Two car bomb attacks on Air Force Intelligence and Security Police Headquarters in Damascus killed at least 27 people and wounded 97 Saturday, March 17. A third bomb exploded on a bus carrying members of the pro-Iranian Palestinian Liberation Army in the Al Yarmouk suburb. Iran and Russia both won ground on the Syrian battlefield at America’s expense with this week’s Assad victory over rebels in Idlib, say DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s strategic analysts in its next issue out Friday. The indecisive way the Israeli confrontation with Iran’s Palestinian proxy Jihad Islami wound down also added points to Tehran - and Moscow less directly - after Washington backed away from the Gaza episode and Israel threw in the sponge. These players were testing the ground for a possible Israeli-Iranian clash. ...
DEBKAfile: As well as Syria and the Gaza Strip, Iran’s hand links a widening circle of Middle East violence. Russian technicians man the Pantsyr-1 air and missile defense batteries shielding Syria from foreign intervention.
Assad’s survival with Russian-Iranian help means he backed the right Syrian horse.
more
Tehran tends now to outface sanctions rather than bow to Western nuclear demands.
more
Muslim Brothers used the Gaza clash as gate to Tehran via Hamas.
more
DEBKAfile DEBKA-Net-Weekly
To subscribe to DEBKA-Net-Weekly,click here
Saturday, 17 March 2012
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 17, 2012, 2:58 PM (GMT+02:00)
Deadly Damascus explosion
Putin Wins in Syria
Assad’s Survival Strengthens Iran
Cairo Muslims Reach out to Tehran
Top Stories
Headlines
Rehearsals in Syria, Gaza for Iranian-Israeli showdown
March 14, 2012, 1:35 PM (GMT+02:00)
Last rebel stand at Idlib against Syrian army
Posts
