Introduction to the evening news 12-02-2012

The Syrian-Arab rift grew impassable as the international and regional struggle on Syria is approaching a new peak. The Arab foreign ministers decided to call on the U.N. Security Council to send a U.N.-Arab peacekeeping contingency to Syria, open lines of communication with the opposition as well as offering them political and material support. This call will face the same obstacles that prevented the issuance of a previous U.N.S.C. resolution condemning the Syrian regime. So long as the Sino-Russian veto is still in force, resolutions are merely sources of political and moral pressure that only complicates the situation further.         

In contrast, media reports from Moscow revealed heavy Russian military engagement with the Assad regime in Damascus at the time when Iran escalated rhetoric on the Gulf and Palestinian issues as the head of the head of parliament Larijani announced that Tehran will not forgive the Gulf states if they support Washington in its plot against Iran, warning of dire consequences for the region.        

Meanwhile, Imam Khamenei met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh days after Khaled Meshaal and Mahmoud Abbas signed the Doha agreement that seems to be teetering.