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Since Harry Truman led the world in recognizing the State of Israel, the United States has been its staunches ally.  Through decades of wars and near-death experiences, America has stood by Israel with military, diplomatic and financial support.

Vice President Joe Biden is today making an official visit to Israel to achieve two major goals.  First, to reassure the Israelis that the United States remains its closest, most steadfast ally.  And second, to convince the hard-line government of Benjamin Netanyahu to enter into good-faith negotiations with the Palestinians - and thereby defuse the perpetual ticking bomb of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Over the last year tensions have emerged between Washington and Jerusalem.  Frustrated by lack of any meaningful progress in bringing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a close, the United States has pressured Israel to stop any further development on Palestinian lands, a source of tremendous friction for the Arabs.

This pressure has come as a shock to the Israeli establishment.  During the George W. Bush years American policy had tilted away from the honest-broker posture of past Republican and Democratic administrations, to a noticeable pro-Israel bias.  The prospects for a lasting peace moved further and further into the future as Palestinians felt abandoned by the historic American referee that had guaranteed them over decades of negotiations a fair deal.

But now these two very close allies are getting even closer.  The prospect of a nuclear Iran, an Iran determined to be the regional superpower that checks Israel while dominating its Arab neighbors, has once again brought the U.S. and Israel into strategic confluence.

It has been reported that the Obama Administration is of the view that lasting stability in the Middle East cannot be achieved until a final peace is struck between the Palestinians and the Israelis. 

American policy in the region has therefore focused on a simultaneous pressuring for a final peace accord while stopping Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Israel has stated in the past that it will not wait indefinitely to respond - read unilateral military strike - to what it sees as Iran's hostile intent in developing illegal nuclear weapons capability. 

Israelis see a nuclear Iran as an existential threat - a threat repeated over and over again by the Islamic Republic's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an avowed Holocaust-denier.

The U.S. has also said that it will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.  The stage is therefore set for a confrontation with Iran.

If the United States is able to broker a final peace agreement between Israel and Palestine it will not only defuse the decades-long conflict, it will also create significant good will in the Arab world - and isolate Iran in the process.

It may even pave the way to a negotiated deal with Iran. 

Or even create the political space to militarily destroy Iran's dangerous and unacceptable nuclear program without sparking a regional conflagration.

CNN reports on the Vice President's trip:

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden emphasized the close relationship between the United States and Israel as he met with Israeli leaders Tuesday, a visit that also touched on relations with Palestinians and Iran.

Biden, who arrived in Israel on Monday, first met with Israeli President Shimon Peres at his official residence in Jerusalem.

"The bond between our two nations has been and will remain unshakable," Biden wrote in the guest book. "Only together can we achieve lasting peace in the region."

Biden said he hoped the talks with Peres would be "a vehicle by which we can begin to allay that layer of mistrust that has built up in the last several years" between the two countries.

"There is absolutely no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel's security -- none at all," Biden said.

Peres began a long discussion about what the United States should do about Iran and the Middle East peace process. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements about Israel, he said, were a coverup for the "hegemony" it seeks in the region.

"The United States should lead the Iranian policy," Peres said. "There is nobody else in the world."

From Al Jazeera a report on the challenges for peace:

From the AP, here's Vice President Biden speaking in Israel:

Slowly but steadily, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has begun tightening the screws on Iran's rulers.

Days after Iran's "celebration" of the 31st anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the Shah, an anniversary marked by waves of pro-democracy protests - and the inevitable brutal beatings dished out by the regime's security forces in response - Clinton has been making the rounds of America's key allies in the Persian Gulf region.

The anniversary was marked by regime president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement that Iran is a "nuclear state".

While most informed experts discount this pronouncement as more deception from a regime desperate for popular support at home, their overall intentions are clear - to develop nuclear weapons capability.

A nuclear armed Iran would present a real and present danger to America's interests and allies - and the Obama administration has stated on numerous occasions that it will not accept it.

The United States is leading the effort to tighten the sanctions on the Iranian dictatorship.  The Secretary's trip is part of a global diplomatic effort to gain support for the sanctions even as the United States reassures our allies that Iran will be contained and its nuclear ambitions stopped.

In a round of meetings with U.S. allies such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Clinton sought to reassure nervous Arab states that the United States is committed to defend them - and take further action, hinted at in the Secretary's speech, should the sanctions fail to end Iran's nuclear weapons program.

The AP shows Secretary Clinton speaking in Qatar and reiterating that Iran cannot "acquire nuclear weapons":

The BBC reports on Clinton's comments during her speech in Qatar:

"We see that the government of Iran, the supreme leader, the president, the parliament, is being supplanted and that Iran is moving toward a military dictatorship. That is our view," Mrs Clinton said.

She also said the US would "not stand idly by" and watch Iran acquire a nuclear weapon.

On Monday a senior Iranian official, speaking in Geneva to a UN Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) review of Iran, rejected the accusations made against Tehran.

"Iran is becoming one of the predominant democratic states in the region," Iranian High Council for Human Rights secretary general Mohammad Javad Larijani said.

But US and European delegates told the UNHCR Iran had suppressed street protests after disputed elections in June.

On Thursday, the US announced it was extending already-existing sanctions it imposed against a construction company run by the Revolutionary Guard and the general who is the company's chief officer.

The profits made by the company from infrastructure projects were being funnelled back into Iran's missile and nuclear programmes, the US Treasury said.

The Washington Post reports on United States' assurances that America will defend countries threatened by Iran's dictatorship:

Clinton strongly suggested the United States would defend Persian Gulf allies from Iranian aggression, in what appeared to be an echo of her controversial proposal for a defense umbrella for the region.

"We will always defend ourselves, and we always will defend our friends and allies, and we will certainly defend countries in the Gulf who face the greatest, immediate nearby threat from Iran," she said.

She said the Obama administration believes that the Guard is supplanting the government of Iran. "That is how we see it. We see that the government of Iran, the Supreme leader, the president, the parliament is being supplanted and that Iran is moving toward a military dictatorship," said Clinton, who arrived Sunday in Qatar, where she spoke at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum.

 And in what passes for a diplomatic threat, Clinton added:

She said in the speech that the administration "is still open to engagement" with the Islamic Republic but "would not stand idly by" if Iran seeks to develop a nuclear weapon.

On the 31st anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the Shah and ushered in the repressive Islamic Republic, regime president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Iran a "nuclear state".

While Ahmadinejad's declarations have in the past been hyperbole to feed the national media and shore up support for his shaky government, the increasing bellicosity of his statements are putting pressure on the United States and its allies to act - and act fast.

Already the U.S. is seeking stronger sanctions that would hit the regime's leaders and impact critical parts of the security apparatus that keeps it in power.

There is increasing fear, however, that this dictatorial regime starved for popular support is going to move faster in its nuclear development as the means to safeguard its power.

While international media are not allowed to report directly from Iran, the Internet has proven an effective way for protesters to show the regime's repression to the international community.  The brutality of the security forces has been amply documented.

A nuclear Iran has been called unacceptable by President Barack Obama and the leaders of the major global powers. 

Moreover, Israel, which has the military might to crush Iran's nuclear infrastructure, has announced that it will act to safeguard itself from what it calls an "existential threat".

Can the U.S. lead an effective effort to contain the Iranian regime?  Or will this crisis spill into a full blown war?  What effective assistance can the international community bring to the reformers seeking regime change?

These are some of the questions facing the White House and allied capitals around the world.

All questions without easy answers.

The Washington Post reports:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asserted Thursday that Iran has produced its first batch of higher-grade enriched uranium and declared that his country is now a "nuclear state," although he continued to deny that Iran has any intention of building nuclear weapons.

Addressing a huge crowd of government supporters in central Tehran on the 31st anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution, Ahmadinejad defiantly declared that the state's uranium-enrichment facility near Natanz has produced an unspecified quantity of uranium enriched to 20 percent just two days after starting the process.

"We have the capability to enrich uranium more than 20 percent or even 80 percent, but we don't enrich [to that level] because we don't need it," Ahmadinejad said. Reiterating his denials of any plans to build nuclear weapons, he told the throng, "When we say that we don't build nuclear bombs, it means that we won't do that because we don't believe in having them. The Iranian nation is brave enough that if one day we wanted to create an atomic bomb, we would announce it publicly and would create it." Addressing Western powers, he added: "We are not afraid of you."

Iran announced Monday that it would begin increasing the enrichment level of some of its uranium the next day, from a current maximum of 3.5 percent to 20 percent, ostensibly to provide fuel for a 41-year-old, U.S.-built research reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes. Although it falls short of the 90 percent enriched uranium needed for the fissile material in nuclear weapons, the plan to produce 20 percent enriched uranium was met with swift condemnation from the United States and its allies, which began moving to impose tougher international sanctions on Iran. Three rounds of U.N. Security Council have been imposed on Iran for producing low-enriched 3.5 percent uranium, which Tehran has said it needs to fuel nuclear power plants.

CNN reports:

Security forces clashed with demonstrators Thursday as Iran marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, while thousands blanketed a Tehran square to hear their president announce the expansion of Iran's nuclear program.

Plainclothes and uniformed security assaulted vehicles carrying Mehdi Karrubi, a reformist leader who ran for president in the disputed June presidential elections, and former President Mohammad Khatami as their opposition supporters poured onto the streets, opposition sources said.

Militia members also beat the wife of opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi with batons, according to postings on the social networking Web site Facebook and opposition Web sites.

The forces were preventing opposition leaders and their followers -- the so-called Green Movement -- from reaching Azadi, or Freedom, Square in central Tehran, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered an anniversary address that extolled the country's nuclear program.

They fired on crowds in some areas and pepper-spraying demonstrators in others, opposition groups said.

The BBC reports:

Hundreds of thousands of pro-government Iranians are rallying to mark the 31st anniversary of the nation's revolution.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the rally to attack the West, and said Iran had produced its first stock of 20% enriched uranium.

The opposition has been trying to stage counter-demonstrations, but faces a big security crackdown, and several of its leaders have reportedly been attacked.

The anniversary is the most important day in Iran's political calendar.

The government has warned protesters will be dealt with.

Official events are being held across Iran, but the main gathering is at Tehran's Azadi Square. State TV showed tens of thousands of people filling the streets.

Mr Ahmadinejad told the crowds Iran was now a "nuclear state" and would soon treble output of 20% enriched uranium.

Here's some amateur video of the protests in Tehran, via ITN:

The New York Times reports:

...[O]pposition Web sites carried reports of a crackdown on antigovernment protesters as the anniversary celebrations unfolded, with accounts of gunfire, tear gas and attacks on opposition leaders. Videos posted online showed protesters calling for the release of political prisoners and carrying green banners — the color of the opposition — through the streets...

The Guardian reports:

The Iranian opposition has been gearing up for another day of protests amid mounting international concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions. State television has shown images of tens of thousands of people attending the official rally in Azadi square to hear a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The regime seems more determined than ever to stamp out protests and news of protests, as it celebrates the 31st anniversary of the revolution.

"Iran's security forces have adopted all the necessary measures in preparation for the day," the semi-official Fars news agency announced.

There have been more arrests, reports of Basij being bused into Tehran, and it has been ominously difficult to contact people in Iran, amid continuing restrictions on the internet.

 

Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman propose fresh sanctions against the Iranian regime: