Saturday Headlines

Israeli Official: Satellite Images Back Claims That Iran Is Developing Nuclear Weapons

An Israeli official claims satellite images that raised suspicions Iran is trying to conceal a key nuclear test back Israel's concerns that Tehran is developing an atomic bomb.

The official said the pictures "reinforce what Israel has been saying all along ... the Iranian nuclear program is not benign." He spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal government response.

	The base in Parchin where Iran conducted nuclear tests.
	Photo by: Google Earth, GeoEye

Earlier Thursday, Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told CNN that Iran is not telling us everything about its nuclear program.
"We have the indication or information that Iran has engaged in activities relevant to the development of nuclear explosive devices," Yukiya Amano told CNN.

Intelligence Community: Iran Poses 3 Threats To U.S.

According to intelligence analysts, the threat to homeland security includes Iran’s increasing inroads into Latin America, cyberwarfare and ballistic missiles.

Iran has a kinship with Latin American countries that are opposed to Western sanctions.

“Iranian officials – probably including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – have changed their calculus and are now willing to conduct an attack in the United States,” according to James Clapper, director of the Office of National Intelligence.

Iran’s ballistic missile program similarly has alarmed U.S. officials. In 2009, when the U.S. issued its U.S. missile defense strategy, Iran’s ballistic missile program was viewed as a “phased adaptive approach.”

While the threat remains to U.S. overseas assets, the threat from Iranian intercontinental ballistic missiles has become more imminent.

“Iran already has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East and is expanding the scale, reach and sophistication of its ballistic missile forces, many of which are inherently capable of carrying a nuclear payload,” according to a recent U.S. intelligence assessment.

Iran, he said, is making major headway toward an ICBM capability through long-range missile tests and has developed a broad engineering base and missile survivability effort.

Egypt Is Looking To Get Cozy With Iran

My, how predictable was this one?

Although Saudi Arabia had good relations for more than 30 years with Egypt under now-ousted President Hosni Mubarak, the kingdom is warily watching political developments in Cairo as the Muslim Brotherhood shows increasing strength, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

In what appears to be a cross-spectrum of political sentiment in Egypt as a result of the ouster of Mubarak, there appears to be a desire to normalize ties with Tehran, believing that resumption of relations between the two Muslim countries will remove many controversies and differences.

While the other Arab countries in the region are concerned about the growing influence of Iran, especially its ties to their Shi’ite minorities, Nour said that his party is not afraid of Iran’s role and influence in the region.

Report: Iran Planned To Bomb Israeli Ship In Suez Canal

Iran had planned to bomb an Israeli ship while it crossed the Suez Canal, the prosecution in Egypt's state security court said, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Saturday.

According to the report, two Egyptians were recently arrested and investigated for allegedly planning an attack on an Israeli ship in the Suez Canal.

Haaretz reported last week that a high-ranking official in Jerusalem said that Iranian military experts have been active in Sinai and the Gaza Strip.

Several terror groups are now at large in Sinai, the source explained: local Bedouin, who are adopting the ideology of the Global Jihad; groups supported by Iran, who are trying to recruit and train militants not only in Sinai but throughout Egypt; and Palestinian organizations. Joining them are Global Jihad militants from Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia

The New Neo-Nazis

Israel Warns Neighbors Over March To Jerusalem

As activists are planning to lead aGlobal March to Jerusalem next Friday, Israel has warned neighboringcountries that it would forcefully respond to attempted breaches of its borders.

The Global March to Jerusalem initiative aims at getting over one million Arabs and their supporters to attempt to infiltrate Israel’s borders on March 30^th. A spokesman for the march said last week the initiative “demand[s] freedom for Palestine and its capital Jerusalem.”

The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) has presented information that Iran is behind the initiative and openly supports it. The march has alsobeen endorsed by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who was U.S. President Barack Obama's pastor for 20 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Diplomatic sources told the London-based Asharq Alawsat newspaper on Friday that Israel has sent messages to the governments of Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, the Hamas government in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority regarding the planned march.

The report said that in the messages Israel made it clear that anyone who will come near its borders would be considered an infiltrator and the IDF will act against him with full force.

Israel also reportedly demanded that Arab countries not allow an escalation of the tension in the region through marches toward its borders.

Lawmaker Warns Of 'Disagreeing With Government'

A Missouri state lawmaker says it’s a scary time in America, especially if you’re not fully on board with Washington’s socialist-leaning agenda.

“It’s kind of a dangerous time for people in America who might wind up disagreeing with the government,” Missouri Rep. Paul Curtman said during a conference telephone call regarding organized opposition for the National Defense Authorization Act.

After serving in the Marines for 10 years, he said, he realizes that under the federal government’s definition of “potential terrorist,” he qualified by virtue of his status as a combat veteran and his conservative political views.

The law was signed by Barack Obama Dec. 31, 2011, and among its sections is 1021, “which purports to authorize the president of the United States to use the armed forces of the United States to detain American citizens who the president suspects are or have been substantial supports of al-Qaida, the Taliban, or associated forces, and to hold such citizens indefinitely,” according to an analysis of the federal law

“Detention provisions without due process written into sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act served as a shot across America’s bow, raising concern to an amazingly high level, bringing groups and individuals across the political spectrum together to battle what they view as an unconstitutional and dangerous federal power grab,” his report said.