Indymedia-Lëtzebuerg - COMMENTARY: Israel must remove Syria from the Iran axis

Iran's declaration on Sunday that it is moving toward higher levels of uranium enrichment has once again increased tensions as the West pushes for more severe sanctions. On the face of it, the announcement by President Mahmoud Ahamadinejad contradicts his statement last week that he was willing to resume talks on last year's compromise proposal. Under this latter scenario, 75 percent of Iran's enriched uranium would be sent abroad to be further enriched under international supervision.

In practice, Ahmadinejad's announcements go well together. It seems the Iranians recognize that the United States, and its Western allies at least, will stop falling for Iran's trickery and resolutely move ahead toward sanctions. So Tehran is raising the stakes. If the international community turns down the new offer, which is essentially only partial acquiescence to the compromise discussed several months ago, Iran will take yet another threatening step toward the nuclear threshold.

As expected, the West denounced Ahmadinejad's latest statement. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who has been commenting each week on Iran's nuclear ambitions, called the announcement "very disappointing" and said it is not too late for effective sanctions against Tehran. The German government also announced that its patience with Iran has run out.

To be expected, the Achilles' heel remains China, which continues to warn against confrontation with Tehran. Nonetheless, at this stage, it's hard to assess the extent to which the Obama administration plans to be tough with the Iranians. Israel's hope is that the Americans, after the embarrassment they experienced with North Korea last year under fairly similar circumstances, and in view of the criticism of their handling of the international arena, will be tough enough this time.

Everything that is happening far from Israel has immediate implications closer to home. The Iranian crisis helped contribute to the threats exchanged by Israel and Syria last week. The person to last comment on this was the U.S. national security adviser, James Jones, who warned that Iran may respond to further sanctions with an attack on Israel, vis Hezbollah and Hamas.

The most important link in the radical axis, which Jones avoided mentioning, is Syria. Damascus' involvement in such a confrontation would transform it into a regional clash. Syrian President Bashar Assad has warned that his country would stand with Lebanon, "in case of Israeli aggression against it." Such concerns apparently contributed to the comments by Defense Minister Ehud Barak on the need for an agreement between Israel and Syria to prevent war. The Syrians, whose actions regarding Hezbollah include goading Israel, responded with acerbic rhetoric. Fuel was added to the fire by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who made an unnecessary threat regarding the fall of the Assad regime. The United States, which is trying to cool tempers in the region, is now preparing to send an ambassador to Damascus. Still, it's doubtful whether Washington fully realizes the size of the danger.

Meanwhile, in the coming months, Hezbollah is expected to complete its military preparations and finish fixing the damage it suffered during the Second Lebanon War. In parallel with preparations for a possible confrontation with Hezbollah, Israel must do all it can to remove Syria from the Iranian coalition.

This is where the recommendation by the defense minister and his chief of staff comes from on renewing negotiations with Damascus. But for such efforts to have a good chance of success, Israel needs the United States to be involved

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