1. Home
  2.  » 
  3. "The War on Terror"
  4.  » 
  5. Iran
  6.  » Russia Supplies Arms to Syria: Forwarded Onto Tehran?

News Commentary – May 27, 2012

A 5000-ton Russian ship was reportedly sailing toward  Syria Friday to deliver arms and ammunition to President Assad’s regime.
The ship, Professor Katsman, was scheduled to dock in the Syrian port of Tartus on Saturday.
Although it’s unknown what the delivery actually consisted of, it was reportedly paid for by Iran through a special slush fund set up for the purpose.
Meaning that with Iran paying for arms deliveries to Syria it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that at least part of the delivery was forwarded onto Iran.
We know that Iran already has some earlier versions of the vaunted S-300 air defence system, obtained via the Ukraine and another unspecified source.
We also know that Iranian crews were trained in Russia to man the S-300 system, prior to the sale being officially cancelled due to U.S. pressure. 
We also know that while its own indigenous integrated air defence system is still under development, Iran remains eager to obtain the S-300. Just as we know that Russian experts were keen to inspect the U.S. RQ-170 seized over Iran late last year.
Was Iran’s asking price for Russian experts to view the drone the resumption of the S-300 sale, as reported by DEBKAfile?
If so has Russia just delivered on its part of the deal? 
Nor is this the first time Russia has delivered arms to Syria in recent months. In fact a steady stream of arms shipments has been delivered to Syrian ports over the past year. How much of this was en route to Tehran is anyone’s guess but the possibility that at least some of it ended up there cannot be dismissed.
There is every indication that Iran may have some more military surprises up its sleeve, with a major one possibly having just been delivered to Syria for forwarding on to Iran.
Make no mistake: Iran and to a lesser extent China and Russia are actively preparing for military confrontation with the West. They would be foolish not to given the repeated threats from the U.S. and Israel over Iran’s alleged ‘nuclear weapons’ program.
After briefly going off the radar the possibility the possibility of military conflict with Iran is looming into view again. You can ignore the ongoing talks over its nuclear program, which are no more than a diversion to cover the West’s expansionist plans in the Middle East.
Since the overthrow of Gadaffi with Anglo-American assistance, the West has been covertly trying to foment and exploit discontent in the Middle East for its own ends.
However, just as efforts by the Western backed “Syrian rebels” to overthrow one of Iran’s key Middle East allies will likely come to nought, due to lack of authentic popular support. So the talks over Iran’s nuclear program will likely yield nothing: because at the end of the day the Western participants don’t want a peaceful, negotiated settlement.
Instead they want Iran brought to its knees because it’s one of the few countries beyond the global power elite’s control. But because Iran has grown into a power in its own right this will have to be achieved through direct military confrontation.
So it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion. The next round of talks over Iran’s nuclear program scheduled for Moscow in mid June will likely fail. Thereafter, expect the march to war to resume and this time it may well reach its final destination.

Footnote – May 29, 2012

Indeed almost as the last few words were written the Wall Street Journal declared Hopes Dim For Nuclear Breakthrough With Iran. As if on cue the Wall Street Journal also posted an accompanying video presentation entitled ‘Is the U.S. military ready for conflict with Iran’, which opens with the line ‘The drumbeats for war with Iran are growing louder…
This sudden change in tone was predictable and will no doubt be echoed throughout the corporate media in the coming days and weeks. It’s also a clear reflection of how the media has become little more than a mouthpiece for the government/corporate interests.
As the media declares that hopes are fading for a negotiated settlement, it resumes the ‘drumbeat’ toward war.