Is there a Secret Syrian-Iranian-Russian Alliance? (add China,Turkey and Brazil)

[falcon]

This goes with my other post about oil here the link;

Who said the world is a satage.
These two article really go together. "The Grand Pattern Emerges" http://www.transasianaxis.co

Is there a Secret Syrian-Iranian-Russian Alliance?
by J. R. Nyquist

Israeli sources are alleging the existence of a secret Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance. The allegation is credible, even obvious to many who understand the close ties that exist between terror-supporting states and the “former” communist bloc. The allegation is also credible to anyone who watches the way Moscow supplies and encourages rogue states like North Korea, Iran and the old Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. Consider the following tangled web: Recently published Iraqi documents confirm a Saddam-Taliban connection as previously alleged by terrorism expert Yossef Bodansky. Rounding out the overall picture, Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir recently stated that Iran and Russia are jointly supporting the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan. In an interview with Paul Williams and David Dastych, Mir affirmed: “a top official of Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry revealed to me in Kabul that Russia and Iran are providing weapons and money to the Taliban. But we don’t have the courage to speak against them….”



http://www.financialsense.com/stormw...2006/0804.html

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Re: Is there a Secret Syrian-Iranian- Russian Alliance?

Well you can add Turkey to the mix...

Russia, Turkey and Iran Meet, Posing Test for U.S.

By SABRINA TAVERNISE

Published: June 8, 2010

ISTANBUL — Leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran convened at a security summit meeting in Istanbul on Tuesday in a display of regional power that appeared to be calculated to test the United States just one day before a scheduled American-backed debate in the United Nations Security Council on imposing tighter sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.


Osman Orsal/Reuters
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, left, with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Tuesday in Istanbul.


Bulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran during the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Istanbul on Tuesday.



In remarks at the gathering of regional leaders, the third of its kind dedicated to increasing cooperation and security in Asia, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said a nuclear agreement brokered by Turkey and Brazil last month was a one-time opportunity and other countries had called to express their support for it.

“We’ve seen a lot of support from the international arena,” he said, according to the Turkey’s official Anatolian News Agency. “This is the voice of everyone’s heart.” Mr. Ahmadinejad also maintained a defiant posture toward the United States.

“If the U.S. and its allies think they could hold the stick of sanctions and then sit and negotiate with us, they are seriously mistaken,” he told a news conference, according to Iran’s state-run Press TV satellite broadcaster. European and American officials say the vote on sanctions could come as early as Wednesday.

Mr. Ahmadinejad said Iran would not repeat its recent offer to send part of its stockpile out of Iran for enrichment. The accord, supported by Brazil and Turkey, was designed to break the deadlock over its nuclear program, according to Iran.

“The Tehran declaration provided an opportunity for the United States government and its allies. We had hoped and we are still hopeful that they use the opportunity well,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said. “I must say opportunities like this will not be repeated again.”

He added: “We were thinking that the United States President Barack Obama would make certain changes in the United States policies. We don’t say that we are hopeless. We hope that he can actually get over the present conditions in the time that remains. We are ready for dialogue within the frame of justice and respect.”

The United States contends Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, while Iran argues its nuclear program is peaceful. The deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil last month was based on parts of a previous United Nations-backed offer for Tehran to give up 1,200 kilograms of low enriched uranium in exchange for special fuel for a medical research reactor.

But the agreement infuriated the United States, which is trying to persuade other members of the Security Council, including China and Russia, to vote for tighter sanctions.

Mr. Ahmadinejad was to meet separately on Tuesday with the Russian prime minister, Vladimir V. Putin, at the conference, a move that is likely to worry the United States, which won the support of both Russia and China for sanctions this month.

Mr. Putin, speaking at the conference, said sanctions should not be “excessive” but gave no details on whether Russia would change its mind on the vote. He called Iran’s nuclear program peaceful, a characterization with which Washington disagrees.

“I hold the opinion that this resolution should not be unnecessary, should not put Iran’s leadership or the Iranian people into difficulty,” Mr. Putin said.

The conference reinforces the shifting alignments in this complicated area, where regional powers like Iran and Turkey, a NATO member, are emerging as bigger players.

Turkey, whose relationship with its longtime ally Israel is fraying, has been mediating in the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East in a new activist foreign policy that has sometimes placed it at odds with Washington, its closest diplomatic and military partner.

Sebnem Arsu contributed reporting from Istanbul, and Alan Cowell from Paris.

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Plus Brazil...

June 09, 2010
UN Iran sanctions vote slightly delayed

A vote on a new Iran sanctions resolution at the UN Security Council, expected to be held at 10am, is slightly delayed.

Diplomats in New York say a couple delegations are "torturing themselves" over how to vote, chief among them, Lebanon.

Twelve nations on the 15-member Security Council are expected to vote for the new Iran sanctions resolution.

Brazil and Turkey were expected to abstain or vote against, while Lebanon had widely been expected to vote against the measure. So diplomats found it surprising that Lebanon is apparently having some qualms about how it's planning to vote.

President Barack Obama had been planning to give a statement from the White House this morning on the Iran sanctions resolution passing at the UN, but it hadn't passed by the time Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived at the White House at 11am to meet with him.

UPDATE: The Security Council meeting is starting now (11:15am).

"My info right now: they are getting seated in the Security Council for the vote," a second diplomat said. "Brazil will vote no, Turkish foreign minister wanted Turkey to abstain but was overruled by [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan who wants a no vote. If this is correct, Lebanon will also vote no."

UPDATE II: The votes are in, a diplomat in New York said:

Yes: 12
No: 2 (Brazil, Turkey)
Abstain: 1 (Lebanon)

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and China...

UN votes for new sanctions on Iran over nuclear issue

The UN Security Council has voted in favour of fresh sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

The council voted 12 to two, with one abstention, in favour of a fourth round of sanctions, including tighter finance curbs and an expanded arms embargo.

The US has promoted the sanctions as the toughest Iran has yet faced.

But Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier warned his country would not agree to further nuclear talks if the sanctions were imposed.

The US and its allies fear Iran is secretly trying to build a nuclear bomb, but Tehran insists its programme is aimed solely at peaceful energy use.

The Security Council resolution was opposed by Turkey and Brazil, which had brokered a deal with Iran on uranium enrichment. Lebanon abstained.

The new sanctions were passed after being watered down during negotiations with Russia and China on Tuesday.

There are no crippling economic sanctions and there is no oil embargo.

Those passed include prohibiting Iran from buying heavy weapons such as attack helicopters and missiles.

They also toughen rules on financial transactions with Iranian banks and increase the number of Iranian individuals and companies that are targeted with asset freezes and travel bans.

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Russia to sell Syria warplanes, air defense systems Arms trader says deal includes MiG-29 fighters, Pantsir missiles

By The Daily Star

Saturday, May 15, 2010

MOSCOW: Russia has signed deals with Syria under which it will sell it warplanes, anti-tank weapons and air defense systems, Itar-Tass news agency quoted a senior Russian arms trader as saying on Friday.

Read more: here

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China's strategic alliance with Iran is off most radar screens

Iran's Influence In Latin America Worries U.S.

Syria, Turkey Seek Strategic Alliance with Iran, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon

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What Iran gained from today's U.N. vote to sanction its regime



The Obama administration is claiming a diplomatic triumph today with the U.N. Security Council’s passage of new sanctions against Iran. But the Iranian government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also has some reason for satisfaction.

The resolution passed in New York, it can argue, is late, weak and more likely to ease than increase Iran’s diplomatic isolation.

It’s not hard to imagine the briefing an Iranian government spinner might be delivering in Tehran today. Consider, he might say, what President Obama once promised: that a refusal by Iran to begin serious negotiations about curbing its nuclear program would lead to “crippling” sanctions, beginning in the fall of 2009. During his presidential campaign, Obama even suggested that the sanctions would target Iran’s gasoline imports -- which many experts have described as the Achilles heel of its economy.

The sanctions approved today don’t touch Iran’s gasoline or its domestic energy sector.

They will allow China to continue developing three large oil fields as well as oil refineries that will eliminate Iran’s need for gasoline imports. They will permit Russia to switch on the Busheir nuclear plant this summer.

The Obama administration failed to obtain direct sanctions against Iran’s central bank or its state shipping line.

And its ban on weapons sales contains a giant loophole: Russia will have the leeway to deliver an advanced anti-aircraft missile system, the S-300, which would be Iran’s best defense against an air attack on its nuclear installations by the United States or Israel.

By the way, Ahmadinejad’s spinner might add: the sanctions came six months later than the United States wanted. During that time Iran’s centrifuges have enriched more than 2,000 pounds of uranium, increasing a stockpile sufficient for one atomic bomb to one that could provide two with further enrichment.

And the further enrichment has begun: Tehran has recently begun raising the enrichment level of part of its uranium from 3.5 percent to 20 percent -- still short of the 90 percent needed for weapons, but closer.

What about the global diplomatic shaming inherent in being the subject of a U.N. Security Council resolution? Take a closer look, the Iranian briefer can argue.

The three previous U.N. sanctions resolutions passed without a negative vote; two were adopted unanimously, the third with one abstention.This one drew one abstention, from Lebanon, and two negative votes from rising regional powers that until now have been reliable U.S. allies: Brazil and Turkey, a member of NATO.

The appearance of the Turkish and Brazilian presidents with Ahamdinejad in Tehran last month -- and their strong opposition to sanctions -- was arguably as large a diplomatic coup for Iran as today’s U.N. vote is for the United States. It showed that Iran’s international support is getting stronger even as it gets closer to producing a bomb.

China and Russia are far from lost: Ahmadinejad will be visiting Shanghai on Friday to inaugurate Iran’s pavillion at the city’s world fair.

Ahmadinejad is getting stronger at home, as well.

A few months ago he and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei were fighting with the opposition Green movement for control of the streets of Tehran and other major cities. Now, with the anniversary of the fraudulent election that touched off that rebellion approaching this Saturday, the streets are quiet.

For now, at least, the Green movement has been quelled. Though some of the sanctions passed yesterday are aimed at the Revolutionary Guards, none will make it harder for the regime’s shock troops to maintain domestic control.

So the Obama administration can celebrate today, Ahmadinejad’s briefer will argue. In public we will respond angrily.

In private, we have reason to celebrate -- because today our government is closer to producing a nuclear bomb and more secure both at home and abroad than it was a year ago.

By Jackson Diehl | June 9, 2010; 11:34 AM ET

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Nuclear fuel deal a rare opportunity, Iranian president says


Turkey President Abdullah Gul (R) shakes hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during their meeting in Istanbul June 7, 2010. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in Turkey to attend the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) REUTERS

Ahmadinejad cites Turkish, Brazilian roles, warns Obama over sanctions

Istanbul — The Associated Press Published on Tuesday, Jun. 08, 2010 3:01AM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Jun. 08, 2010 3:02AM EDT

The Iranian president says a nuclear-swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil is a one-time opportunity that should not be missed.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also says new sanctions would be a big mistake and that U.S. President Barack Obama stands to lose unless he changes his policies toward Iran. He did not elaborate.

The Iranian leader was speaking Tuesday, days before the United Nations Security Council is expected to vote to punish Tehran for its refusal to heed demands to curb its nuclear program.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has singled out Iran for the first time as a “special case.”

Turkey and Brazil recently announced a fuel-swap agreement with Iran aimed at addressing international concerns over Tehran's nuclear program.

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Russia says Iran sanctions do not bar missile deal

MOSCOW
Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:10am EDT



MOSCOW June 10 (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that new U.N. sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme do not oblige Moscow to scrap a controversial deal to deliver surface-to-air missiles to Iran.

Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko spoke after the Interfax news agency cited a Russian arms industry source as saying Russia would freeze its unfulfilled contract to sell S-300 missiles to Iran because of the sactions. (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; editing by Steve Gutterman)

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Karzai Admits Receiving 'Bags of Money' From Iran



Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed Monday that his office has received "bags of money" from Iran, but insisted the payments are transparent and a form of aid from a "friendly" country.

He said the U.S. has known about the Iranian assistance for years and that Washington also gives the palace cash payments.

Karzai's comments came in response to a The New York Times report a day earlier that Iran was giving cash to the Afghan president's chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, to buy his loyalty and promote Iranian interests in Afghanistan.

Cash payments "are done by various friendly countries to help the presidential office and to help the expenses," Karzai said at a news conference in Kabul, according to the AFP news agency.

"The government of Iran has been assisting us with five or six or seven hundred thousand euros [$700,000 to $975,000] once or twice every year, that is an official aid," said Karzai. "He [Daudzai] is receiving the money on my instructions."



March 10: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hugs Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

The Times, citing unnamed Afghan officials said the payments total millions of dollars and go into a secret fund that Daudzai and Karzai have used to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and even Taliban commanders to secure their loyalty.

"It's basically a presidential slush fund," one Western official told the paper. "Daudzai's mission is to advance Iranian interests."

Iran has consistently viewed the presence of the U.S. in Afghanistan as a threat, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has urged countries in the region to cooperate with one another, instead of looking to the U.S.
Karzai's comments came the same day the Iranian embassy in Kabul slammed the Times report as "ridiculous and insulting," according to the AFP.

"Such baseless speculations are being spread by some Western media outlets in order to confuse public opinion and damage the strong ties between the governments and nations of the Islamic republics of Afghanistan and Iran," the embassy said in a statement.

NewsCore contributed to this report.

[American Patriot]

Cash payments "are done by various friendly countries to help the presidential office and to help the expenses," Karzai said at a news conference in Kabul, according to the AFP news agency.

I think Americans ought to start demanding "Cash payments" from Washington to help us with OUR expenses.....

[catfish]

Left out Venezuela.

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Yep, countries aligning themselves with Axis members is growing fast.