January 16, 2011 - San Francisco, CA - Iran's Long planned war games involving the U.S. and Israel, emphasizing missile defense, were suddenly "postponed" apparently by a skitterish Obama administration, fearful of antagonizing Iran.

The defense exercise, entitled Austere Challenge 12, was to commence in April and would have been the largest such joint operation ever conducted between the two countries.

Though technically the games haven't been cancelled entirely, it's hard to imagine them being conducted six months from now during the heat of the American presidential contest during which Iran will necessarily be a major topic of concern.

Both sides have maintained silence over the reason for the sudden move. According to AP, unnamed defense officials cited Iran as the key consideration in halting the exercises, "The defense officials who linked the deferral to Iran spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the decision-making process. They offered no other reasons for the delay..." [source, http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israeli-us-war-games-postponed-15369509]

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