Syrian rebels have received their first “third generation” anti-tank weapons, 9K115-2 Metis-M and Kornet E, DEBKAfile reports. They are supplied by Saudi and Qatari intelligence agencies following a secret message from President Barack Obama upping the military stake in the effort to oust Assad. It is hoped that the sight of blazing tanks will undermine morale in the Syrian army and regime. Ankara was also advised to start providing Syrian rebels with IEDs for roadside bombing of government vehicles.
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Bitter infighting in Tehran over whether to strike Israel first.
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They are on standby in case nuclear diplomacy fails or Israel strikes Iran.
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The Saudi King’s plans were either flatly rebuffed or put on hold.
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- How Obama beat off Iran war and thwarted Israel
- Window dressing at G8 and NATO summits
- A qualified Israeli OK for Obama's interim deal with Iran
- Iran expands near-weapons grade uranium enrichment at Fordo
- Iran drills first large-scale paratroop drops
- New US battle strategy for Iran
- Syrian conflict encroaches on Lebanon
- Iran opposition: Nuclear bomb-making is advancing fast
- Multinational force on Jordanian-Syrian border
DEBKAfile DEBKA-Net-Weekly
Barack Obama is winning his Herculean battle to stave off a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites until he is safely reelected in November. His policy of “non-solutions for unseen problems” is working just fine: Iran keeps up its nuclear bomb momentum, and al Qaeda expands its foothold in Egypt, Syria and Yemen. Israel and its military option are shoved out of sight.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly in its coming issue out next Friday analyses Obama’s chances of maintaining this posture for seven months. To subscribe to DEBKA-Net-Weekly, click here.
Read moreDEBKAfile Special Report
On the return flight to Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov filled in the space left by his Prime Minister Dmitri Medvadev’s silence at the G8 summit Saturday, May 20 with a large dose of skepticism on Iran.
Contradicting President Barack Obama’s statement that diplomacy was preferable to military action, he spoke of “many signals that the military option is… realistic.” Less realistic were NATO decisions on the eurozone and the military exit from Afghanistan at the weekend Chicago summit.
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
Israel’s Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak have decided to stand back for Barack Obama to put his interim deal with Iran to the test, DEBKAfile’s sources report. They are going along with it despite reservations after receiving assurances from the White House that Iranian violations would result in the immediate termination of negotiations and bring military action forward as the sole remaining option for stopping a nuclear Iran. Saturday, DEBKAfileexclusively revealed the eight-point interim deal the US put before Iran.
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