This Is Something That We Do Not See Everyday

The aircraft of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, left, stands alongside the aircraft of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after landing at Zurich airport today. Photographer: Gwen Ackerman/Bloomberg

Israeli Jet Parked Next to Iranian Sparks Davos Thaw -- Bloomberg

Zurich air traffic controllers may have inadvertently succeeded where diplomats have failed for decades: to bring Israelis and Iranians together.

As the jets of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Switzerland today to take their leaders to the World Economic Forum, their planes were parked side-by-side under cloudy skies.

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My Comment: Yup .... fate has a sense of humor.

Iran Lashes Out At Israel

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (C) arrives at Baghdad International Airport Sept. 8 Photo: REUTERS

Iran FM Accuses Netanyahu Of 'Lying, Deceiving, Scaring' The World Over Iran's Nuclear Weapons -- Al Bawaba

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of lying in his rejection of Tehran’s overtures to the West as a “charm offensive.”

“We have seen nothing from Netanyahu but lies and actions to deceive and scare, and international public opinion will not let these lies go unanswered,” Zarif said in an interview with Iranian television broadcast on Tuesday, Agence France Presse reported.

Speaking from the United Nations, Zarif made his speech shortly before Netanyahu was set to address the General Assembly in New York later on Tuesday.

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More News On Iran's Foreign Minister's Comments On Netanyahu/Israel

Iran FM accuses Israel's Netanyahu of 'lies' -- FOX News/AFP
Iran FM accuses Netanyahu of 'lie attack' on nukes -- Global Post/AFP
Iran FM accuses Netanyahu of lying about nuclear program -- Times of Israel
Iranian FM: Netanyahu the 'most isolated man' at UN -- Haaretz/Reuters
Iranian FM: We have seen nothing but lies from Netanyahu -- Jerusalem Post
Iranian FM: Israel can't kill all our scientists -- YNet news
Iranian FM: Israel's N. Arsenals Threatening Global Peace -- FARS News Agency
Israel has arsenal of 200 nuclear warheads - Iranian FM -- Voice of Russia

Update: VIDEO: FULL Interview of Iranian FM Javad Zarif on ABC ‘This Week’

Israel Issues Warning After Iranian Presidential Elections

Iran Election: Israel Issues Warning After Rouhani Win -- BBC

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that international pressure on Iran must not be loosened in the wake of the election of reformist-backed Hassan Rouhani as president.

Mr Netanyahu said Iran's nuclear programme must be stopped "by any means" and there should be no "wishful thinking" about Mr Rouhani's victory.

The cleric won just over 50% of the vote in Friday's election.

He said his election was a "victory of moderation over extremism".

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More News On Israeli Reaction To Iran's Presidential Election

Israel PM: Sanctions on Iran Should Increase -- AP
Netanyahu urges no let-up in world pressure on Iran after vote -- Reuters
Netanyahu warns West: Don't be deluded into easing nuclear pressure on Iran -- Haaretz/Reuters
Keep up Iran nuclear pressure: Netanyahu -- The Australian
Israeli officials chill enthusiasm over new Iranian president -- Xinhuanet
Peres: Rowhani victory proves Iranians want end to extremism -- Haaretz

Is Israel And Iran Having 'Informal' Nuclear Talks?

Israel And Iran Hold 'Positive' Nuclear Talks In Brussels -- The Guardian

Brussels conference could help pave way for full international conference on banning weapons of mass destruction in Middle East.

Israeli and Iranian officials are taking part in a on nuclear proliferation meeting in Brussels on Monday, in the hope of paving the way for a full international conference in the next few months on banning nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East.

A handful of officials from both Israel and Iran are involved in the two-day event, ostensibly in their capacity as private citizens, in what was billed as an academic seminar.

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My Comment: I was surprised when reading this Guardian report .... no one else is reporting on it right now. but this should not surprise anyone .... over the past few weeks I have been reading numerous reports that the U.S. has (and is) holding secret talks with Iran (latest report here). But as long as Iran refuses IAEA requests to examine their nuclear program, these 'secret talks' and/or informal talks in a Brussels conference is not going to resolve this crisis.

What's My Take On Israeli - Iranian War Tensions

Photo - iStockphoto/Thinkstock

The Drums Of August: Israel Is Not Bluffing. -- David Rothkopf, Foreign Policy

It is easy to be skeptical when the alarms start going off about a pending Israeli attack on Iran. They seem to come with the seasons, a geopolitical biorhythm that reminds us never to be too comfortable with one of the world's most volatile relationships. But it is worth remembering that the punch line of the story about the little boy who cried wolf is that ultimately, the wolf shows up.

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My Comment: I have always been a skeptic on the idea that Israel would launch a military strike against Iran with the intent of destroying and/or crippling Iran's nuclear program. The distances are too great, the Iranian defenses are formidable, the Israeli defense forces lack the firepower and equipment, and there is a lack of political will in Jerusalem to actually go through.

Today .... for the first time .... I am not sure.

More Fallout From The Leak Of A Secret Israeli-Azerbaijan Pact Against Iran

Is The U.S. Leaking Information To Undermine Israel’s Campaign Against Iran? -- Globe And Mail

A secret Israeli-Azerbaijan pact giving the Jewish state use of old Soviet air bases to attack Iran’s nuclear sites revealed by Foreign Policy magazine exposed a bold military option to the vexed problem of getting bomb-heavy warplanes to their distant targets.

Or was the story all part of a complex and devious disinformation campaign by the Obama administration to box Israel in, or one targeted at the president?

From a military standpoint, the strategy was simple, if audacious. Israeli warplanes would refuel in Azerbaijan before the final low-level dash across the Caspian to targets in Iran.

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My Comment: Jonathan Tobin has his own analysis on why this story was leaked.

Israeli Paper Says Strike On Iran Could Delay Bomb

From Reuters:

JERUSALEM, Aug 12 (Reuters) - A major Israeli newspaper ran a front-page story on Wednesday quoting an unidentified "senior defence official" as saying Israel believed a military strike could disrupt what it says is an Iranian nuclear arms programme.

Under a photograph of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sitting the previous day in the cockpit of an F-15I long-range fighter-bomber, mass-selling Maariv quoted the official as saying Israel could carry out such a strike without U.S. approval but time was running out for it to be effective.

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Update: US intel chief says no Iran nukes possible before 2013 -- Christian Science Monitor

My Comment: A bombing attack may delay Iran's nuclear project .... but I suspect that such a delay will not be as long as the Israelis may hope it would be.

If they want to make an impact, they will need to conduct a comprehensive and extensive bombing campaign .... but realistically .... they do not have the resources to do it.

And even if they are permitted by their Arab neighbors to have an unrestricted air corridor to bomb Iran, the anger and rage that will then occur in Iran will take decades to calm down and will have consequences that I doubt most countries .... Israel included .... have calculated.

So what to do?

Hmmmm .... there are no easy answers.

Israel-US F-35 Deal 'Targets Iran, Syria Defense'

F-35A

From Press TV:

Israel's plans to buy US F-35 fighters indicate its desire to be able to penetrate the Russian air defense systems Iran and Syria are set to receive, a report says.

F-35 fighter aircraft can make the S-300 air defense systems ineffective, as computer simulations have shown that the new US stealth fighters outperform Russian missiles, Ria Novosti cited officials in Tel Aviv as saying.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), made by Lockheed Martin, is expected to be one of the most-advanced fighter jets in the world, said the Russian news agency, quoting a passage from a Jerusalem Post article.

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My Comment: ELP Defens(c) Blog disagrees.