Christmas presents from Moscow

From the AP: Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it made a formal offer to
Iran on Saturday to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia, raising diplomatic pressure on Tehran to accept the Western-backed plan it has so far rejected.

The Russian Embassy in Tehran on Saturday handed over a formal note containing the offer to the Iranian authorities, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The note said that “an earlier Russian offer to Iran to establish a joint Russian-Iranian enrichment venture in Russia remains valid,” the ministry added.

Iran has insisted that it would enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel domestically despite international efforts to curb its atomic program

Sounds good, but we shouldn’t forget Moscow’s earlier present to the Mullahs, as the always-vigilant Aljazeera reminds us: In October, a Russian rocket carried Iran’s first spy satellite, the Sinah-1, into orbit. This launch accelerated Israel’s plans to strike Tehran’s nuclear facilities; the Jewish state is now getting ready for an attack by the end of March.

While Iran’s nuclear program is Israel’s main concern, its space capabilities are also considered a “point of no return”, which determined the actual timing of the Israeli strike. “The Iranians’ space program is a matter of deep concern to us,” said an Israeli defense official. “If and when we launch an attack on several Iranian targets, the last thing we need is Iranian early warning received by satellite.”

Well if Aljazeera “says so,” it must be.