Monday
Feb152010
Middle East Inside Line: US, Russia, & Israel on Iran; Lieberman v. Palestinian Authority; US Congressman "Break Gaza Blockade"
Monday, February 15, 2010 at 12:48 
US-Israel Defense Meeting on Iran: The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, said in Israel on Sunday, "Iran must not acquire nuclear capability". He added: "It [a regional confrontation following a strike on Iran] will be a big, big, big problem for all of us, and I worry a great deal about the unintended consequences of a strike... We haven't taken off any option from the table."Meanwhile, Haaretz says that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will be arriving in Israel within weeks on an official visit.
Middle East Analysis: The Iran-Russia-Israel Triangle
Moscow's Snub to Israel on Iran Missiles: An hour before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plane took off on Sunday, Russian officials said that Moscow sees no reason to delay the sale of the S-300, a powerful air-defense system, to Iran. Vladimir Nazarov, deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council secretary, told Interfax news agency in an interview:
There is a signed contract [for the S-300 missiles] which we must follow through on, but deliveries have not started yet. This deal is not restricted by any international sanctions, because we are talking about deliveries of an exclusively defensive weapon.
On the other hand, according to Haaretz, Russian intelligence officials leaked comments expressing their displeasure with plans by an Israeli firm to close a major arms deal with Georgia.
Lieberman Accuses Palestinian Authority: Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that "much of the global effort to de-legitimize Israel is supported and sponsored by the Palestinian Authority". He added that the bid to smear Israel in the international community was "partially sponsored by funds Israel is transferring to the Palestinians".
US Congressman "Break Gaza Blockade"US: On Sunday, Rep. Brian Baird, a Democrat from Washington state, spoke to a group of Gaza students regarding the situation in Gaza and said that the United States should break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver badly needed supplies by sea. He resembled such an operation to the situation in the post-Second World War and said: "We ought to bring roll-on, roll-off ships and roll them right to the beach and bring the relief supplies in, in our version of the Berlin airlift."
Reader Comments (17)
The S-300 may not have the same stealth-chasing radar like the S-400. I'm sure the US would use stealth aircraft for any strike on Iran. Maybe Russia has no plans to export the new system at this time.
US soon or later should repair her image in middle east.
This might be a first step to get closer to Arabs and Persians and get rid of Israel.
US does not need Israel any more. Iran can do ten times better job to manage the middle east resources for US. Iran will not cost US a cent and will help US economy.
Israel does not want US to hear the signals that Iran will send everyday.
Obama should have guts to go and sit with Ahmadinejad face to face and put down the stick and get rid of the Carrot.
Iran want to share the cake. With Iran it will be much bigger cake and everybody will be happy.
I think Iran has the S 300 copies that China is making.
Iranian are smart. They will upgrade the radar system of there rockets and they have something equivalent of S 500.
The 31 years of economic sanctions on Iran can do magic. Iranian have invented the calculus, Algebra, Geometry and Chess go figure!
The Babylonians pioneered algebra (in what is now Iraq). Geometry originates with the Greeks (Euclid).
You do not know what are you talking about.
Al-Jabr is Arabic/Persia means rules that is unavoidable. The word itself is Persian/Arabic
Go and study before you post Here is one of the million links on the subject http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebra
The book of Summary Concerning Calculating by Transposition and Reduction, a book written by the Islamic Persian mathematician, Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, in 820.
This is about 1000 years before America existed!
@Behnaz
Any similarity between the ancient Romans and their civilization - and the Italian people who live in Rome today is purely coincidental.
The same applies to any comparison between the ancient Persian civilization and the country called Iran today.
Barry
And about Creeks, Their knowledge in math was very limited due the fact that they were not using decimal point and there way of counting was not suitable for calculation in general.
You have to look east for the roots of math.
Nobody knows exactly how advance Babylonian were in math, but we know for sure that Cyrus (king of Persia) which was named king of the kings were ruling over Babylon and he is also famous for the first declaration of human right some 3000 years ago.
US does not need to teach Iran anything, Not technology, not math, and neither Freedom, since all these things were invented by Iran long before so called western civilization.
I do not see any civilization in the west specially in US. You guys are more barbaric than ancient Persia, possibly more barbaric that chegiz Khan.
"You guys are more barbaric than ancient Persia, possibly more barbaric that chegiz Khan."
Quite possibly - but the Americans can put a man on the moon! That takes a bit of doing.
Barry
Iran will put a man on the moon in 10 years.
If US have not interfered with Iran Internal affair in 1953 and topeled Iran
Democratic government, Iran could have done it much earlier in 60s or maybe in 70s.
Here is reason why you guys are more barbaric than Chengiz Khan.
A book written by Norman G. Finkelsteins, This Time We Went Too Far.
Read the book you will understand!
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24580.htm
@barry your argument regarding the similarities between ancient Romans and contemporary Italians well noted and agree that the same reasoning can be applied to Greece and even Egypt. But not valid regarding China and Persia, as those cultures never completely capitulated nor their development completely halted. rather, they have gone through periods of decline and resurgence such as we see experienced today by both. I think similarities between ancient Persia and the China and today's Iran and china are rather considerable -- the timelines seem to be intact linguistically, historically, and culturally.
Thanks Hamid for clarifying this issue. It is probably the Hollywood fault to show propaganda as history of the civilizations.
Some people seriously think that Creeks had control over Iran for a long time and somehow changed her culture.
The real picture was a bunch of bandits burned books and palaces and any sign of of Persian civilization and culture to brake its resistance. A few decade later they failed miserably and left.
Until today not only Iran survived all of her enemies but also reinstituted its independence.
They do not realized that even recently Iran was a huge country and after first and second world war was divided between Russia and allied forces and some of the Arab Countries was also part of Iran even after second world war.
It looks that China is on the rise and historically China always respected Persians and had a good relationship with them.
If we get pass the bullies of Israel intact we could find a respectful place in Asia again, otherwise there is risk for third world war if Israel propaganda machine can convince Americans that Iran is a danger, the same way they painted Iraq as a danger.
There is no resistance in US to this propaganda, people do not care because they cannot connect the dots.
The media in US is under the control of the Israel, I was hoping this will change with Obama in office. I realized that I was mistaken after his choices of his cabinets.
I was fooled with this guy's speeches. He is worse than Bush, because people will trust him.
People have very short memory. Didn't he promised to negotiate face to face with Ahmadinejad. What is he waiting for? To war to break out?
Dear Behnaz -- the relationship between ancient persians and greeks was so extensive and lasting for such a long time (around 600 years) that it is very difficult to seperate the the direction of cultural influences (one can see the presence and influence of Greek architects and masons in Persepolis among other influences). however, the main problem in understanding ancient persia is that the main surviving document regarding the persian achamanids is the writtings of Herodotus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodotus which means from a greek perspective. the only history of the achamanids based on persian sources was compiled by professor Olmstead of University of Chicago which is very helpful in understanding a more complete history of the period between 500BC to 100 BC. A more balanced assessment of persian-greek relationship reveals a complex, and vast interaction over several hundred years that has benefited both persians and greeks as well as human culture and civilization in general. as for Israel I only mention that israelis are making a historical mistake of not recognizing their true friends and potentials. it seems that israeli leadership is still looking at the world from a Cold_War/WWII perspective and has not yet identified israel's potential role and ensuing benefits in the new middle east and the emerging MULTI-POLAR world. will they? time will tell.
and about military action towards Iran-- no one really believes the tough Israeli and sometimes US posturing -- doing so clearly has such dire consequences that no one believes that it will be done-- a fact that is not hidden to iranians -- I'm afraid the US and israel have to find some other tactic to appear really really scary. They have been beating their chests for so long and so hard that the only worry for iranians is their breasts must be awfully sore by now. come on guys the key to good political drama is not persistence, but rather intelligence.
@hamid
"it seems that israeli leadership is still looking at the world from a Cold_War/WWII perspective"
I think that the Israelis look at the world from the perspective of the many wars (1948,1956,1967,1973 and 1982) that they have fought with Arab States - after said Arab States threatened to push them into the Mediterranean Sea. They also have heard the chants "death to Israel" that have sounded loudly and clearly from Iran since 1979. They also now hear what Mr Ahmadinejad says - and they believe him.
Barry
[deleted by moderator]
Barry,
And don't forget the Grand Mufti's love affair with Hitler.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/muftihit.html