3 Gulf states OK Israeli => Iran overflight

[Dr Mordrid]

if they need to attack Iran;

Article....

Report: 3 Gulf states agree to IAF overflights en route to Iran

By Yoav Stern and Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondents

Three Arab states in the Persian Gulf would be willing to allow the Israel Air force to enter their airspace in order to reach Iran in case of an attack on its nuclear facilities, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa reported on Sunday.

According to the report, a diplomat from one of the gulf states visiting Washington on Saturday said the three states, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, have told the United States that they would not object to Israel using their airspace, despite their fear of an Iranian response.

Al-Siyasa further reported that NATO leaders are urging Turkey to open its airspace for an Attack on Iran as well and to also open its airports and borders in case of a ground attack.

According to a British diplomat who spoke to an Al-Siyasa correspondent, Turkey will not repeat the mistake it made in 2003, when it refused to open its airspace to U.S. Air Force overflights en route to attacking Iraq.

British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday that Israel is negotiating with the U.S. over permission for an "air corridor" over Iraq, should an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities become necessary.

Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh on Saturday denied the reports and said Israel has no such plans.

[Fat Tone]

Aren't there enough un-ending conflicts going on in the world already? Do we really need another one starting now?

[Dr Mordrid]

I think the one thing the states in that region can agree on is that they fear Iran getting nukes more than they hate Israel, and that's saying something.

[schmosef]

Fat Tone, it would be very short sighted to think of this as a new "conflict". This started 1400 years ago.

Would you rather that Iran was allowed to finish building a nuclear weapon so it could hold the world ransom?

[TransformX]

I think this also has to do with the struggle between destabilising radical/fundamentalist Islam and the more moderate one seen in the gulf states, which with their petrodollars translates to wealth and very high life quality. There's also the shiite vs. suni acceptance of the khalifs etc, but that subject isn't so straightforward, since the collaboration between Iran and Syria/Hizballah seems to contradict it.

On a personal note, I do hope it won't be Israel to to everybody's 'dirty work' and head over to Iran. Bombing the nuclear reactor in Iraq was enough, Iran isn't just an Israeli problem.

And on another side note, there was an article in the Time magazine about Putin. the last paragraph spoke of him managing to bring Russia up from where it was during Boris Yeltzin's regime, by turning it into an energy power. With the raise in oil prices, so does Russia strengthen. So in a way, destabilizing the ME is very much a Russian interest, as it keeps petrol prices high, hence their support of Iran and the help with their nuclear projects.

[Fat Tone]

Schmo - this is why I keep out of the P&R forum. I'm not up for debating it all.

I despair at the way the world is heading. Do you think Branson will give me a discount for a one-way trip?