Russian Pacific Fleet Warships Enter Mediterranean

A group of warships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet entered the Mediterranean waters for the first time in decades, a fleet spokesman said on Thursday

“The task force has successfully passed through the Suez Channel and entered the Mediterranean. It is the first time in decades that Pacific Fleet warships enter this region,” Capt. First Rank Roman Martov said.

The vessels are now en route to Cyprus and are scheduled to make a port call in Limassol.

The group, including the destroyer Admiral Panteleyev, the amphibious warfare ships Peresvet and Admiral Nevelskoi, the tanker Pechenga and the salvage/rescue tug Fotiy Krylov left the port of Vladivostok on March 19 to join Russia’s Mediterranean task force.

The task force currently includes the large anti-submarine ship Severomorsk, the frigate Yaroslav Mudry, the salvage/rescue tugs Altai and SB-921 and the tanker Lena from the Northern and Baltic Fleets, as well as the Ropucha-II Class landing ship Azov from the Black Sea Fleet.

The task force may be enlarged to include nuclear submarines, Navy Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov said last Sunday.

The Defense Ministry said in April Russia has begun setting up a naval task force in the Mediterranean, sending several warships from the Pacific Fleet to the region. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in March a permanent naval task force in the Mediterranean was needed to defend Russia’s interests in the region.

A senior Defense Ministry official said the Mediterranean task force's command and control agencies will be based either in Novorossiysk, Russia, or in Sevastopol, Ukraine.

Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, head of the parliamentary defense committee, previously told RIA Novosti that the Mediterranean task force should be comprised of 10 warships and support vessels as part of several tactical groups tasked with attack, antisubmarine warfare and minesweeping.

The Soviet Union maintained its 5th Mediterranean Squadron from 1967 until 1992. It was formed to counter the US Navy's 6th Fleet during the Cold War, and consisted of 30-50 warships and auxiliary vessels.

Cyprus court remands Hezbollah suspect planning attack on Israelis - Man detained in Cyprus was planning attack on Israeli targets for Hezbollah

'Modus operandi' of Cyprus suspect similar to that of the Bulgaria suicide bombing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.

 A guest lies on a sun lounger alongside the swimming pool at the St. Raphael hotel in Limassol

 A man suspected of planning attacks on Israeli interests in Cyprus was detained by a court on the island on Monday, as Israel's leader once again accused Hezbollah militants and Iran over the alleged plot.

The 24-year-old suspect, whose name has not been disclosed, was arrested in the Cypriot port city of Limassol on July 7, on suspicion of tracking the movements of Israeli tourists. He is a Swedish national of Lebanese origin.

Israel said he was planning an attack similar to a suicide bus bombing in the Bulgarian city of Burgas which killed five Israelis last week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.S. "Fox News Sunday" television program that the "modus operandi" of the Cyprus suspect was similar to that used by the Burgas bomber.

He said he had "rock-solid" intelligence that Lebanon's Hezbollah group, backed by Iran, was responsible. Tehran has denied any involvement.

The suspect on Monday appeared at a Limassol court which ordered his remand until July 27 pending completion of police inquiries.

He was held on suspicion of espionage and conspiring to commit a crime, said those present at the hearing, held behind closed doors with only police and his lawyer present.

Authorities are investigating 10 charges against him, they said, without giving further details.

The suspect was arrested at a hotel two days after his arrival from London. Lists of locations frequented by Israeli tourists were found on him, according to media reports which have not been disputed by authorities.

A senior Cypriot government source said he was picked up after a tip-off from British intelligence.

The suspect has not been charged. Under Cypriot law police can obtain court-sanctioned detention orders at regular intervals until an investigation is concluded either by formal charges or the release of the detainee.

Israel, the United States and other western countries consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Israel says it has foiled several Hezbollah attacks on its citizens abroad.

As Cyprus bombing attempt shows, war with Iran can start anywhere

Is Iran now seeking a war? Tehran is undoubtedly under pressure, with its principle ally Assad on the rocks and international economic pressure mounting.

Based on what has been reported to date about the Lebanese national arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of planning to attack Israeli targets, his plans don’t seem to have been very advanced: He was found only with photographs of sites frequented by Israeli tourists and schedules of Israeli flights. But if Hezbollah really was planning to blow up an Israeli plane or cruise ship, this was an unusually ambitious plot.

Protecting Israel’s air traffic is high priority for the Shin Bet security service, right up there with protecting Israeli embassies abroad. Thus, had Hezbollah actually attacked a plane successfully, this would have been tantamount to declaring war.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explicitly accused Iran of being behind the plot. Netanyahu doesn’t distinguish between Iran and its agents, and the Western world concurs that Iranian terror attacks worldwide are often co-produced by Hezbollah. Over the last year, the Lebanese group is thought to have been involved in thwarted Iranian plots against Israeli targets in Thailand, India, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kenya.

Do the reports from Cyprus indicate that Hezbollah − and, more importantly, Iran − is now seeking war? Tehran is undoubtedly under pressure. Its principal ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, is on the rocks. Iran’s hopes of leveraging the Arab Spring to foment revolution in Bahrain, which has a Shi’ite majority, have so far been dashed. And international economic pressure on Iran is steadily growing: A European oil embargo took effect on July 1. All this pressure creates a desire to divert attention elsewhere, and Iran is apparently letting off steam via provocations like the recent plots uncovered in Cyprus, Azerbaijan and Kenya. But the more international pressure increases, the more likely it is that Iran will not confine itself to attempting to attack Israeli targets overseas, but will also try to heat up Israel’s home front via attacks from Lebanon or Gaza. Iran is playing a very dangerous game here, whose flip side is its frequent threats to disrupt oil supplies from the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, the United States is quietly amassing a naval force near the gulf.

Interestingly, Israeli leaders have significantly lowered the volume of their own threats against Iran recently. But at a time when Israel’s dilemma on Iran has been boiled down to a four-word slogan, “bomb or be bombed,” a third scenario must also be considered: A poorly-thought-out Iranian move, in the Persian Gulf or elsewhere, could ignite a conflict even before anyone decides to attack its nuclear facilities.

 

Turkish Cypriots set terms for future talks

Halted reunification talks between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots can only be resumed with the introduction of a deadline for negotiations and lifting the embargos imposed on Turkish Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot leader has said, just a day before Greek Cyprus assumes the six-month EU term presidency.

“Following the elections in Greek Cyprus [in early 2013], we be able to see the political attitude of their new president. We can continue negotiations only if these two conditions are met,” Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu told a group of journalists on June 29.

Two-year-long reunification talks under U.N. auspices have been suspended as Greek Cyprus is set to commence the EU’s term presidency on July 1. However, as the Greek Cypriots will hold presidential elections in early 2013, talks can only be started again in the spring of 2013 with new parameters, as the current Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias has already announced that he won’t run for the seat.

As a result of evaluations in Nicosia, Turkish Cypriots have decided to change their own parameters for future talks, introducing two preconditions. Eroğlu said lifting the embargos implemented on Turkish Cyprus would be the only way to push the Greek Cypriot leadership to approach a solution, saying, “we must be at equal standards,” during the negotiations.

Having said that, Eroğlu said he was pessimistic about a solution arising from such talks, “because the other side should also want to reach a solution.”

The reason for such pessimism derives from the fact that Greek Cyprus was already accepted as a full member of the EU in 2004 and there is nothing that could keep it motivated to establish a new partnership with the Turkish community, former British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, who described the accession of Greek Cypriots to the EU as a mistake, told Eroğlu a few weeks ago.

“We should not have included Greek Cyprus in the EU before a solution. They misled us as if they would accept the Annan Plan. The second mistake was in restarting negotiation talks between sides [despite the Greek Cypriot veto of the Annan Plan],” Straw told Eroğlu, according to the Turkish Cypriot leader.

Greek Cyprus will hold its ceremony for the EU presidency on July 1 at an antique theater located on Britain’s military base on south of the island, Eroğlu said, adding that the base was not identified as EU territory.

Iranian FM detained in Nicosia, report says

Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Akbar Salehi addresses to media after his meeting with Cyprus President Demetris Christofias at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus,

Greek Cypriot authorities reportedly detained Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi briefly after he arrived at Nicosia International Airport, Anatolia news agency has reported.

Salehi, who is visiting Greek Cyprus on the invitation of his Greek Cypriot counterpart, was detained by authorities in the airport on charges of being on the European Union’s list of “unwanted persons,” Anatolia quoted Greek Cypriot media reports. The airport’s anti-terrorism office later released the minister after Greek Cyprus’ Foreign Ministry and foreign minister became involved in the issue.

Reports said the scandal caused temporary tension, but that the mistake was fixed after Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kozaku Markulli demanded the release of his Iranian counterpart. Greek Cypriot media outlets noted that the Iranian minister had been blacklisted by the EU and could only enter the country after receiving special permission from the Greek Cypriot foreign minister.

The media also reported that Greek Cyprus had offered an official apology to Iran, citing a “misunderstanding” and “mishandling” of the situation by airport authorities.

(SW: Why did the Cyprus Government allow invite this person to the Island?)