US, ISRAEL DISCUSS TRIGGERS TO ATTACK IRAN'S NUCLEAR INFRASTRUCTURESD

The Obama administration is reportedly trying to assure Israel privately that it would strike Iran militarily if Tehran's nuclear program crosses certain "red lines"—while attempting to dissuade the Israelis from acting unilaterally. According to Eli Lake, it comes after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said earlier this month that an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities could "consume the Middle East in a confrontation and a conflict that we would regret". The Israelis reportedly went ballistic behind the scenes. Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington, lodged a formal diplomatic protest known as a demarche. And the White House was thrust into action, reassuring the Israelis that the administration had its own "red lines" that would trigger military action against Iran, and that there is no need for Jerusalem to act unilaterally. Panetta's seemingly innocent remarks on Dec. 2 triggered the latest drama in the tinder-box relationship that the Obama administration is trying to navigate with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. With Republicans lining up to court Jewish donors and voters in America in 2012, Obama faces a tricky election-year task of ensuring Iran doesn't acquire a nuclear bomb on his watch while keeping the Israelis from launching a preemptive strike that could inflame an already teetering Middle East. The stakes are immensely high, and the distrust that Israelis feel toward the president remains a complicating factor. Those sentiments were laid bare in a speech Netanyahu's minister of strategic affairs, Moshe Ya'alon, gave on Christmas Eve in Jerusalem, in which he used Panetta's remarks to cast doubt on the U.S.'s willingness to launch its own military strike. Ya'alon told the Anglo-Likud, an organization within Netanyahu's Likud party that caters to native English speakers, that the Western strategy to stop Iran's drive for nuclear weapons must include four elements, with the last resort being a military strike. "The fourth element of this combined strategy is the credible military strike," Ya'alon said, according to a recording of the speech provided to The Daily Beast. "There is no credible military action when we hear leaders from the West, saying, 'this is not a real option,' saying, 'the price of military action is too high.'" The lack of trust between the Israeli and American leaders on Iran has been a sub-rosa tension in the relationship since 2009. Three U.S. military officials confirm to The Daily Beast that analysts attached to the Office of the Secretary of Defense are often revising estimates trying to predict what events in Iran would trigger Prime Minister Netanyahu to authorize a military attack on the country's nuclear infrastructure. Despite repeated requests going back to 2009, Netanyahu's government has not agreed to ask the United States for permission or give significant advanced warning of any pending strike. The sensitive work of trying to get both allies on the same page intensified this month. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited Washington last week to go over Iran issues; and the undersecretary of state for political affairs, Wendy Sherman, and a special arms control adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Robert Einhorn, were in Israel last week to discuss Iran as well. Panetta for his own part has revised his tone on the question of Iran's nuclear program, telling CBS News last week that the United States was prepared to use force against Iran to stop the country from building a nuclear weapon. The new diplomacy has prompted new conversations between the United States and Israel over what the triggers—called "red lines" in diplomatic parlance—would be to justify a pre-emptive attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Matthew Kroenig, who served as special adviser on Iran to the Office of the Secretary of Defense between July 2010 and July 2011, offered some of the possible "red lines" for a military strike in a recent Foreign Affairs article he wrote. He argued that the U.S should attack Iran's facilities if Iran expels international nuclear weapons inspectors, begins enriching its stockpiles of uranium to weapons-grade levels of 90 percent, or installs advanced centrifuges at its main uranium-enrichment facility in Qom. In an interview with The Daily Beast, Kroenig also noted that Iran announced in 2009 that it was set to construct 10 new uranium enrichment sites. "I doubt they are building ten new sites, but I would be surprised if Iran was not racing to build some secret enrichment facilities," Kroenig said. "Progress on new facilities would be a major factor in our assessment of Iran's nuclear program and shape all aspects of our policy towards this including the decision to use force."

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Headlines for December 29, 2011

ANTI-WHALING ACTIVISTS' BOAT HULLED IN SOUTHERN OCEAN
A rogue wave has damaged an anti-whaling boat in the Southern Ocean, breaking a hole in its hull. According to BBC News, the Brigitte Bardot was chasing the Japanese whaling fleet and is currently about ...
HISTORICAL ARMENIAN CHURCH RE-OPENS IN ISTANBUL
The historical Armenian church of Vortvots vorodman re-opened in Istanbul on Wednesday. The ceremony, attended by dignitaries and leading government ministers, marked an important moment for both the ...
HRANT DINK'S LAWYERS DEMAND DETAILS OF PHONE RECORDS
During the 23rd court hearing of slain Armenian journalist Hrant Dink case, one of the lawyers of Dink family said the phone conversations that Telecommunications Directorate (TIB) provided to the court ...
US, ISRAEL DISCUSS TRIGGERS TO ATTACK IRAN'S NUCLEAR INFRASTRUCTURESD
The Obama administration is reportedly trying to assure Israel privately that it would strike Iran militarily if Tehran's nuclear program crosses certain "red lines"—while attempting to dissuade ...
SENATE NOT DISCUSS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL BEFORE NEXT MARCH
UMP Senator Roger Karoutchi has said today that the text criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide has not yet been put on the Senate agenda, Le Figaro reports. The text is not on the Senate agenda ...
MOST ARMENIAN REGIONS NOT TO SEE SNOW THROUGH NEW YEAR'S DAY
No major snowfalls are expected across Armenia on the New Year Eve, according to the State Hydrometeorological and Monitoring Service. As Gagik Surenyan, the head of the Service, told Tert.am, there ...
NAGORNO-KARABAKH AND KOSOVO: STATES OF INDEPENDENCE - THE ECONOMIST
Earlier this year Vasily Atajanyan, the acting foreign minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, told me that his "country" would recognise Kosovo if the former Yugoslav province reciprocated. I conveyed ...
ENVIRONMENTALISTS PROTEST AGAINST GOVERNMENT DECISION TO EXPLOIT KAJARAN LANDS
Several environmentalists gathered outside the Government building earlier today to protest against a decision to hand over six community lands in the southern region of Syunik (including Kajaran village) ...
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT AND HIS WIFE HOST LARGE FAMILIES
Dec. 29, on the occasion of New Year and Christmas celebrations, at the Armenian presidential residence, Armenian President Serzh Sagsyan and his wife, Mrs. Rita Sargsyan, hosted over 30 large families ...
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MET ITS MAXIMUM REQUIREMENTS IN 2011, SAYS SECRETARY
The secretary of the National Security Council, Artur Baghdasaryan, finds that they managed to meet their maximum requirements in 2011. As he told reporters on Thursday, the NSC activities covered three ...
LG TO UNVEIL WORLD'S BIGGEST 3D ULTRA DEFINITION TV
LG Electronics (LG) will unveil the world's largest 3D Ultra Definition (UD) TV at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, The Nation reported. By combining LG's industry-leading 3D technology ...
ARMENIAN VICE-PREMIER MEETS WITH KUWAITI AMBASSADOR
Armenian Vice-Premier, Co-Chairman of the Armenian-Kuwaiti Intergovernmental Commission Armen Gevorgyan held a meeting Dec. 29 with the newly appointed Kuwaiti Ambassador to Armenia, Mr. Basam Muhammed ...
PENSIONS UP IN ARMENIA FROM JAN 1, 2012
The basic monthly pension will be raised in Armenia from Jan 1, 2012 - from AMD 10,500 up to AMD 13,000. At its Dec. 29 sitting, the Armenian government approved a relevant decision. The average monthly ...
TURKISH PARTY LEADER CALLS FOR SACKING GUL
The leader of Turkey's Republican People Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has called for introducing clarity into the competences of the president. Azerbaijani news website SalamNews, the Turkish politician ...
OVER 20 KILLED IN TURKISH AIR RAID AT IRAQ BORDER
More than 20 alleged diesel smugglers have been killed in an overnight air raid by Turkish Air Forces on a predominantly Kurdish-populated area at the Turkish border with Iraq, RIA Novosti reported. ...
POLICE DETAIN SUSPECT IN MURDER OF ELIZA NIGHTCLUB OWNER
Police have arrested a suspect in them murder of Hayk Hovakimyan, the owner of night club Eliza located in Abovyan city, 15 km northeast capital Yerevan. According to a press release by the police, ...
YEREVAN MAYOR HELPS OWNERS OF FIRE-STRICKEN HOUSES
Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan has allocated 42 million drams (approx. $109,100) from Yerevan Fund to 12 families at Koryun 23 address whose houses were largely affected by a fire on November 24. According ...
ENVIRONMENTALISTS HOLD PROTEST IN FRONT OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE
On Dec. 29 morning, environmentalists, representatives of NGOs and political parties held an action to inform the Armenian government and president of the serious ecological situation in Armenia. Today's ...
AZERBAIJANI ACTIVIST HOSPITALIZED AFTER 'PRISON ABUSE'
The relatives of an Azerbaijani opposition activist who was remanded in custody for three months say he has now been hospitalized after allegedly being tortured, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. Zeynal ...
NAGORNO-KARABAKH PRESIDENT RECEIVES SPORTSMEN, WORKERS OF CULTURE
29 December President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Bako Sahakyan received a group of sportsmen and cultural workers. Bako Sahakyan expressed his gratitude to the guests for their victories ...
NO MILITARY SOLUTION TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT - US ENVOY
There is no military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza has said. According to the Azerbaijan news website Trend, Bryza said that the only way to ...
ARTHUR ABRAHAM CONVEYS NEW YEAR CONGRATULATION TO ARMENIANS
Famous Armenian boxer Arthur Abraham has congratulated Armenians on the occasion of the coming News Year. In a statement issued on Thursday, Abraham wished his compatriots love, health and welfare. ...
CYPRUS GETS FIRST 590 MLN EURO LOAN TRANCHE FROM RUSSIA
Cyprus has received the first 590 million euro tranche of a 2.5 billion euro loan pledged by Russia, the Cypriot government's press office said on Thursday, according to RIA Novosti. Last week Cyprus ...
ARMENIAN REGULATOR BODY EXTENDS LICENSE OF GAS IMPORTER
Public Services Regulatory Commission of the Republic of Armenia has extended the export license of HayRusGazArd CJSC - Armenia's gas importing monopoly. According to the website of the company, the ...
HACKED STRATFOR SECURITY THINK TANK KEEPS SITE OFFLINE
Hacked US security firm Stratfor has told its subscribers that it may take a week or even longer to restore its website, according to BBC News. The site went offline on 24 December. Hackers have posted ...
GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK TOP 2011'S MOST VISITED SITES IN US
Google was the most popular website with US users in 2011 but Facebook was not far behind, according to market researchers, BBC News reported. Nielsen suggests more than 153 million visitors clicked ...
PRESIDENT SAYS MEDIA TOOK ANOTHER STEP TO UNBIASED COVERAGE IN 2011
Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan has said that the Armenian media outlets made yet another step on their way to unbiased coverage during the outgoing year 2011. According to a press release by the ...
FIRE BREAKS OUT DURING RUSSIAN NUCLEAR SUB REPAIRS
A fire broke out at the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine on Thursday during repairs at a shipyard in northern Russia, the local emergencies ministry department said. According to RIA Novostiy, fire safety ...
SYRIA MONITORS VISIT DAMASCUS AMID CONTINUING VIOLENCE
Arab League monitors overseeing compliance with a peace plan for Syria have been visiting the capital, Damascus, and other cities but killings show no sign of abating, BBC News reported. Activists say ...
ARMENIAN FOOTBALL PLAYER POLLED AS BEST IN METALURG
Half-back of Armenia's national football team Karlen Mkrtchyan has been recognized as the best player in Metalurg in December, an online poll on the club's website has found out. According to the poll, ...