31.01.2010, 00:03
Zitat:'Iran may lash out at Israel'<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=167280">http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News ... ?id=167280</a><!-- m -->
US President Barack Obama's national security adviser on Friday cited a heightened risk that Iran will respond to growing pressure over its nuclear program by stoking violence against .
The adviser, retired Marine Gen. James Jones, said history shows that when regimes are feeling pressure they can lash out through surrogates.
He said that in Iran's case that would mean facilitating attacks on through Hizbullah in and Hamas in . helps arm both terrorist groups.
Jones also alluded to the prospect of additional international sanctions being applied to as one factor in making feel greater pressure.
He said another factor is internal pressure — an apparent reference to street protests against the Iranian leadership over the disputed presidential election June 12.
Zitat:Report: US accelerating missile defenses in Persian Gulf<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841794,00.html">http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 94,00.html</a><!-- m -->
The Obama administration is speeding up the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, placing special ships off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in at least four Arab countries, the New York Times reported Saturday, citing administration and military officials.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, head of US Central Command, was quoted by NYT as saying that the acceleration of defensive systems — which began when President George W. Bush was in office — included “eight Patriot missile batteries, two in each of four countries.”
According to NYT, General Petraeus also described a first line of defense: He said the United States was now keeping Aegis cruisers on patrol in the Persian Gulf at all times. Those cruisers are equipped with advanced radar and antimissile systems designed to intercept medium-range missiles.
[...]
Military officials told NYT that the countries that accepted the antimissile weapons were Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait.
They said the Kuwaitis had agreed to take additional defensive weapons to supplement older, less capable models it fielded years ago, while it awaits delivery of an upgraded system that it is seeking from the Raytheon Company. Saudi Arabia and Israel have long had similar equipment of their own," said the report.
“Our first goal is to deter the Iranians,” one senior administration official told NYT, "A second is to reassure the Arab states, so they don’t feel they have to go nuclear themselves. But there is certainly an element of calming the Israelis as well.”
[...]
Wird wohl wieder etwas heißer am Golf.