One of the spiritual leaders of Egypt issued a fatwah (law, regulations) which banned Muslims from driving Chevrolet vehicles. According to the new law, Muslims must not drive Chevrolet cars because the logo of the company is a Christian cross.

The religious law, which bans the use of the cars made by one of the world’s best-known automotive company, raised many eyebrows in Egypt. Many Egyptians found the new fatwah “strange”.

Amr Adib, a popular TV host, made jokes about the new law in his program. The Chevrolet brand exists for 100 years, but the Christian cross on the logo was noticed only in 2012, he said. Egypt, the host added, had a great deal of more important problems to deal with.

It is worthy of note that there are several theories about the origin of the Chevrolet “cross.” One of them says that the designer of the logo was inspired with the pattern on the wallpaper of one of Paris hotels. Another one says that the author of the logo borrowed the idea from an American coal company. Some people say that the designer tried to make a logo that would look like a bow-tie.

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US F35

The White House is saying “no” to arming opposition and other military involvement in the Syrian conflict – for the moment. Pentagon and US Central Command launched a review of US military capabilities in case that “no” turns a “yes.”

­The backdoor for military action was ajar with State Department, spokesman Victoria Nuland saying that US never takes any option off the table, even though they “don’t think more arms into Syria is the answer.” It appears the Pentagon has a similar view, as it has reportedly launched a full-scale review of its available military might.

Two senior administration officials told CNN that “options are being prepared in the event President Barack Obama was to call for them.” Support for opposition groups and outright military strikes are among the options being looked at.

This type of planning exercise is typical for the Pentagon, which would not want to be in the position of not having options for the president, if and when they are asked for, both officials told CNN. One of them called the effort a “scoping exercise,” with Pentagon looking into what capabilities are available given other US military commitments in the region.

US President Barack Obama said in an interview Sunday that he believes it is possible to resolve the conflict peacefully “without recourse to outside military intervention.” However, some congressional lawmakers, including Arizona’s Republican Senator John McCain, called for the US to explore the prospect of arming opposition forces in Syria.

“We should start considering options, arming the opposition,” McCain said. “The bloodletting has got to stop.”

The US and other Western powers are wary of engaging closely with would-be rebel forces without the legal protection of UN resolution, similar to the one that was passed in the case of Libya. But in the wake of Russia and China vetoing a Security Council resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, they are forced to look for other solutions.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called Sunday for “friends of democratic Syria” to unite and rally against Assad’s regime. She has also vowed to strengthen existing sanctions against the Syrian regime and seek further ones to dry up funding and arms shipments.

“We will work to seek regional and national sanctions against Syria. They will be implemented to the fullest to dry up the sources of funding and the arms shipments that are keeping the regime’s war machine going,” Clinton told journalists. “We will work with the friends of a democratic Syria around the world to support the opposition’s peaceful political plans for change.”

Clinton did not specify who those “friends of a democratic Syria” are, but it could be that the United States proceeds to form a group of like-minded nations to coordinate assistance to the Syrian opposition.

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Iran test firing some of its missiles.

The news media in Israel this evening reports foreign embassies are organizing contingency plans for the evacuation of their nationals and diplomats and are requesting gas masks from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Diplomats and their families are worried about a missile strike that may prompt a mass evacuation of Israeli citizens with passports. The European Union does not currently have the resources to undertake an evacuation of its citizens in a short period of time.

Israeli officials have provided embassies with a list of public bomb shelters in the country and an instructional pamphlet produced by the IDF, Ynetnews.com reports.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Iran will not ask the group to retaliate if Israel strikes Iran. He said by video link to supporters that Hezbollah would make the decision in the event of an Israeli attack.

“There is speculation about what wound happen if Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities,” Nasrallah said. “I tell you that the Iranian leadership will not ask Hezbollah to do anything. On that day, we will sit, think and decide what we will do.”

According to estimates, Hezbollah has more than 40,000 rockets in its arsenal. Most are of the Katyusha variety with a range under 100 kilometers. It also possesses several hundred Iranian Zelzal-2 missiles with a range between 100 and 400 kilometers.

In 2010, the Pentagon reported the Shi’ite group also has 40 to 50 Fatah-110 missiles and 10 Scud-D missiles. The Fatah can be accurately target and reach most of Israel, including Tel Aviv.

In November 2009, it was estimated that if war broke out, Hezbollah would launch 400 to 600 rockets a day and would be able to sustain the attacks for at least two months.

During the 2006 Lebanon War Hezbollah fired about 3,699 rockets into Israel.

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A plane being unloaded at Rafiq Hariri International Airport in the Lebanese capital city, Beirut.

Lebanon’s security officials say a suspicious cargo containing huge amounts of US dollars, guns, special passports and credit cards have been seized upon arrival in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, from the US and Brazil.

The items, packed in a number of chests and delivered via airmail, were discovered at Beirut’s airport, the Lebanese security officials said.

The chests also contained a list of both well-known and ordinary Lebanese citizens including a figure related to Salafi extremist groups. The security officials have summoned a number of the individuals, whose names were on the list, arresting some of them.

Beirut has redoubled security surveillance across the country following remarks by some Lebanese factions as well as widespread rumors about the presence of al-Qaeda in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese defense minister earlier confirmed that members of the al-Qaeda terrorist group, fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have entered Syria through Lebanon.

Over the past few months, reports have circulated that caches of weapons have been smuggled to armed gangs in Syria through the Lebanese border.

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Syria could get another chance at a diplomatic escape route from its continuing political crisis as the Russian delegation has arrived on Tuesday to hold talks with President Assad.

A last-ditch delegation to Damascus bearing a personal message for Bashar al-Assad from President Medvedev has been welcomed by thousands of people lining the streets of the Syrian capital.

Russian FM is holding talks with Assad in what many see as the Syrian president’s last opportunity to establish an internationally recognized diplomatic mechanism for resolving the violence that is tearing the country apart.

“It is in Russia’s interest that the Arab nations live in peace and accord,” remarked Lavrov opening talks with Assad. “Every leader in every country must realize his share of responsibility. You do realize yours.”

Amid speculation that the message Lavrov carries may include a suggestion that Assad resign, FM Sergey Lavrov stressed asking a president of a sovereign country to step down is not a Russian profession.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev did not exclude the possibility that his letter may include a mechanism for President Assad to relinquish power, in case the violence from both sides does not stop.

The visit comes amid international anger over Russia & China’s veto of what they saw as a “premature” UN Security Council vote. The UK and US simultaneously withdrew their ambassadors to Damascus Monday, with the UK Foreign Secretary calling Assad’s regime “murderous and doomed.” Italy’s Foreign Ministry has allegedly recalled its ambassador from Syria on Tuesday, reports Al Arabia.

The Russian FM dubbed the resolution draft text “one-sided” and international reaction to the veto “hysterical”.

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UK foreign secretary William Hague speaking in Parliament on Monday

The United States has shut down its embassy in Syria. The announcement comes amid mounting reports of lethal government attacks. The UK has followed the suit, summoning their ambassador from Damascus.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says the British ambassador has been recalled from Syria for consultations. The Secretary has also summoned Syria’s representative in London to the Foreign Office so that he could express his “abhorrence” at the violence in the Arab country.

Hague accused China and Russia of “betraying the Syrian people,” saying their blocking a UN resolution on Syria was a “grave error.” The UK Foreign Secretary pledged to increase pressure on the Syrian government through the UN and other bodies.

“This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime,” Hague told British lawmakers on Monday. “There is no way it can recover its credibility internationally.”

Russia says the West is overreacting to the veto Moscow and Beijing used in the UN to block the resolution on Syria, which the two countries perceive as unbalanced. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called such remarks “almost hysterical.”

Earlier, officials said US Ambassador Robert Ford and other diplomats had left Syria on Monday. However, their departure did not come out of the blue. In January, Washington warned it might close its embassy in Damascus, citing concerns over staff safety.

On Monday, the Syrian opposition reported new assaults from government forces, claiming 50 had been killed in Homs city alone. The government, however, denies the accusations, saying the attacks were staged.

US President Barack Obama has said the ongoing conflict in Syria should be resolved without foreign military interference.

Obama said he believed a solution for Syria could be found through negotiations, adding that not every situation allows for the type of military action taken in Libya.

This weekend an American-backed UN Security Council resolution on Syria was vetoed by Russia and China, with both countries citing its unbalanced approach to the Syrian government and the opposition. Russia’s envoy to the UN also said that the draft did not reflect Russia’s proposals on Syria.

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A senior Iranian military official says Tehran will attack any country used by “enemies” to launch a military strike against his country. The statement comes amid growing tensions between Iran and the West.

­”Any spot used by the enemy for hostile operations against Iran will be subjected to retaliatory aggression by our armed forces,” the deputy head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, said Sunday according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

The official did not name any particular country suspected of acting as a launching pad for military action against Iran, and the six Gulf Arab states considered to be US allies have said they would not allow their territories to be used for attacks on Iran.

Meanwhile, two Iranian naval ships docked in the Saudi port of Jeddah on Sunday, a move Iranian officials say aims to project the country’s “power on the open seas” and “confront Iranophobia.”

Salami’s statement comes as the Revolutionary Guard conducts two-day ground exercises some say are dedicated to demonstrate Iranian military strength.

The Revolutionary Guard is a branch of Iran’s military established to protect the country’s Islamic system.

It is not Tehran’s first warning amid rising tensions with the West. Earlier, Iran warned that any military action against it would result in a “painful” response on Israeli and US bases in the Gulf.

Iran also threatened to close off the vital Gulf oil shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz if becomes subject to oil export sanctions.

Iran’s nuclear program has long been a stumbling block between the country and the West. The tensions escalated last November after an IAEA report claimed Iran had worked on developing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has many times denied, reiterating that its nuclear activities are purely peaceful.

­Though UN inspectors failed yet again to find any traces of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, Washington and Tel Aviv are sure to come up with an alleged secret location where Tehran is building nuclear weapons, says Kamel Al Wazne, a political analyst in Beirut.

“Probably, the Israelis are getting desperate at this point, because they think if Iran become capable of building a nuclear weapon – this would be devastating to them,” Al Wazne said, predicting that “before six months we might be heading into a major confrontation in the Persian Gulf.”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned ministers from his center-right Likud political party to avoid making statements on a possible military attack against Iran, saying such remarks could be damaging to Israel.

“The chatter causes extensive damage, puts Israel on the front line and impedes the sanction efforts,” Ynetnews quoted Netanyahu as saying during a Likud ministerial meeting in al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Sunday.

On February 2, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said if Western sanctions imposed against Iran fail to stop its nuclear program, military action against the country must be put on agenda.

Meanwhile, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon has threatened Iran with a military strike against its nuclear facilities in an attempt to force the Islamic Republic to abandon its nuclear activities.

Speaking at the 12th Annual Herzliya Conference in Israel last Thursday, he said that Iran’s atomic sites are “within striking distance,” adding that “any facility defended by a human being can be penetrated.”

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program. Washington and Tel Aviv have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the “option” of a military strike against its nuclear facilities.

Iran argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

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Iranian warships in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari

Two Iranian naval ships have docked in the Saudi port of Jeddah. Iranian officials say the move aims to project the country’s “power on the open seas” and “confront Iranophobia.”

­The supply ship Kharg and destroyer Shaid Qandi docked on Saturday in the Red Sea port in line with orders from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Iran’s news agency, Fars.

“This mission aims to show the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the open seas and to confront Iranophobia,” Fars quoted navy commander Admiral Habibollah Sayari as saying.

The commander added that the mission would last between 70 and 80 days, but did not specify its route.

Tehran says boosting its naval presence in international waters is in part motivated by the need to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates. This is why Iranian vessels were deployed to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden last year. In February 2011, for the first time ever, it also sent two naval vessels into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.

The rise in Iran’s naval activity comes amid a steep deterioration of its relations with the West. Its ties with Saudi Arabia are also in poor health, and have gone downhill fast since America accused Tehran of masterminding a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

As if that weren’t enough, relations between Tehran and Riyadh deteriorated further after EU countries agreed to impose sanctions on Iran’s oil exports over the country’s nuclear program. In return, Tehran assured the European Union that it is not afraid of its sanctions and that the EU would be the one to suffer. However, Saudi Arabia quickly offered to make up for any shortfall in Europe’s oil supplies. Tehran, in response, called on Riyadh to reconsider, saying its move was unfriendly.

The EU oil embargo has also increased tensions in the Strait of Hormuz – a vital link for oil transit between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Iran has threatened to block the Strait in the past, and its determination was underlined when a senior official said Iran would “definitely” close the Strait of Hormuz if the EU oil embargo disrupted the export of crude oil.

The situation around the Strait and the Iranian nuclear program – which the country states is purely peaceful – has already prompted Washington to send squadrons of war ships into the area, while Britain and France have expressed willingness to back the US navy in opposing attempts by Iran to block the Strait.

The Israeli Deputy PM added fuel to the fire, claiming that Iran has also succeeded in building a long-range missile capable of putting the US within its reach. These latest statements are very much in line with the position of Israel and its allies who are accusing Iran of using its nuclear industry to mask plans to develop nuclear arms, a charge official Tehran has frequently and vehemently denied.

The gravity of the crisis became particularly apparent when US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Israel could attack Iran in the next few months. The attack would allegedly occur before it enters a so-called “immunity zone”, ie: before Iran has time to fortify its nuclear facilities against attack.

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Iran successfully launches new 'Navid-e Elm-o Sanat' satellite into orbit on February 3, 2012.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has successfully launched its domestically-built Navid-e Elm-o Sanat satellite into orbit following a decree by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The satellite, completely designed and built by Iranian experts, blasted into orbit late Thursday on the third day of the 10-Day Dawn celebrations, marking the 33th anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The 50-kilogram orbiter lifted off into space with an orbital angle of 55 degrees on the Iranian-made Safir satellite-carrier.

Head of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli said the domestically-built Navid satellite will circle the Earth at altitudes between 250 and 370 kilometers.

He added that the remote-sensing observation satellite is designed to take hi-res pictures of the globe.

The ISA chief noted that the satellite will also collect data on weather conditions, which comes in handy for weather forecasts and management of natural disasters.

Fazeli further said that the satellite is expected to orbit the Earth once every 90 minutes and send images to ground stations.

Navid-e Elm-o Sanat is a telecom, measurement and scientific satellite whose records could be used in a wide range of fields.

Iran launched its first domestically-produced satellite, Omid (hope), into orbit in 2009.

The Omid data-processing satellite was designed to orbit the Earth 15 times every 24 hours and transmit data via two frequency bands and eight antennas to an Iranian space station.

Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959.

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A senior lawmaker says Iran’s Majlis is considering a plan to cut off the country’s economic transactions with South Korea’s Samsung in reaction to the company’s anti-Iran teaser.

Head of Majlis Energy Committee Arsalan Fat’hipour said the double-urgency plan, aimed at imposing a complete ban on buying all Samsung products, would make the company regret making the insulting teaser.

South Korea’s giant manufacturer of electronic devices and home appliances produced a teaser shortly after the assassination of the Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan by Mossad agents in Tehran, in which Iran had been depicted as a primitive society.

The clip also implies that Israel is powerful enough to easily destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities or assassinate the country’s nuclear scientists.

The Iranian lawmaker added that forgetting the high volume of its trade with Iran, the company has produced the teaser to curry favor with Israel.

Fat’hipour said Samsung’s apology to the Iranian nation, though necessary, would not be enough and that the company must be held accountable for producing the teaser.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s Dubai office has issued a statement condemning the production of the teaser by the company’s Israel office.

Samsung’s public relations official in Tehran, Elaheh Taheri, told reporters on Thursday the clip had nothing to do with the South Korean company and that it had been produced by an Israeli cable TV station, Hot.

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An image grab taken from footage broadcast by Iran's state-run Arabic-language Al-Alam TV on August 20, 2010, shows an image from an undisclosed location of what Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said was the test firing of the Iranian surface-to-surface missile Qiam, entirely designed and built domestically and powered by liquid fuel, a day before Iran was due to launch its Russian-built first nuclear power plant

Iranian scientists have already managed to enrich enough radioactive material to successfully produce not just one, but four nuclear bombs, Israel’s military intelligence chief has announced.

General Aviv Kochavi broke the news at a security conference on Thursday. The intelligence chief says he believes Iran would need a year from the word go to actually producing a crude device, and another year or two to manufacture a nuclear warhead that can be installed on a ballistic missile.

Kochavi also claimed that “Iran is very actively pursuing its efforts to develop its nuclear capacities, and we have evidence that they are seeking nuclear weapons. “However, no actual evidence was produced or even referred to at the conference.

The Israeli Deputy PM added fuel to the fire, claiming that Iran has also succeeded in building a long-range missile capable of putting the US within its reach. Moshe Ya’alon, who had just returned from Washington where he discussed the Iran situation with President Obama’s administration, chose to echo Kochavi’s words of warning, saying “The Israeli government will stop Iran one way or another.”

These latest statements are very much in line with the position of Israel and its allies who are accusing Iran of using its nuclear industry to mask plans to develop nuclear arms, a charge official Tehran has frequently and vehemently denied.

Israel, backed by its key ally the United States, has long pushed for tougher sanctions against Iran. Top level officials in both Tel Aviv and Washington DC have recently said they do not rule out a military attack against the Islamic Republic.

As sparks continue to fly around the powder keg of Iran’s supposed nuclear ambitions, the Middle Eastern state is not playing dead either. A defiant President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Thursday that the country is planning to double its military spending over the next year; a sign that is being interpreted by many as “taking a stand” against pressure from the West.

The United States and their NATO allies are also flexing their muscles, with recent transfers of US fighter jets and other military planes to the region. Troops have also been reportedly arriving at various American military bases in the Persian Gulf, with another ten thousand soldiers recently transferred to Israel – allegedly to test the US anti-ballistic missile defense system.

On top of that, two US Navy aircraft carriers – the USS Abraham Lincoln and Carl Vinson – are on patrol in the Persian Gulf and are expected to be joined by the USS Enterprise in March. The USS Annapolis, a nuclear submarine, was earlier reported to have entered the Red Sea and is rumored to be heading towards the Gulf as well.

Together with the US military bases already established in the region – for example, the 5th Fleet, stationed in Bahrain – all of this is interpreted by many as nothing shy of intimidation, and some experts believe the US is trying to provoke Iran into making the first move.

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Team El-Ahly football players get away from the field during a football match riot at a stadium in Port Said of Egypt on Feb. 1, 2012. The death toll from a football riot in Egypt's Port Said rose to 79, state TV reported on Wednesday night.

A riot in the Egyptian city of Port Said has left 79 dead and hundreds wounded after football fans stormed the pitch before engaging in running battles inside the stadium. The government has announced three days of mourning in the country.

The majority of the victims died from suffocation and head injuries, health ministry officials said. Doctors are calling on the local population to donate blood for the injured because the violence has drained hospital reserves.

Some of the more seriously injured were evacuated by transport helicopter from the northern city of Port Said to be treated in military hospitals. The army also dispatched troops to the city to prevent further violence from flaring.

Stadium mayhem

­The deadly fight broke out on Wednesday night following a match between the local Al-Masry and the visiting Al-Ahly football teams, which have a long history of rivalry.

The home players scored a rare victory against one of Egypt’s strongest clubs, and the team’s fans rushed onto the pitch.

Some of the Al-Masry fans were said to be offended by an insulting sign held up by Al-Ahly supporters held during the game. In a bid to take revenge, they cornered rival fans, players and coaches.

“The players’ room has turned into a morgue,” said Ahmed Nagy, Al-Ahly’s goalkeeper and coach.

Speaking to the club’s television channel, player Mohamed Abo Treika described the violence as a war.

“This is not football. This is a war and people are dying in front of us. There is no movement and no security and no ambulances… This is a horrible situation and today can never be forgotten,” he said, as cited by Al Arabiya.

As the ensuing clash erupted, thousands of people tried to flee the violence. Dozens were crushed in the resulting stampede.

Although what triggered the violence remains unclear, Bel Trew, a freelance journalist talking live to RT from Cairo described eye witness reports of security forces who “stepped aside and actually opened the gates which allowed the two fan clubs to come onto the pitch and fight each other,” raising doubts over the security in place at the match.

The journalist spoke of exits to the stadium being blocked, preventing the Al-Ahly fans targeted by the violence from escaping, and causing a fatal crush. She also referred to eyewitness accounts of knife wounds, saying, “we believe the Port Said fans may have been carrying knives.”

While shedding light on the possible contributing factors that led to the Port Said violence Bel Trew signaled the “vacuum of security” that followed the January anniversary of the uprisings that overthrew former leader President Mubarak. She called the lack of a security presence “unprecedented” and linked it to the sharp escalation of crime in the Egypt during recent months.

Mourning and conspiracy

The Egyptian government has called an emergency parliamentary meeting to discuss the deadly football row at Port Said, amid claims that the ruling military council allowed the violence to happen – and even had a hand in causing it.

In response to the violence, Egyptian Prime Minister has accepted the resignation of the governor of Port Said and dissolved the board of the Egyptian Football Association. In addition to this, a full investigation will be launched into why the match went ahead given early signs that fan violence was likely.

FIFA, the international governing body of the game, has appealed to Egypt to release the exact details of the tragedy, while the EU has called for an independent probe to be carried out.

The Egyptian state football federation has postponed all national league matches indefinitely. A match which was underway when the violence in Port Said started was halted.

Thousands of Egyptians took to the streets overnight to honor the victims of the riot, as the country announced three days of mourning. In Suez the commemoration was marred when some radical Al-Ahly fans clashed with police. The attack on a security post was cut short with tear gas.

The tragedy, coming on the heels of the first anniversary of Egypt’s revolution, may have political reverberations. The Muslim Brotherhood’s Isam Al Aryan accused allies of ousted President Hosni Mubarak of orchestrating the bloody clashes.

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The UN draft resolution on Syria reportedly calls for President Assad to hand power over to his deputy in 15 days or face “further measures”. It also clarifies that no foreign forces will be deployed to the country.

The draft, obtained by the Guardian, emphasized any punitive measures would be peaceful.

It also demands the Syrian government put “an end to all human rights violations and attacks against those exercising their rights to freedom of expression.”

The resolution is set to be debated by the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday. Further negotiations at the council will take place Wednesday, and a vote is expected on Thursday.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow has no intentions of telling President Assad to step down.

“Russian politics is not to ask someone to resign,” he told Australia’s ABC TV channel. “Regime change is not our profession,” the minister added.

He also rejected out of hand any accusation that Russia unconditionally supports the Syrian leader. “We are not President Assad’s friends or allies,” he stressed. Lavrov made it clear earlier on Tuesday that Assad’s continuing tenure as president is not a precondition for a settlement in Syria.

The resolution fails to take account of the positions of countries like Russia and China, which have presented a united front opposing regime change in Damascus.

Moscow says the new resolution contains a threat to “adopt further measures if Syria does not comply with the terms of the resolution,” opening the door to a Libya-style foreign intervention in the conflict-torn Middle Eastern country.

Lavrov said the UN Security Council would never support a tour de force against Syria.

“If [the Syrian] opposition refuses to sit at a negotiation table with the regime – what is the alternative? To bomb the regime? I’ve seen that before,” Lavrov said, “I guarantee the Security Council will never approve this.”

Reportedly, tensions are running so high that the US Secretary of State’s spokeswoman has accused Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, who is currently visiting Australia, of being unavailable by phone when Hillary Clinton allegedly called him to discuss the situation.

­Syrian opposition’s hardline trade-off

­Bashar Assad’s resignation is a non-negotiable precondition for talks on ending the bloody crisis engulfing Syria. Head of the opposition Syrian National Council Burhan Ghalioun stressed there could be “No negotiations without Assad’s exit.”

While Damascus accepted a Moscow proposal to host informal talks with all parties without any conditions, the Syrian opposition rejected Russia’s approach outright.

Burhan Ghalioun told the Lebanese Daily Star that Moscow has the power to urge Assad to leave, and offered to confirm the status of Russia’s naval base in Tartus in return.

Author and Middle East expert John Bradley told RT the National Council is now a pawn in greater Middle East game: “NATO is determined to bring the Assad regime to its knees as a prelude to invading Iran. The Syrian opposition is under huge pressure from outside powers who want these talks [between the Assad regime and the opposition] to fail even before they begin – most obviously NATO”.

­The resolution on Syria has been worked out with no Russian participation whatsoever. Because Russia’s concerns were not taken into account, the resolution is one-dimensional, says Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chief of the Russian State Duma Committee for International Affairs.

“This draft resolution is addressed towards just one part of the conflict, namely President Assad and his government, to force them to resign. This undermines any perspective for a political solution to the crisis,” Kosachev said.

As well as rejecting peace talks, the Syrian opposition has gone so far as to state that President Assad and his family have lost their chance to make a peaceful exit, in an ultimatum which made reference to the brutal killing of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya last year.

Kosachev believes the Syrian opposition is simply listening to the message coming from abroad, from Washington or Brussels. This message has always been “’this regime does not have a future, don’t talk to them’ – this message is wrong.”

The result of such a stance will be clashes, casualties and blood, Kosachev predicted, “But not due to Russia’s position, but due to the very unilateral and unfair position taken by the US and their allies.”

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Two ships of the US Navy, the nuclear submarine USS Annapolis and the destroyer USS Momsen have passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. Although their destination is confidential, they are now getting dangerously close to the Persian Gulf.

­The ships’ passage was a major operation for the Suez administration as due to safety reasons they had to close off the canal to all other traffic and even shut down the bridge, disrupting the link between the banks for some four hours. The traffic on the roadways alongside the canal was also restricted, Interfax news agency reports.

There are no reports regarding the destination of the vessels, but the news come amid the ongoing crisis in the relationship between the US and Iran. There is mounting speculation that the Annapolis and the Momsen are heading to the Persian Gulf to reinforce the US naval forces already present in the region.

Currently the US has two aircraft carrier groups in the region headed by USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Carl Vinson. It is expected that another aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, will join the strike force in March.

Since the EU placed a new round of sanctions on Iran by putting an embargo on Iranian oil, Iran is once again threatening to use military force to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti maritime official said on Monday that the Gulf Cooperation Council group of Arab countries have contingency plans for coastguards and naval forces should there be an attempt by Iran to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.

­‘US imperial agenda is now concentrating on Iran’

­Tehran has offered IAEA officials the chance to extend their mission and says it is ready to prove its atomic ambitions are peaceful. But Ralph Sсhoenman, the host of radio program ‘Taking Aim,’ told RT that IAEA’s quest in Iran is hopeless.

“I say hopeless because the United States and the European capitalist spouse will always up the ante,” Sсhoenman explained. “You can be absolutely sure that the reports back from one or more of these inspectors functioning as intelligence operatives will say: ‘Well, there is evidence that they may be doing this and they may be doing that.’”

Sсhoenman believes that the US “imperial agenda, which makes countries their targets in sequence, is now concentrating on Iran.”

“The very idea that Iran is somehow obliged to open its frontiers to inspectors who are essentially penetrated and permeated by the Central Intelligence Agency and Mossad expresses what I am attempting to say to you,” he explained. “This is outrageous, this has no legitimacy and it should be repudiated and exposed for what it is.”

Journalist and author Afshin Rattansi says that there are no reasons why Iran would need another visit from such a biased organization as the IAEA.

“There are cameras, surveillance equipment over all the different sites,” he said. “The IAEA inspection regime, I think most analysts would say, is a front for a WMD [weapons of mass destruction] inspection that we have seen previously in that region.”

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