Iran says it will fire long-range missiles on Saturday as part of military exercises in the Gulf.
Israel and the United States are planning joint military exercises in early 2012 with a focus on missile defense.
Egypt has agreed to halt raids against non-governmental pro-democracy groups and return property seized in the crackdown., according to the US State Department.
In Syria, murders continue with at least 32 citizens reported dead today, even as the Arab League monitors visited more sites to check the government's compliance with a pledge to end its crackdown on dissent.
Details after the break.
Iran says it will fire long-range missiles on Saturday as part of military exercises in the Gulf.
The announcement on Friday was made on the heels of heightened tensions between Iran and Western powers over Tehran's threat to block oil shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The semi-official Fars News agency quotes Iranian admiral Mahmoud Mousavi as saying the navy will test several kinds of missiles, including long-range ones, as part of a military drill that began on December 24. He says the test firings are the final phase of the drill to "prepare the navy for confronting the enemy" in any war situations.
Iran's arsenal incudes the Shahab-3 missile, which could reach Israel and some U.S. bases in the Middle East.
Israel
Israel and the United States are planning joint military exercises in early 2012 with a focus on missile defense. The moves come amid recent Israeli media reports that Israel's government is considering an attack on Iran's controversial nuclear sites. Iran has vowed to hit back. In northern Israel preparations are being made for that possibility.
At Israel's northernmost border, a fence separates towns and farms in Israel and the occupied Golan Heights from southern Lebanon, a base for Hezbollah, and from Syria. Both are allies of Iran.
In December, Israel staged military exercises in the Golan. It also held emergency drills on how to respond to attacks by missiles and biological weapons.
Uzi Rubin, the former head of Israel's missile defense program, says Israel must prepare for retaliation if, as Israeli media report, Israel first attacks Iranian nuclear sites. "We don't have a good answer for that as yet. For air threats we have a very strong air force, ground threats we have a very strong ground force. For this, we are wide open yet (still)," Rubin said.
Iran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful. But Israel fears Iran is building a nuclear weapon. Iran has missiles that can reach Israel and even Europe, and could carry nuclear warheads.
Iran's ally, Syria, has thousands of short-range missiles, as does its Lebanon-based ally, Hezbollah.
Several rockets were fired into Israel recently from Lebanon. Iranian-backed Palestinian groups to the south in Gaza also fire rockets into Israel. Those attacks show how Israel is vulnerable from the north and south.
Egypt
The U.S. State Department said Egypt has agreed to halt raids against non-governmental pro-democracy groups and return property seized in the crackdown.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson spoke Friday with senior Egyptian officials to underscore Washington's concern about the raids on the organizations, including three groups funded by Washington.
Egyptian security forces stormed 17 offices of human rights groups Thursday as part of an investigation military rulers say will reveal how foreign funding has fomented the country's ongoing unrest.
But a group of Egyptian human rights organizations has accused the country's ruling military council of attempting to “take revenge” against pro-democracy groups by raiding their offices.
A statement signed by 28 Egyptian civil society groups said the raids were part of a wider campaign to discredit activists who criticize the country's interim military rulers.
The group called the raids “unprecedented,” saying that not even under former president Hosni Mubarak's repressive government did such raids occur.
Among the groups targeted were the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute – both of which are funded by the U.S. government. The offices of the U.S.-based Freedom House were also raided, along with Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation and at least two Egyptian non-governmental organizations.
Heavily armed men searched offices in Cairo and at least two other cities, confiscating computers, documents, cell phones and funds while holding staff members incommunicado.
Egypt's state-run news agency said the raids were directed by the Justice Ministry as part of a wider investigation into “illegal foreign funding” of the organizations as well as other “crimes,” including operating without permits.
Egypt's interim government and military rulers have criticized U.S. funding of non-governmental organizations, saying such assistance must have official approval.
Earlier this month, Justice Minister Abdel Abdel-Hamid accused around 300 nonprofit groups of receiving unauthorized foreign funding and using the money to support anti-government protests.
Egypt is currently investigating foreign financing for such groups operating in the country. Prosecutors have described the practice as treason.
Syria
Activists say Syrian forces killed at least 32 people on Friday, as Arab League monitors visited more sites to check the government's compliance with a pledge to end its crackdown on dissent.
The opposition Local Coordination Committee of Syria says most of the deaths occurred after forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in several locations.
Activists and witnesses say hundreds of thousands of people rallied across Syria with renewed calls for President Bashar al-Assad's departure.
Meanwhile, the state-run SANA news agency displayed photos of flag-waving supporters of Mr. Assad at national unity rallies in cities, including Damascus and Homs.
The news agency also says a team of Arab League monitors visited neighborhoods in Hama, at one point stopping to meet with wounded patients at a hospital.
The news agency says separate teams visited Damascus suburbs and neighborhoods in the Homs region. About 60 observers are in the country.
Earlier Friday, Syria's ally, Russia, said it is “satisfied” with the initial results of the observer mission. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the situation in the restive city of Homs “seems to be reassuring,” based on initial observer reports.
Also, the United Nations said it was critical that the observers be given “unhindered access and full cooperation” by the Syrian government.
Syria pulled some of its tanks from Homs and released about 800 prisoners. But opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun said the government continues to hold more than 100,000 people, “some of them in military barracks and aboard ships off the Syrian coast.”
Syrian authorities agreed to the observers under international pressure and threats of Arab sanctions. The plan requires the government to give the monitors freedom of movement except for sensitive military sites.
The United Nations estimates 5,000 people have been killed since March in violence linked to Syria's unrest. Syria says armed terrorists are driving the revolt. It accuses them of killing 2,000 security personnel since March.
All content based on VOA News reports.
