese etc. communists, America simply stands alone by herself to defend our freedom.

Western Europe can no longer be counted on, with the exception of United Kingdom. Russian communists have long prepared nuclear blackmail and
it is ready to be used with all seriousness against these our NATO allies.

Their socialist government's were all in a hurry to sign agreements with the Russian "former" communists to supply their state subsidized economies
with the cheap Russian natural resources - read oil, natural gas etc.

But to make deals with the communists one has to be ready to accept their terms, and when the time comes also the real price - such a blind trust for the "word
of honor" given by these communist criminals will never be repaid by good honest cooperation but only by the fulfillment of ther obvious communist deception.

It was the Russians who just recently tested their all out blackmail of Western Europe by shutting down the Russia-West gas pipeline because of the clear
and obvious artificial "dispute" with Ukraine.

Ukrainian government is controlled by various KGB agents whose only pretended pro-western orientation shouldn't be accepted.

Russian communists and military leaders will this way ensure that at
the time when the WW3 will start, Western Europe will be cut off and isolated completely, and will therefore have to agree to its unconditional surrender
with the Russian "former" communists.


Conclusion

Of course this web site will be accused of "spreading crackpot conspiracy theories" but the facts speak for themselves. We only have to ask ourselves whether we are willing to risk our credibility and our name in order to make this point come across or whether we value more our positions, jobs and our future within this hedonistic society.

The price of hesitating and not recognizing these facts as valid can play
THE major role in our country's survival as a free society. Those who allow themselves to be directed by their own priorities instead of helping the country as a whole, as the one and for her freedom and survival fighting [united] power, such people will have to pay the price themselves when their own time comes.....

Without recognizing that the "pro-democracy changes" in Eastern Europe and
in Russia were staged for our consumption, America will not be able to recognize that it is the Russian "formerly" communists who in fact will be the beneficiaries of such a war conflict - and who will take over directly after the Islamic terrorism section of their military strategy is concluded.

Russia's Genghis Khan mentality never cared about anybody but Russia and
the victory of communism around the world. To them anybody is disposable.
People can die by millions in order for Russia to succeed in her conquest
to implement communism around the world.

No price is high enough for the communists and no life will be spared,
these communist criminals simply want it all - and they do anything to get it done.

God have mercy on those who still think that there's a possibility to live in peace with communists and to do business with them when and while they claim to be our "strategic partners".

[Ryan Ruck]

I had meant to comment on this sooner… Great insight as usual Honza!

I think that this part needs to be heavily emphasized:

In his book Red Horizons, former Romanian chief of espionage Ion Mihai Pacepa says the following:

During the last six years of my other life, as a Romanian intelligence general, the main task of the Soviet bloc espionage community was to transform Yasser Arafat's war against Israel and its main supporter, the United States, into an armed doctrine of the whole Islamic world.

America was our main enemy, and a billion adversaries could inflict far greater damage on it than could a mere one million. Islamic anti-Semitism ran deep.

Our task was to convert its historical hatred of the Jews into a new hatred of the United States, by portraying this land of freedom as an imperial Zionist country financed by Jewish money and run by a rapacious Council of the Elders of Zion, the Kremlin's epithet for the US Congress.

This boils down, in the simplest terms, the origins of modern terrorism. Every single American needs to understand this and look to who is still assisting terrorists and terrorist groups the world over.

[Honza Malina]

I had meant to comment on this sooner… Great insight as usual Honza!

I think that this part needs to be heavily emphasized:

This boils down, in the simplest terms, the origins of modern terrorism. Every single American needs to understand this and look to who is still assisting terrorists and terrorist groups the world over.

The simple answer is - communists would never trained and supplied with weapons somebody they wouldn't be able to control.

For the communists it is essential to control the masses, why would they supply weapons to terrorists and then let them do whatever they want ?

They wouldn't allow that to happen.

And since the only country that is in danger [besides Israel] is America, we can see why this is done and who is behind it.....

God Bless.

Honza

[vector7]

Hot On The Heels Of Its China Breakthrough, Russia Set To Build Eight Nuclear Power Plants In Iran

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/22/2014 17:19 -0400

• China
• Iran
• Nuclear Power
• Vladimir Putin

Before anyone suggests that all Russia is focusing on is China at any and all costs, consider that as we have been saying since 2012, perhaps just as important to Russia (and China) strategically is Iran which has already lashed out against the Petrodollar on numerous occasions in the past, not only for its vast oil reserves, but for its even more strategic location in the heart of the Persian Gulf.

To be sure, the Eurasian crescent of Russia and China would be made all that much stronger if the two nations had a toehold on the Straits of Hormuz, and were able to shut traffic - either tanker or military, with the US Fifth Fleet located in Bahrain - into the Gulf at their bidding. Which is why it was not surprising that not even 24 hours after Russia and China announced the "holy grail" energy deal, that RIA reported Russia is already preparing to lock in the Tehran regime with a deal to build not one but 8 (!) more nuclear power plants in the country.


From RIA:

Moscow may sign an intergovernmental agreement with Teheran this year to build eight new reactors for nuclear power plants in Iran, a source close to the negotiations told journalists Thursday.

Two reactors could be built at the Bushehr Power Plant and six reactors at other sites, the source said, adding that the talks were in their final stage.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week that Russian-Iranian cooperation will continue despite international turbulence around Tehran. Putin said that Russia and Iran are not only neighbors, but also long-standing reliable partners.

Iran’s only nuclear power plant near Bushehr came online September 2011 and began operating at full capacity a year after. Moscow handed over operational control of the Russian-made plant to Iran in September last year.

A deal, it goes without saying, that would have China's explicit and implicit blessing.

And cue the US foreign department collapsing in an apopleptic fit of sheer powerlessness, if many, many "costs" for all those involved.

[Ryan Ruck]

Iran, Russia Hold Joint Naval Exercise

October 16, 2014

Iran's state television says two Russian warships have left a northern Iranian port after the two countries held a joint, three-day naval exercise in the Caspian Sea.

Thursday's report on the TV's website quoted Iranian Adm. Afshin Rezaei Haddad, who is Iran's navy commander in the Caspian Sea, as saying that the Russian vessels departed from the northern Iranian port of Anzali on Wednesday.

No further details were given.

It was the first visit in decades by a Russian fleet to an Iranian port in the Caspian Sea. In recent years Iran's navy has increased its bilateral relations with various countries, including China and Pakistan.

Last year, a Russian naval group docked in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on the way home from a Pacific Ocean voyage.

[Avvakum]

I wish Honza Malina were still around; I wonder what happened to him? I actually met and talked to him personally for a long time, we went to church together a couple times too when he was in town. I lost contact with him, which he said would happen if he was correct in his analysis of certain things....

As for Iran being a Neo-Soviet puppet, absolutely. For one thing, their present 'Supreme Guide of the Islamic Revolution' attended Patrice Lamumba University in Moscow in his youth.

You don't graduate from there without being a fanatical Marxist-Leninist by the time you leave, ever, from what i've heard.

[vector7]

Russia & Iran forge military compact as Iran & Hezbollah vow massive attacks on Israel’s northern tier. Here’s the latest.

In Uncategorized on January 20, 2015 at 5:55 pm

(Costa Mesa, California) — Are we heading towards another war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror movement in Lebanon? Tensions are rapidly rising. Israeli intelligence indicates that Iran and Hezbollah have been planning a series of major attacks against civilians along Israel’s northern border. Now, Israel appears to have taken pre-emptive action, killing an Iranian general and several of his top operatives in an airstrike. Iran and Hezbollah are vowing revenge.

If that weren’t troubling enough, Russia and Iran have just signed a dramatic military agreement that bodes ill for Israel and the epicenter, something I have been writing and warning about for many years.

I’m here in Costa Mesa today and will be speaking here Wednesday evening as part of The Third Target book tour. But here are the stories I’m tracking today:

• Russia and Iran sign military cooperation deal (AP)
• Iran general killed with Hezbollah fighters in Israel raid (AFP)
• The Attack in the Golan Exposes Iran’s Growing Presence along Israel’s Borders (JCPA)
• Iranian Revolutionary Guard chief: Israel should expect destructive thunderbolts (Jerusalem Post)
• Iron Dome batteries said deployed as north braces for Hezbollah response — IDF chief says army ‘prepared’ day after Hezbollah members killed in strike; leave canceled for some units near border (Times of Israel)

Excerpts from Washington Free Beacon article:

• Iran on Monday promised that Hezbollah would deliver “crushing response” to the Israeli attack over the weekend, which killed six Iranian agents, including a top-level commander, and five Hezbollah members.
• “The experience of the past shows that the resistance current will give a crushing response to the Zionist regime’s terrorist moves with revolutionary determination and in due time and place,” Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), was quoted as saying.
• The Israeli strike came just days after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared that the terror group was preparing for a war in Israel’s northern Galilee region.
• It also occurred just a week after Iranian military leaders announced that they are operating missile sites in Syria, which potentially include a nuclear facility.
• Senior Iranian and Hezbollah commanders were likely planning a sophisticated invasion of Israel’s northern border in the weeks before they were killed by an Israeli airstrike over the weekend, according to Major General Eyal Ben Reuven, the former deputy head of the Israeli Defense Forces Northern Command.
• The accuracy of Israel’s strike and the high-level nature of those Iranian and Hezbollah commanders killed indicates planning for a militant incursion into Israel’s northern region, according to Reuven, who said the airstrike shows a “very high level of intelligence” on Israel’s part.
• The high-level nature of the Iranian and Hezbollah operatives targeted by Israel suggests that an attack on Israel was imminent, according to Reuven, who handled top intelligence in the region during his time serving in the IDF….

Excerpts from an Agence France Presse story:

• “An Israeli strike on Syria killed an Iranian general, Tehran confirmed Monday, as thousands of supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah gathered to bury one of six fighters killed in the same raid,” reports Agence France Presse. “The attack on Sunday near Quneitra on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights enraged Hezbollah’s supporters, but analysts said the group would avoid a major escalation with Israel….”
• A source close to Hezbollah said six Iranians had been killed in the attack. Hezbollah told AFP that it was not the source of that toll. Among Hezbollah’s dead was Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of an assassinated commander from the group, and Mohammed Issa, a commander responsible for Hezbollah’s operations in Syria and Iraq….
• The strike came days after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened to retaliate against Israel for its repeated strikes on targets in Syria and boasted the movement was stronger than ever. He touted its sophisticated arsenal, including Fateh-110 missiles, which have a range of 200 kilometres (125 miles) or more and are capable of hitting much of Israel. Analysts said the precision Israeli strike, days after Nasrallah’s bellicose remarks, stood to embarrass Hezbollah. ‘What happened is that the Israelis called Hezbollah’s bluff last night,’ said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University in Beirut. But he said Hezbollah’s response was likely to be limited ‘because if it retaliates, it will be another war. Hezbollah is in Syria and it is not ready for another war against Israel.'”

[vector7]

Russia and Iran Sign Military Cooperation Deal

TEHRAN, Iran — Jan 20, 2015, 7:10 AM ET
By BY NASSER KARIMI Associated Press



Iran and Russia signed an agreement Tuesday to expand military ties in a visit to Tehran by the Russian defense minister.

Sergei Shoigu, in remarks carried by Russian news agencies, said Moscow wants to develop a "long-term and multifaceted" military relationship with Iran. He said that the new agreement includes expanded counter-terrorism cooperation, exchanges of military personnel for training purposes and an understanding for each country's navy to more frequently use the other's ports.

Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan urged greater cooperation as a means of opposing American ambitions in the region. Moscow and Tehran have staunchly supported Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout Syria's civil war, while Washington advocates regime change and supports rebel groups.

"Iran and Russia are able to confront the expansionist intervention and greed of the United States through cooperation, synergy and activating strategic potential capacities," Dehghan said. "As two neighbors, Iran and Russia have common viewpoints toward political, regional and global issues."

Russia has maintained friendly ties with Iran and has built its first nuclear power plant. Last fall, it signed a deal to build two more reactors in Iran.

Shoigu did not the mention ongoing controversy over a deal to deliver a sophisticated air defense missile system to Iran. In 2007, Russia signed a $800-million contract to sell Tehran the S-300 missile system, but the weaponry was never delivered amid strong objections by United States and Israel.

Iran has filed a lawsuit with a court in Geneva seeking $4 billion in damages over the breach of the contract, but the court hasn't yet made any ruling. Russia has insisted that its decision to freeze the S-300 delivery was based on the United Nations Security Council's sanctions against Iran.

Iran's state TV reported Tuesday that Iran and Russia have agreed to settle their differences over the missile deal, without offering further details.

Last year, Russian media reports said that Moscow had sought to end the dispute by offering Iran a different, slightly inferior version of the S-300 system, but Tehran had rejected the proposal.

[vector7]

Companion Thread:

• Yemen in Crisis
  
  

IRAN’S DECISIVE VICTORY IN YEMEN SIGNALS FIRST PHASE OF WORLD WAR THREE 1-22-2015

Jan22

The magnitude of the political fallout from Israel’s airstrike on the Hezzbollah convoy in Southern Lebanon has now reached critical mass. Israel has now set in play a decisive military/political victory for Iran and Hezzbollah. Israel’s airstrike is now a game-changer for the entire Middle East. Here is my take on what this means for the rest of the world.

It is clear to Doomer Doug an Iranian policy going back to 2008 is now entering the final phase. The following link talks about the deployment of missiles to Eritrea by Iran. http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=980

Iran has now used its proxy group, the Shia Houthi tribesmen from Northern Yemen, to depose the US backed leadership. The Houthi compose one third of Yemen’s total population. The rest are Sunni Muslims who back the terror group called Al Quadea of the Arabian Peninsula. They are responsible for the 2001 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 US sailors. They are responsible for the Paris attacks that killed the 12 people. Iran has now taken over effective control of Yemen, using their proxy group to oust the US backed president, and set the stage for a wide ranging effort to crush Saudi Arabia.

Western leaders, looking for a rapid and highly public relations worthy “anti-terror attack political payback,” will be courted by the Shia Houthi to use drones to kill off their Sunni opposition in Yemen. Iran will allow the extermination of the Sunni terror group in Yemen to cleanse it for the Shia. Sunnis will either be fled or dead once this happens. Iran will then use the wide open ports in Yemen to ship in all the weapons it wants for phase two of this long planned operation. Iran will send war material into the Eastern Areas of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the other Gulf States with significant Shia minorities. Shia is only a majority religion in Iran. It has enough of a minority, if well armed, to create chaos in both the Gulf States and Eastern Saudi Arabia. Iran will put into the danger zone virtually ALL oil producing, refining, and shipping infrastructure in the entire Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabian area. Iran can use local Shia to launch terror attacks which will result in a disruption of the critical oil flow to Japan and the West.

Iran will have plausible denial ability. Iran will have isolated bases in Yemen to launch attacks. Further, Iran is going for total domination of ALL potential oil export routes. Iran has long had the ability to launch anti-ship missiles in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian bases in Eritrea give it the ability to seal the entrance to the Red Sea/Suez Canal from the West. Iran now has the ability, as soon as it ships the missiles and launchers into Yemen’s ports, to launch from the East. Iran now has, or will soon have, the complete ability to seal both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea entrance to the Suez Canal.

The goal of all this is several fold, in my opinion.

First: Iran seeks to take down the Saudi Arabian Royal Family in order to gain control of the sacred sites.

Second: Iran seeks to make it impossible for anybody, Israel, Europe, NATO, or the USA, to attack it when it announces it really does have nuclear weapons. Iran will simply state, in the event of any type of attack on Iran, it will seal the Strait of Hormuz. It will also seal the Red Sea entrance, from Yemen and Eritrea, to the Suez Canal.

Three: Iran may very well be planning to make a public announcement it really does have nuclear weapons.

Four: Iran is seriously angry at the death of its people in Israel’s airstrike.

Five: Iran is opening a new southern front against Israel. This new front will prevent Israel from using the Suez Canal, especially for the Dolphin Class submarines Israel got from Germany. Yemen will make a very effective logistics hub for HAMAS in the Gaza strip. It will also work well for Shia based militias in Eastern Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

Six: Iran will move to the next level. Iran will be a credible military threat, even without nuclear weapons, and able to unleash massive economic chaos with a few missile launches. Iran can blame any missile attacks on the Sunnis. Iran can make shipping insurance rates go so high no tanker will go through the Suez Canal, much less into the Persian Gulf.

All of this has happened within 48 hours of Israel killing that Revolutionary Guard General in the airstrike. IRAN IS NOW CLEARLY MOVING ON A WAR FOOTING AND TAKING DECISIVE ACTION IN PURSUIT OF IRANIAN MILITARY GOALS. The fact they are doing this at the same time as Obama’s so called peace effort is underway pretty much says all that needs to be said.

If you are looking for more detail on Yemen click this link:
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/yemen-map.htm

The following link is to an AP news story on the total collapse of Yemen’s government at the hands of Iranian backed Houthi Shia tribesmen. It is posted under fair use doctrine.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...01-22-12-54-05

Jan 22, 5:16 PM EST
Yemen’s US-backed president quits; country could split apart
By AHMED AL-HAJ and MAGGIE MICHAEL
Associated Press
Latest News
Yemen’s US-backed president quits; country could split apart
Questions, answers on Yemen as rebels, president strike deal
Yemeni Shiite rebels take base, guard president’s home
Yemen’s al-Qaida claims Paris attack, vows more violence
Paris gunman told Yemeni he lived with ‘underwear bomber’
Buy AP Photo Reprints

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s U.S.-backed president quit Thursday under pressure from rebels holding him captive in his home, severely complicating American efforts to combat al-Qaida’s powerful local franchise and raising fears that the Arab world’s poorest country will fracture into mini-states.

Presidential officials said Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi submitted his resignation to parliament rather than make further concessions to Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who control the capital and are widely believed to be backed by Iran.

The prime minister and his cabinet also stepped down, making a thinly veiled reference to the Houthis’ push at gunpoint for a greater share of power. Houthis deployed their fighters around parliament, which is due to discuss the situation on Sunday.

Yemeni law dictates that the parliament speaker – Yahia al-Rai, a close ally of former autocratic ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh – will now assume the presidency. Saleh still wields considerable power and is widely believed to be allied with the Houthis.

There were conflicting reports suggesting that authorities in Aden, the capital of southern region of Yemen, would no longer submit to the central government’s authority. Even before the Houthis’ recent ascendance, a powerful movement in southern Yemen was demanding autonomy or a return to the full independence the region enjoyed before 1990. Southerners outrightly reject rule by the Houthis, whose power base is in the north. The Houthis are Zaydis, a Shiite minority that makes up about a third of Yemen’s population.

Concerns were also mounting about an economic collapse. Two-thirds of Yemen’s population are already in need of humanitarian aid, according to reported U.N. figures. Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia, which has long been Yemen’s economic lifeline, cut most of its financial aid to Yemen after the Houthis seized the capital in September. The Houthis deny receiving any Iranian support.

The Houthis’ recent encroachments on Sunni areas have also fanned fears of a sectarian conflict that could fuel support for al-Qaida, a Sunni movement that has links to some of the country’s tribes and is at war with both the Shiites and Hadi’s forces. U.S. officials say the developments are already undermining military and intelligence operations against al-Qaida’s Yemen-based affiliate, which made its reach felt in this month’s deadly Paris attacks.

Hadi’s resignation comes four months after President Barack Obama cited Yemen as a terrorism success story in a September speech outlining his strategy against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, which involves targeted U.S. strikes on militants with the cooperation of a friendly ground force. Obama called it an approach “that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.”

In Washington on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. was still trying to sort out what was happening on the ground and had made no decisions yet regarding embassy staffing.

The resignations mark the collapse of an internationally backed transition that compelled Saleh, who ruled for three decades, to resign in 2012 following months of Arab Spring protests.

Hadi’s rule was deeply undermined by Saleh loyalists who retained posts in state institutions and the security apparatus. Last year the U.N. Security Council imposed targeted sanctions on Saleh and two top Houthi leaders, accusing them of obstructing the political transition.
Despite widespread fears, some observers said Thursday’s resignation of the elected president could encourage Yemenis to take to the streets just as they did in 2011 in against Saleh.

“The coming hours will be decisive for Yemen for decades to come. Either they will usher in a new path, new openings, or we say our death prayers,” said Yemeni writer Farea Al-Muslimi.

Shortly after Hadi’s resignation, the Supreme Security Committee, the top security body in Aden, the capital of the south, issued orders to all military bases, security bodies and popular committees composed of armed civilians to be on a state of alert and take orders only from Aden central command.

It was not immediately clear how much mandate the security authorities have over the southern region, and analysts predicted that internal conflict among southern secessionist leaders would probably delay action toward a split with the north.

The greater threat, they said, is fragmentation of other regions.

“We are not talking here about split of north and south, but the fracture of the state to small pieces where each tribal region disintegrates,” said Al-Muslimi.

Hadi’s resignation came despite efforts by U.N. envoy Jamal Benomar to implement a deal reached Wednesday to resolve the crisis.

“We reached a deadlock,” Hadi said, according to a copy of his letter of resignation obtained by The Associated Press. “We found out that we are unable to achieve the goal, for which we bear a lot of pain and disappointment.”

Presidential adviser Sultan al-Atawani told AP that the Houthis refused to withdraw from the presidential palace, the republican palace where the prime minister lives or from the president’s house. They also refused to release a top aide to Hadi whose abduction earlier this week set the violence in motion.

Military officials close to the president said the Houthis also pressured Hadi to deliver a televised speech to calm the streets. They said the Houthis also demanded appointments in his own office, the Defense Ministry and provincial capitals. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Shortly before Hadi’s resignation, Prime Minister Khaled Bahah submitted his own resignation, saying he feared “being dragged into an abyss of unconstructive policies based on no law.”

Three ministers of his cabinet told AP that they were subjected to heavy pressures from Houthi gunmen who visited them in their homes with list of names of people they want to appoint in their ministries. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

[American Patriot]

Well, MMCO, there's your answer then. WWIII it is.

[MinutemanCO]

AP, Do you agree with the analysis presented? I'm still trying to understand all the dynamics.

[American Patriot]

Let me see if I can go through my thinking on this. I'm NOT a strategist by any means. I'm usually wrong when it comes to the big picture overall - but at the same time, I can see pieces falling into place.

Iran will have plausible denial ability. Iran will have isolated bases in Yemen to launch attacks. Further, Iran is going for total domination of ALL potential oil export routes. Iran has long had the ability to launch anti-ship missiles in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian bases in Eritrea give it the ability to seal the entrance to the Red Sea/Suez Canal from the West. Iran now has the ability, as soon as it ships the missiles and launchers into Yemen’s ports, to launch from the East. Iran now has, or will soon have, the complete ability to seal both the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea entrance to the Suez Canal.

Iran is sneaky, and they aren't stupid folks. The Iranians have plenty of US technology, background and training from us. Their Air Force officers went through the same basic training as I did back in the 1970s. Those are the guys who became the pilots. Their OFFICERS got OUR training. I know, I was there and I saw them doing it.

Iran can shut down the oil production. They DO have anti-ship missiles. Remember the USS Cole? Port of Aden. Yemen. Yemen has trained terrorists as well. Now you have start support by Iran....The entire Gulf of Aden - an are RIFE with pirates is or could easily be under the control of Iranian and Russian ships quickly. US Ships are good - but likely would be rapidly outnumbered by suicide bombers and real missiles.

The goal of all this is several fold, in my opinion.

First: Iran seeks to take down the Saudi Arabian Royal Family in order to gain control of the sacred sites.

The Saudi Royal family, while *I* don't care that much for them is certainly on the side of the US. Even Obama gets that. He stopped over, leaving India yesterday to pay respects to the dead king. He's dead (to me) so move on is my thinking. NO, he dropped the rest of his visit with the PM of India for that, it means something.

Second: Iran seeks to make it impossible for anybody, Israel, Europe, NATO, or the USA, to attack it when it announces it really does have nuclear weapons. Iran will simply state, in the event of any type of attack on Iran, it will seal the Strait of Hormuz. It will also seal the Red Sea entrance, from Yemen and Eritrea, to the Suez Canal.

I cite Pakistan and India as owners of nukes. We have for YEARS thought that it was going to blow up there. But amazingly, when a country gets nukes they simmer down a few degrees. I don't know if it's the awesome responsibility of owning nukes or the realization that if they fuck up, everyone else with nukes will be gunning for them. Unsure. BUT the MINUTE they announce "we own nukes" the whole paradigm will shift.

Three: Iran may very well be planning to make a public announcement it really does have nuclear weapons.

I can't speak to this at the moment. I've heard nothing in my own back channels... /shrug He might be talking out his ass or he might be dead on.

Four: Iran is seriously angry at the death of its people in Israel’s airstrike.

I'm seriously angry about the deaths of thousands at 9-11, but hell, they think I'm a KOOK in America here. A war monger. A baby killer from the 70s. Wtf do I know? Obviously the world seems to think that terrorists from the middle east are "freedom fighters" - which is bullshit. They are NOT fighting for freedom, they are fighting to ENSLAVE the world. That's the difference in Kris Kyle and Muhammad and his Jihadi bombs.

Five: Iran is opening a new southern front against Israel. This new front will prevent Israel from using the Suez Canal, especially for the Dolphin Class submarines Israel got from Germany. Yemen will make a very effective logistics hub for HAMAS in the Gaza strip. It will also work well for Shia based militias in Eastern Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

Iran is doing ALL of this through the use of terrorists. They are OVERTLY doing it. Hamas, the Gaza strip, Yemen and the Yemeni are all part of a proxy war against Israel. Make no mistake though, no matter what I THINK about a "paradigm shift" if they announce nukes, they WILL USE THEM ON ISRAEL.

Six: Iran will move to the next level. Iran will be a credible military threat, even without nuclear weapons, and able to unleash massive economic chaos with a few missile launches. Iran can blame any missile attacks on the Sunnis. Iran can make shipping insurance rates go so high no tanker will go through the Suez Canal, much less into the Persian Gulf.

Iran isn't, in my opinion a "credible military threat", not to us, not to Russia, not to Israel, not to NATO. However, Iran plus some outside help (other Arab nations with tanks) might cause Israel some issues. It's been a long time since the Six Days War when Israel kicked Egypt's ass all the way back to the Nile, and times change. However, I don't think ANY ME country has the wherewithal to do a great deal of damage WITHOUT nukes.

Russia is probably somewhere in the periphery of all of this. THAT is my fear. They will assist in the background as they always do, taking Iran's proxy war a step closer to it becoming Russia's proxy war using Iran..... it is probably even more complex than that, and beyond me.

All of this has happened within 48 hours of Israel killing that Revolutionary Guard General in the airstrike. IRAN IS NOW CLEARLY MOVING ON A WAR FOOTING AND TAKING DECISIVE ACTION IN PURSUIT OF IRANIAN MILITARY GOALS. The fact they are doing this at the same time as Obama’s so called peace effort is underway pretty much says all that needs to be said.

Now... in LOOKING at the news this morning, I'm seeing a lot of pissing going on in Iran over this. Some General was taken out. Don't know him, don't care, and tough shit on Iran. But Israel did it for cause. They don't go in and push buttons without cause. If Israel has proven anything over the years is they take and take and take the crap before they start dishing it back. When they DO dish it back it's in spades.

'Hezbollah promised not to avenge Israeli attack from Lebanese soil'

• Sources: Israeli strike in Syria kills senior Hezboll...
  
  
• Report: Israel knew about presence of Iranian general...
  
  
• Ya'alon: Israel knows how to exact a price from anyon...
  
  

“Whenever the response will come, Lebanon’s interest will be taken into account before anything,” a Hezbollah minister was quoted as saying by Kuwaiti daily "Al-Anbaa'."

UN peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon stand in front of snow-covered mountains in Kfar Kila village near the Lebanese-Israeli border. (photo credit:REUTERS)







Hezbollah has promised senior government officials in Beirut that it will refrain from retaliating against Israel, which it blames for last week’s attack on a convoy on the Golan Heights, from Lebanese soil.

According to a report in Saturday editions of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa’, Lebanese government sources said that the Shi’ite group was keenly aware of domestic public opinion and the rising apprehension over the prospect of Israeli reprisals similar to the devastation that was wrought during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

“Hezbollah doesn’t just have courage [in standing up to Israel] but it also has a high degree of wisdom,” a Lebanese government minister and Hezbollah member, Muhammad Fneish, is quoted as saying by Al-Anbaa’.

“Whenever the response will come, Lebanon’s interest will be taken into account before anything,” the minister said.

The contents of the Al-Anbaa’ article were translated by Channel 2’s Hebrew-language news website, Mako.

The tensions in the North that have been heightened following this week’s alleged Israeli airstrike that killed senior Hezbollah officials in the Golan Heights are also being felt in Lebanon, where apprehension is growing over the specter of another cross-border war.

A Lebanese parliamentarian with the secular-Sunni Future Movement told the Elnashra news agency earlier this week that his country’s interests have been subjugated to the whims of Iran.

“Fears of war between Hezbollah and Israel exist after [Hezbollah] showed no concern [to safeguard] the Lebanese interests as it implements an Iranian agenda,” MP Ahmad Fatfat said.

The lawmaker cited remarks made by Iranian leaders vowing revenge against Israel for killing a general with the Revolutionary Guards who was riding in the convoy with Hezbollah officials.

In a show of strength, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon visited the headquarters of the IDF's Northern Command on Friday.

Ya'alon vowed that Israel will not tolerate attempts to harm it, and would respond "with force against any such attempt."

Ya'alon visited the Northern Command's headquarters in Safed and heard a security evaluation. He was joined by the Northern Command chief Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi (who was until recently commander of Military Intelligence), the head of the Operations Branch Maj.-Gen. Yoav Har Even, and other senior officers from the command.

The defense minister heard about the latest IDF preparations in the north designed to ensure maximum readiness, after an air strike on Sunday killed 12 senior Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operatives near Quneitra, Syria.

Israeli warplanes flew a number of sorties in the skies over southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to weekend media reports north of the border.

Lebanese press reported that Israeli air force jets were also visible in the Beka’a valley.

Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.

[American Patriot]

What was behind Israel’s strike in Syria that killed an Iranian general?

By Steven Simon
January 23, 2015


Relatives of Lebanon’s Hezbollah commander Mohamad Issa, known as Abu Issa, stand over his coffin during his funeral in Arab-Salim, south Lebanon January 20, 2015. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho

On Sunday, an Israeli drone strike in southern Syria left six Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel dead — including an Iranian senior general and the son of the late external operations chief for Hezbollah. It also left a host of questions in its wake.
Was the strike a brilliantly executed Israeli disruption of an imminent attack planned by Hezbollah and Iran? Or a routine interdiction of a Hezbollah convoy that inadvertently killed several Iranians and a member of a prominent Hezbollah family?
Both versions, attributed to unnamed security sources within the Israeli defense establishment, were reported as details of the strike became known. While both are plausible, only one can be right. Though we cannot say which that is, we can point out the distinct purposes both narratives serve.
An Israeli narrative designed to downplay the drone strike and emphasize the inadvertent nature of the Iranian deaths would be an attempt to signal to Iran that the attack didn’t represent a deliberate escalation of the ongoing tensions between the two countries.
The high toll on the Iranian side has drawn the televised promise of retaliation against Israel from a senior Iranian commander, who pledged the release of “ruinous thunderbolts.”
Downplaying the attack would offer Tehran a way to avoid a spiral of escalation that neither country needs or wants. If Iran acceded to this logic, Israel would have scored a major — if accidental — hit. And it would be spared a response from Iran, for now.
The other narrative, that the strike deliberately targeted the Iranian contingent and Hezbollah, is governed by an alternative logic.
Hasan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, recently declared that Lebanon and Syria are now one unified and geographically contiguous front against Israel. Before the Syrian civil war, no statement along these lines would have been possible, since the Assad regime prevented agressive actions against Israel on its side of the border. But times have changed.
Amid the anarchy of an ongoing civil war, Assad can no longer exercise the sort of control he once did. This could let Iran play a very dangerous game on Israel’s north-eastern flank.
If Hezbollah launched rockets against Israel from inside Syria, Israel might find itself unsure of who to retaliate against. This would be especially the case if Hezbollah managed to obscure the origin of the rockets and the crews that launched them. Thus, from an Iranian perspective, the Syrian front against Israel would be a tremendous gift.
From the vantage point of Jerusalem, Israel could ill afford to let this happen. The presence of such a senior Iranian officer in a highly strategic location would have been read by Israel as Iran staking out its territorial claim and preparing for a second front, thus requiring a strong response. This could explain Sunday’s strike.
That leaves one last question: why attack the Iranians now?
Perhaps, according to the former commander of Israel’s southern front, Yoav Galant, timing was dictated by the Israeli election cycle. As the number two man in the rising Kulanu party, it might be prudent simply to chalk up this claim to his need to challenge Prime Minister Netanyahu’s motivations.
And perhaps that is all it is. Although Galant has since retracted his accusation, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz has examined the record of especially audacious military initiatives in Israel’s history with an eye on the political calendar. What the reporter discovered was that the June 1981 strike against the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak; the 1996 invasion of Lebanon; the 2009 invasion of Gaza; and the 2012 Gaza war were all launched when the incumbent prime minister faced a close election, or there was a political reputation at stake. There’s an organic link between domestic politics and foreign policy in virtually all countries, so this wouldn’t necessarily be a huge surprise.
With less than two months to election day, polls now show a slightly leftward tilt away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Whether Galant is right about his motives for the attacks can’t be known. But against the historical background, it’s not impossible that Galant’s claim sheds light on the timing of the strike. One way or the other, tensions between Israel and Iran are certain to rise.

[American Patriot]

And the pace builds.

'Israel warns Hezbollah: Don't dare attack our targets abroad'

• Fearing entanglement with Iran and Hezbollah on the n...
  
  
• Hezbollah in first response since Syria strike: Zioni...
  
  

The Arab-language newspaper 'Al-Hayat' quoted Western diplomats as saying that officials in Jerusalem sought to convey the message through indirect channels.

Rescue workers search for survivors and victims in the rubble left after a powerful car bomb destroyed the Buenos Aires headquarters of the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), in this July 18, 1994 file photo. (photo credit:REUTERS)





Israel has communicated a stern warning to Lebanese Shi’ite terror group Hezbollah against targeting any Israeli institutions abroad in retaliation for last week’s attack on a convoy of senior Iranian and Hezbollah military operatives on the Golan Heights, the Arab-language daily Al-Hayat is reporting on Monday.

The newspaper quoted Western diplomats as saying that officials in Jerusalem sought to convey the message through indirect channels. Israel does not have diplomatic relations with Lebanon.

The diplomats told Al-Hayat that “Israel would hold Hezbollah responsible for any attack against its institutions and nationals [abroad], including areas known to be frequented by Israelis in far-off places around the globe.”

Over the weekend, it was reported that Hezbollah promised senior government officials in Beirut that it will refrain from retaliating against Israel, which it blames for last week’s attack, from Lebanese soil.

According to a report in Saturday editions of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa’, Lebanese government sources said that the Shi’ite group was keenly aware of domestic public opinion and the rising apprehension over the prospect of Israeli reprisals similar to the devastation that was wrought during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

“Hezbollah doesn’t just have courage [in standing up to Israel] but it also has a high degree of wisdom,” a Lebanese government minister and Hezbollah member, Muhammad Fneish, is quoted as saying by Al-Anbaa’.

“Whenever the response will come, Lebanon’s interest will be taken into account before anything,” the minister said.

In July 2012, at least six people were killed and 30 wounded when a bomb exploded on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian resort town of Burgas.

A few months prior to that incident, a car bomb exploded near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, resulting in injuries. That same day, authorities in Georgia found a bomb underneath an Israeli diplomat’s car just outside of the embassy in Tbilisi.

Israel believes Hezbollah and its chief sponsor, Iran, were behind these attacks.

[American Patriot]

Top Iranian general and six Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli attack in Syria

Revolutionary Guards confirm Mohammad Ali Allahdadi died in Sunday’s attack along with members of Lebanese militant group

Lebanese Hezbollah supporters carry the coffin of Jihad Mughniyeh, one of the fighters killed in Sunday's attack. Photograph: Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

Saeed Kamali Dehghan
Monday 19 January 2015 10.59 EST

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have confirmed that a senior member of their elite forces died in an Israeli attack in Syria in which six fighters of the Lebanese military group Hezbollah are also reported to have been killed.
The Guards issued a statement on Monday saying that Mohammad Ali Allahdadi was, as the top Iranian general, visiting the southern Syrian region of Quneitra on Sunday when an Israeli helicopter opened fire, killing the Iranian and an unspecified number of Hezbollah fighters with him.
“A group of fighters and Islamic Resistance [Hezbollah] forces were accompanying general Mohammad Ali Allahdadi as they visited the region of Quneitra,” said the statement, which was published by the semi-official Fars news agency.
“[They] were attacked by a military helicopter of the Zionist regime,” it added, a standard Iranian reference to Israel. “This brave general was martyred in this attack alongside some members of Hezbollah.”
It’s a rare example of Israel – the bitter enemy of the Islamic republic and determined opponent of its nuclear programme – killing a senior Iranian military figure.
The Revolutionary Guards said Allahdadi had been dispatched to Syria to operate as an adviser to help its government and people in their fight against “Takfiri-Salafi terrorists” – Iranian terminology for Sunni jihadi extremists.
It has also emerged that among the Hezbollah fighters killed in Sunday’s attack was Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Hezbollah’s late commander, Imad Mughniyeh, who is believed to have been assassinated by Israel in Damascus in 2008. Another Hezbolllah commander, Mohamad Issa, also known as Abu Issa, was killed on Sunday, according to the Lebanese group.
Iran is a staunch supporter of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah, providing both with military and financial support. The Syrian conflict has cost many Iranian lives in recent years, including many members of the Revolutionary Guards. In February 2013, another senior Guards figure, General Hassan Shateri, was killed while travelling from Syria to Lebanon. Iran blamed his death on “the agents and supporters of the Zionist regime”.
Syria gives Iran physical access to Lebanon and Hezbollah, which is strategically important for Tehran’s leaders because of the group’s geographical position in respect to Israel. Iran does not recognise Israel as a country and usually refers to it as “the Zionist regime”.
After the 2006 war between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, Iran’s elite forces bolstered their presence in southern Lebanon, saying they were willing to revamp the region’s war-stricken infrastructure. This became a contentious issue for Tel Aviv but boosted the popularity of Iran among Hezbollah supporters.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the Israeli attack in Quneitra, which is on the Syrian controlled side of the Golan Heights. “This incident once again showed that Syria is part of the confrontation with the Zionist regime and Hezbollah is still standing firmly against Israel’s occupation and foreigners’ interference in the affairs of the regional nations,” the Iranian foreign ministry said, according to Fars.

[American Patriot]

And it spreads to other countries.

10 Israeli tourists hurt in anti-Semitic attack in Argentina

• Argentine prosecutor who accused president of whitewa...
  
  
• Argentina: Dead prosecutor tricked into accusing Fern...
  
  

An hours-long attack took place in a hostel in a small Argentine village.

Lago Puelo National Park. (photo credit:WIKIPEDIA)





Ten Israeli tourists were wounded in an anti-Semitic attack at a hostel in a small Argentine village.

Three assailants burned, robbed and beat the tourists at the Onda Azul hostel in Lago Puelo, in southern Argentina, between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. Monday, the Argentine media reported. Police in the Chubut province are investigating.

“It was a terrifying moment, several hours of fear,” hostel owner Sergio Polak told the local media. “They shouted, ‘Go, f***ing Jews, you f***ing Jews are robbing us’ in the Patagonia region.”

Monica Sasso, the area delegate for the National Institute Against Discrimination, or INADI, confirmed to reporters that the attack took several hours.

Polak also said the attackers threw stones and Molotov cocktails, and shot guns at the site, according to Argentinian Radio Continental.

He alleged that the assailants were neighborhood residents who live very close to the hostel, and that they are known to police, “but they are free and nobody has been arrested yet.”

The hostel, which shut down temporarily after the attack, usually houses guests from Israel and tries to attract them through a Hebrew-language Facebook page.

[American Patriot]

Well, boys and girls....

here you go.

Happening NOW

FBI: We Found Three Russian Spies In New York City

• Colin Campbell and Hunter Walker

• 52 minutes ago

Joe Raedle/Getty Images
See Also

Here's How To Spot A Real-Life Spy

Poisoned KGB Agent Said Putin Has A 'Good Relationship' With One Of The World's Top Mobsters

Russia Sent A Spy Ship To Havana While US Diplomats Are Visiting




The FBI announced on Monday that it had busted a Russian spy ring.
According to a federal complaint filed by FBI special agent Gregory Monaghan in a Manhattan federal court on Friday, an alleged spy, Evgeny Buryakov, posed as a banker in the New York office of an unnamed Russian bank.
Buryakov is reportedly being arraigned in the Southern District of New York.
Monaghan said Buryakov (a.k.a. "Zhenya") was actually on "deep cover" and working for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service to gather intelligence and transmit it back to Moscow.
The complaint also alleges that Buryakov helped "formulating questions to be used for intelligence-gathering purposes by others associated with a leading Russian-state-owned news organization." Additionally, the complaint said Buryakov worked with two other men who were involved in intelligence gathering activities for the Foreign Intelligence Service (also known as the SVR): Victor Podobnyy and Igor Sporyshev.
According to the complaint, both Podobnyy and Sporyshev served as trade representatives to the Russian Federation in New York. Podobnyy allegedly was also an attache to the permanent mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations.
In a statement, Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said Buryakov was attempting to get "economic and other intelligence information."
"The attempt by foreign nations to illegally gather economic and other intelligence information in the United States through covert agents is a direct threat to the national security of the United States, and it exemplifies why counterespionage is a top priority of the National Security Division," Carlin said.
The bank where Buryakov allegedly falsely posed as an employee was not named in the complaint. However, the website of Russia's Vnesheconombank identifies a man named Evgeny Buryakov as a "deputy representative" at the bank's office on Manhattan's Madison Avenue. According to the site, that office is the "representative office of Vnesheconombank in the USA."
The man named Evgeny Buryakov who worked at Vnesheconombank did not immediately respond to messages sent to his email address. Business Insider also called Vnesheconombank's Manhattan office on Monday. A woman who answered the phone would not confirm whether an employee there had been arrested and referred us to the bank's press office in Russia.
"I'm authorized to give you no comment," the woman said.
Vnesheconombank's office in Russia did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
The US and Russia have experienced a number of spying spats over the years. In 2013, Russia expelled an American suspected of being a CIA agent trying to recruit intelligence officers in Moscow. In an even more prominent 2010 incident, the US arrested 10 alleged Russian spies, including Anna Chapman, the "femme fatale" who was subsequently released as part of a prisoner swap with Russia.
This post is being updated.
Additional reporting by Elena Holodny.

[vector7]

Iran to Test Intercontinental Ballistic Missile in 2015 - US Defense Agency

02:48 26.03.2015(updated 02:58 26.03.2015)

The US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has assessed that Iran will be capable of testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) this year, US Missile Defense Agency Director James Syring said.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US ground-based interceptors based in Fort Greely, Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are sufficient to protect the United States homeland against “the future Iranian ICBM threat should it emerge,” Syring stated.


© Photo: Wikipedia
US Navy Spends $302Min on Trident Nuclear Missiles - Pentagon

“The DIA’s assessment is that Iran is capable of flight-testing an ICBM in 2015,” Syring told members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

“There’s not a likelihood expressed with that assessment,” Syring said, adding that the DIA will further evaluate the likelihood of an Iranian flight test in an assessment it will conduct later in 2015.

The United States has 30 ground-based interceptors deployed on its West Coast, and will be adding an additional 14 by 2017.

The United States also has 33 Aegis warships with mobile ballistic missile defense capabilities, and will upgrade to 35 ships by the end of 2016, according to the Missile Defense Agency.

NATO Scrambles Jets 400 Times in 2014 as Russian Air Activity Jumps

By Reuters 11/20/14 at 2:20 PM

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends ceremony to receive credentials from foreign ambassadors, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov seen in the background, at the Kremlin in Moscow, November 19, 2014. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool/Reuters

Filed Under: World, NATO, Russia

AMARI Estonia/LONDON (Reuters) - NATO warplanes have had to scramble 400 times this year in response to an increase in Russian air activity around Europe not seen since the Cold War, the alliance's chief said on Thursday.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation members have sought to fill gaps in the alliance's land, air and sea defences since Russia annexed Crimea and backed a secessionist movement in the eastern part of Ukraine.

Speaking to U.S., German and Estonian troops at a newly expanded and renovated air base in western Estonia, which once housed a Soviet military installation, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the problem was not just where the Russians are flying but that they are not turning on their transponders or communicating.

He said the flights - which have risen 50 percent over the last year - posed a risk to commercial air traffic.

"This pattern is risky and unjustified, so NATO remains vigilant. We are here and we are ready to defend all our allies against any threats,” Stoltenberg said in a speech after meeting Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas.

"It is a pattern which we have not seen for many years and it is a pattern that reminds us of the way they conducted these kind of military air activities back in the time of the Cold War."

Vice Admiral Peter Hudson, commander of NATO's Allied Maritime Command, said Russia was using its military forces in a "much more assertive manner", which included more Russian naval activity in the Baltic region.

"From a NATO perspective, we are going about our legitimate business in international waters working with our allies. They are occasionally interfering, occasionally operating as a nuisance," Hudson told Reuters in London.

"Safety has not been breached, but it is just a style of behaviour which we have not seen for 25 years, since the end of the Cold War," he said.

Stoltenberg said most of the Russian flights were close to NATO air space, with "very limited numbers of violations".

NATO allies remain concerned that France could still decide to sell an advanced military helicopter carrier to Russia, Stoltenberg said, but added that this was not a decision that NATO had any authority over.

NATO Intercepts 11 Russian Jets as War Games Continue

By Damien Sharkov 3/18/15 at 11:13 AM

Russian Air Force Su-34 fighter-bombers take part in a rehearsal for a military parade in Minsk June 26, 2014. Vasily Fedosenk/REUTERS

Filed Under: World, Russia, NATO

Lithuania has intercepted the largest group of Russian military jets near allied airspace this year, in the early hours of this morning, as Russia continues its snap military exercises in the Baltic, Arctic and elsewhere.

The increasing number of unannounced Russian military drills near its Baltic neighbours, combined with Russia sending jets into airspace close to its European neighbours has prompted concern from defence officials on the continent before. Lithuania and Estonia’s defence ministries have previously said such tactics could allow Russia to redeploy forces on their borders.

On Monday Russia began one such drill, which includes testing the combat readiness of 38,000 servicemen from various branches of the armed forces by simulating war scenarios. The exercise is focused on the mobilisation of the entire Northern Fleet near the Arctic, military units were also deployed near the Black Sea and the Baltic.

As these exercises continue a spokesman for Lithuania’s Ministry of Defence says that 11 Russian military aircraft were spotted by NATO’s Baltic Air Police Mission flying in international airspace near Lithuania earlier today without the pre-filed plans for their route. The Ministry also reported the jets had their on board transponders switched off and they did not maintain radio communication.

The group of Russian jets, included long-range Su-27 and Su-34 fighters caught flying near the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad and were intercepted and escorted by allied Typhoon jets from the NATO base at the Lithuanian city of Šiauliai today.

The jets were intercepted before entering allied airspace, however the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence has highlighted that such maneuvers are still dangerous as they “pose a threat to civil aviation”.

The jets were all intercepted in one scramble, making it the largest such interception by the Baltic Air Police Mission so far in 2015. This follows the huge spike in interceptions of Russian planes for the NATO mission, which culminated in December when a record number occurred - 21 scrambles were performed by the alliance over the Baltic, intercepting almost 80 aircraft in the space of six days.

A spokesperson for the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence says that such scrambles have become a “daily occurrence” for the Baltic allies.

According to Baltic security expert Martin Hurt, some of the intercepted Russian jets were likely part of the Russian exercises in the region, however their unannounced flights near allied airspace have strategic purpose.

“While doing this, Russian authorities obviously track the behaviour of NATO and other nations’ air forces,” says Hurt, who has previously worked for the Swedish and Estonian defence ministries.

“This is, I am afraid to say, likely to continue and in the long run, NATO should consider whether the current level of military presence in the Baltic states is sufficient,” Hurt warns.

“Military exercises will undoubtedly raise the combat readiness of the Russian Armed Forces and at one point, something that first may seem to be an ordinary exercise may as well develop into a real military operation similarly to what happened in Crimea in February 2014.”

Hurt suggests NATO enforce Baltic defences with more “significant” measures, arguing that doing so would have “a sobering effect” on Russian decision making.

“Today’s Baltic Air Policing mission is what the name suggests – a peacetime police arrangement. It does not constitute a military form of deterrence, even though it certainly has a solid political element of deterrence,” he adds.

Russian Supersonic Jets Force NATO to Scramble Fighters

By Damien Sharkov 3/25/15 at 2:26 PM

Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighters perform during the "Russia Arms Expo 2013" 9th international exhibition of arms, military equipment and ammunition, in the Urals city of Nizhny Tagil, September 25, 2013. Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Filed Under: World, Russia, Baltics, NATO, Air Force

NATO jets scrambled to intercept four Russian fighter planes flying in international airspace near Baltic allied territory yesterday, after the leading Russian aircraft’s maneuvers allegedly broke the sound barrier.

A NATO official has confirmed that an interception of four Russian jets took place at around 8am local time as a group of two Russian Tu-22 “Backfire” bombers and two Russian Su-27 “Flanker” fighters flew over the Baltic Sea from mainland Russia towards the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and were subsequently intercepted.

The group flew without a pre-filed flight plan and without communicating with civilian air traffic control, according to NATO.

While NATO does not publish exact details regarding such interceptions, according to the Aviationist website the Tu-22 leading the Russian formation flew at supersonic speed forcing allied aircraft to perform a “supersonic run” in return to keep up with the Russian bomber.

The NATO base at Siauliai, Lithuania where the alliance has deployed its Baltic Air Policing mission tracked the Russian jets and eventually sent a Eurofighter Typhoon to escort the Russian planes.

The allied Typhoon was then prompted to chase after the Tu-22 at supersonic speed - the first time such a high speed pursuit has been recorded during the recent spike of Russian unannounced forays near allied skies.

Last week NATO intercepted the largest group of Russian jets this year near allied airspace as 11 of them flew in formation near Kaliningrad, as Russia’s minister of defence Sergey Shoygu said this month his country had no plans to stop these unannounced flights.

Russian presence in international waters and skies has increased dramatically since relations between the Kremlin and the west have deteriorated, with Scandinavia and the Baltic countries complaining about approaching Russian jets or sea vessels near their borders.

The Baltic ministries of defence have expressed concern at the rate of which Russia was sending its planes near their airspace without warning, with Estonia’s International Centre for Defence and Security arguing that Russia may be angling to raise European governments to stop treating Russia’s activities with such alarm, which would allow Russia to strike against “one or several Baltic capitals”.

A recent report from the London-based thinktank the European Leadership Network warned that Russia’s “invisible” fighters are putting passenger flights at risk.

[American Patriot]

three.... two..... one......

[vector7]

Iranian Hackers Suspected over Massive Turkish Blackouts

Scores of provinces in Turkey suffered huge power outage for several hours Tuesday; Iranian regime among the suspects.

By Gil Ronen

First Publish: 4/1/2015, 11:52 AM

Scores of provinces in Turkey suffered a massive power cut Tuesday, halting mass transportation, hospitals and the manufacture of goods, and closing down 11 of the country's air traffic control receivers.

Officials told daily Hürriyet that the massive outage was caused by a technical problem in the system of the Turkish Electricity Conduction Company (TEİAŞ), which operates energy transmission lines.

Doğan News Agency reported that almost all 81 provinces were affected by the cuts, except for the eastern province of Van, which imports its electricity from neighboring Iran.

The power cut began at around 10:36 a.m. in Istanbul and continued for hours. Metro networks in Istanbul and Ankara, trams and the high-speed train in Eskişehir were all affected.

“Every possibility including a terrorist attack is being investigated” about the outage, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told reporters in Ankara.

Energy Minister Taner Yıldız also said the authorities were investigating whether the power outage was due to a technical failure or a “cyber-attack.”

“I also cannot say whether or not there was a cyber-attack. The most important thing for us is to bring the system back to life. This is not something we frequently experience,” Yıldız said.

Yıldız released another statement at 8:40 p.m. and announced that energy was finally restored throughout the country. "I got permission from our President and also talked to our Prime Minister. I'm returning to Turkey," Yıldız said, stressing that he and his ministry's officials "will spend the night to find out the cause of the problem."

The Energy Ministry said that there was a problem with the main distribution lines and that the cut likely originated in the Aegean region. The blackout was the worst in Turkey since the since 1999 Marmara earthquake 15 years ago.

IBTimes UK offered five of the top explanations for the blackout. These included the claim, by the Turkish Electrical Engineers Board of Directors, that some private power suppliers had refused to sell electricity due to low prices, resulting in a mass shortage shortage.

Another possible culprit is Iran. Tensions between Turkey and Iran have intensified in recent days after Turkish president Recep Erdogan called for Iran and "terror groups" to get out of Yemen, where Shia militant groups have staged an insurgency.

Some believe that Iranian hackers may have targeted the Turkish infrastructure, disabling computer systems.

Hurriyet also reported that a large explosion had been heard in the industrial Kocaeli province, in northwestern Turkey, at about the time the blackout began. Authorities said that they were investigating the claims, and that terrorism had not been ruled out as an explanation for the attacks.