Tehran’s intercession in the Korean crisis on the side of its ally in
Pyongyang was predictable, even though the US preferrs to ignore the
close interrelations between the two allies.
And so, on Friday, April 5, Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed
Forces Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri stepped forward to point the finger at
Washington:
[“The presence of the Americans in [South] Korea has been the root
cause of tensions in this sensitive region in the past and present. The
US and its allies will suffer great losses if a war breaks out in this
region,” he said, adding for good measure: “Independent countries will
not submit to the US mischief. The time for Washington’s bullying and
extortion is long past.” debkafile’s
Iranian sources: The second part of the statement was a perfect fit for
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s flat refusal to accept US demands on Iran’s
nuclear program. The Korean crisis gave the Iranians the opportunity to
kill two birds with one stone.
As Kim Jong-Un moved two intermediate missiles to the east coast of
North Korea, Gen. Jazayeri’s rhetoric landed on the latest round of
talks the six powers were holding with Iran in Amaty, Kazhakstan for a
diplomatic resolution of Iran’s nuclear challenge.
Washington hoped to spread some cheer over a diplomatic process that
had long past proven futile by planting advance reports that Khamenei
had ordered a slowdown of Iran’s nuclear program up to the June
presidential election to avoid crossing a red line that would trigger a
military response.
April 6, 2013 – NORTH KOREA - Tensions
remain high on the Korean Peninsula, amid reports the US has deployed
an unmanned spy plane to Japan to boost its surveillance after North
Korea readied missile launchers on its east coast. The Global Hawk will
be stationed at the US airbase in Misawa, northern Japan, in the first
ever deployment of the aircraft in the country, the Sankei Shimbun
reported, quoting government sources. The US military informed Japan
last month about plans to deploy the plane between June and September
but has brought the date forward. It comes after North Korea warned
foreign diplomats they may not be safe in the country if war breaks out.
Pyongyang asked foreign embassies whether they were considering
evacuating staff, saying the government could not guarantee their safety
in the event of conflict from April 10. The British Foreign Office
dismissed the warning as “rhetoric.” However, an urgent international
effort to defuse the situation is under way. The heads of EU missions
are to meet to hammer out a common position on the crisis, while the US
works its diplomatic channels to resolve the stand-off with Pyongyang.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been holding talks with officials
in South Korea, as well as China – historically North Korea’s ally – to
see if the Chinese can put any more pressure on North Korean leader Kim
Jong-Un to back down. Reporting from the South Korean capital Seoul,
Sky’s Asia Correspondent Mark Stone, said: “In the skies above the
Korean Peninsula there are spy planes operating. There will be drones –
American drones – operating before long from a base in Japan. They are
trying to get as much of a sense as possible of what it is that Kim
Jong-Un is doing on the ground with his weaponry. We know he has some
pretty sophisticated weaponry. There are artillery rounds just over the
border. They could in theory hit Seoul. That’s a big concern for South
Korea.” –Sky News
April 5, 2013 – NORTH KOREA – Rogue
state North Korea today sparked fears that it could trigger a nuclear
strike as early as next Wednesday. Crackpot Kim Jong-un’s regime today
issued a chilling threat to British diplomats warning them to get out of
Pyongyang. Alarmingly, the North Korean government said it would not be
able to guarantee the safety of embassies from April 10. Russian
diplomats have also been advised to evacuate. Today the Foreign Office
added that it is “considering next steps” after the threat. It is still
unclear why next Wednesday has been set as a deadline – but it is sure
to spark fears despot Kim Jong-un will launch an attack after that date.
White House press secretary says the American administration would not be surprised if North Korea launches a missile.
AAFont Size
By Elad Benari, Canada
First Publish: 4/6/2013, 1:12 AM
Soldiers of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in military training
AFP photo
White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Friday that the American administration would not be surprised if North Korea followed through on its recent threats to launch a missile. "We've obviously seen the reports that North Korea may be making preparations to launch a missile. We're monitoring this situation closely, and we would not be surprised to see them take such an action," Carney was quoted by Politico as having said during a press briefing.
April 5, 2013 – NORTH KOREA – An earthquake of 6.2
magnitude was registered in the border area between Russia, China and
North Korea, the US Geological Survey said Friday. The epicenter of the
quake was 9km from the Russian village of Zarubino, about 60km northeast
of the North Korean city of Aodzhiri and approximately 608 km from the
capital Pyongyang. No casualties or damage have been reported. The
earthquake struck at a depth of 561.9 km. –RT
April 5, 2013 – ICELAND - Approximately
70 earthquakes were picked up by the automatic sensors of the Icelandic
Met Office in the Grímsey Island seismic belt in North Iceland from
midnight yesterday and until the morning. The activity started with a
5.5 quake on April 2. Some of last night’s quakes were of a magnitude
higher than three but none measured above four points, ruv.is reports.
Yesterday, around 70 earthquakes were registered from noon and until the
evening, five of which were above three in magnitude. The quakes could
be felt on Grímsey but not on the mainland. Seismologists are paying
close attention to the epicenter of the earthquakes at Skjálfandadjúp.
So far, there are no indications that the activity is spreading to other
fracture zones and the condition was stable yesterday. A level of
uncertainty was declared in North Iceland following the 5.5 earthquake
and the region’s residents were asked to inform themselves on how to react in case of a major earthquake. –Iceland Review
What
would you do if you logged in to your bank account someday and it
showed that you had a zero balance and your bank had no record that you
ever had any money in your account? What would you do if all of the
money in your bank account suddenly disappeared in a single moment? If
you had not kept any paper records, which most Americans do not, it
would be exceedingly difficult to prove to the bank that you actually
had any money in the bank. If you don't think that something like this
could ever happen in the United States, you might want to think again.
Cyber attacks against major banks in the United States are becoming more
powerful and more sophisticated with each passing month. In fact,
major U.S. bank websites have been offline for a total of 249 hours
over the past six weeks. And just last month, thousands upon thousands
of Chase customers logged into their bank accounts only to discover
that their balances had all been reset to zero.
New precondition: PA Chairman demands that Netanyahu present a map for a future Palestinian state before peace talks can resume.
AAFont Size
By Elad Benari, Canada
First Publish: 4/5/2013, 10:16 PM
Mahmoud Abbas
Flash 90
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu present a map for a future Palestinian
state before any peace talks can resume, an aide told AFP on Friday. Abbas "wants to know, through a map to be presented by Benjamin
Netanyahu to (U.S. Secretary of State John) Kerry, what the prime
minister's view of a two-state solution would be, especially the borders," political adviser Nimr Hammad told AFP. The remarks came just days ahead of a visit by Kerry, who will hold fortnightly meetings with Israeli and PA leaders as he tries to revive the stalled peace process. "Any return to negotiations requires Netanyahu to agree on 1967
borders," Hammad said, repeating one of Abbas’s usual preconditions for
talks with Israel.
The amount of gas discovered off Israel's shores
covers Israel's needs for over fifty years, meaning Israel will become
an exporter of gas.
Dr. David Wurmser
The
writer is founder and executive member of the Delphi Global Analysis
Group, LLC in Washington. He has served as a consultant to Noble Energy.
Earlier, he served as senior advisor on Proliferation and the Middle
East to former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, as senior advisor to
John R. Bolton at the State Department, and as a research fellow on the
Middle East at the American Enterprise Institute.
The flow of natural gas from Israel's Tamar reservoir in
the Mediterranean to the Ashdod reception facility was inaugurated on
March 30, 2013, ushering in a new era in Israel's energy sector. Israel
will not only become independent in being able to supply its own energy
needs, but it is likely to become an energy exporter as its maritime gas fields are further developed.
On
January 17, 2009, Israel's economy and even its strategic stature
changed when a team led by the Texan firm Noble Energy discovered gas in
the Tamar field in the eastern Mediterranean, which is estimated to
contain 9.7 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas. The Tamar
well-heads which contain methane gas are rated at a high level of
purity, with an energy value of production per well-head over four-fold
higher than Saudi oil well-heads. Two years later, the same team
drilling a few dozen kilometers further west discovered a monstrous gas field, appropriately called Leviathan, which is now estimated to contain 18 TCF and could begin supplying gas in 2016.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warns the fall of his regime
will unleash a wave of instability that will shake the Middle East.
(AFP)
Al Arabiya with the Associated Press -
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned that the fall of his
regime or the breakup of Syria will unleash a wave of instability that
will shake the Middle East for years to come. Assad told the
Turkish TV station Ulusal Kanal that “we are surrounded by countries
that help terrorists and allow them to enter Syria.” He accused Turkey of knowingly supporting rebels but said it is not clear whether Jordan is intentionally backing his opponents. Assad's interview was aired Friday evening, three days after it was shot in Syria. He
warned that if his government falls or if Syria is divided, it “will
have a domino effect” across the region and create “a period of
instability for long years and maybe decades.”
; "Kim Jong-Un with his generals")
