Iran Focus

London, 15 Feb – On 12th February 2008, Hezbollah lost Imad Mughniyeh – one of the terrorist group’s most ruthless military commanders. He was behind the 1983 US Marine barracks bombing in Beirut and the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in which 29 civilians died and 242 were injured. He was also the mastermind behind the 1994 attack on the AMIA’s (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association) building in Buenos Aires.

He was killed in Damascus, Syria, just after attending an event held by Iranian patrons to mark the 29th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. When he got to his car, an explosive detonated – killing just Mughniyeh. It turns out that the spare tyre in his vehicle was replaced with an explosive that detonated as he approached it.

Iran Focus

London, 14 Feb – Iran is reportedly seeking to rewrite the “rules of the game” over Israel’s involvement in Syria, now that the Syrian Regime is largely taking over the country again and Syrian rebels are largely defeated.

You can see this from the Israeli fighter jet that was shot down in Syria last weekend, in relation to the downing of an Iranian drone in Israeli airspace and Israeli bombs dropped on terrorist targets in Syria.

Before the attack on the fighter jet, Israel had the expectation that its attacks on Iranian-Hezbollah weapons convoys and production facilities would not be met with a military response as either Syria or Hezbollah could afford a war with Israel.

Iran Focus

London, 13 Feb – The situation in the Middle East is growing more and more volatile and it is difficult to imagine how events will evolve. In Syria, in particular, there are numerous powers in conflict. The Americans and the Russians, Iran and Israel, and the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Free Syrian army and its allies.

It is likely that a clash between Iran and Israel will come to a head. Turkey refuses to get more involved if it looks like it will be drawn into combat areas.