What seems to be a cold war is certainly reaching a boiling point. The EU attempt to bring Iran back to the negotiating table regarding its nuclear ambitions through a pending oil embargo and bank freeze has Iran plotting its revenge. In what appears to be an attempt at avoiding an all-out regional war, Iran is apparently opting to implement a strategy of narrowing the Strait of Hormuz to interfere with the tankers that use it as a transportation route for about a fifth of the world’s oil, according to Debka File.
The move would significantly reduce the amount of oil reaching the markets, which in turn would increase the price of oil per barrel.
Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBN that the fact that the sanctions may do more harm globally than good because, “The European Union, for example, has a serious internal problem. The Greeks feel since their economy is sort of on the verge of collapse, they can't afford to do this, and the Spanish and the Italians are right behind them.”
He added that, “the more people come up with compromises and excuses and they're worried about the Western economies, in an election year in particular, then Iran is going to turn around third base and head for home plate.”
Mickey Segal, a former director of the Israeli military's Iranian intelligence department said that he believes that the sanctions will cause Iran to become more defiant and pick up the pace regarding the development of nuclear weapons.
Israel’s President Shimon Peres has declared Iran the “greatest obstacle to peace in the Middle East,” according to the Jerusalem Post, and that Hezbollah and Hamas are Iran’s key regional allies. He is calling on the international community to encourage the people of Iran to rise up against Ahmadinejad’s regime.
As for peace talks between Israel and Palestine in relation to borders, the Jerusalem Post noted that “Under the Quartet formula drawn up on September 23 for bringing the sides to the negotiating table, both Israel and the Palestinians were to present each other with comprehensive proposals on those two issues within 90 days. According to the Palestinians, a 90-day period expired on Thursday, while Israel – which believes that the period did not start until direct talks began in Amman earlier this month – that period does not end until the beginning of April.”
Interestingly, the quartet timeframe for an actual agreement has been set for the end of 2012.
Meanwhile, World Net Daily reports that “Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has held several secret meetings with his economic and military advisers in recent days to prepare for the possibility of war with the United States.”
WND also notes that Khameni and other radicals with whom he has surrounded himself believe that the Islamic 12th Imam is actually on the Earth and that he will soon make his presence known “when the needed environment is created.”
The Shiite’s also believe that the Mahdi will appear at the time of Armageddon.
In an attempt to hasten this entity’s appearance, Khameni is working on cleansing Iran of anyone who has ever been found to be unsupportive of the Iranian regime by murdering them.
