Iran marks Army Day with cries of ‘Death to Israel, US’

http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-marks-army-day-with-cries-of-death-to-israel-us/

Military parade near Tehran features truck carrying banner calling for destruction of Jewish state; Rouhani sets out ‘strategy of deterrence’

 A truck bearing the slogan 'Death to Israel' at an Iranian military parade, April 18, 2015 (screen capture: Reuters/YouTube)

 

 Iran on Saturday marked Army Day with a military parade featuring new weapons systems, as well as a truck carrying a massive banner reading “Death to Israel.”

 A televised broadcast of the parade was punctuated by repeated cries of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

 “If Israel makes a mistake,” the announcer on Iran television said during the broadcast, as heavy trucks carrying armored personnel carriers rolled past, “those in Tel Aviv and Haifa will not sleep at night, not one person.”

 

 

 

Broadcast on national television, military brass and political leaders, foremost President Hassan Rouhani, attended the procession south of the capital Tehran, which showcased the country’s military technologies.

Among the weapons systems paraded past dignitaries was a domestically produced version of the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile, the Bavar 373.

Speaking at the event, Rouhani said Iran was adopting “a strategy of deterrence in order to prepare for peace and security in Iran and the Middle East.”

“Our method of action is defense and not offense,” he said.

Russia announced earlier this week that it would supply the S-300s to Iran shortly, having delayed delivery for several years. The announcement prompted bitter protests from Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned President Vladimir Putin, in vain, to ask him to cancel the deal.

Israel fears the S-300s would complicate any military intervention as a last resort to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive. It also fears Iran could supply the missile defense systems to Syria or Hezbollah, diluting Israel’s air supremacy over Syria and Lebanon.

On Friday, President Barack Obama said he was surprised the Russians had held back from going through with the deal for as long as they had.

Rouhani also harshly criticized Saudi Arabia Saturday, warning that the Saudi royal family in Riyadh will harvest the hatred it is sowing in Yemen through its airstrike campaign.

Since March 26, the Saudi-led coalition has been attacking Shiite rebels known as Houthis and allied fighters loyal to Yemen’s ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Iran supports the rebels but denies providing any military support.

“What does bombing the innocent … Yemeni people mean? What goals are you pursuing? Will killing children bring power to you? You planted the seeds of hatred in this region and you will see the response sooner or later,” Rouhani said. “Don’t bomb children, elderly men and women in Yemen. Attacking the oppressed will bring disgrace … for the aggressors.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already called the Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen “genocide” and a “major crime.”

Iran has presented a four-point plan to end the conflict that includes humanitarian aid, dialogue and the formation of a broad-based Yemeni unity government after a proposed cease-fire was already rejected by Saudi Arabia.

Rouhani also accused Saudi Arabia of providing weapons and funding to terrorist groups in the Middle East.

“What does providing financial assistance and weapons to terrorists in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq mean,” he asked.

Iran is supporting both Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Iraqi government in its fight against Sunni Muslim extremists, including the Islamic State group. Tehran says Saudi Arabia and several other Middle East governments support the Islamic State group.

Prominent lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who heads the parliamentary national security and foreign policy committees, predicted that Saudi Arabia will find itself trapped in the Yemeni “quagmire.”

“We are so sorry that today Saudi Arabia and (its allies) have placed themselves in a quagmire and leaving it will definitely not be an easy task,” he told reporters Saturday.

Putin Warns Israel: Do Not Send Arms to Ukraine

PUTIN WARNS ISRAEL

Moscow threatens that sending arms to Kiev in retaliation for S-300 missile agreement with Iran will raise the death toll.



Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Israel against sending arms to Ukraine on Saturday, days after reports emerged that Jerusalem would be in contact with Kiev in retaliation for Moscow lifting a ban on S-300 missile sales to Tehran. 
Putin warned in an interview on Russian television that Israeli retaliatory measures would only bring on a new round of violence and raise the death toll in the embattled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, which has been the center of a bloody war between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists for over a year. 
“It’s a choice for the Israeli leadership to make, they can do what they see necessary,” Putin said.

Putin signed a decree on Monday lifting a ban on the delivery of S-300 anti-missile rocket systems to Iran. 
His latest comments surface days after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu phoned him to express Israel's great concerns over the deal. In the phone call, Netanyahu warned Putin that the sale will increase Iran's aggression in the region and shake the security of the Middle East.

Russia signed a contract in 2007 to supply Iran with five S-300 advanced missile batteries, which can be used against aircraft or guided missiles, at a cost of $800 million.
In 2010, Russia's then-president Dmitry Medvedev cancelled the deal, after the United States and Israel applied strong pressure on him. Both countries worry that the S-300 would make Iran less vulnerable to attack by either one of them, and motivate Iran to develop a nuclear weapon

CBS CHICAGO: Preparing Americans FOR A NUCLEAR APOCALYPSE!

The signs of the times, the words behind the gestures being made tell the story of just how close we are to a Nuclear war with Russia. This report was found on CBS Chicagos website and posted on March 19th 2015. Not only do we have the possibility of a confrontation with Russia this past week, but the Russian companies are preparing their employees for a nuclear war, now America begins its preparations for a nuclear war.

This all comes just days after military officials were fired for not nuking Russia.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Where are you most likely to survive an all-out nuclear attack by the Russians?

Certainly not Chicago, which would be vaporized in either a 2,000 warhead or 500-warhead scenario.
This map was created using data from FEMA and the National Resources Defense Council.
The 2,000-warhead attack assumes a first strike by the Russians. The 500-warhead attack would be a retaliatory strike in the event the United States launched first, thus limiting the Russian arsenal.
Looking at the map, one might have some luck camping at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and then sailing up Lake Michigan to the Upper Peninsula.
Somehow making a journey to Idaho in the post-nuclear apocalypse might be a good option as well.
Good day, and good luck.

Huge asteroid to fly by Earth at 37,000 kph on Friday

A 1,000 meter-wide asteroid is heading towards Earth this week – and its course will reach its closest point to our planet on Friday, according to NASA.
Traveling at a speed exceeding 37,000 kph, the 2014-YB35 asteroid is set to approach Earth from a distance of 4,473,807 km – some 11.7 times further away than the moon – according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
But should the asteroid's orbit be closer, the impact of collision could be devastating – and trigger earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as climate changes. For an asteroid of its size, it would not be difficult to beat the Tunguska Event of 1908, which left some 80 million trees knocked down in Siberia and sent a shock wave measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale.


“Smaller scale events like Tunguska are absolutely a real risk, largely they are undiscovered and so we are unprepared,” Bill Napier, professor of astronomy at the University of Buckinghamshire, told the Daily Express. “With something like YB35, we are looking at a scale of global destruction, something that would pose a risk to the continuation of the planet. These events are however very rare, it is the smaller yet still very damaging impacts which are a very real threat.”
The asteroid was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in December last year, and is expected to “return” back to Earth in 2033, this time at a distance of about 3,330,000 km. The Minor Planet Center has classified it as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA).



According to NASA, outer space is home to over 1,500 PHAs. “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid's potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth. This ‘potential’ to make close Earth approaches does not mean a PHA will impact the Earth. It only means there is a possibility for such a threat,” a NASA spokesperson said.
“By monitoring these PHAs and updating their orbits as new observations become available, we can better predict the close-approach statistics and thus their Earth-impact threat.”
This January, a massive asteroid the size of a mountain traveled past Earth at a much closer distance of 1,199,600 km, or 3.1 lunar distances. 2004-BL86 gave scientists a chance to learn more about the nature of asteroids – and, to their surprise, they found out that the space rock has its own moon.

Oil prices surge after Saudi air strikes in Yemen

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/26/us-markets-oil-idUSKBN0MK0Z020150326

(Reuters) - Brent crude oil prices shot up nearly 6 percent on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies began a military operation in Yemen, although Asian importers said they were not immediately worried about supply disruptions.
The strike against Iran-backed Houthi rebels who have driven the president from the country's capital could stoke concerns about the security of oil shipments from the Middle East.
Oil prices jumped as traders saw the attacks as the latest incident in a conflict that is spiraling out of control in the world's richest oil region.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 rose as high as $59.71 a barrel, up almost 6 percent since their last settlement, before dipping back to $58.84 a barrel at 0310 GMT, still up $2.36. U.S. crude CLc1 was up $2.19 at $51.40 a barrel.
"There is a big confrontation between Iran and Saudi (Arabia), between Sunnis and Shi'ites, in Syria and Iraq. This is more evidence that the geopolitical risk in the Middle East has become chronic," said Tony Nunan, risk manager at Japan's Mitsubishi Corp.
Despite the price jump, importers of Middle East oil were not immediately concerned about disruptions.
"Just because Saudi and others conducted air strikes doesn't mean the oil market becomes suddenly tight," said Masaki Suematsu, manager of the energy team at brokerage Newedge Japan in Tokyo.
He cautioned, though, that the conflict could spiral further beyond the airstrikes.
In South Korea, another big Asian importer, officials said the current troubles occurred near the Red Sea, waters that Arab Gulf supplies do not pass through on their way to Asia.
But Arab producers like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq have to pass Yemen's coastlines via the tight Gulf of Aden in order to get through the Red Sea and Suez Canal to Europe.
The narrow waters between Yemen and Djibouti, at less than 40 kms (25 miles) wide, are considered a "chokepoint" to global oil supplies by the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the region is heavily militarized by western navies.
Despite Thursday's price jumps, oil prices still remain around 50 percent lower than in June 2014, when prices began to fall as surging global production was met with slowing demand and lower economic growth, especially in Asia.
(Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo, Meeyoung Cho in Seoul, and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Richard Pullin and Tom Hogue)

BREAKING NEWS VIDEO: SAUDI ARABIA AND EGYPT ARE BOMBING YEMEN

Breaking News: Saudi Arabia announced tonight the country has started bombing rebel positions inside Yemen. The Saudi Arabian Ambassador holding a news conference announcing the military operation. We know the operation involves 10 countries including Gulf Arab countries.

 https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152766724467951

Breaking News: Saudi Arabia announced tonight the country has started bombing rebel positions inside Yemen. The Saudi Arabian Ambassador holding a news conference announcing the military operation. We know the operation involves 10 countries including Gulf Arab countries.For the latest join us tonight at 11 pm ET on Fox Business
Posted by Lou Dobbs on Wednesday, March 25, 2015

BREAKING NEWS: Middle East Saudi-led coalition strikes Yemen, declares airspace a 'restricted zone'

Saudi Arabia launched air strikes in Yemen on Thursday in coalition with Gulf region allies to counter Iran-backed forces besieging the southern city of Aden, where the U.S.-supported Yemeni president had taken refuge. 

The operation's allied command has warned foreign ships from approaching Yemeni ports and declared Yemen's airspace a "restricted space," the Saudi-owned al-Hadath television channel said.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen said Saudi-led air strikes launched on Thursday were targeting Houthi air power and the militia's ability to launch missiles. 
Yaseen said among the targets were the Dulaimi air base, Taiz air base and Hodeidah air base "because they have been taken over by the Houthis."  

The White House said President Barack Obama has authorized logistical and intelligence support to the Saudi-led operation, adding that U.S. forces will not be taking a direct part in the operations. 
There were indications that others in the region would follow suit: The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain joined Saudi Arabia in a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency, saying they would answer a request from Hadi "to protect Yemen and his dear people from the aggression of the Houthi militias which were and are still a tool in the hands of foreign powers that don't stop meddling with the security and stability of brotherly Yemen." Oman, the sixth member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, didn't sign onto the statement. 

In a statement from the state news agency Egypt, too, announced political and military support. "There is coordination ongoing now with Saudi Arabia and the brotherly gulf countries about preparations to participate with an Egyptian air and naval forces and ground troops if necessary," the statement said. 

Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir told reporters a 10-country coalition had joined in the military campaign in a bid "to protect and defend the legitimate government" of Yemen President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Jubeir declined to give any information on Yemen's President Hadi's whereabouts, but said the president, who has fled his residence, was still running the government along with members of his Cabinet. Jubeir said Iranian-backed Houthi Shi'ite militants were now in control of the Yemeni air force and of the country's ballistic weapons. 

"This is a very dangerous situation and we must do everything we can to protect the people of Yemen and protect the legitimate government of Yemen," Jubeir told a news conference at the embassy.
But he declined to give any information on the whereabouts of Hadi, though he said the military action was being taken at the embattled U.S.-backed leader's direct request. The United States said earlier that Hadi, holed up in Aden since fleeing the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa last month, was no longer at the compound he has been using as a base.  

He said the mission would not be limited to a specific city or region of Yemen, suggesting that the coalition's warplanes could strike the Houthis anywhere they choose. 
Jubeir said the operation, which was launched at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT) on Wednesday in response to a request for assistance by Hadi, was not limited to one particular city or region.
"We have air assets from a number of countries in the (Saudi) kingdom and we have military assets that are on their way to the kingdom to participate in these operations," Jubeir said.  
Meanwhile, warplanes launched an attack on Sanaa airport and the Yemeni capital's al Dulaimi military airbase, residents and an official said. There was no immediate word on the affiliation of the aircraft. 

A senior leader of Yemen's Houthi movement said on Thursday that Saudi air strikes amounted to an aggression against the country and warned they would set off a "wide war" in the region.
"There is an aggression underway on Yemen and we will confront it valiantly," Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis politburo, told the Doha-based al Jazeera television.
"Military operations will drag the region to a wide war." 

Houthi militia forces and allied army units seized Aden airport and a nearby air base on Wednesday, tightening their grip on the outskirts of the southern Yemeni city. 

Local officials said troops loyal to Yemen's ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a powerful ally of the Houthis, had captured Aden airport in late afternoon but that clashes with Hadi supporters were continuing in the vicinity. The airport was closed and all flights were cancelled. Earlier the Houthis and their allies took al-Anad air base 60 km (37 miles) north of the city before continuing their southward advance.Yemen's slide toward civil war has made the country a crucial front in mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia's rivalry with Shi'ite Iran, which Riyadh accuses of stirring up sectarian strife through its support for the Houthis. 

Sunni Arab monarchies around the region have condemned the Shi'ite Houthi takeover as a coup and have mooted a military intervention in favour of Hadi in recent days.
U.S. officials said earlier that Saudi Arabia was moving heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen. But Saudi sources said earlier on Wednesday that the build-up, which also included tanks, was purely defensive. 

Meanwhile, brent crude oil prices rose by more than a dollar in early Asian trading on Thursday after the military operation in Yemen began. Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 rose to 57.95 a barrel at 0215, up almost $1.50 since their last settlement. U.S. crude CLc1 was up $1.20 at $50.41 a barrel.
A widening Yemen conflict could pose risks for global oil supplies. Most oil tankers from Arab producers like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq have to pass Yemen's coastlines via the tight Gulf of Aden in order to get through the Red Sea and Suez Canal to Europe. 

SOURCE:  REUTERS AND HAARETZ

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.648912?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social