Iran to fund Syrian arms deals - report

[Phx_Dem]

An Iranian source told the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper that during their meeting in Damascus last Thursday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad agreed to boost military and political relations between the two countries.

According to the report, published Saturday, Tehran will help Syria fund future arms deals with North Korea and Russia, set up military plants there and back Syria on the Lebanon issue. In return, Assad promised Ahmadinejad to refrain from entering peace talks with Israel.

The two leaders signed a comprehensive agreement on strategic cooperation between Tehran and Damascus, according to which Iran will transfer a billion dollars to Syria for the purchase of 400 advanced T-72 Russian tanks, 18 MiG-31 warplanes, eight Sukhoi fighter jets and eight Mikoyan helicopters.

More at:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3427962,00.html

[MetaTrope]

1. And did "an Iranian source" have anything to say about babies being pulled from incubators?

Sigh...

[Phx_Dem]

2. Point taken

There does seem to be a lot of specifics in the article though, and the meetings did take place.

[Phx_Dem]

3. Ynet: Jerusalem skeptical of reported Tehran-Damascus deal

"We doubt the credibility of the report in al-Sharq al-Awsat regarding a possible arms deal between Iran and Syria," said senior political sources in Jerusalem on Saturday night. "The report must be authenticated," they clarified.

snip

Olmert's office said on Saturday that Israel has alternative means of validating the report and that al-Sharq al-Awsat is a publication that has long since maintained very poor relations with the Iranian regime.

The report has stirred up a considerable storm in the Israeli political scene, the height of which saw Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman calling for the formation of a national emergency government.

snip

More at:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3428116,00.html