“Not 24 hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that a pre-emptive strike (by the US and/or Israel) would violate international law, Moscow put muscle into his warning: Tuesday, April 3, the Russian guided missile destroyer Smetliviy arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus from its Black Sea base for a naval exercise. The warship’s support group is on the way. debkafile’s military sources report that the Russian flotilla carried a threefold message for Washington: 1. The Russian-Iranian strategy of propping up the Assad regime which has brought the Syrian ruler close to victory over his foes, will continue: Diplomacy will be propelled by military impetus. 2. Russia is providing the Assad regime with defense systems capable of repelling foreign military intervention. 3. Consigning the Smetliviy warship to Syria illustrates Moscow’s new rapid response policy: Russia is launching a naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean to match the “Noble Dina” air and naval maneuver the US, Israel and Greece are conducting across a broad expanse of sea between Crete and the Israeli bases at Haifa and Ashdod………………..”

Lavrov is certainly right about one thing: any attack on Iran, whether by Israel or the USA or both, will violate international law. It would be an act of aggression since Iran has not attacked anyone. The same applies to any Iranian attack on Israel or the United States since they have not attacked Iran yet, although they have been threatening to attack almost every two or three days.
As for the ‘threefold message’ mentioned by this Israeli site, it makes sense in light of recent developments. Yet it is hard to see the same Syrian regime in power after all the violence that has happened. Yet it is also hard to see the same unsavory characters who lead the different factions of the fractious Syrian opposition taking power in Damascus any time soon.
Cheers
mhg


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