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ARMS RACE ESCALATES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

MER - Washington - 8/26/97:

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With the Dayton "peace process" largely unworkable in Europe, and with the Oslo "peace process" largely unworkable in the Middle East, the arms salesmen are flourishing and the military are becoming ever- more jittery. The Israeli military budget has actually gone up since Oslo, and the generals are still demanding more.

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The Israelis are furiously working on anti-missile missiles, with hundreds of millions of extra dollars provided by the Pentagon, and Arab countries along with Iran are struggling to develop long-range missiles capable of delivering nuclear or biological warheads on Israel.

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Both sides now feel that even if only for "deterrence" purposes they must have weapons of mass destruction in their arsenals.

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The following edited AP report from yesterday highlights some of the current manueverings and further validates recent MER articles about the seriousness of the arms build-up now underway.

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Moreover, among the reasons the Israeli continue to beat the drums of "terrorism" so persistently is their hope that in the future a "terrorist" attack against Israelis, or preferably against Americans somewhere in the region, might provide the excuse for pushing a U.S. attack on Iran. And for those who think this all sounds excessively alarmist, one should just recall the history of the post World War II years in the Middle East, with major wars in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, 1991, 1996, and a still ongoing "Intifada" (uprising) against Israeli occupation since 1987.

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ISRAEL RUSSIAN RELATIONS AT CRISIS OVER MISSILES TO IRAN

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"Israel has obtained evidence that the Russian government is helping Iran develop long-range missiles that could reach Israel, Israeli television reported. Hundreds of Russian scientists are working on the missile project, the report on Israel TV's Channel Two said late Sunday.

The Russian government has denied transferring missile technology to Iran. A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Vladimir Andreyev, said today that the ministry had no immediate comment.

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U.S. media reports have said U.S. intelligence indicates Russia has transferred technology to Iran for the Russian SS-4 missile. The U.S. government reportedly has stepped up the pressure on Moscow to stop the transfer of military know-how.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting Japan, said he discussed Iran's weapons buildup in a meeting with the Japanese prime minister.

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Speaking on Israel army radio, Netanyahu did not mention the Russians specifically, saying only that Israel and Japan had a mutual interest to "deter the Iranian acquisition and use of ballistic and nuclear weapons."

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David Bar-Illan, a senior adviser to Netanyahu, said today that the missile project was always on the agenda in talks between Israeli and Russian officials. "Whether Russian assistance to Iran is private or government-controlled is a question that is continually raised by Israel" Bar-Illan told The Associated Press.

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He said Israel has received conflicting reports about whether the Russian assistance to Iran came from the Moscow government or private Russian companies. Channel Two reported that relations between Israel and Russia have reached a crisis point over the missile project, and that Netanyahu's office sent a sharply worded message last week to the Russian foreign minister, Yevgeny Primakov.

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Bar-Illan denied relations were in trouble. He confirmed, however, that Israel raised the issue last week in a letter. "We expressed concern about Iran's build-up of missiles and nuclear weapons. We expressed hope that the Russian government will not assist in Iran's gathering of dangerous weapons" Bar-Illan said.

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Channel Two said Russia was helping the Iranians develop the missile's navigational and delivery system and provided knowledge on how to produce the warheads. The aim is to eventually establish two missile factories in Iran, it said.

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Last month, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that some 9,000 Russian scientists and technicians were involved in various Iranian military projects."

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