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As Iran tests the capabilities of its air defense systems in nationwide exercises, the Israeli air force is reported to be planning special seminars to prepare its attack pilots to cope with heavy surface-to-air missile defenses. According to The Jerusalem Post, the sessions will encompass "future conflict with Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran" in which air force crews will "have to deal with an unprecedented number of surface-to-air missiles, most of them Russian-made." None of these adversaries is considered to pose an overwhelming air-defense threat, although Israeli intelligence believes that Iran has supplied some shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles to the Palestinian...

The FBI says a Centerville man is charged with buying and shipping about 7,000 stolen cell phones in connection with an international ring trafficking weapons and stolen goods. According to the FBI, Hussein Ali Asfour of Centerville is charged with conspiracy to transport stolen property and faces up to five years in prison. A criminal complaint in the case listed his address as 100 Cross Link Trail. USA Today reports that Asfour was charged along with four other men, including three accused of trying to buy Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and machine guns destined for Syria or Iran. USA Today describes...

WASHINGTON — A grand jury in Philadelphia indicted four men Tuesday for an alleged plot to support the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah through illegal schemes, including buying the group more than a thousand machine guns. The indictment comes just a day after officials in Philadelphia said they disrupted a similar scheme to acquire anti-aircraft missiles and send them to Syria — though in that case, authorities have yet to accuse anyone of trying to help a specific terror group. The indictment filed Tuesday says two suspects sought to provide roughly 1,200 Colt M4 machine guns to Hezbollah, but their efforts...

A Russian military delegation is inspecting airfields before Moscow sends 10 MiG-29 fighter jets to bolster Lebanon's almost non-existent air force, a challenge to U.S. efforts to build up the Mediterranean country's state institutions to counter Hezbollah. Under a deal announced in December by Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr during a visit to Moscow, Russia will provide the MiG-29s from its air force inventory free of charge, including upgrades, under a military assistance program. The Americans have supplied second- and third-hand military equipment including M-60A3 main battle tanks (ex-Jordanian) and M-198 155mm artillery guns, worth $400 million to Lebanon since...

The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — SNIPPET: "Khaled Nawaya, a flight instructor, was arrested by Canada Border Services agents when they found $800,000 in gold coins and other currency in his car and pockets on Oct. 6, as he crossed into Surrey, B.C., near Vancouver." SNIPPET: "He'd been living in the U.S. since he was 17 and had gained approval for permanent residency in Canada. Besides the gold, Canadian agents found a ring bearing the insignia of Hezbollah, which has been listed as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government since 2002. They also seized 9/11 conspiracy theory-themed DVDs and a...

Yesterday the US attorney’s office in Manhattan moved to seize assets of a non-profit foundation tied to Iran. Among those assets are four mosques in New York, California, Maryland and Texas, 100 acres of land in Virginia and a 36-story building at 650 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Much of this activity centers around the ties of the foundation, the Alavi Foundation, to Bank Melli. We have written extensively on Bank Melli here on SFW. It has been, for the past three years in a row, the largest Shariah-Compliant financial institution in the world, according to the UK periodical “The Banker”...

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel released documents and pictures on Wednesday which it said provided proof that a massive arms shipment seized at sea last week came from Iran. Israeli commandos intercepted the Antigua-flagged "Francop" near the coast of Cyprus, claiming it was taking the weapons to Syria en route to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. Israel immediately accused arch-foe Iran of sending the cargo, but on Wednesday offered for the first time evidence to back up the charges and detailed the extent of the cache. "Hidden among the dozens of other containers on board, and disguised as civilian goods, the ship...

Israel must prepare itself for the fact that in a coming war, the IDF will not be able to block all incoming rockets from hitting civilian areas, despite the anticipated deployment of the Iron Dome system in 2010, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday morning. During the general periodical briefing to the powerful committee, the commander of the IDF focused heavily on Iran and Israel's security, offering cautious optimism regarding the efficacy of international sanctions, while warning that with Teheran's help, Hezbollah had amassed "tens of thousands" of...

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri will announce a new national unity government to include Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in the next few days, politicians said on Saturday. Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Hariri led his coalition, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, to victory in a June parliamentary election against Hezbollah and its allies. Politicians from both sides said Hariri had now clinched a deal with the opposition on the new government's make-up. A government acceptable to all main parties is seen as key to maintaining stability in a country facing sectarian...

Mideast: Iran tests an advanced warhead design as it gets caught shipping weapons to Hezbollah. Syria is reported to give the group operational control over Scud missiles. It's five minutes to midnight. Tyranny abhors a vacuum. While the U.S. and the West dither in Hamlet-like fashion over whatever we shall do in places such as Afghanistan and Iran, the Axis of Evil is in full swing in its plans to destroy Israel and threaten Europe and America. Israel last week seized what it said was the largest arms cache ever intercepted in the region. Israeli navy commandos boarded the Francop,...

BEIRUT — Anne Frank's diary has been censored out of a school textbook in Lebanon following a campaign by the militant group Hezbollah claiming the classic work promotes Zionism. The row erupted after Hezbollah learned excerpts of "The Diary of Anne Frank" were included in the textbook used by a private English-language school in western Beirut. Frank wrote the diary while her family hid from Nazi police and sympathizers in an Amsterdam attic from 1942 to 1944. She later died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the age of 15, and the diary was published posthumously.

Note: Audio included at link. SEATTLE -- As the second trial of Jewish Federation shooter Naveed Haq continued, jurors heard Haq describe the violent rampage in a series of phone calls. In court Wednesday, jurors listened to 10 different recorded calls Haq made from jail to his parents in the Tri-cities in the days after the shootings. During the calls, Haq bragged of being a celebrity and said he was motivated by a desire to be a Muslim martyr, something that seemed to surprise his parents. Mother: I'm just afraid to tell you, you are not feeling well -- your...

Special Navy forces discovered weapons and ammunition on a cargo ship overnight Tuesday, after boarding the Francop some 100 nautical miles west of Israel flying an Antiguan flag. Defense officials said the 140-meter long Francop, captured near Cyprus, was carrying arms sent by Iran and destined for Syria and Hizbullah. More than 60 tons of weaponry were on board, in dozens of containers. The Francop carried hundreds of containers. A significant amount of 122 mm. Katyusha rockets, likely made in Iran, assault rifles, mortar shells and grenades were found on board. Israel Radio reported that advanced anti-aircraft platforms not before...

JERUSALEM - Israeli commandos seized a ship Wednesday that defense officials said was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas — the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered. The Israeli military said an Iranian document was found on board, showing that the arms shipment originated from Iran, although the paper was not shown to reporters. Rear Admiral Roni Ben-Yehuda, the deputy Israeli navy commander, said that despite its size, the shipment of weapons was "a drop in the ocean" of arms being shipped to Hezbollah. "It's a cargo certificate that shows that it...

Pseudo-Zionists such as Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun Magazine feel that the United States should not put any pressure on Iran for its weapons program. "What exactly gives us the moral right to be lecturing North Korea or even Iran on who should or should not have nuclear weapons?" New presidential appointment, former Senator Chuck Hagel, feels that the United States should be unconditionally reaching out to both Iran and Hezbollah. Today, Israel's Navy has proven them both wrong.The navy has intercepted a ship carrying weapons from Iran to Hezbollah 100 miles off the Israeli coast. Marines boarded the Antiguan-flagged...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested 13 people today during three operations in connection with car-bomb networks between Baghdad and Kirkuk, military officials reported. Working with U.S. advisors, an Iraqi unit arrested a suspected member of a vehicle-bomb network in southern Kirkuk. A warrant accuses the suspect of being linked to network members associated with June 20 bombings in Taza that killed more than 90 people. During the operation, the Iraqi unit arrested a second man based on information found at the scene. In a separate operation about 55 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi police arrested two...

Note: The following text is a quote: Queens Man and Accomplice Charged with Attempting to Provide Material Support to Hizballah Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Joseph M. Demarest, Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the FBI, announced the filing of an indictment yesterday charging Patrick Nayyar and Conrad Stanisclaus Mulholland with attempting to provide material support to Hizballah, a designated foreign terrorist organization. The indictment also charges Nayyar with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. On Sept. 24, 2009, Nayyar, a 46-year-old citizen of India who had...

Arab media in the Persian Gulf have been reporting that Syria, apparently on the orders of Iran, has turned over about 300 long range ballistic missiles to Hezbollah control. The missiles have apparently not left Syria (they would be hard to miss, being driven around southern Lebanon). The reports add that Hezbollah personnel are being trained to operate the missiles. Syria has underground storage and launch facilities for its arsenal of over a thousand SCUD missiles. Armed with half ton high explosive and cluster bomb warheads, the missiles have ranges of 500-700 kilometers. Syria also has some 90 older Russian...

Iraqi security forces detained an Iranian operative in southern Iraq in the latest operation designed to curb Iran's influence in the war-torn country. Iraqi security forces have detained four Iranian operatives since the beginning of October. On Oct. 1, the US military announced that Iraqi paramilitary police from the National Emergency Response Brigade arrested Khalid Masur Isma’il during a raid in the Shia slum of Sadr City. Isma’il served as "financier and recruiter" for the Hezbollah Brigades... Two other Hezbollah Brigades operatives have been captured in Baghdad this month. On Oct. 3, Iraqi troops arrested a man thought to be...

Friday evening, Mark Levin spoke with Michael Ledeen about Iran and his new book 'Accomplice to Evil: Iran and the War Against the West.' Ledeen says of the situation in Iran, "The Supreme Leader is in a coma ... When an evil man dies, it is never bad." (Audio interview plus links and evidence of Iran's involvement in 9/11 after the jump.)

SNIPPET: "Security sources in Jerusalem told the paper that the missiles, now held by Hizbullah, could hit every part of Israel, Channel 10 reported. Iranian and Syrian officers were reportedly training the Hizbullah operatives in using the new missiles and in operating early warning systems intended to alert the group of Israeli jets."

Iran's proxy army in Lebanon will think twice before launching another round of missile attacks. On Monday, a secret Hezbollah munitions bunker in South Lebanon blew up under mysterious circumstances, injuring a senior official in the organization. This is the second such incident in recent months. The first occurred on July 14, when an explosion destroyed a major Hezbollah munitions dump in the South Lebanese village of Hirbet Salim. Hezbollah immediately pointed fingers at the Mossad. Whether or not Israel was to blame, the explosion caused Hezbollah considerable discomfort by proving that it was in flagrant violation of U.N. Security...

BEIRUT - After the second mysterious explosion since July levelled a Hizbollah member’s home, Israel has formally complained to the United Nations that the militia continues to maintain weapons stockpiles south of the Litani River, along the Israel-Lebanon border, in defiance of the ceasefire that ended the July 2006 war. In both cases, Israel immediately released footage from cameras on unmanned drones showing what are thought to be Hizbollah members emptying both buildings of what appear to be rockets before UN and Lebanese army forces were allowed into the villages to investigate. Monday’s blast was almost identical to an explosion...

According to the Washington Post, some White House foreign-policy hands may be willing to call it a day in Afghanistan if the U.S. military can beat the Taliban down into something that resembles Hezbollah. I suppose I can see why this appeals to those who know just enough about the Taliban to think it's possible, and just enough about Hezbollah to think it's desirable... READ THE REST AT COMMENTARYMAGAZINE.COM

The US and its allies patrol the seas, looking to stop proliferation of nuclear technology and to enforce sanctions against rogue nations, especially on arms trafficking. In the case of the latter, one of its allies clearly needs a little more work in preventing trafficking — on their own ships: US troops boarded a German-owned freighter in early October and found eight containers full of ammunition, allegedly headed to Syria from Iran. The shipment is in violation of a UN weapons embargo and has become a source of chagrin in Berlin.

A senior official of the Hezbollah militant group was killed on Monday evening when an explosion rocked a house apparently serving as a munitions bunker in south Lebanon. At least five other people were killed in the blast, which took place in a three-story building in the southern Lebanese village of Tayr Filsi, on the southern bank of the Litani River. The identity of the militant has not yet been confirmed, but security sources listed his son among the fatalities. The area was cordoned off and Hezbollah could not be reached for comment.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2009 – Iraqi forces, with U.S. advisors, in recent days have arrested an alleged terrorist financier and recruiter, as well as five suspects in a roadside bomb network, military officials reported. In Balad, the Iraqi army’s emergency response brigade arrested alleged Khitab Hezbollah financier and recruiter Khalid Masur Ismail in Baghdad’s Sadr City district. Ismail, who also is known as Abu Mustafa, was arrested on a court-issued warrant when he identified himself upon contact and admitted to working as a manager for a security firm alleged to be a front for Khitab Hezbollah. During the operation, Iraqi...

Note: Photo and video included. SNIPPET: "It appeared to be a typical Al-Quds Day rally, replete with hateful speeches about the destruction of the State of Israel and the waving of Hizballah flags. The rally resembled other international versions of this year's Al-Quds Day celebration, an annual Islamist holiday initiated by Iranian revolutionary and terrorism exporter, Imam Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini. However, this event wasn't held in downtown Karachi or Damascus, but in downtown Washington, D.C's Sheridan Circle. The rally was organized by an employee of the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning, Faheem Darab. It even featured speakers as...

Those who know wealthy Lebanese Shi'ite financier Salah Ezz el-Din say he is a deeply pious, humble man whose close links to Hezbollah made his credentials impeccable as he allegedly embezzled their savings. Many Shi'ite Lebanese investors find it hard to believe the philanthropist could have defrauded them to the tune of at least $500 million -- small change compared with the $65 billion in the U.S. fraudster Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, but made more painful by the connection with Hezbollah, which its followers regard as incorruptible."Whoever says he's a thief, that is an incorrect assessment," said Fouad Ajami, a...

The government of Andorra has frozen “billions of dollars” in bank accounts linked to Iran, Venezuela, and a variety of terrorist groups, according to the daily Diairi d’Andorra, which publishes in Catalan. The Andorran move, announced on Thursday, was carried out in conjunction with a top secret U.S. Treasury investigation in Miami involving money laundered through Venezuelan banks that was transferred to corresponding banks in the United States. From Miami, the funds were then wired to accounts in Andorra that were controlled by Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, members of his family and his regime. But the funds were also used...

Three rockets struck northern Israel on Friday. There have been no reports of casualties. The rockets were fired from southern Lebanon and Israel Radio has reported that the Israel Defense Forces have launched retaliatory artillery into southern Lebanon.

The hidden Hizbullah arms cache in southern Lebanon that exploded in July contained chemical weapons, and three Hizbullah terrorists died as a result of the toxins, in addition to eight other terrorists killed by the blast, the Kuwaiti newspaper Alseyassah Kuwait said on Thursday.

An Israeli Arab man has been indicted for allegedly working on behalf of Hezbollah in a plot to assassinate Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, a gag order lifted on Monday revealed. Tira resident Rawi Fuad Sultani, 23, was arrested by Shin Bet and Israel Police forces earlier this month and indicted at the Haifa District Court. According to the charge sheet, Sultani first made contact with Hezbollah agents at a multi-national Arab summer camp in Morocco organized by the Israeli Arab political party Balad. Lebanese Hezbollah agent Salman Harev, who also took part in the camp, spent...

According to Lebanese media sources, Lebanese businessman and Hizbullah publishing executive Hajj Salah Ezzedine has declared bankruptcy. Ezzedine, from the town of Maaroub near the southern port city of Tyre, is the director of the Hizbullah-owned Dar Al-Hadi Publishing House, named in honor of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s son Hadi, who was killed by Israeli soldiers in a gun battle in 1997. Dar Al-Hadi has played a critical role in Hizbullah’s media campaign. In this capacity it has functioned as the organization’s primary publishing source printing anti-Israeli and “resistance books” that include publications by Hizbullah’s second in command Sheikh Naim...

Rochester, N.Y.) - Prosecutors say 44 tapes, secretly recorded by a government informant, prove three Rochester convenience store owners were willing to support terrorists. On April 7, 2005 a man entered the Durnan Mini Mart on Hudson Avenue looking to send $10,000 to $12,000 to Lebanon without creating any record of the transaction.

Israeli President Shimon Peres claims that Lebanon's Hezbollah now has an arsenal of 80,000 rockets to bombard Israel -- double the previous estimate by Israeli intelligence and almost four times the number the Iranian-backed militants possessed during their 2006 war with the Jewish state. Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh has dismissed as "lies" the claim made by Peres in an interview with the Kuwait daily Al-Rai published Sunday. "I don't know how he counted these rockets." But the Israeli leader's claim has fuelled regional fears that a new conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is brewing. There has been no independent...

Israel's drive to deploy the Iron Dome anti-missile shield against short-range rockets fired by Hezbollah and Hamas has moved up a gear with the induction of the first battalion to man the batteries that will operate on the borders with Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Iron Dome intercepted three 122mm Grad rockets, the type used by Hezbollah and the Palestinians, in southern Israel July 15-16. The system came into being in response to constant rocket attacks by Hezbollah on Israel's northern front and Hamas on the southern desert frontier over the last decade. Both fronts have been relatively calm for...

Suspects accused of planning Hezbollah attacks on Suez Canal go on trial Twenty-six men charged with plotting attacks on tourist sites and ships in the Suez Canal for Lebanon's Hezbollah will go on trial in an Egyptian court on Sunday. Two Lebanese, five Palestinians and 19 Egyptians are among the accused. AFP - Twenty-six men accused of plotting attacks on behalf of Lebanon's Hezbollah group on tourist resorts and on ships in the Suez Canal will go on trial in an Egyptian security court on Sunday. The suspects -- two Lebanese, five Palestinians and 19 Egyptians -- face charges of...

The Incredibly Shrinking War on Terror By: FrontPage Magazine FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, August 21, 2009 It is fitting that any president, especially the first (real) black president, celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as the Obama Justice Department did last month. The selection of an Arab as a prime speaker seems curious for many reasons, not least because Arabs are classified as “white.”  Eric Holder’s choice of James Zogby, a longtime apologist for Palestinian terrorism and dedicated foe of effective homeland security measures, to address the gathering seems to signal a deeper reality at the...

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Israel's Merkava IV main battle tanks will be equipped with the Trophy anti-missile system following a series of successful tests last week. Israeli army  chiefs have been pushing for the system since 22 Merkavas were damaged by Russian Kornet anti-tank guided missiles during the war with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006. The system was developed over 10 years by the Rafael Armament Development Authority in collaboration with Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Group. Rafael offered the system to the military several years ago, but it was turned down because...

Hamas on Monday claimed to have confiscated three ambulances that were imported into the Gaza Strip for UNRWA several weeks ago, backing up an earlier IDF claim that the ambulances had been seized. But UNRWA, which last week denied an earlier Jerusalem Post article quoting IDF claims that the ambulances had been confiscated, reiterated Monday that the reports were false, said that the ambulances were safe and sound in its Gaza compound, and even distributed a photograph of one of its officials, Christer Nordal, posing with what it said were the vehicles in question. According to a statement released by...

"Hezbollah started out as purely a terrorist organization back in the early ’80s and has evolved significantly over time. And now it has members of parliament, in the cabinet; there are lawyers, doctors, others who are part of the Hezbollah organization... And so, quite frankly, I’m pleased to see that a lot of Hezbollah individuals are in fact renouncing that type of terrorism and violence and are trying to participate in the political process [in Lebanon] in a very legitimate fashion. " Barack Obama's chief adviser on counter-terrorism, John Brennan, during a press conference at the Center for Strategic and...

Back in May UNIFIL finally fessed up publicly that Hezbollah continues to smuggle weapons south of the Litani River (that's not really news, because Hezbollah never stopped doing it). This is followed up with reports from Israel showing that UNIFIL is so embarrassed by its incompetence that it withheld information showing that Hezbollah was breaking the cease-fire that ended the Israel/Hezbollah war. Today's revelation was even more frightening. Since the end of the Second Israel/Lebanon War, Iran and Syria have been resupplying the Hezbollah terrorists to the point where they now have 3x the number of missiles as before the...

With dictators on the rise, democracy under assault and foreign powers making inroads in Latin America, it’s not clear the Obama administration has a plan for dealing with it - other than more of its “Have a Coke and a Smile” brand of foreign policy. Unfortunately, considering the challenges we’re facing, relaxed soft-drink diplomacy just isn’t going to cut it. Topping the list is Venezuela, a major thorn in our side for some time now, but which has, remarkably, only gotten worse since President Barack Obama took office. Caudillo President Hugo Chavez continues nationalizing the economy, muzzling the media and...

Italian newspaper says plane crash north of Tehran which left 168 people dead was caused by explosion of fuses slated to be delivered to Lebanese organization. According to report, members of Revolutionary Guards among casualties 08.02.09 / Israel News An Iranian plane crash two weeks ago – which left 168 people dead – was caused by the explosion of sophisticated fuses slated to be delivered to Hezbollah, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Saturday, quoting sources in the Middle East. According to the report, the pilot of the Tupolev plane, which was making its way from Tehran to Armenia, sent...

A total of seven lieutenants from the Turkish navy were arrested recently on charges of plotting to assassinate two admirals as part of the trial concerning the alleged activities of Ergenekon. Istanbul prosecutors accused the lieutenants of planning the assassination of two admirals, identified as "Ugur" and "Metin." Metin is believed to be the current Naval Commander Metin Atac due to retire in August, and Ugur is allegedly Esref Ugur Yigit, who is expected to replace Atac (Milliyet, July 29).

Hizbullah has enjoyed an enviable run of political and military "achievements" including its "divine victory" over Israel in 2006, the "glorious day" in May 2008 when it occupied Beirut, and securing diplomatic recognition by Britain in April 2009. More recently the Lebanese Shiite militia has been dealt a series of setbacks including defeat in the Lebanese elections, the arrest of an Egypt-based Hizbullah cell, reports of the group's involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, the apprehension of a Hizbullah cell plotting to bomb the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan, and the post-election protests in Iran that...

Lebanese defense officials believe there is a secret pact between Hizbullah and top officers in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), the Kuwaiti paper Asiyassa reported on Monday. According to the account, a LAF battalion will operate within the Hizbullah framework and have independence and access to the group's arsenal. The paper said Israel gave the United States and European governments which have UNIFIL contingencies (France, Germany, Spain and Italy) information which proves Hizbullah was training dozens of LAF soldiers to prepare them to fight alongside Hizbullah guerrillas in case the IDF attacks Lebanon. Israel conveyed the information on July 1,...

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has sent a letter to the United Nations accusing Israel for the explosion in a weapons cache in a southern Lebanon village earlier this month, a Lebanese newspaper reported on Monday. The London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat also said that contrary to previous reports, the blast apparently claimed the lives of several people and injured several others. Lebanon now claims that the explosion took place at an uncompleted structure in the village that stored "arms left behind by the Israelis" during the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in 2006. The United Nations, which...