Iran, Oman discuss joint defense drills.

Iran and Oman have held a third round of defense talks attended by top military officials on the eve of planned joint defense drills.

The Iranian delegation discussed “mutual border issues” with the Omani officials in Monday's meeting, the Army's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Tuesday.

Oman's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmad Bin Harith Al Nabhani, Inspector-General of Police and Customs Lieutenant General Malik bin Sulaiman al Maamari, and Minister of Defense Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib al Busaidi attended the meeting, the statement added.

The meeting focused on sharing expertise in training and research, exchanging technical knowhow, coordinating police activities and fighting terrorism, piracy and narcotics.

The talks come days after the two countries held another round of talks on joint military cooperation.

At the talks with commanders of the Omani air and naval forces on Sunday, both sides underlined the need to boost ties and develop closer military cooperation to establish lasting security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. 

New combat aircraft will turn India into global giant: Expert

WASHINGTON: India's acquisition of 126 new medium multi-role combat aircraft will play an essential role in India's transformation from a regional power to a global giant , according to a South Asia expert. 

Eight countries and six companies eagerly await the Indian Air Force's selection of a new medium multi-role combat aircraft. 

The winner of the competition for the $10 billion deal will also gain a toehold in a lucrative market, writes Ashley J. Tellis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank, in a paper.

Analysing the technical and political factors India must consider in awarding the contract, Tellis argues that India needs to decide quickly, avoid splitting the purchase between competitors, and buy the "best" aircraft to help India prepare for future security competition in Southern Asia. 

Challenges to India's national security are increasingly complex, he says while noting, "India's air force levels have reached an all-time low due to delays in its defence procurement process, accidents, and retirements of older aircraft. Meanwhile, China and Pakistan are aggressively modernising their forces." 

European aircraft are technically superb, but US entrants are formidable "best buys", writes Tellis, who was intimately involved in the negotiations associated with the US-India civil nuclear agreement as an advisor in the Bush administration. 

"Unfortunately, the advantages in the US fighters are not sufficiently recognised, so if Washington wants an American aircraft to win the game, it must offer generous terms on the transfer of technology, assure India access to fifth-generation US combat aircraft, and support India's strategic ambitions." 

Europe, Israel & Arabs urge attack on Iran: WikiLeaks

Europe, Israel & Arabs urge attack on Iran: WikiLeaks
The vast trove of diplomatic cables leaked on Sunday by the WikiLeaks website shows that US allies in Europe and the Middle East are pushing for tough action against the Iranian nuclear threat.

The international community is already pressuring Iran to drop its attempt to refine uranium, but the leaked cables published Sunday by world newspapers show that behind the scenes world leaders are fearful and pessimistic.

From the first memos released, it was learned that:

* Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz has "repeatedly" urged his US allies to take military action against Tehran's nuclear programme and urged them to "cut off the head of the snake".

* Israel believes US President Barack Obama's diplomatic outreach to Iran is doomed to failure and that time is running out before military action will need to be tabled if Tehran is not to get a nuclear bomb.

* French President Nicolas Sarkozy's top diplomatic adviser told senior US officials: "The current Iranian regime is effectively a fascist state and the time has come to decide on next steps."

Tehran insists that its nuclear programme is peaceful, and has relied on Russia and China -- which depends on Iranian oil shipments -- to slow the tempo of diplomatic progress towards tougher sanctions.

But international concern is building. Traditional foes such as Israel and the Arab states share the West's concerns about Tehran, and Russia has begun to harden its stance against its former ally.

A leaked memo from November 2009 on a meeting between senior Israeli and US military officials, quotes Israeli defence ministry director Amos Gilad describing Tehran's alleged plans as "intolerable".

During the meeting, an agent of Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence service said Iran was playing for time to "avoid sanctions while pursuing its strategic objective to obtain a military nuclear capability.

"From Mossad's perspective, there is no reason to believe Iran will do anything but use negotiations to stall for time so that by 2010-2011, Iran will have the technological capability to build a nuclear weapon," he said.

And in June 2009, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak warned US lawmakers the West had only until the end of 2010 to find a way to halt the Iranian nuclear programme or face a Middle East arms race.

"Barak estimated a window between six and 18 months from now in which stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons might still be viable," he said, according to one of the leaked cables on the website of the Guardian.

"After that, he said, any military solution would result in unacceptable collateral damage."

According to another leaked US cable, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah made an even blunter plea during an April 2008 meeting with US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and US General David Petraeus.

"He told you to 'cut off the head of the snake'," Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, told the US embassy in Riyadh.

"The King, Foreign Minister, (intelligence chief) Prince Muqrin, and Prince Nayif all agreed that the Kingdom needs to cooperate with the US on resisting and rolling back Iranian influence and subversion in Iraq," the memo said.

"The King was particularly adamant on this point, and it was echoed by the senior princes as well. Al-Jubeir recalled the King's frequent exhortations to the US to attack Iran and so put an end to its nuclear weapons program."

Meanwhile, Sarkozy's diplomatic adviser Jean-David Levitte warned that Iran's response to US President Barack Obama's bid to engage it on dialogue over the future of its alleged nuclear weapons ambitions was a "farce".

"The current Iranian regime is effectively a fascist state and the time has come to decide on next steps," Levitte warned, according to an account of his meeting with US Secretary of State Philip Gordon on September 16, 2009.

Levitte also expressed concern that Israel might take unilateral military action to hit Iranian nuclear facilities, and reported that he had warned China that such a strike would trigger a global fuel crisis.

Adding to the concern, the leaks also show US intelligence believes Iran has obtained advanced missiles from North Korea capable of striking Europe as far as Berlin, according to documents cited by the New York Times.

Reacting to the leaks, a Saudi government advisor who asked not to be identified told AFP: "The whole thing is very negative. It's not good for confidence-building."

Riyadh had been warned by Washington that documents would be leaked, but they had not known in advance exactly what would come out, he added.

Official Saudi government spokesmen were not immediately available.

Europe, Israel, Arabs urge action on Iran: WikiLeaks - The Times of India

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