Isaiah 17
17:1
The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

17:12
Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
17:13
The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
17:14
And behold at eveningtide * * trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

 
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=10569
 
Syria backs Iran’s nuclear program
1/20/2006 12:00:00 PM GMT
 

Bashar al-Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attend a news conference in Damascus
 

Syrian President BASHAR AL-ASSAD and his Iranian counterpart MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD closed ranks in talks between the two allies, as both countries face mounting international pressure.

At a joint news conference, ASSAD said he backed Iran’s right to “build up NUCLEAR technology for peaceful purposes”.

"We also reject the pressure being exerted on this country" over its NUCLEAR PROGRAM. "No country in the world should be prevented from having nuclear capacity for peaceful use. Countries which have opposed Iran's program have no convincing argument, be it legal or logical,” he added.

The Syrian President also called for Israel to renounce its NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARSENAL. "Israel is the only country which possesses nuclear arms in the region," he said, calling for a Middle East "without weapons of mass destruction. "If WMD is the pretext of the West, then it should start with Israel."

For his part, AHMADINEJAD described his visit to Syria as producing "excellent results."

"Our relations with Syria are strong, brotherly and lasting,“ he said. "We reject any form of interference on the part of foreigners.”

Iran and Syria face possible sanctions because of growing western pressure, but both states reject accusations of wrongdoing. Tehran is being pressed over its NUCLEAR PLANS, and Damascus over its alleged involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister RAFIQ HARIRI.

Iran moving foreign assets

Iran is moving foreign assets to an undisclosed destination ahead of possible imposition of economic sanctions by the UN Security Council over its NUCLEAR PROGRAM, the central bank governor said on Friday, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Tehran has bitter memories of its U.S. assets being frozen shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

"We transfer foreign reserves to wherever we see as expedient. On this issue, we have started transferring. We are doing that," Ebrahim Sheibani was quoted by ISNA as saying.

Sheibani refused to answer whether the money will be moved to Asian accounts, as reported in the London-based Asharq al-Awsat.

Correspondents say it is unclear how placing assets in Asia or anywhere abroad could protect them from being frozen as few governments or banks would be willing to violate UN sanctions openly.

Iran is the fourth largest oil exporter in the world, and the second biggest in OPEC. Oil generates 80 percent of its export earnings, which have soared over the past two years.

Worries over Iran helped push U.S. crude oil above $67 a barrel on Friday to its highest level in nearly four months.

Economists estimate that Tehran would have earned more than $40 billion in oil revenues by the end of the year to March 2006. Of this, $16 billion goes straight to budgeted government spending, while the rest goes to the Central Bank of Iran which keeps an unknown amount in foreign accounts.

Sheibani's announcement indicates how seriously Iran is taking the threat of UN sanctions over its NUCLEAR PROGRAM.

"The NUCLEAR issue and the chance of sanctions is the main reason for this," said an economy analyst in Tehran.

The U.S., Europe and Israel suspect that Iran is covertly working on an atomic weapons program. But Tehran insists that it has a right to pursue a peaceful NUCLEAR PROGRAM as a signatory to the NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY.

The UK, France and Germany have already prepared a draft resolution demanding the International Atomic Energy Agency to send Iran’s NUCLEAR case to the Security Council for possible sanctions when it convenes an emergency meeting on February 2.

Last week, the EU trio announced an end to nuclear talks after Iran removed UN seals on uranium enrichment equipment and resumed nuclear research. EU and U.S. officials rejects an offer by Iran to resume diplomatic talks unless Tehran reverses these steps.

Any UN action would need the approval of its five permanent members, including Russia and China, both wary of imposing an embargo.

China's state-run press on Friday demanded Iran to suspend nuclear work and return to talks with the European Union, but cautioned against sending Tehran to the Security Council.

Meanwhile, the head of Russia’s nuclear energy agency said that Iran is open for detailed talks on a compromise offer to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.