On Wednesday, Israeli
Navy commandos intercepted a commercial ship in the Red Sea between
Eritrea and Sudan that was transporting weapons from Iran to terrorists
in Gaza.
Because the commandos
that boarded the vessel were wearing helmet cameras, there is real-time
footage of the operation. And what the pictures reveal are dozens of
Syrian-made long-range missiles, hundreds of pounds of payload and sacks
of concrete with a "made in Iran" label in plain English.
According to sources in
the Israeli defense establishment, this event is merely the tip of the
iceberg. At its epicenter is the Quds Force of the Iranian Republican
Guards, the unit in charge of "exporting the Islamic Revolution"
worldwide. Key to the success of its goal is arming and financing
terrorist networks bent on Israel's annihilation.
Israeli intelligence
has been closely monitoring the activities of Iran's global reach and
Middle East stronghold. Wednesday's interception of the Klos C ship was
one among many thwarted attempts by the ayatollah-led regime to transfer
arms to Palestinian terror groups. One shudders to think of all the
successful efforts emanating out of Tehran that Israel was unable to
block.
It is this that Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps trying to hit home with the American
administration. His constant warning (reiterated during his speech on
Tuesday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual policy
conference) that Iran has not become more moderate with President Hassan
Rouhani at its helm -- and that time is running out before it acquires
nuclear weapons -- sounds like a broken record.
But Netanyahu is forced to repeat himself, because U.S. President Barack Obama is neither listening nor cares.
This did not prevent
Obama from taking credit for the Israeli commando raid on the Klos C,
however. Indeed, as soon as news of the covert operation broke, White
House spokesman Jay Carney said, "Our intelligence and military
activities were closely coordinated with our Israeli counterparts, who
ultimately chose to take the lead in interdicting this shipment of
illicit arms."
Lucky that Israel
"chose to take the lead." As enemies of the United States have learned
since Obama took office, American threats are empty.
"We will continue to
stand up to Iran's support for destabilizing activities in the region in
coordination with our partners and allies," Carney continued. "These
illicit acts are unacceptable to the international community and in
gross violation of Iran's Security Council obligations."
One doesn't know whether to laugh or cry at such atrophied muscle-flexing.
Let us not forget,
after all, that while he was making these statements to the press in
Washington, a new round of three-day negotiations between Iran and the
P5+1 (the U.S., the U.K., Russia, China, France and Germany) had begun
in Vienna. These talks are scheduled to end on Friday.
On Sunday, European
Union foreign policy chief and nuclear negotiator Catherine Ashton is
headed to Iran for a chummy visit. There she will undoubtedly meet with
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. He's one Iranian whom she has gotten to
know quite well, as he has participated in a number of farcical P5+1
summits, like the last one in February.
This is why Carney
hurried to soften his "tough" words. Regardless of the Iranian weapons
cache found on the Klos C, he said, "It's entirely appropriate to
continue to pursue the possibility of reaching a resolution on the
nuclear program."
This is as ludicrous as Tehran's denial that it had anything to do with the intercepted arms shipment.
So preposterous is
this, in fact, that while one Iranian military source was calling the
accusations "baseless and false," Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen.
Hossein Dehghan held a ceremony that day to announce the addition of
four new types of ballistic missiles to its arsenal -- some with
multiple warheads for more devastating effects.
"These missiles are
able to hit and destroy enemy targets with precision, and they meet a
variety of the armed forces' needs," he said. "The weapons have
strengthened Iran's deterrence power and military might."
Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, Israel is in easy range of these missiles.
It is unlikely that
Ashton will raise this particular issue over tea with Zarif during her
Tehran trip. Nor will she want to rock the boat, so to speak, by asking
him about his tweet on Thursday, which read: "An Iranian ship carrying
arms for Gaza. Captured just in time for annual AIPAC anti Iran
campaign. Amazing Coincidence! Or same failed lies."
It's enough to make even those of us with an iron stomach seasick.
Ruthie Blum is the author of "To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the 'Arab Spring.'"
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