Iran Is Stockpiling Shahab 3 Missiles in Venezuela to Reach U.S.

**Phil Fiord** · November 21st, 2011, 00:46

Seems there was talk of missing Russian nuclear weapons a while back.

**vector7** · January 7th, 2012, 06:27

Iran accused of diplomacy offensive in US backyard

Joby Warrick

January 7, 2012 Read later

IRAN is quietly seeking to expand its ties with Latin America in what US officials and regional experts say is an effort to circumvent economic sanctions and gain access to much-needed markets and raw materials.

The diplomatic offensive, which comes amid rising tensions with Washington and European powers, includes a four-nation swing through South and Central America this month by the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His government has vowed to increase its economic, political and military influence in the United States' backyard.

The visit reinforces recent commitments by Iran to invest millions of dollars in economic development projects for the region, from a mining joint venture in Ecuador to factories for petrochemicals and small-arms ammunition in Venezuela.

Iran has also dramatically expanded its diplomatic missions in the regions and dispatched members of its elite Quds Force - the military unit that US officials linked in October to a foiled assassination plot in Washington - to serve in its embassies, US officials and Iran experts say.

The importance of Mr Ahmadinejad's visit was underscored last week by Iran's state-owned Press TV, which said promotion of ''all-out co-operation with Latin American countries is among the top priorities of the Islamic Republic's foreign policy''.

In mid-December, Mr Ahmadinejad hailed the close ties between Iran and Venezuela in an interview on the latter's state-owned broadcaster TeleSUR. Iran has dispatched a stream of lower-ranking officials to the region in recent months.

With its latest outreach, Iran appears to be seeking to woo back Latin American countries that have grown wary of doing business with Tehran. Venezuela is Iran's closest ally in the region, and its largest petroleum company was hit by US sanctions last year for its ties with Iran.

Smaller countries such as Nicaragua and Bolivia have seen little of the millions of dollars in aid promised by Iranian officials over the past decade.

As Western nations threaten to boycott Iranian oil, its leaders are scrambling to find willing foreign partners who can soften the blow of sanctions and provide diplomatic cover for Iran's nuclear ambitions, serving and former US officials say.

''Iran has been actively working for years to expand its ties and influence in the Western hemisphere and it has found willing partners in the region's anti-American despots,'' the Republican chairwoman of the House foreign affairs committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, said.

Mr Ahmadinejad's plans for what she called a ''tour of tyrants'' would bring ''the Iranian threat closer to our shores'', she said. The visit is expected to include Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba and Nicaragua.

Iran's ambitions in the region date back at least two decades. Iran was linked in the 1990s to two bombings of Jewish centres, including Argentina's worst terrorist attack in 1994.

Relations between Iran and Latin America began to warm soon after Mr Ahmadinejad's election in 2005, when he made the region a diplomatic priority.

In Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez is an avowed supporter of Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Iran has opened bank branches and transportation companies that US officials say enable Iran to circumvent sanctions.

**vector7** · August 16th, 2012, 03:24

Companion Threads:

Obama Doctrine supplants Monroe's

Is the "Obama Doctrine" of “speak softly and do less” the policy regarding Venezuela, even though there may be Iranian missiles in the country?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad embraces Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez during a welcoming ceremony for Chavez in Tehran, Iran on October 19, 2010. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian

Published: Aug. 14, 2012 at 6:30 AM
By JAMES ZUMWALT, UPI Outside View Commentator

HERNDON, Va., Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Half a century ago this October, for almost two weeks, the world dangerously slid toward war as the United States and U.S.S.R.

played a nuclear chess match. The confrontation focused on whether Soviet missiles, secretly installed in Cuba, would be voluntarily withdrawn by Moscow.

It was the closest the two Cold War adversaries would ever come to nuclear war.

Washington was committed to not endangering its national security by the placement of missiles drastically reducing the distance required for Moscow to launch a surprise nuclear strike against the United States while also reducing U.S. reaction time to such a first strike.

Recognizing his responsibility as president to protect U.S. national security interests above all else by denying an adversary a base anywhere within the Western Hemisphere from which to conduct such an attack, John F. Kennedy understood the threat facilitated by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's actions.

In the end, Kennedy proved his mettle by confronting the Soviets, eyeball to eyeball, until they blinked. The Soviets backed down; the missiles removed; U.S. national security restored; and the Monroe Doctrine preserved.

Today, the same threat, involving a different adversary and facilitator, exists -- and has existed since 2006 -- yet has been ignored by U.S. President Barack Obama. While comments he made last month sought to minimize concerns about this threat, they portrayed a false sense of security to Americans.

In a July 11 interview, Obama assured the American people another dictator, again providing an adversary with a base on his home soil from which missiles capable of hitting the United States would be positioned, represented no "serious" national security threat.

Nothing has changed during the past five decades to decrease the threat posed by missiles positioned on foreign soil capable of hitting the U.S. homeland. For a U.S. president to even suggest otherwise reflects either extreme naivete or reckless disregard for our national security -- and a willingness to abandon a U.S. foreign policy first declared in 1823.

The Monroe Doctrine sought to prevent European nations from interfering with Latin American countries, most of which had recently been freed from Spanish control, with any effort to do so being viewed by the United States as an act of aggression.

"Latin America ... has been indispensable in the evolution of U.S. diplomacy," notes one expert on Latin America, which is often referred to as America's "backyard."

As such, the Monroe Doctrine has been one of our country's longest standing policies. US presidents of both parties, Democratic and Republican, have appreciated the need to invoke it, most recently during the Ronald Reagan presidency to justify our intervention in Grenada and Nicaragua.

Obama's "don't worry, be happy" dismissal of a U.S. national security threat was made in reference to Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. He made this representation in the face of a relationship between Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that has only strengthened since the latter came to office in 2005.

The relationship began to blossom as early as 2006. Reports surfaced at the time that Chavez had authorized the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah -- Tehran's puppet -- access within Venezuela. In doing so, Hezbollah began brainwashing the native Wayuu tribe, located on the Guajira Peninsula, trying to convert them into Islamic fanatics.

Over the past several years, Hezbollah's access within the country has greatly expanded.

Iran's ultimate goal is to use Hezbollah's authorized access in Venezuela to gain unauthorized access into the United States. It has successfully achieved this end by developing relationships with drug cartels having established routes across our borders. Hezbollah's influence on these gangs has become apparent due to jihadist tattoos some members bear.

Should war between Iran and the United States erupt, Hezbollah is positioned to wreak havoc north of the Mexican border.

When queried by Congress last month as to whether terrorists are illegally entering the United States from Mexico "with the intent to do harm to the American people," U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano responded they do so "from time to time."

In October 2010, Iran and Venezuela agreed to build a base to include both short- and medium-range missiles -- the latter capable of reaching some U.S. cities.
As Iran continues to improve its missile technology and as the United States continues not to object to the presence of Iranian missiles, Tehran will add longer-range missiles to the inventory there.

Despite these developments, Obama told a Spanish language television station in Miami that, "Overall, my sense is that what Mr. Chavez has done over the last several years has not had a serious national security impact on us."

Having heard Obama's statement, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., accused Obama of "living under a rock."

While the president shelves the Monroe Doctrine -- a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy for almost 190 years -- he replaces it with the Obama Doctrine of "speak softly and do less."

As tensions increase with Iran in the months ahead, as war becomes inevitable and as Iranian missiles are launched from Venezuela toward the United States, President Obama will want to remain under that rock.

**vector7** · August 16th, 2012, 03:36

Companion Threads:

Venezuela plans a 'guerrilla army' against US invasion

(AFP) – 3 days ago

CARACAS — Venezuela is training a "guerrilla army" aiming to be a million strong by 2013 to fight off a possible US invasion, an opposition lawmaker said Sunday.

"Plan Sucre" -- apparently crafted with input from close ally and fellow US foe Cuba -- covers the legal, logistical and other angles necessary to "transform a professional army into a guerrilla army," Representative Maria Corina Machado told El Universal newspaper.

The former presidential candidate said she had obtained a copy of the plan, printed by an institution affiliated with the national army.

"The strategic objective is to build a new Bolivarian military doctrine" that would prepare Venezuela to be successful in a prolonged popular war against "the empire," or the United States, Machado said, citing the document.

"This is clearly a proposal with Cuban inspiration and advice."

She said the military plan also provides for strengthening the guerrilla force at the expense of the regular army.

The plan calls for "strengthening the territorial militias, in order to ensure the necessary strength for the overall defense of the nation, targeting recruitment levels of one million by 2013 and two million by 2019," Machado said, citing the document.

Venezuela's militia corps, described by firebrand leftist President Hugo Chavez as "an army of the public," was created in 2005 to protect the country against possible "imperialist" aggression. They are considered a part of the military but report directly to the president.

Chavez, 58, is a vocal critic of Washington. The United States and Venezuela have had troubled relations for years, and have not had ambassadors in each other's country since 2010.

The Venezuelan president, who took power in 1999, is seeking re-election in October after declaring himself free of the cancer he has battled for a year.
He has often denounced "American imperialism" and accused the United States of seeking to destabilize his government.

Machado was one of several candidates aiming to challenge Chavez in the upcoming October vote, but she was defeated in February's primary by former Miranda state governor Henrique Capriles.

Most polls give Chavez leads of up to 35 percent to win the election.