Current Events in Mideast-Africa

Live BBC feed The government have taken down the bulk of Egypt's internet; this looks like a massive crackdown.

From Stratfor The NIE Report: Solving a Geopolitical Problem with Iran By George Friedman The United States released a new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Dec. 3. It said, "We judge with high confidence that in the fall of 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program." It went on to say, "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005." It further said, "Our assessment that Iran halted the program in 2003 primarily in response to international pressure indicates Tehran's decisions are guided by a cost-benefit approach rather than a rush to a weapon irr…

Aussie sailors repelled Iran attack, BBC says By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Friday Jun 22, 2007 12:11:06 EDT Iranian naval forces tried to capture an Australian boarding team in the Persian Gulf — even before they seized and held 15 British sailors and Marines — but where the British sailors were taken captive, the Australian sailors repelled their attackers, BBC News reported Thursday. The Australian and British incidents were very similar, according to what British military sources told the BBC: An Royal Australian Navy team had been searching a cargo ship in the northern Persian Gulf when Iranian operatives approached in small boats. But the Auss…

From Navy Times Iran says it plans major gulf naval exercise By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 5:38:40 EST Iran’s navy will stage a large exercise in the Persian Gulf in February, an official English-language Tehran newspaper reported Sunday, including maneuvers planned specifically for the Strait of Hormuz, the choke point through which some 20 percent of the world’s oil passes. Code-named “Etand 86,” or “Unity 86,” the exercise will include the operational debut of a homebuilt diesel-electric attack submarine, The Tehran Times reported. Navy commander Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayari told the newspaper that the navy expected to tak…

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

From CTV [excerpt]

From DefenseNews U.S. Charges North Korea-Syria Nuclear Link By OLIVIER KNOX, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 24 Apr 15:54 EDT (11:54 GMT) WASHINGTON - The White House and the CIA told key lawmakers in secret April 24 that North Korea helped Syria build a nuclear reactor at a site destroyed by an Israeli raid in September, officials said. Washington also took its case to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), alleging that Damascus violated its obligations under the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a U.S. official said. In Congress, top U.S. officials laid out the charges - which Syria flatly denied - behind close…

Find it here. Early reports of an interesting naval/GOPLAT situation developing in the Persian Gulf. Scenario seed?

From Army Times Turkish planes, copters attack rebels in Iraq By Selcan Hacaoglu - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Oct 24, 2007 9:50:18 EDT ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships reportedly attacked positions of Kurdish rebels along its rugged border with Iraq on Wednesday, as Turkey’s military stepped up its anti-rebel operations. Several F-16 warplanes loaded with bombs took off from an air base in southeastern city of Diyarbakir, private Dogan news agency and local reporters said. The warplanes and helicopter gunships bombed mountain paths in Turkey used by rebels to infiltrate from neighboring Iraq, Anatolia reported. On S…

Russia Lifts Its Ban on Delivery of S-300 Missiles to Iran (Wall Street Journal)

CV32: It occurs to me that the utility of a hot line is probably proportional to the expectation of logic and rational thought on the other end of the line. From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Russian Planes Sold To Syria JERUSALEM — Israel is concerned about reported Russian deliveries of advanced MiG-31 fighter planes to its enemy Syria as part of an armaments drive, the topselling Hebrew daily reported yesterday. The MiG-31, considered one of the best fighters in the world, can carry guided missiles with a range of more than 125 miles and is capable of striking 24 targets simultaneously, Yediot Aharonot said. A Russian newspaper reported yesterday that Russia has begun delivering five MiG-31E interceptors to Syria and that Moscow also plans to sell Damascus its MiG-29M/M2 dual-role fighters.

From Jane's Iran may have lined up S-300 SAM systems By Doug Richardson 09 January 2008 Iran is set to receive Russian S-300 (SA-10 'Grumble') surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar stated on 26 December 2007. Mohammad-Najjar gave no details of the order or the timescale for deliveries, but according to Iranian state radio he said: "The S-300 system will be delivered to Iran within the framework of a contract agreed in the past. The timing of the delivery will be announced at a later date." The report was confirmed by Iran's Fars News Agency, which gave no further information. Russia's Interfax news agency …

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Here Are All The Details The Pentagon Just Released Regarding Its Missile Attack On Syria (Updated) (The War Zone)

Source Aviation News 17/06/2008 In spite of the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 having been declared multi-role operationally capable from the beginning of July the Ministry of Defence stated that the Royal Air Force’s Panavia Tornado GR.4s are to assume a new mission from early next year, with the type to replace a detachment of BAE Systems Harrier GR.7/9 ground-attack aircraft that has been based at Afghanistan’s Kandahar airfield since November 2004. Announcing the move on 16 June, UK defence secretary Des Browne described Joint Force Harrier’s provision of close air support services in Afghanistan (below) as "Amongst the most potent of all our capabilities in…

From DefenseNews India, Russia End Spat Over Soviet-Era Aircraft Carrier AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Published: 28 Feb 09:46 EST (04:46 GMT) NEW DELHI - India and Russia have ended a protracted dispute over the cost of a Soviet-era aircraft carrier which will be now sold at a higher price to the Indian navy in 2011, officials said Feb. 28. Indian Defence Secretary V. K. Singh, returning from Moscow, said a new undisclosed price had been agreed upon for the 44,570-ton Admiral Gorshkov. Russian export firm Rosoboronexport in 2004 signed a deal to refurbish the carrier for $970 million but last year demanded India pay an additional $1.2 billion. Singh declined…

From DefenseNews Posted 09/17/07 11:40 Saudis Sign $8.9B Eurofighter Deal By ANDREW CHUTER, LONDON The Saudi government has signed a deal with Britain to purchase Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, the largest single export order ever landed by the British defense industry. A contract covering the delivery of 72 Typhoons was signed Aug 29. Cost of the aircraft was put at 4.43 billon pounds ($8.9 billion), the Saudi Press Agency reported Sept. 17. A British Ministry of Defence statement confirmed the deal: “This new defence cooperation programme, known as ‘Project Salam,’ builds on a long and successful relationship between the Governments and their armed forces. Th…

Stealth Fighters Make Combat Debut as U.S. Bombs Syria (War is Boring)

From Flight International Libya 'to order 13-18 Dassault Rafale fighter jets', rejecting Eurofighter, French press reports By Justin Wastnage Libyan leader Col Muammar al-Gaddafi has reportedly selected the Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jet to re-equip the country's air force ahead of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Libya is reportedly close to finalising an order for between 13 and 18 Rafales in a deal worth as much as €2.5 billion ($3.24 billion), French Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche says. The newspaper cites industry sources and government insiders as saying Gaddafi chose the French offer over a refurbishing of and unspecified number of the count…