Russian Intelligence Sees U.S. Military Buildup on Iran Border

March 27, 2007 RIA Novosti Russian News and Information Agency
MOSCOW -- Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by U.S. Armed Forces near Iran's borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday. "The latest military intelligence data point to heightened U.S. military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran," the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched. He said the Pentagon is looking for a way to deliver a strike against Iran "that would enable the Americans to bring the country to its knees at minimal cost." He also said the U.S. Naval presence in the Persian Gulf has for the first time in the past four years reached the level that existed shortly before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Col.-Gen. Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Sciences, said last week that the Pentagon is planning to deliver a massive air strike on Iran's military infrastructure in the near future. A new U.S. carrier battle group has been dispatched to the Gulf. The USS John C. Stennis, with a crew of 3,200 and around 80 fixed-wing aircraft, including F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers, eight support ships and four nuclear submarines are heading for the Gulf, where a similar group led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has been deployed since December 2006. The U.S. is also sending Patriot anti-missile systems to the region.

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 23:36:35 GMTIranian Official Denies Report of British Servicewoman's Early ReleaseRIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Iran's foreign minister backed off a prediction that a detained British servicewoman could be freed Wednesday or Thursday but said Tehran agreed to allow British officials to meet with 15 sailors and marines in Iranian custody. more By The Associated Press

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 23:31:54 GMTFury as Iran Shows Footage of Captured SailorsIran dramatically raised the stakes in its tense diplomatic stand-off with Britain last night, broadcasting a propaganda video of the British sailors and marines seized last week, including a "confession" that they had entered Iranian waters. more By The Guardian

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 23:26:38 GMTUnacceptable BehaviourWith each day that passes, the crisis triggered by Iran's seizure of 15 British marines and sailors in the Shatt al-Arab waterway on Friday grows. Last night leading seaman Faye Turney was paraded on Iranian television, "admitting" they had trespassed into Iranian waters. The video was heavily edited and there was no way of telling under what duress it had been filmed. The video and the accompanying letter, apologising to the Iranian people, was reminiscent of all the worst Iranian hostage dramas. Earlier, the Iranians promised British officials they would not parade crew members on television, which contravenes the Geneva convention (even if it is only deemed to apply in a state of war) and last night they broke that promise too. more By The Guardian

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 23:13:36 GMTHow Britons Were Conned by Iranian Gunboat TrickThe British sailors and marines being held by Iran were ambushed at their most vulnerable moment, while climbing down the ladder of a merchant ship and trying to get into their bobbing inflatables. Out of sight of their warship and without any helicopter cover, their only link to their commanders was a communications device beaming their position by satellite. more By The Times

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 23:10:8 GMTA Mother On Parade in Iran's Propaganda WarHer blonde hair covered with a black headscarf and puffing on a cigarette, Faye Turney enunciated each word carefully to her unseen interviewer. Her patrol boat had “obviously” trespassed into Iranian waters, she said. But she and her fellow servicemen were being treated well by their “friendly, hospitable, thoughtful and nice” captors. more By The Times

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 17:36:35 GMTIran Shows Video of Captured BritonsIranian state TV showed video Wednesday of the 15 British sailors and marines who were seized last week, including a female captive who wore a white tunic and a black head scarf and said the British boats "had trespassed" in Iranian waters. more By The Associated Press

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 17:16:35 GMTIranian TV Shows Captured SailorsThe British Foreign Office condemned the broadcast of footage on Iranian television showing sailors and marines detained last week as "completely unacceptable". Iranian television showed footage on Wednesday of several British sailors held in Iran and said they were safe and well. more By Northern Territory News

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 16:40:41 GMTIran Foreign Minister Says Iran Will Release Female SailorIran said a female British sailor seized with 14 other crew members would be released Wednesday or Thursday, softening Tehran's position by suggesting their boats' alleged entry into Iranian waters may have been a mistake. more By The Associated Press

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 14:59:20 GMTThe Iran Crisis DeepensPRAGUE, Czech Republic -- We have seen this movie before. One of the West's leading statesmen, and a powerful advocate for human rights, is deliberately humiliated by hostage-seizing Iranian radicals. Moreover, the Iranian radicals believe they can get away with it because they know perfectly well that the Western leaders are constrained by their own moral code to abide, as far as they can, by international law. more By United Press International

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 14:23:46 GMTU.A. Emirates Won't Participate in US Moves Against IranThe president of the United Arab Emirates forbade the US military from using bases in his country to attack or spy on Iran as mammoth US Navy maneuvers in the Gulf entered their second day. Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who leads this key US ally, said Tuesday that the Emirates had assured Iran that it was not siding with Washington in its dispute over Teheran's nuclear program. more By The Associated Press

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 13:50:51 GMTShould Iran Rush into War?MOSCOW -- There are many indications that in the past 12-13 months, Iran has been intentionally escalating the military tensions surrounding its nuclear program. The rhetoric of the Iranian political and military elite has become much tougher; Tehran has been flexing its military muscle over the same issue, and has ostentatiously turned down the IAEA and UN Security Council proposals to return to the negotiating table in order to resolve the problem; and finally, the Iranian Navy captured 15 British sailors before the Security Council adopted its latest resolution on tougher sanctions against Tehran. more By RIA Novosti

Posted 28/3/2007 @ 13:37:22 GMTBritain Freezing Talks With Iran LONDON -- Britain said it was freezing talks on all other issues with Iran until it freed 15 Royal Navy crew members seized last week, and the British military released what it said was proof its boats were within Iraqi territorial waters when they were seized. more By The Associated Press