US steps up diplomacy to steer Israel away from attacking Iran

Gen Martin Dempsey

Πηγή: Belfast Telegraph
By Donald Macintyre
Feb 20 2012

America's top general yesterday gave his clearest public warning yet against a "destabilising" Israeli strike on Iran as a senior US security official arrived in Jerusalem amid expectations that he would urge Benjamin Netanyahu to give sanctions time to bite.

The Israeli Prime Minister met Tom Donilon, Washington's National Security Adviser, after General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, declared that it was "not prudent at this point" for Israel to launch an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, which would not "achieve their long-term objectives".

The US-led calls on Israel to stay its hand came on a day when Tehran said it was halting oil exports to Britain and France in an apparently pre-emptive retaliation against the EU's decision to boycott Iranian oil from July. The terse announcement followed earlier contradictory signs over whether the regime would halt sales to up to six countries in the EU, which accounts for 18 per cent of Iranian oil exports.

The Mehr news agency later said crude exports to Britain and France had been halted and the National Iranian Oil Company had sent a written ultimatum to some European refineries, demanding that they sign long-term agreements of up to five years or be cut off altogether. No details were given of which countries had been threatened, but Spain, Italy and Greece are among its biggest European customers.

Meanwhile in an interview with CNN, General Dempsey said Israel recognised US "concerns" about unilateral military action against Iran, but "I wouldn't suggest, sitting here today, that we've persuaded them that our view is the correct view".

He said sanctions and diplomacy were both "having an effect" and that a military strike would be "premature". Asked about the mindset of Iran's leadership, he said: "We are of the opinion that the Iranian regime is a rational actor. And it's for that reason ... that we think the current path we're on is the most prudent path at this point."

His remarks were echoed by William Hague, Britain's Foreign Secretary, who repeated that a nuclear-armed Iran would result in another Cold War in the Middle East. But he said sanctions and negotiations needed to be given a "real chance" to convince Tehran not to pursue a military nuclear programme. He added: "I don't think a wise thing at this moment is for Israel to launch a military attack on Iran."

Mr Netanyahu is expected to hold talks next month with US President Barack Obama when he travels to Washington for the annual conference of the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Iran's foreign minister, Al Akbar Salehi, said yesterday that the next round of negotiations between Tehran and six world powers would be held in Istanbul. He gave no date for the talks and was adamant that Iran would continue with its nuclear programme, which it insists is for peaceful purposes. He said the country remained prepared "even in the worst case scenario" of an external attack.

Earlier Associated Press quoted unnamed diplomats at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna as saying Tehran was now in a position for a major expansion of nuclear fuel enrichment at its heavily guarded underground Fordo plant to levels that could be quickly converted to produce weapons-grade material.

Dempsey wanted to fly US suspects out of Egypt: report

Πηγή: The Egyptian Gazette
By AFP
Feb 18 2012

CAIRO - The top US military general asked Egyptian authorities during a visit to Cairo this month to allow American democracy activists facing trial to fly home with him, an Egyptian state newspaper reported on Saturday.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, met Egypt's military rulers amid an acrid row between the allies over Egypt's plans to try American and other activists for illicit foreign funding.
A number of the Americans charged have sought refuge in the US embassy in Cairo. Dozens of activists of various nationalities also face trial.

"It appears that General Dempsey urged Egyptian officials he met to release the accused Americans and allow them to leave the country, so they may be tried in absentia," the Al-Ahram report said.
"The next day, the American request was even more persistent, with Dempsey saying he wanted to accompany the Americans on his private plane," said the report by a senior editor of the government's flagship newspaper.

Al-Ahram reported that the officials who met Dempsey told him the case was a judicial matter and only a court could lift the travel ban on the suspects.

After the meetings, Dempsey's spokesman had said the general brought up the charges against the 19 Americans, workers with NGOs accused of receiving illicit foreign funding, but refused to elaborate on the discussions.

The prime suspect in the case is Sam LaHood, the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He heads the Egyptian chapter of the International Republican Institute, one of the American NGOs implicated in the case.

Ray LaHood told US broadcaster CBS on Friday that "there are a lot of people in our government, really top officials in our government, working night and day to resolve this issue," according to CBS's website.

US lawmakers from both parties have stepped up their warnings that Egypt's crackdown will force a review of the $1.3 billion in US military aid to the longtime Middle Eastern ally if the crisis is not quickly resolved.

Top US general discusses NGO case in Cairo

General Martin Dempsey

Πηγή: Khaleej Times
By Reuters
Feb 12 2012

CAIRO - The top US military officer met Egypt’s ruling generals in Cairo on Saturday and discussed the case of US pro-democracy activists charged in an investigation that has strained ties between Cairo and Washington.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the first senior US official to visit Cairo since the charges were brought against 43 foreign and Egyptian activists following a probe into civil society groups.

Around 20 of those charged are Americans. They have been banned from leaving the country and include Sam LaHood, the country director of the International Republican Institute (IRI) who is the son of the US transportation secretary. An undisclosed number have taken shelter at the US embassy.

The case has put a deep strain on relations with Washington, which counted Egypt as a close strategic ally under ousted President Hosni Mubarak and supplies Cairo with an annual $1.3 billion in military aid. Both the US Congress and the White House have said the investigation could threaten the aid.

The investigators have brought charges including that the activists were working for organisations not legally registered in Egypt. The Egyptian government says the issue is a case of law, not politics.

Dempsey met Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and chief of staff General Sami Anan during meetings at the defence ministry in Cairo.

“They discussed a wide range of issues related to the long-standing security relationship between our two countries, including the issue involving US NGOs,” Colonel David Lapan, a spokesman for Dempsey, told Reuters in a statement.

“We will not, however, further describe the contents and nature of their private discussions,” he added.

In signs the dispute could worsen, however, Egyptian authorities detained an Australian journalist and an American student on Saturday on suspicion they had distributed cash to workers and incited them to take part in a strike called by activists demanding an end to army rule.

State news agency MENA said the pair were detained along with their Egyptian translator in the industrial city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra north of Cairo.

They were referred to the prosecutor general for investigation, the agency said, identifying the American student as Derek Ludovici and the Australian journalist as Austin Mackell.
Congress delegation to visit

An Egyptian army official said that in the talks with the United States, the sides had “stressed the importance of the two countries’ commitment to international conventions and treaties and emphasised the depth of the strategic relations between the US and Egypt”.

Dempsey had stressed America’s “keenness to follow up on the process of democratization in Egypt and the efforts of the armed forces to transfer power to civilian rule,” the official said.

The military council which assumed power from Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011 has pledged to hand over to an elected president at the end of June, completing a transfer to civilians.

The Egyptian official said a delegation from Congress will be visiting Cairo to continue discussions over aid. For US aid to continue, the Obama administration must certify to Congress that Egypt is making progress toward democracy.

It was Dempsey’s first visit to Egypt as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a post he took in October.

In Congress, some lawmakers and their aides have said US aid to Egypt had effectively stopped pending resolution of the crisis.

The US delegation was also due to meet Egypt’s intelligence officials on Saturday, the official added, saying that both Tantawi and Anan would meet with the head of US Central Command, General James Mattis on Monday.

Following the meeting of the generals, Egypt’s government issued a statement saying it was reviewing the 2002 law regulating the work of non-governmental organisations in Egypt.

Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Faiza Abul Naga said on Saturday the review would aim to “resolve any legal gaps in the law”.

US military aid to Egypt accounts for about 25 percent of Egypt’s defence spending per year. The defence budget was $4.56 billion in 2010 - the third-largest in the Middle East after Israel and Saudi Arabia - according to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Top US general: Military options against Iran achievable

Πηγή: Ynet
Dec 21 2011

US General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says in an interview with CNN published Wednesday, that preparations are being made for a possible strike in Iran, while warning the Tehran regime against "miscalculating" the American intentions and playing a dangerous game that could lead to a disaster.

"I am satisfied that the options that we are developing are evolving to a point that they would be executable if necessary," Dempsey said during a visit to Afghanistan, adding that there was no guarantee Israel would give the United States warning if it decided to attack Iran.