Wednesday, November 8, 2017

"Iran threatens to hit Saudi, Abu Dhabi and Dubai air and sea ports, ships more missiles to Yemeni Houthis"

Back before fāke news became a thing we would caveat stories from Debka* with some variation of the following:
We have a boilerplate heads-up on Debka's biases which we usually follow with a note they have sources on a level with many intelligence services.

To that I might have to add a clickbait warning if this story doesn't turn out to be as dramatic as they make it sound.
Or:
The source, Debka, has been a mouthpiece for Israeli intelligence from time to time but they also have sources that won't talk to anyone else in the world. They break stories.
Or:
Read everything from Debka with suspicion but remember two things:
1) Debka has sources the CIA would kill for
2) The Saudi's really, really dislike Iran.
Add:

Two things to remember about the next Mideast war:
1) It won't be fought at Israel's borders.
2) There will be no winners.

From Debka:
Military tensions rise in the Gulf region amid Iranian threats and supplies of extended-range missiles to the Yemeni insurgents.

Tehran has warned Riyadh that unless the Saudi blockade of Yemeni ports is lifted, Revolutionary Guards missiles supplied to the Yemeni Houthi insurgents will be loosed against the seaports and airfields of Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The warning was forwarded to their governments through the Omani back channel.

The Iranians informed Riyadh that by cutting off Yemen’s lifeline, the oil kingdom exposed itself and its allies to retaliation in kind.

DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources add that, to give their warning sharp teeth, the Revolutionary Guards have been pumping fresh supplies of new surface missiles to Yemen by sea. Although the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates maintain fleets in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea routes of access around Yemen, none ran interference to the missile shipments. Such action would entail halting the Iranian freighters and confronting the missile-armed Iranian warships and submarines escorting them..

Our sources also report that Iranian experts have managed of late to lengthen the range of the ballistic missiles shipped to Yemen.,,,MORE
*We would also put a warning on stories from RT (Russia Today):
*As I said in another post that was sourced from RT:
...Back in the day Russian Life was part of the Soviet propaganda and dezinformatsiya apparatus, albeit a very subdued part showing happy peasants on the new tractor. Today RT is unapologetic:
Is Russia Today Just Propaganda for Uposcrabblenyk?
But now I think they are well enough known that we can dispense with same.
Here's a 2016 version:

"Google’s sister company wants to be in charge of public transportation"
Although it's wise to be a bit skeptical when RT is talking Russia or international relations, in other areas the former Russia Today propagandists can be interesting....