UN ups ante, Iran prepares for War

In a move calculated to pave the way for sanctions against Iran . . .

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed on a statement Wednesday demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment . . .

The 15 members of the council planned to meet later Wednesday to approve the statement, the text of which was not immediately disclosed.

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"The council is expressing its clear concern and is saying to Iran that it should comply with the wishes of the governing board," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry told reporters.

The West believes council action will help isolate Iran and put new pressure on it to clear up suspicions about its intentions. They have proposed an incremental approach, refusing to rule out sanctions.

U.S. officials have said the threat of military action must also remain on the table.

Russia and China, both allies of Iran, oppose sanctions. They want any council statement to make explicit that the IAEA, not the Security Council, must take the lead in confronting Iran.

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"As many of our European and Chinese colleagues have stated more than once, any ideas involving the use of force or pressure in resolving the issue are counterproductive and cannot be supported," [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov said.

Iran remains defiant . . . warning that Security Council intervention would "escalate tensions, entailing negative consequences that would be of benefit to no party."

Meanwhile, Iran flexes its military muscle . . .

[Iran announced it will] launch a massive joint naval wargame titled "Holy Prophet (PBUH)", beginning on March 31 with shooting of a Shahab II Missile into the air with the message of "Peace and Friendship" for the regional countries, Persian Gulf, and Sea of Oman littoral states.

The wargame would begin with the password "Muhammad the Messenger of Allah," according to the IRGC Naval Force Commander and last till April 6 in the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf up to 40 kilometers to the south, to Iran's border port city of Chabahar in the region.

Over seventeen thousand of Iran's armed forces and Basij mobilization forces, would take part in the naval wargame in which ,500 large and small naval vessels of various types would participate.

The IRGC official added, "The Command Headquarters of the wargame would be the IRGC Noah Naval Barracks, while five other army, Air Force and navy bases in three provinces would back up the massive operation."

Admiral Saffari announced the entire armed forces' of the country's full readiness to defend the territorial integrity of the motherland.

He added, "The latest local achievements of the country in defense industries, implementation of the experiences of the country's armed forces in planning and launching massive military operations in practice, evaluation of the conduct of our commanders, and providing a real atmosphere for our mobilization forces to display their defense apabilities are among the top objectives of the maneuver." The four-phased naval wargame is meanwhile planned to display the Islamic system's defensive capabilities.

Iranian made drones would be flied to collect information from the virtual enemy's camp, sea-to-air missiles capable of pursuing moving objects, helicopters capable of shooting air-to-sea, and air-to-land missiles, rapid reaction boats, Iranian made intelligent mines with multi-sensors, various naval rocket mine launchers, huge Iranian made naval rockets and up-to-date telecommunication facilities would be among the sea of equipment to be facilitated during the wargame.

Recall that yesterday, Egypt and Sudan essentially backed Iran when they expressed a desire to join the "nuke club." These are very significant developments, albeit not unexpected.

Time is running out. We must act.