It's so hard to read the tea leaves, eh? Lebanon rejected by U.S. on arms deal, signs 5-year pact with Iran

Iran and Lebanon have agreed on military cooperation and are discussing weapons deals.

Officials said Beirut and Teheran were considering the sale of Iranian weapons to the Lebanese Army. They said Lebanon sought combat platforms and weapons that have been denied by the United States, the chief supplier to the army.

"Iran has agreed to supply weapons to Lebanon at a very low cost," an official said.

Officials said Lebanese President Michel Suleiman discussed Iranian military aid during his two-day visit to Teheran in late November. They said Suleiman has been rebuffed in efforts to acquire artillery, missiles and air defense systems from the United States.

Actually this is good news to me. Is there any distinction at this point between that which reaches the Lebanese army and Hizballah?

The London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat reported that Suleiman signed a five-year defense cooperation agreement during his visit to Iran. The Saudi-owned daily said Teheran pledged to supply a range of unidentified combat systems to the Lebanese Army.

Lemme guess, Iranian manned C-802 missiles, and thousands of KORNET anti tank missiles

Officials confirmed the newspaper report. But they stressed that Suleiman would focus on what they termed medium-size weapons, including artillery, rockets and air defense.

In the first stage, officials said, Iran would review Lebanese military requirements. They said the two countries would exchange visits by senior defense and military delegations in 2009 in an effort to forge relations and cooperation.

"Iran announced its willingness to supply Lebanon with defensive weapons, to be agreed upon in the framework of a strategic defense system formulated by Lebanon," a Lebanese source said.

Iran has established a military and intelligence presence in Lebanon, largely through its Hizbullah militia. Hizbullah, said to contain 42,000 missiles and rockets, has demanded that the Lebanese Army acquire offensive systems from Iran.

"Our army must be strong, and therefore must be well-trained and well-equipped, and not only with assault rifles and grenades," Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah said. "Our army must first acquire an air defense system and anti-tank weaponry."

Just imagine for a moment what Israeli strategic planning must look like.

If there is no regional nuclear war in the next 20 years it will be a gift.