[Inner Circle: Prophetic intervals suggested an eschatological event was likely on Sunday, September 5 (Elul 26/27). what occured was something completely unexpected: Israel and Russia - the two most prominent nations of prophecy - signed a long-term agreement to cooperate militarily. Prophecy tells us that there will be a feeling of peace and safety when the End comes. This agreement will buttress that feeling, since no one will see the potential for hostility between these two countries now that they have agreed to work together "long-term". Story.]

Russia and Israel have just signed a framework military cooperation deal.

"We have just signed a long-term agreement on military cooperation," Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said after meeting with his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak. He said they discussed both military and weapons cooperation.

"It's very important to us that in the transition to a new image, the Russian armed forces use the experience the Israeli armed forces have and the work they have done," Serdyukov said.

"I believe today's meeting and the agreement signed will create serious long-term perspectives for cooperation between the two ministries".

The agreement is the latest indicator of tightening ties between the two countries.

(Reuters, Itar-Tass, et al 9/6)

[Inner Circle: It is remarkable how what is currently happening in Mideast politics resembles prophecy. Peace and safety are predicted to exist before the End comes. And then Iran is prophesied to attack Israel. Thursday, September 2, Israel and the Palestinians agreed to become "partners for peace". And, on the same day, Iran's President condemned those peace efforts, saying Iran and other Mideast countries would not allow "one centimeter" of Palestine to be ceded to Israel. Story.]

Direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders were held in Washington Thursday with pledges of support from leaders on both sides for a peace process leading to a comprehensive settlement within one year.

Israelis and Palestinians agreed to work out a framework agreement in the coming months as a first step to a full peace treaty.

Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned violence targeting innocent civilians in their region and pledged to work together to maintain security.

Netanyahu said that he sees in Abbas "a partner for peace."

The Israeli leader said that reaching a lasting peace will require "mutual and painful concessions from both sides." But Israel is prepared to go "a long way in a short time" to reach a deal, he said.

Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to meet again on September 14 and 15 in the Middle East and then roughly every two weeks thereafter, according to former Sen. George Mitchell, President Barack Obama's special envoy for Middle East Peace.

Meanwhile, during a speech in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the direct negotiations with Israel and questioned his authority to represent the Palestinian people.

"Who gave him (Abbas) the legitimacy to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians? Who has the right to cede part of Palestine to enemies? The region's nations will not allow anyone to give up even one centimeter of Palestine," he said.

The Iranian leader warned that the region's countries are "capable of destroying Israel."

(JPost, CNN, YNET, et al 9/2)

Inner Circle: A few days ago, on August 17, I speculated we might see eschatological activity on September 2nd, as a result of that day being 666 lunar months from the birth of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Three days later it was announced that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians would resume on September 2nd. This coincidence tends to confirm these talks as being eschatological in nature and likely a fulfillment of the "peace and safety" prophesied in I Thess. 5:3. Story.]

Friday Israel and the Palestinians accepted an invitation by the United States and other powers to restart direct talks on Sept. 2 in a modest step toward forging a peace deal within 12 months to create a Palestinian state and peacefully end one of the world's most intractable conflicts.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the meeting will serve to "re-launch direct negotiations to resolve all final-status issues which we believe we can complete in one year."

Clinton urged both sides to refrain from provocative acts such as settlement-building, which the Palestinians warn could scuttle the talks.

(Haaretz 8/21)

[Inner Circle: I mentioned in a prior IC mailing that current events in Gaza and the Mideast sound very much like a fulfillment of Dan. 11:30. However, there is a part of that passage that has not yet been fulfilled. The last part of Dan. 11:30 says "he shall even turn back and make common cause with those Jews who abandon the holy covenant." If Iranian President Ahmadinejad is the "he", what is the common cause? The below story may hold the answer. An international group known as "Jews for a Just Peace" has just decided to join Iran in trying to run the Gaza blockade and provide supplies to Hamas. Story.]

A group of Jewish activists in Germany are preparing to send an aid ship to the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli-imposed blockade for three years.

The group, which is the German branch of the European Jews for a Just Peace, plans to send the aid ship by the end of July.

"We want to break the Gaza occupation and end the occupation of the West Bank as well... we as Jews want to bring the Palestinians something other than bombs," Kate Katzenstein-Leiterer, a member of the executive committee of the group, said on Thursday.

The ship will be carrying school supplies, musical instruments, children's clothing and other children items that Israel has forbidden, such as sweets and chocolates, Spiegel Online reported.

[Many] activists from around the world are sending requests to join the group, including some volunteers from Israel, Katzenstein-Leiterer said.

(AFP, Press-TV,IR, 6/11)

Israel and the United States hailed the United Nations vote to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran Wednesday.

But Iran rejected the resolution over its nuclear activities, vowing to continue enriching uranium. It also promised a "firm" response.

"They [world powers] will not be able to harm us," said President Ahmadinejad.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan took a stand against the resolution saying "Isolation is not the solution." Erdogan stressed that there are dangers in pushing Iran too far.

(Haaretz, YNET, et al 6/10)

Israel said on Monday it would not let Iranian ships sail to Gaza after the Iranian Red Crescent announced it would send two vessels to the region in the coming week.

"If we didn't let an Irish ship reach Gaza, we are certainly not going to let Iranian ships pass," one diplomatic official said.

"The Iranian regime has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and has a proven track record of supplying dangerous weapons to Hamas and Hizbullah. Obviously, any shipment from Iran to Gaza would be a major concern."

Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said such a move would pose a challenge not only to Israel, but also to Egypt, which could not be pleased at the prospect of the Revolutionary Guard sailing through the Suez Canal.

This would not be the first time Iran has sent ships to test Israel's blockade of Gaza. In January 2009, during Operation Cast Lead, the Monchegorsk was dispatched with what was claimed to be humanitarian cargo. It was found by Cyprus to contain weapons.

(JPost, Haaretz, et al 6/8/2010)

[It is clear from the West's response to Iran's recent "war games" in the Persian Gulf, that opposing forces are now arrayed for war.]

Public affairs consultant Lenny Ben-David, a former senior Israeli diplomat in Israel's embassy in Washington, said on Monday "While the press focuses on the Iranian military exercises, uranium enrichment, and long-range missile development, the navies of dozens of countries have been quietly gravitating toward the Persian Gulf."

Iran's recently-concluded war games concentrated on preparations to block the Persian Gulf and wreck Western economies in the event that the United Nations Security Council tries to place harsh sanctions against it.

Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the war games aimed to demonstrate that Iran has full control over shipping activities in the Gulf.

"[In the past] America would change the regime in a country by just dispatching a warship," Salehi said. "We have been able to challenge the U.S. not only in the sea but also in all international arenas."

(INN 5/18)

[Inner Circle: This agreement shows all the signs of being an eschatological event. It establishes the "peace and safety" that is promised to exist before the End comes. The world will no longer see any reason for Israel to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. Thus, the likelihood of war is, by all appearances, gone.]

Iran agreed Monday to ship most of its enriched uranium to Turkey in a nuclear fuel swap deal that could ease the international standoff over the country's disputed nuclear program.

The deal was reached in talks with Brazil and Turkey, elevating a new group of mediators for the first time in the dispute over Iran's nuclear activities.

Iran said it has agreed to swap 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium for higher-enriched nuclear fuel in Turkey.

The deal would deprive Iran — at least temporarily — of the stocks of enriched uranium that it could process to the higher levels of enrichment needed in weapons production. The material returned to Iran in the form of fuel rods cannot be processed beyond its lower, safer levels.

Trita Parsi, director of Washington-based National Iranian American Council, said a potential breakthrough had been made in the long-running dispute.

(JPost, Haaretz, et al 5/17)

Syria is strengthening its military alliance with Turkey as it reinforces its recent threat to send Israel back to "the Stone Age" if it attacks Hizbullah.

Syrian President Bashar Assad told a Kuwaiti newspaper on Saturday it has some "surprises" in store for Israel.

Turkish military officials said that its soldiers began joint military exercises with Syria on Monday, the second time in a year. The army maneuvers are a sign of closer ties between Damascus and Ankara, which was considered to be a friend of Israel until last year.

Turkey has also established closer ties with Iran, and an Iranian-Turkish-Syrian-Lebanese axis would pose a considerable threat to Israel from the north.

Syrian sources tell the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai that if Israel were to attack the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist army, Syria would impose a naval blockade on Israel.

According to GlobalSecurity.ORG, Syria has developed a robust chemical weapons program - perhaps one of the most advanced in the Middle East - and a variety of delivery methods.

The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad reportedly has the capability to fire 60 ballistic missiles and 600 tactical missiles in a single day.

(INN, et al 4/27)

[Although Egypt formally made peace with Israel in 1978, she is prophecied to betray the Jewish state at the time of the End (II Kings 18:21, Joel 3:19). Egypt's true feelings toward Israel became apparant in comments made over the weekend by its foreign minister. Story]

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit referred to Israel as an "enemy" during a press conference in Beirut on Saturday.

Aboul Gheit said concerns expressed by Israel and the United States on the alleged transfer of Scud missiles from Syria to Hezbollah were "ridiculous".

Following talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Foreign Minister 'Ali Al-Shami, Aboul Gheit was asked whether he was visiting Beirut in order to convey a warning from Israel.

The Egyptian minister said in response that the purpose of his trip was not to relay messages "from the enemy to a sister Arab state."

Gheit also said Cairo would stand by Lebanon and Syria in case they were attacked by Israel.

His statement made headlines in a number of Arab newspapers and were characterized by Israel as "very harsh."

(YNET, AFP, et al 4/26)

The Israeli air force has practiced simulated strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities using airspace of at least two unidentified Arab countries, a newspaper published in east Jerusalem reports.

According to Al Manar, in late February several Israeli combat jets carried out bombing drills "targeting" known Iranian nuclear sites "in two Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, which are close territorially with the Islamic republic and cooperate with Israel on this issue."

Al Manar said Israel had received permission to use the airspace from the top leadership of these countries and Washington "gave its blessing" to Tel Aviv to conduct the exercises.

Meanwhile, the chief of the Russian General Staff Nikolai Makarov said on Monday any airstrike against Iran by the United States or Israel would be "unacceptable".

Both the United States and Israel have refused to rule out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.

(RIA Novosti, et al 4/12)

[Note that this treaty is for a seven-year period. The Book of Daniel speaks of a "strong and firm covenant with the many for a seven" being made at the time of the End (Dan. 9:27). Story.]

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed on Friday to sharp cuts in the nuclear arsenals of both nations in the most comprehensive arms control treaty in two decades.

Obama said the pact, to be signed April 8, was part of his effort to "reset" relations with Russia and move toward "the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."

Both sides would have seven years after the treaty's ratification to carry out the approximately 30 percent reduction in long-range nuclear weapons.

The agreement also calls for smaller cuts to warheads and bombs based on planes, ships and land.

Though the agreement must still be ratified by the U.S. Senate and the Russian Duma before it takes effect, Obama and Medvedev plan to sign it next month in Prague.

(AP, et al 3/27)

[Iranian President Ahmadinejad's unceasing invective against Israel shows he is still looking for a pretext to fulfill Islamic prophecy regarding the 12th Imam. In an interview with NBC last September, Ahmadinejad acknowledged praying "for the arrival of the 12th Imam." And during that same interview was asked four times to rule out any scenario by which Iran would develop nuclear weapons, and four times he pointedly refused.]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Israel that initiating a new military conflict in the Middle East would not save it from downfall.

Speaking in the southern Iranian Province of Hormozagan on Thursday, Ahmadinejad said that Israel was a Western prodigy that had now "reached the end of its road."

"Today, it is clear that Israel is the most hated regime in the world," said Ahmadinejad.

"They think in their underdeveloped minds that if they launch another war against Lebanon or Syria it might help them survive a little longer. I am telling them that you are in a situation now that more aggressions or wars will not save you."

"Whether they want it or not, with God's grace, this regime will be annihilated and Palestinians and other regional nations will be rid of its bad omen," he added.

(Press-TV.IR 3/11/10)

An escalation in arms stockpiling by Hamas and Hizbullah has convinced defense analysts that another war with Israel is on the horizon.

The article in Aviation Week relied on intelligence estimates that the two terrorist organizations, sponsored by Iran and Syria, have armed themselves far beyond their stockpiles of 2006, when both Hamas and Hizbullah kidnapped Israeli soldiers, leading to the 34-day Lebanon War.

The article noted that Tehran and Damascus could encourage Hamas and Hizbullah to attack Israel "in furtherance of their regional aims." A war with Israel, fought through Hamas or Hezbollah, could be one way of diverting world attention from Iran's nuclear program.

"Restoring Hamas's arsenal with advanced ordnance is a major part of Iran's strategy of targeting Israel from Lebanon and Gaza," said the publication.

Underground bunkers and tunnels gave Hizbullah a decisive edge over the IDF in the Second Lebanon War. The technical knowledge for the tunnels reportedly came from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is a former transportation engineer.

(INN, et al 3/10/10)

The IAEA U.N. nuclear agency on Thursday expressed concern for the first time that Iran may currently be working on ways to turn enriched uranium into a nuclear warhead.

It was the first time the Vienna-based organization has used such phrasing in one of its reports.

The confidential report, made available to The Associated Press, said Iran's resistance to agency attempts to probe for signs of a nuclear cover-up give rise to concerns about possible military dimensions.

"Iran has not provided the necessary cooperation to permit the agency to confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is for peaceful activities," it said.

"Altogether this raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile."

Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, rejected the UN watchdog's report, saying the documents cited in the report were "fabricated and thus do not have any validity."

Soltanieh went on to say that "the issue of missiles or explosives has nothing to do with the IAEA's charter and function."

He said his country would not give up uranium enrichment and the West must get used to an Iran that is a "master of enrichment."

(Haaretz, AFP, Press-TV.IR, et al 2/19/10)

[Iran is now reacting with threats to make the West "regret" imposing more sanctions. This could be a threat to close the Persian Gulf to oil traffic. Such a closure would cripple Western economies and likely result in a regional war. Whatever the case, matters regarding Iran appear to be coming to a head. Story.]

"If somebody acts against Iran our response will definitely be firm enough [to] make them [regret it]," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference Tuesday.

"Iran will retaliate, of course," he warned.

Ahmadinejad was speaking one day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought oil giant Saudi Arabia's support to help win Chinese backing for additional sanctions.

Clinton said a new round of sanctions should target Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

Ahmadinejad boasted that Iran has adapted to past sanctions, which, he said, have put the country on a path of constant progress.

"We are in the final stages of testing a new generation of centrifuges that will increase five-fold our capacity to enrich uranium," he claimed.

In Washington, the White House on Tuesday would not rule out any options -- including a military option -- for dealing with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

(NewsMax, Press-TV.IR, et al 2/17/10)

Ezekiel 38 predicts that, when the End comes, Russia (Rosh) will descend "like a storm" against Palestine (Ezek. 38:9). Looking at today's geopolitical situation, what conditions could possibly prompt a massive Russian invasion of the Mideast that will also involve Iran (Ezek. 38:5)?

The answer to that may lie in the new military doctrine recently announced by Russia on its government website.

The doctrine specifically states:

"Russia may send troops abroad to protect its national interests or its citizens in line with norms of international law, international agreements and federal legislation."

"Russia retains the right to use nuclear weapons in response to an attack against it or its allies with nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, or in response to an aggression with the use of conventional weapons."

The Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran is being built by Russian technicians and is set to go online in 2010.

The West is concerned that weapons-grade plutonium could be extracted from Bushehr, allowing the Iranians to construct nuclear weapons and "wipe Israel off the map". This fact could easily lead to a military attack on Bushehr by Israel and/or U.S. forces before the reactor is completed. The result could be scores, if not hundreds of Russian casualties.

These casualties would then trigger the use of Russian "troops abroad" to protect "its citizens".

And the use of nuclear weapons would then ensue "in response to an aggression with the use of conventional weapons."

Thus it appears the mechanism is now fully in place to bring about the End of the world. All that remains is for Father to choose the day and time.

To view a factbox of Russia's new military doctrine, click the below link.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100205/157786616.html

-Bro Eck

The German magazine Der Spiegel reported Monday that Iran's scientists could produce a basic "truck-sized" nuclear bomb this year.

An intelligence document obtained by Der Spiegel shows that there is a secret military branch of Iran's nuclear research program that answers to Tehran's ministry of defense.

Such documents, as well as information passed on to Western intelligence agencies by Iranian defectors and sources within Iran, are causing growing alarm among US and European leaders.

Officials who have read the document - now under review by the U.S., Germany and Israel - claim that it shows that Iran has a well-advanced nuclear weapons program.

(Haaretz, JPost, Reuters, et al 1/26/10)

Iran and Syria plan to create a new world order, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday.

"Iran and Syria have a joint mission to create a new world order on the basis of justice, humanity and belief in God," Ahmadinejad told visiting Syrian Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Abrash.

Syria is Iran's main ally in the Middle East and both countries consider Israel to be their arch enemy.

The semi-official FARS news agency reported that Ahmadinejad said that "the resistance of nations including Iran and Syria has caused a deadlock in policies of Arrogant System in economic, political and military areas."

Iran's president added that he felt that the United States would eventually be forced by the two states to stop interfering in the region.

He also predicted, "The enemies' plots will [cause them to] harm themselves."

(Haaretz 1/7/10)

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