The execution of an Iranian kickboxer accused of spying for Israel is connected to a world of alleged covert operations and assassination plots that have stretched from the Black Sea to Bangkok.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is traveling to the Pentagon this week to meet with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, where they are expected to hammer out an agreement on increased US funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile system.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad insisted his regime is fighting back against foreign mercenaries who want to overthrow him, not innocent Syrians aspiring for democracy in a yearlong uprising.