Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Strain on U.S. Munition Stockpiles: Challenges, Priorities, and the Need for Strategic Planning With China in mind

A Defense News article discusses the strain on U.S. munition stockpiles due to increased demand from Ukraine and Israel. In early 2023, the U.S. transferred artillery shells to Ukraine, but the ongoing conflict has depleted stockpiles, impacting munitions planning. Ukraine's monthly shell expenditure exceeds U.S. monthly production by approximately 3.6 times. Israel's request for 155mm shells further stresses stockpiles. The Pentagon's poor munitions planning raises concerns about its ability to address Indo-Pacific contingencies. Israel has also sought precision-guided munitions, raising questions about U.S. capacity and planning. Wargames indicate potential shortages in high-intensity conflicts with China. The article highlights deficiencies in the Navy's Tomahawk missile inventory and warns of potential challenges in responding to conflicts in multiple regions simultaneously. It emphasizes the need for strategic prioritization, reworking acquisition plans, and promoting multiyear procurement authorities for munitions. The article underscores the importance of addressing long-term munitions challenges to safeguard national interests.


Here is the link to the original article:

https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/2023/12/19/the-us-needs-more-munitions-to-deter-china/

Pentagon's Replicator Initiative Faces Skepticism Amid Push for Rapid Drone Deployment

 The Pentagon's Replicator initiative, aiming to deploy thousands of drones in two years to counter China, has garnered mixed reactions. The initiative, announced by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, faces skepticism as details remain vague. While hailed as innovative, doubts persist about Replicator's ability to navigate bureaucratic barriers and deliver tangible results. Industry leaders, investors, and lawmakers express cautious optimism, emphasizing the need for transparency on funding, procurement processes, and the practicality of deploying drones to deter conflicts, particularly around Taiwan. Replicator's success hinges on overcoming funding challenges, engaging nontraditional companies, and defining clear strategies for selecting and deploying drone systems.


If you want to read the original article, here is the link:

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2023/12/19/replicator-an-inside-look-at-the-pentagons-ambitious-drone-program/

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Russia May Fly Military Cargo to Syria: Report------------Defense News


MOSCOW — Russia may decide to fly a controversial military cargo of helicopters and air defense systems to Syria after it abandoned an attempt to ship the material by sea, according to a June 27 report.
The West wants Russia to halt military cooperation with Syria because of the escalating conflict between the Damascus regime and rebels, but Moscow has insisted it cannot break contracts.
A freighter, the Alaed, docked in the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk over the weekend after turning back off the British coast. The ship halted its voyage to Syria to deliver the military cargo when its British insurer dropped coverage.
“The three Mi-25 helicopters and air defense systems could easily be delivered to Syria by air,” a military source, who was not identified, told the Interfax news agency.
“Russia has to fulfill its obligations. But everything will depend on if we can resist pressure from the West, who want us to break military cooperation with Syria,” the source said, adding a decision would be made soon.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has confirmed the Alaed was carrying three attack helicopters Moscow had repaired for Damascus under a previous agreement.
He said last week the cargo also included air defense systems but gave no further details on the type or quantity on board.
Russia delivers a range of limited air defense systems to Syria but reportedly has refused to provide the more advanced S-300 technology that it had previously also failed to give to Iran under Western pressure.
The Vedomosti business daily reported June 26 that Russia this year chose to withhold the S-300 from Syria, despite a $105 million delivery contract being signed by the system’s producer and Damascus in 2011.
Military experts have speculated that the Alaed was carrying the more basic Russian Buk-M2e air defense systems for Syria, whose forces last week shot down a Turkish warplane off the Syrian coast.
In Murmansk, the Alaed’s flag has been changed to a Russian flag from that of the Caribbean island of Curacao.
But Russia has yet to confirm if the ship will now make a repeat attempt to reach the Syrian port of Tartus or travel on to Russia’s Far East port city of Vladivostok as originally planned.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Obama warns Iran Of Use Of Force-------------Defense News


WASHINGTON — U.S. President Barack Obama reaffirmed his strong backing for key ally Israel on March 4, warning Iran that he would not hesitate to use force, if required, to stop it developing a nuclear weapon.
“Iran’s leaders should know that I do not have a policy of containment; I have a policy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And as I’ve made clear time and again during the course of my presidency, I will not hesitate to use force when it is necessary to defend the United States and its interests,” Obama said in a keynote address to a pro-Israeli lobby group.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

New Floating Bases For U.S. Navy------Defense News

The U.S. amphibious ship USS Ponce is to be converted as a base for minesweeping helicopters, patrol boats and special forces based in the Persian Gulf.

Decades after the idea was broached for a floating, mobile base to support operating forces in the Persian Gulf, the concept has suddenly shifted into high gear, and a sense of urgency is driving both new U.S. ship construction and conversion of an existing vessel.
A new Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) is mentioned almost in passing within the Pentagon budget briefing document made public Jan. 26. Development funding will be provided, the document said, for a new AFSB “that can be dedicated to support missions in areas where ground-based access is not available, such as countermine operations.”
Elsewhere, under “industrial base skills,” the documents noted that, “for example, adding the afloat forward staging base addresses urgent operational shortfalls and will help sustain the shipbuilding industry in the near-term and mitigate the impact of reducing ship procurement in the” budget.
What is all this verbiage code for?
“This fulfills a long-standing requirement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), going back to the Tanker Wars of the late 1980s,” said Capt. Chris Sims, a spokesman for U.S. Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Va.
Sims was referring specifically to a recent decision to modify the amphibious transport dock ship Ponce — which had been scheduled to be decommissioned March 30 — into an interim AFSB able to support minesweeping MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters.
The ship will be operated jointly by active-duty Navy officers and sailors, and by government civilian mariners employed by Military Sealift Command (MSC) — a hybrid crew similar to those used on the Navy’s two submarine tenders and the command ship Mount Whitney.
Beyond the conversion, though, the Navy now plans to build at least one, and possibly two, AFSBs.
U.S. Navy officials would not publicly confirm the new construction, but sources confirmed the service plans to modify the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) design to take on the AFSB role.
Three MLPs have been funded for construction at the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding (NASSCO) shipyard in San Diego. The ships are large, 765-foot-long vessels able to float off small landing craft, tugs or barges.
For the AFSB role, a fourth MLP hull would be modified with several decks, including a hangar, topped by a large flight deck able to operate the heavy H-53s in the airborne mine countermeasures role.
But the AFSB will also be able to carry Marines, support patrol and special operations craft, and fuel and arm other helicopters.
The ship is expected to be requested in 2014.
Sources also said the Navy might be considering modifying the third MLP to the AFSB mission. Construction of that ship, funded in the 2012 defense bill, is being negotiated between NASSCO and the Navy.
Conversion of the Ponce, meanwhile, is proceeding with alacrity. MSC issued requests for proposal (RFPs) on Jan. 24 to upgrade and refit the ship. Bids are to be submitted by Feb. 3, with work to begin in mid-month. The RFPs state that sea trials are to be carried out in mid-April.
The work includes upgrading the ship’s navigation systems, bringing habitability up to MSC standards and general refurbishment. No flight modifications are planned at this time, said MSC spokesman Tim Boulay.
Fleet Forces Command also has begun solicitations for 50 Navy personnel to help man the ship in its special mission role.
The Ponce had returned to Norfolk from its final cruise Dec. 2, and crewmembers had already begun the inactivation process when the order came down to keep the ship running.
Use of the ship, Sims said, was “seen as an opportunity to fulfill that longstanding CENTCOM request.”



Friday, January 27, 2012

NATO Russia Missile Defence Confidence deteriorating -----Defense News


BRUSSELS — NATO has made little progress on missile defense cooperation with Russia, possibly jeopardizing a planned summit in May, said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
“Maybe we won’t clarify the situation until a few weeks before the [Chicago] summit,” Rasmussen said Jan. 26 at his monthly press conference.
A summit with Russia is scheduled to take place just before the NATO summit May 20-21.
“If there is no deal, there will probably be no [NATO-Russia] summit,” Rasmussen added.
Asked what he expected to come out of the NATO summit in terms of smart defense, Rasmussen said he hoped NATO would “adopt a political declaration” containing “a political commitment to a number of specific projects.”
It was “premature” to talk about them today, he said, adding that missile defense was “an excellent example of smart defense” with a number of allies providing input, such as hosting radar facilities.
He cited air policing as another example.
“At some stage, we’ll have to decide on a long-term arrangement for air policing in the Baltic countries,” he said. He cited it as a good example “because a number of allies do it on behalf of the Baltic countries so that the Baltic countries can focus on deployable armed forces for international operations.”
In summary, he described smart defense as “a combination of a number of concrete multinational projects and a long-term political vision of how to do business in the future.”
Looking ahead to the Chicago summit, he said, “We must renew our commitment to the vital trans-Atlantic bond” as it is “the best security investment we ever made.”
Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities are an area that NATO is looking into in terms of its smart defense project. According to a NATO official, it is “no coincidence” that NATO officials have been invited to the U.S.’s Schriever space and cyber defense war games in the last week of April, before the Chicago summit.
As to the growing concerns over the Strait of Hormuz, Rasmussen said individual allies are involved in the Iran question but that “NATO as an organization is not.” He urged Iran’s leadership “to live up to its international commitments, including stopping its [uranium] enrichment program and ensuring free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Referring to his 2011 annual report, Rasmussen said NATO had weakened the insurgency, strengthened Afghan forces and brought enemy attacks down by 9 percent; had conducted a “highly effective operation protecting the civilian population” in Libya; and captured 24 pirate ships off Somalia (half the figure for 2010).
Asked about Libya, he said, “NATO is not present in Libya and has no intention to return.”

Monday, January 23, 2012

U.S. won't cut Carriers below 11

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, arrives aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise on Jan. 21.

ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS ENTERPRISE — Pentagon budget cuts will not threaten the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet and the U.S. Navy plans to keep 11 afloat, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Jan. 21.
“The carriers play a major role in our force, not only today but they will play an important role in the future. You’re part of what keeps our force agile and flexible and quickly deployable and capable on taking on any enemy anywhere in the world,” Panetta told about 1,700 sailors.
“It’s for that reason that the president of the U.S. and all of us working at the Department of Defense, have decided that it is important to maintain our carrier force at full strength and that means we’ll be keeping our 11 carriers in our force,” Panetta said to a swell of cheers in one of the ship’s hangars.
The Pentagon has to find $487 billion in spending cuts in the next decade.
Experts and analysts speculated in recent weeks over the upkeep costs for aircraft carriers as Panetta will have to deliver a belt-tightening budget in the near future.
He said maintaining the carriers, each of which carry near 80 aircraft and helicopters, was key to U.S. military projection in the Pacific and Mideast, but indicated that the Navy would face some cost-cutting.
“We have to look at every area,” Panetta said.
USS Enterprise, cruising off Georgia, is supposed to be taken out of service at year end, after 51 years at sea. The Navy will have 10 carriers for three years — the time it will take to finish building USS Gerald Ford.
Panetta said that USS Enterprise, which is headed to the Middle East in March, would pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic shipping lane that Iran is threatening to close.
“It will be going through the Strait of Hormuz,” Panetta said, noting that two U.S. carriers — the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln — were already in the Gulf region.
“Obviously we are fully prepared to deal with any contingency in that part of the world,” Panetta said.
“We’ll continue to work with the international community, we’ll continue to put sanctions on them,” he said, referring to Iran. “We’ll continue to make those messages clear. The most important way to make those messages clear is to show that we are prepared, that we are strong, that we’ll have a presence in that part of the world.”

Friday, January 20, 2012

U.S. Military Chief visits Israel amid Iran Tension

U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey speaks to the press with Israel 's Chief of Staff Lt. Benny Gantz on Jan. 20 at the end of Dempsey's visit to Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum.


JERUSALEM — U.S. Chairman of the Joints Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey on Jan. 20 urged Israel to keep the channels of communication open amid concerns the Jewish state could launch a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
After talks with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on his first visit to Israel since taking office last October, Dempsey said both sides would benefit from greater engagement over regional issues, in an apparent reference to the Iranian nuclear standoff.
“We have many interests in common in the region in this very dynamic time and the more we can continue to engage each other, the better off we’ll all be,” he said, quoted by Barak’s office.
Israel fears a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat to the Jewish state and has refused to rule out a resort to military action to pre-empt it, although earlier this week Barak said any such decision remained “very far away.”
Reports suggest Washington is against such a strike, and the U.S. administration is understood to be putting pressure on Israel to hold off.
In the morning, Dempsey said Israel and Washington shared a “common challenge” and stressed U.S. backing for the Jewish state in remarks addressed to Israel’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.
“Your characterization of the common challenge we face and the sacred trust we have to protect those values of freedom — I couldn’t agree with you more,” said Dempsey, whose comments were carried on Israel’s public radio.
“And I assure you that America is your partner in that regard,” said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who arrived late on Jan. 19 for the visit.
He had an early morning meeting with Gantz before talks with Barak, after which he traveled to Jerusalem with the chief of staff to meet President Shimon Peres and pay a brief visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum.
He concluded a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the day before leaving in the early evening. Netanyahu’s bureau did not release a statement following the meeting.
Peres’s office said that at the meeting with Dempsey and Gantz, they had “discussed the political-security developments in the Middle East and the world.”
“I am sure that we shall win this battle,” Peres said in remarks carried by public radio, apparently alluding to the Islamic republic.
“It is not only for the United States of America, not only for Israel. It is really a struggle to make the world a free place, a safe place for people.”
Israeli press reports said the visit was to focus on Western sanctions against Tehran that Netanyahu said earlier this week did not go far enough, as well as on the possibility of a pre-emptive Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
“The main disagreement pertains to the possibility of a strike on the Iranian nuclear sites,” the Maariv daily said.
“While an increasing number of voices can be heard in Israel supporting such a move, U.S. officials are trying to calm the atmosphere, and fear that Israel could act without informing them or only provide a warning shortly in advance.”
Quoting officials engaged in preparatory talks ahead of Dempsey’s visit, Maariv said they “would try to reach an understanding with the Americans and set a kind of red line based on various criteria, including timetables and actions on Iran’s part.”
Israel and its U.S. ally, like many other Western governments, suspect Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability under cover of its civil program, an ambition Tehran strongly denies.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

U.S. Navy rescues third Iranian crew


WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy announced Jan. 18 it led a rescue operation to assist the crew of an Iranian fishing vessel in distress in the Gulf of Oman, the third in 10 days in an area marked by tension between Washington and Tehran.
A Seahawk helicopter from the guided-missile destroyer Dewey spotted an Iranian fishing boat sinking early Jan. 18, while two other vessels tried to tow it to safety, according to a Navy press release.
One sailor remained onboard the sinking boat, called the Al Mamsoor, while two other crew members took refuge on the vessels that came to help.
The helicopter stayed overhead while the Dewey joined the rescue operation.
“Once we talked with their captain, it was clear that they needed food and water,” said Navy Lt. Jason Dawson, the leader of the rescue team.
The Al Mamsoor crew had fought flooding for three days before abandoning their vessel, the Navy said.
The rescue team gave the crew about 150 pounds of food, water and other supplies before returning to the Dewey.
On Jan. 7, Navy destroyer rescued 13 Iranian fishermen who were being held hostage by Somali pirates. The guided-missile destroyer Kidd made the rescue after one of the kidnapped fishermen revealed in a radio communication that pirates held his vessel’s crew captive.
The destroyer is one of the U.S. warships the Iranian government has warned to stay out of the Strait of Hormuz, which is used by ships that carry about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.
On Jan. 11, the U.S. Navy rescued six Iranian merchant marines from a sinking cargo ship in the Persian Gulf.
Despite Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, Washington has pledged to maintain its warships in the area. The Dewey is a carrier escort ship that Tehran has threatened with reprisals.
The Iranian government threatened to close the Strait in retaliation for economic sanctions by Western nations against Tehran’s suspect nuclear program.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

U.S. prepared for Hormuz Action


WASHINGTON — The United States is “fully prepared” for any confrontation with Iran over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, but hopes a dispute would be resolved peacefully, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Jan. 18.
“We obviously always continue to make preparations to be prepared for any contingency, but we are not making any special steps ... because we’re fully prepared to deal with that situation now,” Panetta told reporters.
Tehran threatened to close the strait — a chokepoint for one-fifth of the world’s traded oil — late last month, in the event of a military strike or severe tightening of international sanctions over its disputed nuclear program.
Washington is beefing up its naval presence in waters just outside the Gulf in response to the threats.
“We have always maintained a very strong presence in that region. We have a Navy fleet located there,” Panetta said.
“We have a military presence in that region ... to make very clear that we were going to do everything possible to help secure the peace in that part of the world.”
The defense chief said Washington has been clear on its effort to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and from closing the Strait of Hormuz.
“Our goal has always been to make very clear that we would hope that any differences that we have, any concerns we have can be peacefully resolved and done through international laws and international rules,” he said.
“We abide by those international laws and international rules. We would hope that Iran would do the same.”
He declined to comment on a report which said Washington had sent a letter to Iran regarding its threatened closure of the waterway, but said “we have channels in which we deal with the Iranians, and we continue to use those channels.”
On Jan. 13, the New York Times, citing unnamed U.S. officials, reported that Washington had used a secret channel to warn Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that closing the narrow strategic waterway would cross a “red line” and provoke a response.
Panetta said the postponement of joint military exercises with Israel came at the request of his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Barak.
“Minister Barak approached me and indicated that they were interested in postponing the exercise,” he said.
“We looked at it and determined that in order to be able to plan better and to do this so that we would be able to conduct that exercise that it would be better to postpone.”
Israeli officials said on Jan. 16 that the postponement was because of regional tensions and instability, and that the drill will probably take place in the second half of 2012.
The joint maneuver was to have been the biggest yet between the two allies and was seen as an opportunity to display their joint military strength at a time of growing concern about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
But it was to come at a time of rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel, Washington and much of the international community believe masks a weapons drive.

"Attack on Iran would be catastrophe " says Russia


MOSCOW — Russia on Jan. 18 said a military strike on Iran would be a “catastrophe” with the severest consequences that risked inflaming existing tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also accused the West of trying to suffocate the Iranian economy and incite popular discontent with new sanctions such as a proposed oil embargo.
“As for the chances of this catastrophe happening, you would have to ask those constantly mentioning it as an option that remains on the table,” Lavrov said when asked about the chances of military action.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak had earlier said his country was not even close to deciding to attack Iran over its nuclear weapons program and still believed that a military option remained “very far away.”
Lavrov told an annual foreign policy briefing that the chances of war were too dire too contemplate because they would incite intercommunal tensions in the region and flood neighboring countries with Iranian refugees.
“I have no doubt in the fact that it will only add fuel to the fire of the still-simmering Sunni-Shiite conflict. And I do not know where the subsequent chain reaction will end, Lavrov said.
“There will be large flows of refugees from Iran, including to Azerbaijan, and from Azerbaijan to Russia. ... This will not be a walk in the park,” he said of possible military involvement.
Lavrov added that punitive sanctions aimed at winning more transparency from Iran had “exhausted” themselves and only hurt the chances of peace.
“Additional unilateral sanctions against Iran have nothing to do with a desire to ensure the regime’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation,” Lavrov said. “It is seriously aimed at suffocating the Iranian economy and the well being of its people, probably in the hope of inciting discontent.”
His comments came as European Union diplomats closed in on a July date for a full oil embargo that would suit nations such as Italy with a strong reliance on Iranian supplies.
Lavrov said Russia had evidence that Iran was ready to cooperate closely with inspectors from the United Nations IAEA nuclear watchdog and was preparing for “serious talks” with the West.
He also hinted that Europe and the United States were imposing the measures with the specific purpose of torpedoing new rounds of talks.
Russia has been one of the few world powers to enjoy open access to senior Iranian leaders and on Jan. 18 hosted its Supreme National Security Council deputy chief Ali Bagheri.
The Iranian embassy said Bagheri would hold talks with Lavrov and discuss the option of resuming nuclear negotiations with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.
Moscow was also due to receive Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar on Jan. 22 for talks focusing on domestic security issues and drug trafficking.
Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow for his part said he expected Russia’s support to continue because it too was being threatened by the West.
“We expect Russia not to agree to a deal with the West,” Iranian Ambassador Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi told the Interfax news agency.
“If there are (non-Western) countries that want to see Iran become a victim of the West, they must understand that the West will get to them too,” said Sajjadi. “We hope that the Russian government and the Russian people will take note of this.”







Monday, January 16, 2012

NATO Warship Assists Iranian Vessel


BRUSSELS - A NATO warship went to the rescue this weekend of an Iranian-flagged vessel whose engine broke down just days after its rescue from pirates by another NATO ship, the alliance said Jan. 16.
An Italian ship, the ITS Grecale, offered the five Iranian and nine Pakistani crew food and water and worked through the night to fix the engine, but to no avail, NATO said in a statement.
"The engine was too badly damaged to repair at sea," the statement said.
"NATO offered to transfer the crew to the closest port, but they chose to stay with their vessel," it added. The ITS Grecale "is remaining in the area to monitor the situation, ready to provide further assistance if required."
The ship had been released from suspected Somali pirates on Jan. 7 by a Danish warship, the HDMS Absalon.
That operation came days after a U.S. warship, the USS Carney, intercepted the Indian-flagged dhow Al-Qashmi off the southwestern coast of Oman and freed its 20 Indian crew members.
The weekend assistance comes amid heightened tensions between the international community and Tehran.

Regional 'Tensions' Delay U.S.-Israel Drill


JERU.S.ALEM - Israel and the United States opted to delay a major joint military exercise because of regional tensions and instability, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Jan. 16.
"The entire world understands that we had to postpone this exercise because of political and regional uncertainties, as well as the tensions and instability prevailing in the region," Lieberman told public radio.
"It's only a delay, the exercise will take place by the end of the year," he added, speaking from Warsaw where he was on an official visit.
Speaking in Jerusalem at an Independence faction meeting, Defence Minister Ehud Barak noted later that talks with the U.S. on postponing the exercise had began a month ago.
"In recent days, we reached the conclusion that it would be right to postpone it, this will enable us to better prepare for it," he said in comments relayed by his office.
He added that the drill will probably take place in the second half of2012, and constitutes "another layer of our deep and important security ties with the U.S."
On Jan. 15, a senior Israeli security official confirmed that the exercise, codenamed "Austere Challenge 12," which had been scheduled for spring, was now being put back to late 2012.
The joint maneuver was to have been the biggest yet between the two allies and was seen as an opportunity to display their joint military strength at a time of growing concern about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. But it was to come at a time of rising tensions over Iran's nuclear program, which Israel, Washington and much of the international community believe masks a weapons drive.
The United States is seeking tough new sanctions against Tehran, including its oil exports and financial institutions, and Iran has responded by threatening to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
On Jan. 15, two Israeli officials questioned whether the international community, and the United States in particular, were pushing hard enough for new sanctions.
Lieberman on Jan. 16 also called for speedier action, saying now "is the time for the international community to move from words to actions."
And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the current regime of EU and U.S. sanctions are not enough to force Tehran to halt its nuclear program.
"As long as there won't be real and effective sanctions against Iran's petroleum industry and central bank, there will be no real effect on Iran's nuclear program," Netanyahu told MPs at a parliamentary committee on Jan. 16, with his remarks transmitted by a spokesman.
But Barak warned against publicly criticizing the U.S. on its course of action against Iran.
"On sanctions and the preparations for other options that could become relevant, this administration is definitely acting much more than in the past," he told his faction members.
"Alongside the mutual respect in the (U.S.-Israel) discourse, and alongside respecting each other's freedom of decision, I think we need to speak clearly in closed chambers, and publicly be careful about respecting the other, and refrain from public criticism of a government that at the end of the day sees things similarly to us, and is acting to stop Iran from becoming nuclear," he said.
Asked about the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Lieberman said it was not for Israel "to take on a mission that is one for the international community, but it must keep all options on the table."
"Iran is not a threat to Israel alone. For the Gulf countries, Iran is also problem number one," he said. "Iran has taken control of Iraq and wants to do the same in Saudi Arabia to be able to dictate energy policy in the whole world."
Lieberman also accused Tehran of aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on pro-democracy activists, saying his regime "wouldn't last a week without Tehran's help."
Israel has made no secret of its desire to see crippling sanctions imposed on Iran in a bid to halt its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for civilian energy and medical purposes alone. But it has also kept open the possibility of military action to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Israel has been linked in media reports to both a computer worm that setback the nuclear program and a string of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

U.S., Israel Postpone Joint Missile Exercises


JERUSALEM - Israel and the United States have agreed to postpone a major military defence exercise scheduled for spring, a senior security official Jan. 15 Sunday, amid rising regional tension over Iran's nuclear programme.
"Israel and the United States have agreed to postpone the maneuver planned for spring," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"The exercises will take place between now and the end of 2012," the official added, without elaborating.
Earlier, public radio said the "Austere Challenge 12" exercise would be pushed back to the end of 2012 over unspecified budgetary concerns, citing military sources.
Israeli Army radio, citing a defense official, said it was being postponed to avoid "unnecessary headlines in such a tense period."
The joint maneuver was to have been the biggest yet between the two allies and was seen as an opportunity to display their joint military strength at a time of growing concern about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Israel, the United States and much of the international community accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to mask a weapons drive, a charge Tehran denies.
The postponement appeared to suggest fears the exercise could dangerously ramp up regional tensions, at a time when Iran has already threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz - a chokepoint for one fifth of the world's traded oil - in the event of a military strike or severe tightening of international sanctions over its nuclear program.
Meanwhile, the United States sent Iran a letter over its threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said Jan. 15, without revealing the letter's contents.
"The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, sent a letter to Mohammad Khazaie, Iran's U.N. representative, which was conveyed by the Swiss ambassador, and finally Iraqi President Jalal Talabani delivered its contents to officials" in Iran, the official IRNA news agency quoted Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.
"We are in the process of studying the letter and if necessary we will respond."
Last month, the Israelis insisted the joint maneuvers were planned in advance and denied they were related to Iran.
"The exercise scenario involves notional, simulated events as well as some field training and is not in response to any real-world event," the military said.
The postponement was not expected to affect a visit to Israel by top U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, who is scheduled to arrive this week and meet with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.
But the delay was announced as reports suggested unease in U.S.-Israeli relations over the best response to Iran's nuclear program, and after an Israeli official voiced "disappointment" at Washington's approach.
Washington has spearheaded a push for international sanctions against Iran, including on its oil exports and financial institutions.
But Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon told public radio he thought U.S. President Barack Obama's administration should be tougher.
"France and Britain understand that the sanctions must be strengthened, in particular against the Iranian Central Bank," Yaalon said. "The U.S. Senate is also in favor, but the U.S. government is hesitating, fearing higher oil prices in an election year. It's disappointing."
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, speaking Jan. 15 ahead of a trip to Britain, also accused the international community of dragging its feet.
"It is regrettable that the international community has not yet used all the means at its disposal to stop the Iranian nuclear program," he told public radio.
Israel has made no secret of its desire to see crippling sanctions imposed on Iran in a bid to slow its nuclear development, and reports suggest it has also taken other actions to delay the program.
The Jewish state is suspected of involvement both in a computer worm that reportedly set back Iran's nuclear efforts, as well as a campaign of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.
Media reports have pointed the finger at Israel's intelligence agency Mossad.
Foreign Policy magazine reported that Israel's actions had created friction with Washington, and The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 13 that U.S. officials had warned Israel against unilateral military action against Iran.
Yaalon said Jan. 15 that a military strike remained a last resort for Israel.
"Israel must defend itself. I hope that we will not arrive at that point," he said.