Syria "Strongly Denies" Scuds Going to Hezbollah
Syria on Thursday strongly denied Israeli charges that it was transferring Scud missiles to the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group, calling the allegation an attempt by the Jewish state to disguise their intention to launch a new war in the region.
"For some time, Israel has been running a campaign claiming that Syria has been supplying Hezbollah with Scud missiles in Lebanon," a foreign ministry statement said.
"Syria strongly denies these allegations which are an attempt by Israel to raise tensions in the region," the statement added.
"Israel is seeking to create a climate that will pave the way for an eventual Israeli aggression to avoid responding to the requirements of a just and comprehensive peace," said the statement, carried by the government-run Syrian Arab News Agency.
U.S. intelligence officials told CBS News on Wednesday that Israel's claims were legitimate, and that Syria had in fact transferred Scuds to Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon but has the backing of Iran's ruling clerics. No further details were provided.
The Syrian embassy in Washington also vehemently denied the accusation as an Israeli attempt "to divert global attention" from settlement construction, its occupation of Arab land, its assumed nuclear arsenal and its "continuous arming" with U.S. weaponry.
The United States voiced alarm about the Israeli reports on Wednesday, warning any such deliveries to Hezbollah would put Lebanon at "significant risk."
If Syria was in fact transferring such advanced weapons to Hezbollah, "this would put pressure on Washington to move fast and bring Israel and Syria back to direct peace talks, frozen since 2000," according to an analyst who spoke to CBS News on the condition of anonymity.
If Hezbollah -- deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. government -- actually acquired Scud missiles, the weapons' accuracy and long range would put most, if not all Israeli cities easily within the group's reach.
President Obama's nominee to become the first U.S. Ambassador to Syria in more than five years received majority backing Tuesday in a vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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Hezbollah with Scuds and Iran working toward a nuclear weapon adds up to to another war in the Middle East...a big one this time.
It's very sad that highly-destructive religion prevents people all over the world from reaching compromises.
They're buying scuds from North Korea, silly.
But, Iran's sanction will hurt not only The well being of the Iranian people as well as the normal economic, trade, financial and energy exchanges between Iran and many COUNTRIES in the world.
Washington's "double standard" on Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), while selling "nuclear technology to Israel and India," a non-signatory to the NPT.
US continues its annual $3 billion assistance to Israel, despite an American law forbidding aid to any country producing weapons of mass destruction
Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, is at the moment largely in compliance with it, has no nuclear arsenal, and does not even have a nuclear weapons program. (The treaty allows countries to enrich uranium for fuel, which is all that Iran is known to be doing). Yet the US has an extensive regime of economic sanctions on Iran, along with UN Security Council sanctions, both of which Obama is attempting to ratchet up. Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, is at the moment largely in compliance with it, has no nuclear arsenal, and does not even have a nuclear weapons program. (The treaty allows countries to enrich uranium for fuel, which is all that Iran is known to be doing). Yet the US has an extensive regime of economic sanctions on Iran, along with UN Security Council sanctions, both of which Obama is attempting to ratchet up. In contrast, Israel is actively constructing more and more nuclear warheads, which it is stockpiling, and which its leaders occasionally brandish at other Middle Eastern states. The Israeli arsenal, in turn, spurs a Middle East arms race... It is the most blatant double standard to threaten Iran with crippling sanctions and a nuclear strike, and to ignore Israel's massive nuclear weapons program, America exerts its weight once again as the puppet of Israel
U.S. leaders often claim that they?re acting against Iran on behalf of the whole Middle East region, implying that their strategy has the backing of Arab governments. Washington hawks insist that the Arabs would applaud if the U.S. bombed Iran, utilising the silence of the Arab regimes to speak as if on their behalf. That underscores the importance of the Arab voices that have begun challenging the idea that a confrontation with Iran could produce any positive outcome.
Iran is also said to be a threat to neighbouring Arab states, thereby enabling the U.S. to sell Patriot anti-missile systems to Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and to try and sell to Turkey and Oman as well.
At last Arab League summit, the secretary general Amr Moussa called for the stand-off to be tackled through Arab dialogue with Iran. ?We need to see where we differ and where we disagree with Iran and how to deal with that,? Mr Moussa said. ?Iran is not an enemy but a fraternal state and dialogue will help bring about peace and stability in the region.?
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/Arab-League -Summit-Concludes-Amid-More-Criticism-of-Israel- 89360822.html
IRAN REASSURES ARABS OVER NUCLEAR WORK.
A senior member of the Iranian parliament has reassured regional Arab countries that Tehran's nuclear work will not pose a threat to them.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122784& sectionid=351020104
SAUDIS DENY DISCUSSING PRESSURE ON CHINA OVER IRAN WITH US
(AFP) Mar 12, 2010
RIYADH Saudi Arabia denied on Friday that its officials had discussed with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates putting pressure on China to back a new round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALe qM5jaJXpOyBOpnjEQrPcu88EvcLvnYA
How close Iran is to acquiring a bomb depends on whose propaganda you believe. But by most reliable accounts, it?s not close.
ERDOGAN CALLS ISRAEL IS THE REAL THREAT TO PEACE IN MIDEAST.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230 3591204575169980169518418.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDL EThirdNews
ROFL.. smuggling them?
those things are huge how are they smuggling them?
with Saddams Mobile weapons labs?