Hmmm... Israel sends Dolphin class submarine through Suez Canal
For the first time since 2005, Israel has sent a Dolphin class submarine through the Suez Canal according to an exclusive report in Friday's JPost. According to the Post, the submarine passed through the Canal last month for exercises in the Red Sea, and did so openly (i.e. above water).And what does this mean?
The significance of the move was debatable, but it could be interpreted as a message to Iran and a demonstration of strengthening ties between Egypt and Israel.Hmmm.
In the event of a conflict with Iran, and if Israel decided to involve its three Dolphin-class submarines - which according to foreign reports can fire nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and serve as a second-strike platform - the quickest route would be to send them through the Suez Canal.
The only way to get to the Gulf of Oman without refueling would be to go through the canal. With their reported 4,500 nautical mile range, taking the long way, around Africa, would require the Dolphins to make at least two stops for refueling at a friendly port, or for fuel to be replenished at sea.
(IsraelNN.com) Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye if Israel were to use its airspace to attack Iran, London’s Sunday Times reports. According to the report, Mossad chief Meir Dagan has told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Syria has hinted to the move.
“The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israel air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of both Israel and Saudi Arabia,” a diplomatic source stated.
Mossad head Meir Dagan assured Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Saudi Arabia would allow Israeli Air Force jets to fly over their kingdom during any future raid on Iran's nuclear facilities, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
According to the London daily, Dagan held talks with Saudi officials earlier this year on the topic. The Israeli media has already carried unconfirmed reports that high-ranking officials, including former prime minister Ehud Olmert, held meetings with Saudi colleagues. Saudi officials denied the reports.
"The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of both Israel and Saudi Arabia," a diplomatic source was quoted in the Times as saying last week.
While Israel has no formal diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, an Israeli source confirmed that the Mossad has "working relations" with the Saudis.
Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who recently visited the Gulf, said it was "entirely logical" for the Israelis to use Saudi airspace.
Bolton, who has talked to a number of Arab leaders, added: "None of them would say anything about it publicly but they would certainly acquiesce in an over-flight if the Israelis didn't trumpet it as a big success."
Arab states would publicly condemn a raid when they spoke at the UN but would be privately relieved to see the threat of an Iranian bomb removed, Bolton said.
Referring to the attack on an alleged Syrian nuclear facility in 2007 that Israel is rumored to have launched, Bolton added: "To this day, the Israelis haven't admitted the specifics but there's one less nuclear facility in Syria . . ."
Moderate Sunni Arab states are becoming increasingly concerned about the stability of the repressive Shi'ite regime in Tehran and it emerging as a belligerent nuclear power.
"The Saudis are very concerned about an Iranian nuclear bomb, even more than the Israelis," a former head of research in Israeli intelligence told the Times.
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