Without much media attention, thousands of American troops are being deployed to Israel, and Iranian officials believe that this is the latest and most blatant warning that the US will soon be attacking Tehran.
Reuters / Nir Elias
Tensions between nations have been high in recent months and have only worsened in the weeks since early December when Iran hijacked and recovered an American drone aircraft. Many have speculated that a back-and-forth between the two countries will soon escalate Iran and the US into an all-out war, and that event might occur sooner than thought.
Under the Austere Challenge 12 drill scheduled for an undisclosed time during the next few weeks, the Israeli military will together with America host the largest-ever joint missile drill by the two countries. Following the installation of American troops near Iran’s neighboring Strait of Hormuz and the reinforcing of nearby nations with US weapons, Tehran authorities are considering this not a test but the start of something much bigger.
In the testing, America's Theater High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile system will be operating alongside its ship-based Aegis system and Israel's own program to work with Arrow, Patriot and Iron Drone missiles.
Israeli military officials say that the testing was planned before recent episodes involving the US and Iran. Of concern, however, is how the drill will require the deployment of thousands of American troops into Israel. The Jerusalem Post quotes US Commander Lt.-Gen Frank Gorenc as saying the drill is not just an “exercise” but also a “deployment” that will involve “several thousand American soldiers” heading to Israel. Additionally, new command posts will be established by American forces in Israel and that country’s own IDF army will begin working from a base in Germany.
In September, the US European Command established a radar system in Israel.
With America previously equipping Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with weaponry to wreck any chance of an Iranian nuclear weapon program from close by, the US will now have added forces on the ready in Israel and Germany under what Tehran fears is a guise being merely perpetrated as a test-run. RT reported last week that the US is equipping Saudi Arabia with nearly $30 billion F-15 war planes, a deal that comes shortly after Washington worked out a contract with Dubai to give the UAE advanced “bunker buster” bombs that could decimate underground nuclear operations in neighboring Iran.
Since the US surveillance mission over Iran that left overseas intelligence with a captured American drone aircraft, tensions have only escalated between the two nations. After Iran threatened to close down the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial path for the nation’s oil trade, the US dispatched 15,000 marines into the area.
LONDON (AP) — Britain ordered Iran on Wednesday to remove all its diplomats from the U.K. within 48 hours following attacks on its embassy and a residential compound in Tehran — one of the most significant diplomatic retaliations against Iran since the 1979 U.S. embassy crisis.
Iranian protesters break the windows of a British Embassy building, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. Dozens of hard-line Iranian students stormed the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, bringing down the Union Jack flag and throwing documents from windows in scenes reminiscent of the anger against Western powers after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The mob moved into the diplomatic compound two days after Iran's parliament approved a bill that reduces diplomatic relations with Britain following London's support of recently upgraded Western sanctions on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Foreign Secretary William Hague told the House of Commons that Britain had also withdrawn its entire diplomatic staff from Iran after angry mobs hauled down Union Jack flags, torched a vehicle and tossed looted documents through windows.
The rare move to kick out a country's entire diplomatic corps marks a significant souring of ties between Iran and the West, amid deepening suspicions over Tehran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. Tensions were heightened in October when U.S. officials accused agents linked to Iran's Quds Force — an elite wing of the powerful Revolutionary Guard — of a role in an alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.
Germany, France and the Netherlands all recalled their ambassadors from Iran late Wednesday for consultations on further action in response. Norway closed its embassy in Tehran as a precaution.
For many, the hours-long assault Tuesday on the British embassy in Tehran was reminiscent of the chaotic seizure of the U.S. embassy there in 1979. Protesters replaced the British flag with a banner in the name of a 7th-century Shiite saint, Imam Hussein, and one looter showed off a picture of Queen Elizabeth II apparently taken off a wall.
"The idea that the Iranian authorities could not have protected our embassy or that this assault could have taken place without some degree of regime consent is fanciful," Hague told lawmakers.
Iran currently has 18 diplomats in Britain, according to Britain's foreign ministry.
Britain previously ordered Iran to remove its diplomats in 1989, when the two nations broke off ties over a fatwa, or religious edict, ordering Muslims to kill British author Salman Rushdie because his novel "The Satanic Verses" allegedly insulted Islam.
The White House strongly condemned the attacks and European Union foreign ministers were meeting Thursday to consider possible new sanctions. Hague also praised Poland, Russia, China and the UAE for offering support and expressing their concern.
The French foreign ministry said it was moved to act "in the face of this flagrant and unacceptable violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and the gravity of the violence."
Italy's foreign minister Giulio Terzi said Rome was also evaluating whether to keep its diplomatic presence in Iran.
Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said Iran was placing itself "outside of the framework of international law," Hague said.
France's budget minister, Valerie Pecresse, said the EU should consider a total embargo on oil exports, or a freeze on Iranian central bank holdings. British officials said the U.K. would likely support new measures against Iran's energy sector.
Hague claimed those involved in Tuesday's attack were members of a student group allied with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's paramilitary Basij organization, which recruits heavily on university campuses.
"We should be clear from the outset that this is an organization controlled by elements of the Iranian regime," he said.
Hague told Parliament the private quarters of staff and Britain's ambassador were trashed in the attack and that diplomats' personal possessions were stolen.
"This is a breach of international responsibilities of which any nation should be ashamed," he said.
Some were alarmed by Hague's tough tone. David Miliband, Britain's former foreign secretary, said he hoped the robust words would not become "part of the very unwelcome drumbeat of war."
About 24 British embassy staff and dependents were based in Tehran. They are all adults because Britain will not post diplomats with small children to Iran for security reasons.
Iran's government has expressed regret about the "unacceptable behavior" of protesters, whose attacks began after anti-British demonstrations apparently authorized by authorities.
But Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the "wrath of (students) resulted from several decades of domination-seeking behavior of Britain."
Iran's tensions with Britain date back to the 19th century, when the Persian monarchy gave huge industrial concessions to London, which later included significant control over Iran's oil industry. In 1953, Britain and the U.S. helped organize a coup that overthrew a nationalist prime minister and restored the pro-Western shah to power.
More recently, Iran was angered by Britain's decision to honor Rushdie with a knighthood in 2007, and over its involvement in Western scrutiny of Iran's nuclear program.
In March 2007, Iran detained 15 British sailors and marines for allegedly entering the country's territorial waters in the Gulf — a claim Britain denies. The 15 were released after nearly two weeks in captivity.
On Sunday, Iran's parliament approved a bill to downgrade relations with Britain, vowing to expel the country's ambassador.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An accidental explosion at a Revolutionary Guard ammunition depot west of Tehran killed at least 15 soldiers on Saturday, officials said.
In this image taken from amateur video smokes rises from an accidental explosion at a Revolutionary Guard ammunition depot outside Bidganeh village,west of Tehran which killed at least 15 people on Saturday Nov. 12, 2001, officials said. The explosions occurred when military personnel were transporting munitions at a base, said Guard spokesman Ramazan Sharif. The base is located outside Bidganeh village, 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of the capital. (AP Photo) TV OUT
The explosion occurred while military personnel were transporting munitions at a base, said Guard spokesman Gen. Ramazan Sharif. The base is located outside Bidganeh village, 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of the capital.
The Guard is Iran's most powerful military force.
"My colleagues at the Guard were transporting ammunition at one of the depots at the site when an explosion occurred as a result of an accident," Sharif said.
At least 15 Guard members were killed, state TV reported. The semi-official ISNA news agency said 10 people were injured and hospitalized. Sharif said some of them were in critical condition.
Lawmaker Parviz Soroori ruled out sabotage.
"No sabotage was involved in this incident. It has nothing to do with politics," Soroori was quoted as saying by the parliament's website, icana.ir.
