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Moscow signals harder position on nuclear-armed Iran DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis March 13, 2009, 1:37 PM (GMT+02:00) Russian rocket expert Vladimir Dvorkin heeded also in the West A Russian strategic arms control expert, Vladimir Dvorkin, said Thursday, March 12, that Iran could produce an atomic weapon in "one or two years," allowing Tehran to broaden its support for Hamas and Hizballah. This was the first time a Russian figure had predicted Iran would be nuclear-capable within so short a period, DEBKAfile's Moscow sources stress. Its correlative linkage to a heightened threat from Hamas and Hizballah has never been heard from Moscow, or even explicitly from Washington or Jerusalem.  More...

Netanyahu may settle for interim government until early election DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis March 13, 2009, 1:37 PM (GMT+02:00) Binyamin Netanyahu has not given up on unity government Having failed to draw Kadima and Labor into a unity government,DEBKAfile's political sources report that Israel's prime minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu may settle for a provisional administration serving six months before calling another early election. He believes he can use the extra six months to good advantage because he expects Israel to be embroiled in a major military conflict during this time, in which case the holdouts Kadima and Labor will come aboard.  More... The first US-Saudi co-production is unveiled in Riyadh DEBKA-Net-Weekly Exclusive Analysis March 13, 2009, 1:42 PM (GMT+02:00) The Arab mini-summit springs from Barack Obama's first venture into Middle East diplomacy. Bashar Assad has made certain anti-Iranian gestures to prove himself worthy of admission to the pro-Western club led by Saudi King Abdullah and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak,. But is he willing to go all the way and cut Syria's strategic ties with Iran? The latest DEBKA-Net-Weekly – out this Friday – provides some answers and insights. To subscribe to DEBKA-Net-Weeklyclick HERE .