Syria Rebuilds Mystery Structure

(NEWSER) - Israel is engaging in a bit of saber rattling directed toward Iran, the Times of London reports. The military is beefing up its air arsenal and training to be ready to strike Iran’s nuclear sites at a moment's notice. “Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours,” a defense official said. “The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words.” More»

Peres: "We'll strike" Amadinejad if Obama's anti-nuclear efforts fail

(NEWSER) - Israel's new government continued its saber-rattling with Iran today, threatening to strike the country if President Obama's diplomatic overtures fail, the Jerusalem Post reports. Echoing the hardline rhetoric of new Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres issued a warning to Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "We'll strike him" if Obama can't soften the leader's stance, Peres said. More»

Washington moves close to N. Korea agreement

(NEWSER) - Details of a suspected secret pact between North Korea and Syria to supply Damascus with nuclear weapons technology will be revealed in closed-door CIA briefings of lawmakers, Reuters reports. The pact is apparently linked to an Israeli air raid on a suspected nuclear site in Syria last year. The briefing comes as Washington moves closer to an agreement by North Korea to finally declare details of its nuclear program. More»

Unrest marks anniversary of Arab defeat in 1967 war

(AP) - Israeli troops opened fire across the Syrian frontier today to disperse hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who stormed the border of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, reportedly killing four people in unrest marking the anniversary of the Arab defeat in the 1967 Mideast war. The Israeli military accused Syria of instigating the disturbances to deflect attention from its bloody crackdown on a popular uprising at home. State-run Syrian TV reported four dead, including a 12-year-old boy, and 15 wounded. There was no immediate confirmation of the report. More»

New report paves way for security council action

(NEWSER) - Syria “very likely” had a secret nuclear weapons program, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency report released yesterday, which concludes that the Dair Alzour site Israel bombed in 2007 was almost certainly an under-construction nuclear reactor. The allegations themselves are old news—US intelligence agencies presented evidence of them in 2008—but the report could provide grounds for UN Security Council measures against Syria, the LA Times reports. More»