DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Panetta Cites ‘Red Lines’ Iran Should Avoid

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Panetta Cites ‘Red Lines’ Iran Should Avoid
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Elaine Sanchez - American Forces Press Service
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 16, 2012:  The nation is open to reaching diplomatic solutions with Iran, but is keeping all options on the table in case clear-cut “red lines” are crossed, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said today.

Speaking to members of a House Appropriations subcommittee, Panetta said Iran is becoming increasingly isolated in the world.

“The international community has sent a very clear message,” he said. “We will not tolerate this. You’ve got to change your ways. You’ve got to come into the international community. You’ve got to abide by international laws, rules and regulations.”

The United States and the international community share the same concerns, Panetta noted. First, he said, “We will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.”

Panetta said intelligence reports clearly indicate that Iran continues to develop its enrichment capability; however, “intelligence does not show they’ve made the decision to proceed with developing a nuclear weapon.”

“That is the red line that would concern us and that would ensure the international community, hopefully together, would respond,” he said.

The international community also will not allow Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, the secretary said. The strait is the only sea passage to the open ocean for petroleum-producing nations in the Persian Gulf region. Iran recently threatened to cut off access to the strait if the United States continues to maintain an aircraft carrier presence there.

Other concerns include the spread of violence, the country’s support of terrorism and its attempts to undermine other nations, Panetta added.

“All of that has been made very clear,” he said.

The international community has implemented strong diplomatic and economic sanctions that are having “a very strong impact,” he said.

“We are open … to negotiations with them to try to find a diplomatic solution to these issues, but we do keep all options on the table in the event the red lines, I just made very clear, are crossed,” Panetta said.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Elaine Sanchez - American Forces Press Service
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Navy says Iran Prepares Suicide Bomb Boats In Gulf

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Navy says Iran Prepares Suicide Bomb Boats In Gulf
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources  By Warda Al-Jawahiry Manama  - Reuters
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 12, 2012: Iran has built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the U.S. Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the region said on Sunday.

Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt shipping in the Gulf or strike U.S. forces in retaliation if its oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear program comes under attack.

"They have increased the number of submarines ... they increased the number of fast attack craft," Vice Admiral Mark Fox told reporters. "Some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory."

"We have watched with interest their development of long range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic missiles and of course ... the development of their nuclear program," Fox, who heads the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said at a briefing on the fleet's base in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Iran now has 10 small submarines, he said.

Military experts say the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet patrolling the Gulf - which always has at least one giant supercarrier accompanied by scores of jets and a fleet of frigates and destroyers - is overwhelmingly more powerful than Iran's navy.

But ever since al Qaeda suicide bombers in a small boat killed 17 sailors on board the destroyer U.S.S. Cole in a port in Yemen in 1996, Washington has been wary of the vulnerability of its huge battleships to bomb attacks by small enemy craft.

Asked whether the U.S. Navy was prepared for an attack or other trouble in the Gulf, Fox said: "We are very vigilant, we have built a wide range of options to give the president and we are ready... What if it happened tonight? We are ready today."

Iranian officials have threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the outlet to the Gulf through which nearly all of the Middle East's oil sails.

Asked if he took Iran's threats seriously, Fox Said: "Could they make like extremely difficult for us? Yes they could. If we did nothing and they were able to operate without being inhibited, yeah they could close it, but I can't see that we would ever be in that position."

He added that diplomacy should be given priority in resolving the tension.

"So when you hear discussion about all this overheated rhetoric from Iran we really believe that the best way to handle this is with diplomacy... I am absolutely convinced that is the way to go. It is our job to be prepared. We are vigilant."

Contacts between the U.S. Navy and Iranian craft in the Gulf region were routine, Fox said, referring to cases where his sailors helped Iranian ships that were in distress or threatened by pirates.

In addition to commanding the Fifth Fleet, Fox is also the commander of a multinational naval task force charged with ensuring Gulf shipping routes stay open. Although most of its firepower is American, the task force also includes other Western countries and the Gulf Arab states.

The European Union slapped an embargo on Iranian oil last month, which is due to kick in completely by July 1. The United States and EU have both imposed new sanctions on Iran's central bank which make it difficult for countries to pay Tehran for oil and for Iran to pay for the goods it imports.

(Editing by Firouz Sedarat and Peter Graff)

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources  By Warda Al-Jawahiry Manama  - Reuters
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DTN News - LIBYA UPRISING: Libyan Warplanes Strike Rebels At Oil Port

DTN News - LIBYA UPRISING: Libyan Warplanes Strike Rebels At Oil Port

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Associated Press

(NSI News Source Info)

LANOUF, Libya

- March 8, 2011: Libyan warplanes launched at least three new airstrikes Tuesday near rebel positions in the oil port of Ras Lanouf, keeping up a counteroffensive to prevent the opposition from advancing toward leader Muammar Qaddafi's stronghold in the capital Tripoli.

There was no immediate word on casualties, and an Associated Press reporter who witnessed the strikes said they did not appear to hit any fighters.

On another front, a witness said Qaddafi loyalists have recaptured Zawiya, the city closest to Tripoli that had fallen into opposition hands. The witness, speaking to The Associated Press by phone, said Qaddafi's tanks and fighting vehicles were roaming the city 30 miles west of Tripoli and firing randomly at homes. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal.

Qaddafi's regime has been using its air power advantage more each day to check a rebel advance west toward Tripoli on the main highway leading out of the opposition-controlled eastern half of the country. The heavy use of air power underlines the vulnerability of the rebel forces as they attempt to march in open terrain along the Mediterranean coast and could prompt world powers to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to deny Qaddafi that edge.

The United States and its NATO allies edged closer Monday to formulating a military response to the escalating violence in Libya as the alliance boosted surveillance flights over the country and the Obama administration signaled it might be willing to help arm Qaddafi's opponents. Europe, meanwhile, kick-started international efforts to impose a no-fly zone.

It still appeared unlikely that U.S. warplanes or missiles soon would deploy in Libya, which has been sliding toward civil war, but the continuing violence increased pressure on Washington to do something or at least spell out its plan.

The rebels are fighting to oust Qaddafi from power after more than 41 years, a goal in common with the protesters who managed to topple authoritarian rulers in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt. However, the Libyan uprising has already proved much more violent, and could be much more drawn out.

In Benghazi, the main city in the rebel-held east of the country, a spokesman for the newly created Interim Governing Council said a man who claimed to represent Qaddafi has made contact with the council to discuss terms for Qaddafi to step down. Mustafa Gheriani told the AP the council could not be certain whether the man was acting on his own initiative or did in fact represent the Libyan leader.

"But our position is clear: No negotiations with the Qaddafi regime," said Gheriani, who declined to say when contact was made or reveal the identity of the purported envoy.

In Zawiya, the witness said electricity, phone and Internet services have all been cut. The witness spoke to the AP after he managed to escape the city through surrounding farmlands and reach a point outside Zawiya where mobile phone coverage was available.

"The city is in ruins," he said. "Some buildings have been entirely destroyed and everyone on the street is shot on sight. There are many wounded but the hospitals are running out of supplies," he said, describing conditions in the city after the regime's counteroffensive on Monday.

As the fighting continues, Qaddafi's regime is also coming under mounting pressure from some Arab nations.

Gulf Arab countries joined the calls for a no-fly zone, with the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates saying during a conference of his country's neighbors that the U.N. Security Council should "shoulder its historical responsibility for protecting the Libyan people."

Still, Western military intervention does not seem imminent -- and the warnings may be an attempt to intimidate Qaddafi with words before deeds.

British and French officials said the no-fly resolution was being drawn up as a contingency and it has not been decided whether to put it before the U.N. Security Council, where Russia holds veto power and has rejected such a move.

Western officials have said a no-fly zone does not require a U.N. mandate, but they would prefer to have one.

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*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources

Associated Press

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DTN News - LIBYA UPRISING: Chinese Air Force Il-76 MD Transport Aircrafts In Khartoum To Bring Home Its Nationals From Libya

DTN News - LIBYA UPRISING: Chinese Air Force Il-76 MD Transport Aircrafts In Khartoum To Bring Home Its Nationals From Libya

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith

(NSI News Source Info)

TORONTO, Canada

- March 2, 2011:

A Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force Il-76 MD transport aircraft lands in

Khartoum

March 1, 2011. China has sent four military transporters on Feb. 28 to bring home its nationals from Libya, according to the information office of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. Picture taken March 1, 2011. (Photos from Reuters Pictures)

The evacuees on board are the first batch of Chinese nationals evacuated from Libya by the Chinese military transport aircraft via Sudan. More evacuees are expected to arrive here later.

China has sent four military transporters to bring home its nationals from Libya, the information office of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense confirmed on Monday.

The Chinese military transport aircraft arrived here on Tuesday from China and then flew into Libya to carry Chinese nationals stranded in the riot-torn country via Sudan.

The Chinese nationals who arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday would stay here temporarily. Some of them would head for China by the military transporter, and the rest would leave for home in China in a couple of days either by chartered planes or regular flights.

Chinese Ambassador to Sudan Li Chengwen welcomed the evacuees at the airport.

Besides the Chinese nationals, some Nepalese and Bangladeshi citizens still stranded in the southern Libyan city of Sebha would also be evacuated by the Chinese transporters, according to Li.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources NSI - Pictures of The Day

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