Assad will continue to distance himself from Tehran. As the military threat to his regime diminishes, Iran's military presence is becoming more of a burden due to Israel's increasing belligerence.Khamenei’s saving of Assad 13 years ago was a colossal blunder—$50 billion and… pic.twitter.com/O6FvPbn2el— Karam Shaar كرم شعّار (@Karam__Shaar) October 9, 2024
I think that's a bit naive. Assad and Iran have common enemies even when you remove Israel from the picture.
It was announced on February 1st 2013. Since then it has, according to Tehran, completed "taxi tests" to evaluate its performance on the ground in 2017. Then crickets until last Ferbruary, when its redesign as an UAV was announced. Maybe the next announcement will be on April 1st 2025.
Yom Kippur has arrived without anything having happened, so it looks like my guess that a decision would take time was correct. That makes sense: the holiday's importance means minds wouldn't have been 110% on the job and "let's sleep on it" is always a good idea before an irrevocable action. A final decision on target categories - nuclear versus oil export facilities, versus oil refineries, etc. - probably hasn't been taken but will be when business resumes on Sunday or very soon afterwards. Given the White House's sensitivities and the Arab states' concerns, my guess is that the missile programme (launchers, storage bunkers and, especially, manufacturing plants) will be chosen. Iran has scientific talent in abundance but its industrial base is anemic. Taking out the factories and their machinery could take a decade to repair and leaves the mullahs with a dilemma; draw a line under things and be unveiled as a paper tiger or escalate, knowing that Israel's next strike will a) be even more damaging and b) leave them with the same dilemma again. Meanwhile, Israel arguably looks restrained and inarguably looks willing to take its allies' concerns into account.
Sigh. A rapprochement between Syria and Saudi Arabia means they're not active enemies. That was my point and you were agreeing with it. You didn't read what you responded and your Pavlovian anti-anti "logic" took over, or you did but just name-dropped a high-sounding word whose meaning you don't understand. Both of which are "typical" one might say.
Or you could have said "I just googled it". Telling someone who's native language is French that he doesn't know what rapprochement means is hilarious. You made my morning - back to my coffee and Bailey's
Well, this is new. Following the latest Call with U.S. President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Military and Defense Establishment to not carry out any further Strikes against Hezbollah Targets within the Lebanese Capital of Beirut.— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 13, 2024
I consider Biden quite lucid here: CNN — In his new book, legendary journalist Bob Woodward offers a remarkable look behind the scenes at President Joe Biden’s blunt, profanity-laced assessments and interactions with the world leaders who have shaped his presidency, from Benjamin Netanyahu to Vladimir Putin. “That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad ********ing guy!” Biden declared privately about the Israeli prime minister to one of his associates in the spring of 2024 as Israel’s war in Gaza intensified, Woodward writes. “That ********ing Putin,” Biden said to advisers in the Oval Office not long after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Woodward. “Putin is evil. We are dealing with the epitome of evil.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cn...war-joe-biden-putin-netanyahu-trump#cobssid=s
Tell me that you don't understand how the US government works without telling me that you don't understand how the US government works
Some of it Also, some of it we permit US manufacturer's to sell to the IDF and work with the IDF to develop defense systems and that sometimes becomes in-kind trading. There seems to be a stark misconception in certain left leaning political circles that the Nation of Israel doesn't have it's own robust domestic defense industry that doesn't export weapons & technology and that it relies solely on the US' defense industry for it's armaments and munitions. Make no mistake, it can and does produce it's own, though probably not in sufficient volume to sustain the ongoing razing of Gaza and a sustained war against Hezbollah and a long distance slinging of drones and missiles with Iran and ye olde Houthis - they will have to try to limit it a bit. That being said, we're far from the only country that they buy munitions from - they just really like ours - the quality shines through
https://www.yahoo.com/news/israel-strikes-syrian-city-us-070611301.html Israel strikes Syria, US pounds Huthis in Yemen The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the Israeli raid targeted a "weapons depot belong to Hezbollah". The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike when contacted by AFP. Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years, including multiple attacks recently along the Lebanese border that seek to cut off Hezbollah's main weapons and equipment supply route from Iran to Lebanon. In Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Israel's main ally the United States conducted multiple B-2 bomber strikes on weapon storage facilities, according to the US military and defence department. "US forces targeted several of the Huthis' underground facilities housing various weapons components of types that the Huthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
Not that there was ever any doubt that Iran called the shots in Lebanon but it's interesting that the Lebanese are openly pushing back, particularly with Nikati doing it. He's not particularly close to any bloc and is a compromise candidate, acceptable to all the communities and their factions. Strong statements aren't usually in his repertoire nor should they be in his position. If he's doing this, it's because large parts of the the Shia bloc are angry as well Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati slams IranLebanese caretaker PM Najib Mikati said that Tehran's envoy should be summoned over reported comments by a senior Iranian official that it would be ready to help "negotiate" to implement a U.N. resolution on Lebanon.Lebanese PM Najib… pic.twitter.com/SkjbWaRbbA— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 18, 2024 Edit: Reports are that the ambassador has already been summoned