UAE is out, suspending its operations in the region

UAE’s suspension of its anti-ISIS operations has raised many speculations in the Middle East and Washington. Some blame the decision on fear of retaliations by ISIS after a shocking video was released by ISIS in which the captured Jordanian pilot was burnt alive. But other reports point to a concern over Iranian influence as the reason behind suspension of UAE’s operations:

“If political Islam (rather than one specific jihadi group, to quickly be replaced by another) is the real problem, then the real solution is to ally, forcefully and over the long haul, with those forces most committed to stopping it: Israel, Jordan, the Saudis, and the Kurds.”

 Washington Post editorial board criticize Obama’s planned nuclear deal with Iran

Washington Post reviews concerns by US Congress members and former Secretaries of State in an article written by its editorial board. The article quotes Henry Kissinger’s criticism of White House negotiations:

“Where it once aimed to eliminate Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, the administration now appears ready to accept an infrastructure of thousands of Iranian centrifuges. It says its goal is to limit and monitor that industrial base so that Iran could not produce the material for a warhead in less than a year. As several senators pointed out during the hearing, the prospective deal would leave Iran as a nuclear threshold state, while theoretically giving the world time to respond if Tehran chose to build a weapon. Even these limited restrictions would remain in force for only a specified number of years, after which Iran would be free to expand its production of potential bomb materials.”

 Bomb near Israel embassy in Uruguay and Iranian connection

Uruguay has expelled an Iranian senior diplomat in connection to planting a bomb near Israel embassy in Montevideo. Haaretz has reported after investigations carried out by Uruguay’s intelligence service and talk to Iranian government, the Uruguayan government decided to expel a senior diplomat in Iran embassy. Iran with the help of Hezbollah has a history of terrorist activities and infrastructure in South America. Amia bombing in Buenos Aires in 1994 is an example of Iranian involvement in such operations.

“Investigations carried out by Uruguay’s intelligence services after the discovery of the device yielded information pointing to a possible involvement of someone at the Iranian embassy. The Uruguayan government turned to Iran’s government for information and after consultations between the two, it was decided to expel one of the senior diplomats at Iran’s embassy.A senior official in Jerusalem said Uruguay subsequently updated Israel regarding the incident. However, it decided to keep a low profile concerning the affair and did not publicize the diplomat’s expulsion.”