Debkafile: Lebanon Army will Use Iranian Weapons in Next Encounter with Israel

Debkafile: Lebanon Army will Use Iranian Weapons in Next Encounter with Israel

14/09/2010 The Israeli intelligence Internet site Debkafile cited Monday “a report last week by weapons inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency” saying that “Iran has crossed the critical nuclear threshold taking it nearer to being able to arm ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.”

The Debkafile report added that “when this finding failed to elicit any response from the US or Israel, debkafile’s military sources report, NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen hurried over to Washington Sunday, Sept. 12 with a call to action for President Barack Obama: Based on their (Iranian) public statements we know that Iran already has missiles with a range sufficient to hit targets in Europe, and they don't hide the fact that they want to further develop their capability.”

According to the report, Rasmussen came away with an “American pledge of 200 million to create a missile shield for Europe against the Iranian threat.”

Debkafile criticized the Israeli government for not addressing this “menace from Iran,” particularly as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Beirut “to clinch Iran’s grip on Lebanon.”

“While even Europe has roused itself to the menace from Iran, the fast encroaching threat to Israel remains unaddressed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and defense minister Ehud Barak. They appear unmoved even in the face of the coming visit to Lebanon on Oct. 13-14 by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is coming specifically to clinch Iran’s grip on Lebanon and its buildup as Iran’s forward front for retaliation should Israel venture to strike its nuclear facilities,” the report said.

“This buildup crossed every possible red line some time ago without an Israeli response. The Iranian president will exploit this vacuum by paying a visit to the South Lebanese-Israeli border village of Edeissa, from which on Aug. 3, Lebanese army sniper soldiers were put up by Hizballah to ambush Israeli troops and shoot dead Col. Dov Harari,” It added.

Without citing its sources, Debkafile reported that “Lebanese President Gen. Michel Sleiman phoned Ahmadinejad Sept. 11 to say that the Lebanese people was “eagerly awaiting” his coming and stress that henceforth the Lebanese national army would fight Israel shoulder to shoulder with its comrades in Hizballah.”

The report reflected distraught in Israel at the mere possibility of Sleiman or Army Chief Jean Qahwaji, or even Hezbollah’s S.G. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah accompanying Ahmadinejad on his “symbolic” visit to south Lebanon

“This decision matters greatly. The Israeli government’s silence with regard to the provocative nature of the event matters even more.

Tehran will be using it to uphold the Lebanese army’s “heroic act” in attacking Israel. It will be welcomed as an honored member of the Iranian-Syrian-Palestinian “resistance front” against Israel alongside Hizballah. Ahmadiinejad is planning to use his visit to celebrate an Iranian-Lebanese defense pact coupled with a large-scale transaction to supply the Lebanese armed forces with the weapons needed to take on the IDF. These deals will kick off the merger and standardization of Lebanese and Hizballah weapons systems. The next time Lebanese troops attack Israel they are likely to be using Iranian arms,” the Debkafile report concluded.

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