blog.Tribulationperiod.com

Pact of Defense in Spirit of Jihad

Iran, Syria, Hizbullah, & Hamas Pact!

4 Islamic allies have a pact against Israel

“Syria will not stand by idly next time Around

If Israel goes to war against Iran’s Nuke Program”

Or sends an aggressive attack on Hizbullah or Hamas!

February 9, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Begin Excerpt 1 from Jerusalem Post via Israel Nation News

Assad: Syria will stand by Lebanon

BY HERB KEINON

08/02/2010

Syrian president, Lebanese official discuss “repeated Israeli threats.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Bashar Assad went in different directions with their statements on Sunday, with Netanyahu making conciliatory comments, and Assad responding by talking again about war.

Assad, according to the Syrian SANA news agency, held talks with the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, in Damascus and stressed “Syria’s commitment to stand by Lebanon’s government and people against any Israeli aggression.”

According to SANA, “Talks during the meeting dealt with the Israeli repeated threats against countries of the region and Israeli extremism, which is poised for burying any chance for reaching peace by inflaming wars in the region and taking it into the unknown.”

By stressing that Damascus would stand by Lebanon “against Israeli aggression,” Assad seemed to be echoing Syrian Foreign Minister Wallid Muallem’s warning last week that Syria would not stand to the side if the IDF took action against Hizbullah.

Israel, meanwhile, has been saying consistently for months that it would hold the Lebanese government responsible for any aggression from Hizbullah, since Hizbullah is a member of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government.

Assad’s comments followed equally bellicose comments made earlier in the day by Syrian Minister of Information Mohsen Bilal, who said Israel was harming peace in the region and the world, and that its leaders should be tried in an international court.

Speaking at Kuneitra, on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, Bilal lashed into Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who said on Thursday in response to Muallem’s threats that if Syria waged a war with Israel it would not only lose the war, but Assad would also lose his power.

Bilal called Lieberman’s words “barbaric and aggressive,” and said the foreign minister was ostracized by the entire world. “These are barbaric and aggressive declarations that show the bankruptcy of that government, and the bankruptcy and barbarism of that man [Lieberman],” he said.

Netanyahu, who since the war of words with Syria began last week has been issuing statements trying to calm the situation, did the same on Sunday, saying at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting that Israel hoped to complete peace agreements with all its neighbors, including the Palestinians and Syrians, just as it reached an agreement with Egypt and Jordan.

But, he said, Israel would be guided in those efforts by two principles. “First, we will conduct negotiations without preconditions. We do not accept the idea that Israel must always make extraordinary concessions in advance while the other side is exempt from making its own concessions. It is negotiations that will bring about an agreement and we will not enter into negotiations when everything is known in advance.”

Second, he added, “at the end of the negotiations we need to maintain Israel’s vital national interests, especially security. It is doubtful whether any peace agreement that is unaccompanied by solid security arrangements on the ground can last. We want peace that will last for years, decades and generations and to this end, these components, especially security, are essential.”

Although Netanyahu asked his ministers last week not to comment on the Syrian issue so as not to exacerbate a sensitive situation, National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau (Israel Beiteinu) told reporters before the cabinet meeting that while he wanted peace with Syria, it would have to be a peace with the Golan Heights in Israel’s hands.

“The Golan will not be given to Syria,” Landau said. “The Golan is in our hands, the Golan is part of Israel, the Golan is vital for Israel’s security, and those who want peace cannot give up the Golan. We want peace, but those who attack us will pay a very heavy price.”

Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog (Labor), meanwhile, called on members of the government to speak in more moderate tones.

“Israel has always known how to navigate in the world of diplomacy with responsibly, moderation and reasonableness, standing firm by its principles and positions,” said Herzog, whose father, Chaim, was an ambassador to the UN, and later the president of the state.

“I come from a family that understands a little bit about diplomacy, and I say that the diplomacy is measured first by restraint, cultured behavior and standing by our principles,” Herzog said.

Begin Excerpt 2 from DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

Iranian missile airlift stiffens Syrian war talk, tops up Hizballah, Hamas

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

February 5, 2010, 9:22 AM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile Iranian and military sources report the war threats from Damascus this week were backed by massive Iranian airlifts for boosting Syria’s missile arsenal. Fresh supplies also reached the Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas in Gaza. Wednesday, Feb. 3, Syrian president Bashar Assad accused Israel of seeking war, while his foreign minister Walid Moallem boasted: “You know that war at this time will come to your cities.” They spoke after taking delivery of 100 new medium-range surface-to-surface missiles from Iran in January.

Moallem’s threat was comprehensive: “….Syria calls on Israel to halt directing threats once against Gaza, another against South Lebanon, then Iran and now Syria.”

His message that all four extremist allies had formed a mutual defense pact against Israel raised temperatures to a dangerous level in the region. Syria will not stand by idly next time round if Israel goes to war against Iran’s nuclear program or an aggressive Hizballah or Hamas, but go for Israel’s cities.

This was public confirmation for the first time of DEBKAfile’s disclosure that on Dec. 17, Iranian defense minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi signed a secret military pact with his Syrian opposite number Gen. Ali Habib in Damascus, with Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah appending his signature later.

Within days, Iran began shipping missile supplies by air to Damascus, Syria stepped up the pace of its smuggled rocket supplies to Hizballah in South Lebanon and both pumped hardware to Hamas by serpentine routes.

Syrian leaders used the visit to Damascus of Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos as the stage for their heightened stridency. US Middle East envoy George Mitchell heard a similar harsh threatening tone against Israel when he called on Bashar Assad in Damascus on Jan. 20. Neither Washington nor Jerusalem were caught by surprise.

Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu commented nonchalantly that he does not understand what the Bashar Assad wants, confiding to his aides that his goal is to gain international goodwill before Israel decides to attack Iran. Next day, Feb. 4, hardline foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman was more outspoken: “Assad must be told bluntly,” he said, “that in the next war, not only will Syria be beaten but he and his family will lose power. You will not remain in power, and neither will your family.”

While his words were widely reported, the doves of the Labor party, the opposition Kadima and the left found his tone outrageous and called on the prime minister fire him.

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ALL is NOT QUIET on the MIDDLE EAST FRONT

Verbal blasts of threatening Action Flow Freely

Iran tells UN it will enrich uranium to 20 Percent

Defensive antimissile systems are being put in Position

It certainly appears that Middle East is about to Explode

But I Suspect This Is a Massive Game of “Blind Man’s Bluff”

I do not believe the final war of the Gentile Age is Imminent!

Even though I am convinced it will occur before the Year 2015!

February 8, 2010

Begin Excerpt from Haaretz

Tension with Syria can turn into war in an instant

February 5, 2010

By Aluf Benn

About three weeks ago the New York Times published a list of recommended tourist sites for 2010. Damascus came in seventh and the writer wondered whether the Syrian capital was the “new Marrakesh.” Ancient buildings in the Syrian capital are turning into boutique hotels, trying to emulate the popular Moroccan city, he wrote. The Old Vine Hotel, a luxurious 17th-century, nine-bedroom boutique hotel, a two-minute walk from the Grand Mosque of the Umayyads, is offering a room for 140 euros a night. Cheaper than Eilat.

Damascus’ appearance on the American tourist map and the imminent appointment of a U.S. ambassador there reflect a rapprochement between Bashar Assad’s regime and the United States, after years of tension and distance. Assad has told The New Yorker that he has renewed intelligence-sharing efforts with the United States and Britain against terror. U.S. envoy George Mitchell relayed President Barack Obama’s special request for intelligence assistance, and the Syrian leader consented. He was rewarded immediately with the announcement of the American ambassador’s return.

All these signs show that Assad is forging closer ties with the United States without going “via Jerusalem” and without renouncing Syria’s strategic alliance with Iran. He managed to stick to his guns without having to shake an Israeli hand or bend his positions on the peace process. On the contrary, Assad told The New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh that the intelligence sharing would depend on the progress in the peace talks.

In recent months everything has appeared quiet on both sides of the Syria-Israel border. The two countries exchanged noncommittal messages about their desire for peace, and the status quo seemed as stable as ever. Israel does not want to withdraw from the Golan Heights and Syria does not want to risk war. The international community is concerned about the Palestinians while ignoring the Syrian track.

But suddenly a crisis has erupted. Syrian and Israeli officials exchanged declarations about war and cranked up the threats. The defense minister warned that if peace with Syria is not achieved, Israel will be embroiled in an unnecessary war. The Syrian foreign minister threatened to strike Israeli cities. His Israeli counterpart threatened to topple Assad’s regime.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried, as usual, to appease both ministers and released a lukewarm response. “Israel wants peace without preconditions,” he said to appease Ehud Barak, and “Israel will react resolutely and firmly to any threat,” to appease Avigdor Lieberman.

The Six-Day War erupted after the chief of staff at the time, Yitzhak Rabin, threatened to harm the Syrian regime for supporting Fatah’s sabotage acts. A covert direct threat by the MI chief to foreign military attaches apparently lit the spark that led to war.

Lieberman’s statement sounded like a return of that dangerous escapade. It broke the defense establishment’s strict rule not to annoy Assad or humiliate him.

The recent murder of a Hamas official in Dubai, which was attributed to Israel, the barrel bombs off Israel’s southern beaches, the recent test launching of an Iranian missile and the mutual threats with Syria have undermined the past year’s quiet. The defense establishment is warning of seasonal tension in the north ahead of the anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah’s Imad Mughniyeh.

These can be seen as routine developments in Israel’s cold war with Iran and Syria - the arms race, covert activity and making allies. But experience in the Middle East shows that calm can turn into tension and tension can turn into war in an instant. So both sides’ leaders must talk and act with extra caution.

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COLUMN ONE: THE NEW ISRAEL FUND AND THE NEXT WAR!

ISRAEL’S ENEMY WITHIN IS NOT JUST THE PALESTINIANS,

IT IS THE NIF & NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS!

CURRENT WAR THREATS ARE JUST SABER RATTLINGS!

February 8, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Begin Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM POST

Column One: The NIF and the next war

By CAROLINE GLICK

05/02/2010 16:40

The gov’t has an opportunity to clear the way for any future war to end not only in military victory, but in political victory for Israel as well.

A regional war may well be approaching. The actions and statements of Iran and its Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian proxies over the past week or so indicate that this is what Israel’s enemies are gunning for.

In preparing for this growing threat, Israel’s leaders need to consider more than just the military challenges it faces. They must consider the political actors at home and abroad that limit the IDF’s ability to fight to victory and develop strategies for neutralizing those actors.

The latest developments are menacing. Last Saturday, Iran’s unelected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened to open up a new round of hostilities on February 11. Then Wednesday, Iran launched a new missile into space. Israeli and US missile experts claim that the missile launch signals that Iran is developing intercontinental ballistic missiles and building the capacity to launch nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles.

Following the missile launch, Syria’s president and foreign minister issued incendiary comments threatening Israel with war. Notably, they did so the same day the US informed Syria of its intention to send an ambassador to Damascus for the first time in five years.

Hamas, for its part, sent barrels of explosives drifting to the Israeli coastline – exposing new ways it can kill us. And Fatah, for its part, decided to kiss Hamas’s ring this week. Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath’s obsequious visit to Gaza Wednesday was a graphic demonstration of Hamas’s preeminence in Palestinian society.

Then there is Hizbullah. In a speech on January 15, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah pledged that the next war will “change the face of the region.”

This may not be an exaggeration. It isn’t simply that under the blind eye of UN peacekeepers Hizbullah has replenished and expanded its arsenal to include long-range missiles. It isn’t simply that in the three and half years since the war Hizbullah has taken control over the Lebanese government. Hizbullah has also built up a formidable ground force. In the event of war, these forces may be deployed as an expeditionary force inside northern Israel. And if the precedent of former MK Azmi Bishara – who fled Israel after learning that he was about to be indicted for serving as a Hizbullah agent in the 2006 war – is any indication of Hizbullah’s modus operandi, Israel may also face Israeli Arab fifth columnists assisting Hizbullah forces inside the country.

Assuming for the moment that the IDF and the government are prepared to contend with these mounting military threats, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his colleagues must take the necessary steps to withstand and minimize the effectiveness of the far left’s expected political warfare against Israel. As the past decade has made clear, the aim of that warfare is to delegitimize Israel’s right to defend itself in order to make it impossible for Israel to pursue the war to military and political victory.

As in the military arena, so in the political arena, Israel’s foes have grown from nuisances into strategic threats over the past decade. The UN-sponsored Goldstone Report, which effectively denies Israel’s right to defend itself and criminalizes its military efforts to secure its citizenry and its territory, is evidence of the gravity of the threat Israel faces as our leaders plan for the coming war.

ON THIS latter plane, the past week has been an eventful and hopeful one. The latest developments offer guidance for how the government must proceed as the winds of war blow ever stronger. Late last week, the Zionist student movement Im Tirzu published a detailed report demonstrating that 16 anti-Zionist NGOs funded by the post-Zionist New Israel Fund worked hand in glove with the UN Human Rights Council and Richard Goldstone to bring about the establishment of the Goldstone committee and give credibility to its allegations that Israel committed war crimes during Operation Cast Lead. According to the Im Tirtzu report, 92 percent of Israeli allegations that Israel committed war crimes in its campaign against Hamas came from these 16 NIF-funded organizations.

Im Tirtzu’s report was prominently covered by Ma’ariv last weekend. The media coverage provoked calls in the Knesset this week to investigate the NIF and its operational arms in Israel, both through regular committee hearings and perhaps through a parliamentary investigative panel.

These calls are extraordinary because they represent the first time in a decade that the legitimacy of these NGOs has been seriously scrutinized.

Since the Palestinians began their terror war against Israel in September 2000, NIF-sponsored groups have worked steadily to intimidate political leaders, law enforcement officials and military commanders to toe their anti-Zionist line. In the wake of the PLO-incited riots in the Israeli Arab sector in October 2000, the overtly anti-Zionist NIF-funded Adalah group agitated for the formation of the Orr Commission. Charged with investigating the police who quelled the rioting rather than the rioters whose violence forced the prolonged closure of major highways to Jewish traffic throughout the country, the Orr Commission had a devastating impact on the police’s morale and organizational culture.

[…….]

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“And what about the Syrians and the Lebanese?

They are merely pawns on the Iranian chessboard.”

Iran is fanning words of War on Israel’s North Border

Letting US know it can set fire to the entire Middle East

If Iranian Nuclear Facilities Are Hit by US Or IAF Elements!

February 7, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Begin Excerpt from YNet News

Tensions in the Middle East

Iranian reactions becoming more extreme as sanctions decision nears

Alex Fishman

The repeated Israeli messages in recent weeks meant to lower the level of tension vis-à-vis Syria are falling on deaf ears. The Syrians don’t believe us.

Even if the IDF intelligence chief travels to Damascus and personally reads the army’s annual intelligence assessment to Assad, noting that Israel does not predict a confrontation with Syria this year, the Syrian leader will not be persuaded.

This is very reminiscent of the period ahead of the Six-Day War, when the Russians made sure to fan the flames and feed the Syrians with horror stories.

A hint regarding the identity of the war-monger at this time may be found in the words of US National Security Advisor Jim Jones last week. The American general spoke about the planned US sanctions against Iran. In response to the sanctions, he said, there is a possibility that Tehran will encourage its satellites in the region – Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas – to attack Israel and set the whole region on fire.

Jones’ words indicate that the Syrians are being provoked by the Iranians. Tehran is presenting its own tangible threat in the face of the American threat: If you mess with us, we will set fire to the Middle East.

The flames are increasingly being fanned on the northern border as the decision on Iran sanctions approaches. The US Administration has already decided that it would first attempt to impose sanctions via the United Nations Security Council. Should this fail and the Chinese torpedo the move, the US will turn to independent sanctions, in the hopes that other major European countries, including Russia, join it.

Virtual tensions

These are not empty words. The Americans have already started to take some steps on the ground: This week they deployed active anti-missile defense systems in Persian Gulf states. And so, on the one hand the Americans intend to tighten the chokehold on Iran, while at the same time they are preparing for an Iranian military response.

The Iranians are well familiar with the American target date. Hence, their reactions are increasingly becoming more extreme. On the one hand they are suddenly conveying a sense of moderation and declaring that they are willing to transfer their uranium for enrichment in another country, yet at the same time they are publicly displaying ballistic missiles and issuing threats in all directions.

And what about the Syrians and the Lebanese?

They are merely pawns on the Iranian chessboard.

About two weeks ago, IDF Northern Command Chief Gadi Eisenkott characterized the tensions on the northern border as “virtual.” There is no real Israeli threat on Syria. The problem is that in our region, virtual tensions that are not handled properly can quickly turn into reality.

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U.S.A. is Selling to Anti-Iranian Arab Countries

A wide array of defensive weapons against Iran,

Installing the future war’s necessary Components,

Antimissile Defenses Preparations For A Final War!

War Will Begin at Some Point in Time Prior To 2015

As a conventional Middle East Islam-Israel Conflict!

Defense systems will be in place when war Begins!

February 7, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Begin Excerpt 1 from Siasit Daily Islamic News via World News

Iran tells Gulf States not to buy ‘ineffective’ US missiles

Friday, 5 February 2010

Tehran, February 05: A senior Iranian military official told Gulf states on Thursday not to squander money on US missiles, adding that Iran can render them useless, the state news agency IRNA reported.

Tehran had on Wednesday slammed plans by the United States to beef up its military in the Gulf.

“Installing anti-missile Patriot missiles is a new trick to empty the pockets of rich Persian Gulf countries,” said General Hassan Firuzabadi, the joint chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces.

“Patriot missiles can be rendered ineffective by simple tactics, and I advise the regional countries, especially Muslim states, not to waste their money on these missiles which have not worked anywhere,” he said.

US President Barack Obama’s administration is reportedly placing ships with missile-targeting capabilities off Iran’s coast, and anti-missile systems in at least four Gulf states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

US ally Bahrain acknowledged on Wednesday that Gulf military defences were being upgraded but urged Iran not to see them as plans for attack.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards official also said on Wednesday that Iran had developed anti-armor weapons which can combat US Apache helicopters and armored tanks.

“The enemy should not think their Apache helicopters can have the same power that they have in Iraq and Afghanistan in Iran,” Naser Arab-beigi, who heads the self-sufficiency organization of the Revolutionary Guards, told Fars news agency.

“We will end Apache power by our measures. Their armored tanks will be met with the firm response of our weapons,” he said.

—Agencies

Begin Excerpt 2 from THE JERUSALEM POST

J’lem OK with US arms sales in Gulf

BY HILLARY LEILA KRIEGER, JPOST CORRESPONDENT

O7/02/2010 O2:13

Billions of dollars in deals meant to counter Iranian threat.

WASHINGTON – The Israeli government and pro-Israel advocates aren’t opposing recent US arms deals with Gulf countries, sources have told The Jerusalem Post.

Top US commander General David Petraeus made a rare public confirmation of US Patriot missile batteries being stationed in four Gulf states last month, which Capitol Hill sources identified as Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE. They also mentioned that the shorter-range THAAD missile defense system and F-16s were components of additional billion-dollar packages.

Petraeus’s remarks came as the United States has also moved Aegis ballistic missile cruisers into the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean, conducted a massive missile defense drill with Israel and started speaking more openly about “consequences” should Iran continue with its pursuit of nuclear capabilities.

“Iran is clearly seen as a very serious threat by those on the other side of the Gulf front, and indeed, it has been a catalyst for the implementation of the architecture that we envision and have now been trying to implement,” Petraeus said in his comments at the Institute for the Study of War on January 22.

Though in the past, arms dealing to Israel’s neighbors has often been met with concern by Israel and its allies in Washington, the present steps are understood to be focused on shoring up regional defensive capabilities against Iran and sending a message to Teheran of deterrence and seriousness, sources said.

Several Congressional staffers told the Post that they haven’t been contacted by the Israeli government or pro-Israel lobbyists on the issue, as is usually the case if those parties have objections to policies.

“I haven’t heard anyone from the Israeli embassy complaining,” said one legislative aide.

“We are in full cooperation with the administration and it is something which we follow, as we follow every development in the region,” said embassy spokesman Jonathan Peled when asked about the deals. “There is an intensive dialogue and full cooperation and these things are discussed openly.”

Another Israeli official speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the issue said, “Israel understands US interests in sending these systems to Arab countries.” He added that at the same time, America continues to ensure Israel’s military superiority.

“We very much appreciate the US’s continued commitment at the highest levels to maintaining Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge,” he said.

Another Congressional staffer said that he doesn’t see members of Congress mounting an opposition. “Everyone seems to be on board with the strategy, so I don’t think there are any objections to these groups getting primarily defensive equipment.” Arms sales can be blocked by Congress if major resistance and political will to counter them exists, though usually concerns are addressed through backroom discussions and modifications to the packages.

In the past, Israel has expressed strong disapproval of arms sales to the Gulf, notably in the 1980s when the Reagan administration authorized a major deal involving sophisticated aircraft sales to Saudi Arabia. Despite strong opposition from many members of Congress, as well as pro-Israel lobbyists, the sale ended up going through.

More recently, in 2007, another massive deal with Saudi Arabia raised the hackles of some in Congress and the pro-Israel community. The push-back was significantly less than in the 1980s and didn’t keep the sale from proceeding.

In the current case, some observers have suggested Israel might have concerns because of the leap in capabilities for four additional Gulf countries.

In fact, some Capitol Hill sources indicated the biggest obstacle to transferring the systems hadn’t been Congressional or Israeli apprehension, but the hesitancy of the Gulf states to accept the US weaponry and troops necessary to train locals and operate the equipment given domestic sensitivities over America’s presence.

At the same time, their willingness to heighten their military collaboration with the US sends a signal to Israel that its neighbors take the threat of Iran seriously and are playing on the same team when it comes to countering that threat.

Congressman Steve Rothman (D-New Jersey), who sits on key defense and foreign operations appropriations subcommittees involved, explained that “the piece-by-piece construction of a network of offensive and defensive capabilities” by regional actors as well as the United States – whose own troops also happen to sit in two countries bordering Iran – delivers a strong warning.

“I think it’s a brilliant strategy to send a powerful message to Iran that a first strike for them will be unsuccessful and will cause a devastating regime-changing response from not only Israel but also this alliance,” he said, pointing out that the consequences should change the calculus on Teheran undertaking an attack likely to be repelled in the first place by the sophisticated defensive systems.

“Trying to be a nuclear weapons super-power is not a strategy that its neighbors will permit to happen,” he continued. “We hope that [the US] strategy will encourage Iran to cease and desist from its efforts to weaponize its nuclear program, to make all of its nuclear facilities available to inspectors and to find a way to work with the West on developing any civilian nuclear capability.”

Begin Excerpt 3 from Associated Press via World News

One of the Future War’s Necessary Ingredients

Iran: Moscow gave missile reassurance

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

04/02/2010 21:24

”Our Russian colleagues have assured us they’ll meet their obligations,” says Iranian envoy.

Russia has assured Iran that it still intends to deliver long-range air-defense missiles, the Iranian ambassador in Moscow said Thursday.

Russian news agencies cited Seyyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi as saying, “Our Russian colleagues have assured us that they will meet their obligations.” A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment.

Russia signed a 2007 contract to sell the S-300 missile complex, but so far has not delivered.

The delay has not been explained, but Israel and the United States strongly objected to Iran obtaining the missiles, which would significantly boost the country’s defense capability.

The ambassador was quoted as saying Iran is ready to receive the weapons.

A top Russian arms trade official recently signaled the delivery may go ahead.

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