Al-Qaeda linked Syria group hails Bin Laden in Golan battle

[Bleipriester]

After ‘cleansing’ hilltop near Israeli border, Jabhat al-Nusra fighters praise ‘lion of Islam’ for 9/11 attacks
Al-Qaeda linked Syria group hails Bin Laden in Golan battle | The Times of Israel

The SAA will quit that spook on the Golan Heights soon.

 

[waltky]

Netanyahu appeals to Putin to influence Iran...

Iranian-Backed Militia in Syria Vows to ‘Liberate’ Golan Heights
March 10, 2017 – Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sought Moscow’s understanding Thursday to prevent a malevolent future role for Iran in Syria – one day after an Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia fighting there announced the formation of a special “brigade to liberate the Golan Heights.”

At a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu acknowledged Russia’s contribution to the campaign against Sunni terrorists in Syria led by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL). “Of course,” he continued, “we do not want to see Shi’a Islamic terrorism led by Iran step in to replace Sunni Islamic terrorism.” The matter is a sensitive one, given that Russia and Iran are allied – along with Iranian-backed Shi’a militia from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere – in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier this week Netanyahu told his cabinet he would seek Russia’s backing. “Iran is trying to establish itself permanently in Syria, with a military presence on the ground and at sea, and also a gradual attempt to open a front against us on the Golan Heights,” he said. “I will express to President Putin Israel’s sharp and vigorous opposition to this possibility. I hope we will be able to reach certain understandings in order to reduce possible friction between our forces and theirs, as we have successfully done up until now.”

As Netanyahu prepared to travel to Moscow, the Beirut-based pan-Arabic satellite channel Al-Mayadeen reported that Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi Shi’a militia sponsored by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and fighting in Syria announced it has established a special brigade focused on ending Israeli control of the Golan Heights. “The formation of a brigade to liberate the Golan Heights is a step towards liberating sanctities [Islamic religious sites] in occupied Palestine and impeding the arrogant project in the region,” the channel quoted a spokesman for the group as saying.

The Golan Heights is a strategic ridge along the Israeli-Syrian border, which Syrian forces used to fire artillery at Israeli communities in the Galilee valley below – until June 1967, when Israel seized it during the 1967 Six Day War. (Assad’s father and predecessor, Hafez al-Assad, was defense minister at the time.) Israel annexed the Golan in 1981. Despite ill-fated attempts over the decades to reach a peace deal with Syria that could include the Golan’s return, support for retaining the territory is strong across the Israeli political spectrum. Israel’s most pressing concern regarding the civil war that erupted in Syria six years ago this month is that it has allowed its primary foe, Iran, and especially its IRGC, to establish a foothold on more territory bordering the Jewish state. (Through its proxy Hezbollah, Iran already has an indirect presence in nearby southern Lebanon.)

‘Get Iran and their proxies out’

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Analysts: Iran Has Been Put ‘On Notice’; Time to Show U.S. Means Business
March 10, 2017 – Iran’s provocations in the Persian Gulf and fresh ballistic missile tests indicate that the regime is testing the Trump administration and watching carefully to see whether and how it responds, policy analysts say.

On Thursday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported that the IRGC in recent days “successfully” test-fired a sea-launched ballistic missile. It cited IRGC Aerospace Division head Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh as saying the short-range Hormuz-2 missile had destroyed a floating target 250 kilometers (155 miles) away. It is believed to be the first Iranian ballistic missile launch since the White House in early February declared that it was “officially putting Iran on notice,” following a previous ballistic missile launch which the U.S. said was in violation of the U.N. resolution adopted after the Iran nuclear deal.

The White House warning was followed by new designations of people and entities involved in the missile program and in supporting terrorism. Since then, Iran has carried out other troubling actions including military exercises, and the test-firing of a cruise missile. (Unlike ballistic missiles, cruise missiles do not travel outside the atmosphere on route to their targets.) Iranian vessels also have harassed U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf – something Iran did on a number of occasions during the Obama administration. A low point was reached in January last year, when the IRGC Navy apprehended and humiliated U.S. sailors after their patrol boats inadvertently entered Iran’s territorial waters. Also frequently occurring during the Obama era were Iranian missile tests, including tests carried out after the nuclear deal was concluded.

Pointing to both recent naval provocations in the Gulf and missile tests, Tzvi Kahn, a senior policy analyst at the non-profit Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) in Washington, argued that “Tehran likely seeks to determine whether the new president will respond – or, more precisely, fail to respond – to its misbehavior at sea in the same manner as his predecessor.” He said President Trump should respond by designating the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization, preparing the way for further sanctions against an organization that is deeply involved in the Iranian economy. “The White House should also make clear that further Iranian harassment of U.S. naval forces in the Gulf risks triggering a military response against the offending vessels,” Kahn said. “The Trump administration has already put Iran ‘on notice.’ It must now demonstrate that those were not idle words.”

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Thursday the regime in Tehran is clearly testing the Trump administration. “A return to ballistic missile testing, whether covert or overt, signals Tehran intends to test the Trump administration’s limits, just as it did with its predecessor,” he wrote in a policy brief. Taleblu noted that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier this week said that Iran, in order to discourage “the enemy” from carrying out attacks, “must avoid expressing weakness and reveal numerous strengths that we have.” “Occasional missile tests appear to be the way in which the Islamic Republic reveals these aptitudes, incrementally flexing its muscles while daring its adversaries to respond,” Taleblu said. “As the Trump administration proceeds towards its 100-day mark, it must remember that Iran is closely watching how it responds to such military provocations.”

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Hezbollah prepares to liberate Israeli-occupied Golan for Syria