IMEMC report.

Turkey has installed Anti-Aircraft Hawk Missiles at a village close to the Syrian border in an attempt to prevent Israeli war jets from violating Turkish Airspace in case of an attack against Iran or Syria.

Al-Manar report.

High-ranking sources in the Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed displeasure with Turkey over deploying anti-aircraft batteries along the Syrian border in the Iskenderun district.

The Turkish daily Hurriyet meanwhile, quoted a military source as saying that "this move aims at repelling a US or Israeli attack against Iran or Syria."

Jerusalem Post report.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has accused Iran of trying to "stir up" a war between Israel and Syria.

Speaking during a tour of the IDF's Northern Command on Tuesday afternoon, Netanyahu said Iran was "spreading lies in order to escalate tensions."

Associated Press report.

Israel's deputy premier said Monday that Israel's air force has improved its capabilities and is better prepared for a war with Iran, considered a dangerous enemy because of its nuclear program.

Moshe Yaalon, a former military chief, says the air force now has better refueling and range, and has made "a massive improvement in the accuracy of ordnance and intelligence."

AlertNet story.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the U.S. military on Saturday it must rein in spending that he called out of sync with today's tough economic times, and said budget woes could be a factor in deciding whether to use force against Iran and others.

[...]

"I do think that as we look to the future, particularly for the next couple of years or so while we're in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think the Congress and the president would look long and hard at another military operation that would cost us $100 billion a year," Gates told reporters.

From Mondoweiss. The original graphic is here.

The infographic accompanying yesterday's New York Times article on the U.S.'s attempt to head off a Middle Eastern nuclear arms race is -- as one might have expected -- missing a little bit of ink. Guess where?

BBC report.

The UKIP candidate for Norwich North has called for the blowing up of Iran before it acquires nuclear weapons and has described Afghans as "backward". Responding to a survey about troops on the website theyworkforyou.com, Glenn Tingle used swear words to describe tribes in Afghanistan.

He said: "We should blow them up first" when replying to a question about Iran's nuclear weapons programme.

Guardian report.

Mohammad Rida Rahimi, the Iranian vice-president, made the statement today at the end of a visit to Syria that was billed as underlining the strategic relationship between the two countries.

"We will stand alongside Syria against any [Israeli] threat," Rahimi said at a news conference with the Syrian prime minister, Mohammad Naji Otri. "If those who have violated Palestinian land try anything, we will cut off their feet," he promised.

Press Association report.

The US government has warned Iran and Syria that America's commitment to Israel's security was unshakeable and they should understand the consequences of threats to the Jewish state. In a speech, secretary of state Hillary Clinton said Syrian transfers of increasingly sophisticated weaponry, including rockets, to militants in southern Lebanon and Gaza could spark new conflict in the Middle East.

Ynetnews report.

The Iranian struggle against sanctions steps up a notch: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is planning to arrive in New York Monday in order to participate in the convention of 189 countries signed on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Reuters report.

The head of a hardline Iranian political party warned the United States Tuesday against attacking Iran, saying it could hit back by choking "the West's throat" at a waterway crucial for global oil supplies.

The Leveretts on Politico.

We do not know who leaked the Gates memo. But the "senior officials" who did so were clearly seeking to use their selective description to catalyze more robust planning for potential military strikes against Iranian nuclear targets -- the very option that Gates has consistently opposed.

[...]

The reality is that a cadre of senior National Security Council officials -- including Deputy National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and Dennis Ross, senior director for the central region (including Iran) -- is resisting the adoption of containment as the administration's Iran strategy.

Telegraph report.

The Ministry of Defence has announced it is to return money paid upfront by the former regime of the Shah of Iran for a huge consignment of tanks and support vehicles ordered in the 1970s.

The Iranian side cancelled the contract at the time of the revolution, but the British government said it could not have its money back.

UPI report.

China inaugurated a missile plant in Iran last month, even as the United States and its allies were pressing Beijing to support a new round of tough economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, Jane's Defense Weekly reports.

Global Research article by Finian Cunningham.

In this game of high-stakes poker, how is it that Iran can stay so composed? It is because Iran holds the ultimate weapon, not a weapon of mass destruction that the US claims it is seeking, but a weapon of mass disruption firmly within its grasp and ready to trigger immediately -- the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Guardian report.

The military manoeuvres, in a waterway crucial for global oil supplies, coincided with rising tension between Iran and the west, which fears Tehran's nuclear programme is aimed at developing bombs. Iran denies the charge.

Yesterday, the Pentagon said US military action against Iran remained an option even as Washington pursues diplomacy and sanctions to halt Iran's nuclear activities.