Presidents Putin and Hu have ordered both Russian and Chinese Military Forces to their highest alert status following reports of a massive buildup of American and British Military Forces on the Iraq-Iran border in preparation for the invasion of Iran by the Western Military Powers.

President Putin has further ordered Russia’s Pacific Fleet, currently undergoing massive exercises in the Sea of Japan, to ‘immediately’ secure China’s vital sea lanes around the contested island of Taiwan, but to which the American Military Leaders have vowed to defend against both China and Russia.

Another is energy. India and China are desperate for Russian oil and gas, and Moscow is worried about its dependence on Western markets. But their most significant common ground is opposition to US military intervention in Iran. The joint statement did not mention Iran, but the three countries have taken a common stance in calling for a negotiated solution through the International Atomic Energy Agency. None of them wants a nuclear-armed Iran, but Russia sells Tehran nuclear technology and India and China need Iranian gas.

IRAN’S BIG BUDDIES
With hundreds of Russian power plant technicians under the crosshairs of Israel’s elite 69 Squadron, and major investments at risk, a pugnacious Putin has already warned Israel to lay off Iran. To help protect its Iranian investments, including a nearly completed nuclear power station at Bushehr on the Gulf, Russia has sold more than two-dozen advanced anti-aircraft missile batteries to Tehran.

With 17% of its imported crude coming from Iran, China is also heavily invested in that country’s continuing commercial functioning. Forced by the US invasion of Iraq to shift its multi-billion dollar oil purchases to Iran in exchange for sales of advanced ballistic missiles and a new subway system in Teheran, China has also warned Washington not to threaten its second largest source of imported Middle East oil after Saudi Arabia. [www.waynemadsenreport.com; Middle East Online Aug 12/05]