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Saudi King Abdullah (R) meets with Iran ‘s top national security official Ali Larijani in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia’s official SPA official news agency said that Larijani, who is also Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator, delivered a letter from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the Saudi monarch.

Guardian: Next target Tehran

The evidence is building up that President Bush plans to add war on Iran to his triumphs in Iraq and Afghanistan – and there is every sign, to judge by his extraordinary warmongering speech in Plymouth on Friday, that Tony Blair would be keen to join him if he were still in a position to commit British forces to the field.

“There’s a strong sense in the upper echelons of the White House that Iran is going to surface relatively quickly as a major issue – in the country and the world – in a very acute way,” said NBC TV’s Tim Russert after meeting the president. This is borne out by the fact that Bush has sent forces to the Gulf that are irrelevant to fighting the Iraqi insurgents. These include Patriot anti-missile missiles, an aircraft carrier, and cruise-missile-firing ships.

Many military analysts see these deployments as signals of impending war with Iran. The Patriot missiles are intended to shoot down Iranian missiles. The naval forces, including British ships, train to pre-empt Iranian interference with oil shipments through the straits of Hormuz.

Having been given so much advice on what to do in Iraq – most notably by the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group – the president went with the recommendations of the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI). So much for the idea that the Iraq debacle marginalised the neocons.

Well, DUH

Let’s see why:

Iran continues (despite United Nations resolution 1737) to enrich uranium to manufacture a nuclear weapon

Iran is sending war material including IED’s and advisors to kill American troops in Iraq

Iran’s President Ahmadinejad is fomenting anti-American activities in Central and South America to THWART the United States

Iran’s President wants to “wipe Israel off the map.”

President Bush has put Iran on notice.

The USS Enterprise and USS Dwight David Eisenhower

Military assets have been positioning themselves for some time, including 21,000 more troops and war plans have been gamed.

Israel has been evaluating the Iranian threat to its survival and is rumored to be planning a nuclear attack.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

The “NUCLEAR POINT OF NO RETURN” is imminent.

 Previous:

 Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Has No Plan to Strike Iran?

Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Arrests a Nuclear Spy

Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Submarine Collides With Japanese Ship

Iran Nuclear Watch: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Iran Will NEVER Abandon Development of Nuclear Technology

Cox & Forkum: Saber Rattling

Iran Nuclear Watch: Israel Planning Nuclear Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities?

The Iran Nuclear Files

The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S., told his staff he wanted more family time.

Flap wrote on this subject last week and I am happy to reprise the post with some additional comments and a possible rationale for Prince Turki’s flight out of the United States.

Washington Post: Saudi Ambassador Abruptly Resigns, Leaves Washington

Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, flew out of Washington yesterday after informing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and his staff that he would be leaving the post after only 15 months on the job, according to U.S. officials and foreign envoys. There has been no formal announcement from the kingdom.

The abrupt departure is particularly striking because his predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, spent 22 years on the job. The Saudi ambassador is one of the most influential diplomatic positions in Washington and is arguably the most important overseas post for the oil-rich desert kingdom.

So, what is up with this?

Internal political manuvering, an impending death in the royal family or a change in direction?

Captain Ed surmises here.

Hugh Hewitt: “Prince Turki Flies”

When Turki was appointed to be Ambassador to the United States, in July 2005 I noted that his movements seem to closely track major terror strikes.

- In July 1998, as head of Saudi intelligence, Turki reportedly traveled to Afghanistan and met with Taliban leaders (and possibly bin Laden) in Kandahar and arranges to send them 400 new pickup trucks. On August 7, 1998 al-Qaeda struck the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar-el-Salaam. Between the two bombings over 250 are killed and 5000 injured.

- In August 2001, two weeks before 9/11, Turki abruptly stepped down as head of Saudi intelligence (a position he had held since 1977) and shortly thereafter became the Saudi Ambassador to the U.K.

- In July 2005 he left his position in London to become the Saudi Ambassador in Washington – only two weeks after the London Tube bombings.

An interesting set of coincidences, no?

Hugh, Flap hopes you are WRONG.

Stay tuned……

Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S., told his staff he wanted more family time.

Washington Post: Saudi Ambassador Abruptly Resigns, Leaves Washington

Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, flew out of Washington yesterday after informing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and his staff that he would be leaving the post after only 15 months on the job, according to U.S. officials and foreign envoys. There has been no formal announcement from the kingdom.

The abrupt departure is particularly striking because his predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, spent 22 years on the job. The Saudi ambassador is one of the most influential diplomatic positions in Washington and is arguably the most important overseas post for the oil-rich desert kingdom.

So, what is up with this?

Internal political manuvering, an impending death in the royal family or a change in direction?

Captain Ed surmises here.

Stay tuned……