Israel Acquires Air Bases on North Iran Border

For nearly two decades the tension between Israel and Iran has been palpable, and over the course of the past few months it has grown exponentially worse. Now approaching powder keg levels, it only remains for one side or the other to light the fuse.

To date, the PR advantage has seemed to lie with Iran. They’ve enjoyed a quiet Russia, a quiet China, and a U.S. President who can’t stomach the thought of an Israeli attack on Iran. Moreover, British Prime Minister David Cameron has continued to urge the use of sanctions against Iran instead of force.

Yet while the world has looked the other way, Iran has uttered threat after threat against Israel and pursued the development of a nuclear weapon. And Iranian military experts have reportedly brought weapon systems into the Gaza strip, some of which are “rocket-launching systems that were manufactured under Iranian supervision.”

Now it looks as though turnabout might be fair play. News has broken that Israel has acquired use of several air bases on Iran’s northern border, in the Republic of Azerbaijan. And these bases provide a perfect jumping point for attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities or for “search and rescue” units that could be needed after an attack has been launched from elsewhere.

For their part, the supposedly pro-Israel Obama administration has only said: “We’re watching what Israel is doing in Azerbaijan. And we’re not happy about it.”