DEBKAfile Special Report
July 26, 2009, 10:00 PM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKAfile's military and Washington sources report that
President Barack Obama is getting set for some military arm-twisting
against Iran spearheaded by Israel. This will be the main subject of
defense secretary Robert Gates talks in Israel Tuesday, July 28 and was
presaged by a strong message secretary of state Hillary Clinton
broadcast to Tehran Sunday, July 28, over NBC.
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"… if you're pursuing nuclear weapons for the
purpose of intimidating, or projecting your power, we are not going to
let that happen," she said. "Your pursuit is futile. We believe as a
matter of policy it is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons."
Her statement was the clearest US warning to Iran of what is in store if it forges ahead with its military nuclear program..
Earlier
this week, Clinton said in Thailand that the US would extend a "defense
umbrella" over the Arab Gulf nations against an Iranian nuclear weapon.
Military
and verbal pressure against Iran is one component of Obama's new Middle
East approach; a second focuses on pulling Syria and its president
Bashar Assad away from their tight bonds with Tehran. This goal brought
Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell to Damascus for the second
time this month Sunday, July 26.
Before
traveling to Israel in the afternoon, Mitchell stated that Barack Obama
was "determined to facilitate a truly comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace"
that includes the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon and normal relations
with the nations of the region. "If we are to succe
ed," he said, "we
will need Arabs and Israelis alike to work with us. We will welcome the
full cooperation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic in this
historic endeavor."
Mitchell's words opened the door for Syria to opt for cooperation with Washington instead of Tehran.
DEBKAfile's
sources add that Gates on Tuesday - followed by national security
adviser James Jones and Middle East adviser Dennis Ross Wednesday - are
to turn over with Israeli leaders plans for harassing Tehran.
The
passage earlier this month of Israeli nuclear-capable submarines
escorted by missile boats through between the Mediterranean and Red
Seas through the Suez Canal was a mark of US-Israeli cooperation in the
pursuit of Washington's tough new posture for deterring Iran's nuclear
drive.