Iran the Next Battlefield - Thread Renamed

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US giant bunker-buster bomb project rushed since Iran's Qom site discovered

DEBKAfile Special Report
September 28, 2009, 6:26 PM (GMT+02:00)



The Pentagon has brought forward to December 2009 the target-date for producing the first 15-ton super bunker-buster bomb (GBU-57A/B) Massive Ordinance Penetrator, which can reach a depth of 60.09 meters underground before exploding. DEBKAfile's military sources report that top defense agencies and air force units were also working against the clock to adapt the bay of a B2a Stealth bomber for carrying and delivering the bomb.

The Pentagon has ordered the number of bombs rolling off the production line increased from four to ten - a rush job triggered in May by the discovery that Iran was hiding a second uranium enrichment plant under a mountain near Qom - a discovery which prompted this week's international outcry.

Congress has since quietly inserted the necessary funding in the 2009 budget.

All this urgency indicates that the Obama administration has been preparing military muscle to back up the international condemnation of Iran's concealed nuclear bomb program, its sanctions threat and his willingness to join the negotiations with Iran opening on Oct. 1 in Geneva. Tehran may have to take into account a possible one-time surgical strike against its underground enrichment facility as a warning shot should its defiance continue. In particular, the world powers this week demanded that Iran open up all its nuclear facilities and programs to full and immediate international inspection. Failure to do so could bring forth further US military action.

According to our military sources, the earliest date for the accelerated Pentagon program to produce a super bunker buster bomb mounted on a stealth bomber is December 2009 or January 2010. This too is three years ahead of its original schedule.

Pressed into service are two US Air Force research centers for work on adapting the radar-evading stealth bomber to the giant bomb: the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the Munitions Directorate and Air Armament Center, both headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Last month, DEBKAfile quoted Air Force Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford as disclosing that the Pentagon had decided to accelerate the production of 10-12 giant bunker buster bombs in response to intelligence received of Iranian and North Korean underground nuclear plants.

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Special Dispatch - No. 2579

October 6, 2009No. 2579

Ahwazi Organization: Iran is Planning to Attack the Gulf Countries; Iran is Producing Chemical Weapons and Burying the Waste in Ahwaz

On October 5, 2009, Alarabiya.net posted an interview with an Arab Ahwazi man who was presented as a former undercover agent for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The man claimed that 40,000 well-trained operatives, mostly Shi'ites, are in the service of Iran in the ArabGulf states - 3,000 of them in Kuwait alone. He stated that the cells formed by these operatives were trained to collect intelligence, sabotage installations in the Gulf region, and assassinate senior officials. He added that Iranian Al-Qods forces commander Qassem Suleimani had prepared a plan to take over 22 embassies, both in Iran and outside it, if Iran were to be attacked.

This interview is in line with a July 14, 2009 intelligence report posted by the Ahwazi Islamic Sunni Organization on its website (www.sonnaalahwaz.org ). The organization claimed that the report was based on classified Iranian Air Force information, according to which Iran has a comprehensive military plan to attack the Gulf countries using the MiG-31 aircraft that it had purchased from Syria. Thus, it said, Iran is preparing secret airports and camps in Ahwaz province, as well as forces in the northwest of the province, in order to attack Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

The report also revealed a purported IRGC plan to carry out terrorist operations in the Gulf countries, and alleged that Iran was developing chemical weapons in two top-secret plants in Ahwaz province, and was burying the chemical waste products in the province. Also according to the report, Iranian special forces belonging to the IRGC and acting outside Iran have the capability and the access to carry out biological and chemical weapons attacks, and had conducted joint maneuvers with Hamas and Hizbullah as well as with Yemeni Houthi forces, and also with Iranian sleeper cells in Iraq and in the Gulf countries.

It should be noted that this organization claims to be operating with Saudi backup and support.

Following are the main points of the report: [1]

"In direct cooperation with the National Research Center in Ahwaz, and with direct support of the Saudi National Association [sic], we have succeeded in obtaining an important classified document issued by Iranian air force headquarters, signed by the commander [Gen. Hassan Shah Safi] and sent to the commander of the airbase in the city of Al-'Amidiyya, known as 'Airbase No. 5.' In addition, we disclosed a plan by IRGC [to attack the Gulf countries from its military bases located] near the city of Al-Hamidiyya [in western Ahwaz], which is detailed below…"

MiG-31 Warplanes Expected to Arrive at Al-'Amidiyya Airbase
According to the report of the Ahwazi Islamic Sunni Organization, on November 2, 2008, Iranian Army Air Force commander Gen. Hassan Shah Safi sent Al-'Amidiyya airbase commander Shahryar Hosseini Nejad a classified military document with instructions to prepare for the arrival of three MiG-31 warplanes. The instructions stated that all the pilots on base must prepare for special military maneuvers, and that all the information - "photos, films, and geometrical maps indicating the storage and deployment of missiles with chemical warheads - [must be forwarded to] Ali Qaramlaki, chief expert on weapon manufacture."

The document sent by Iranian Army Air Force commander Gen. Hassan Shah Safi to Al-'Amidiyya airbase commander Shahryar Hosseini Nejad, as posted at www.sonnaalahwaz.org:



The Ahwazi organization went on to state that the Al-'Amidiyya airbase houses three F-7 jets launched from underground installations equipped with special tunnels for takeoffs and landings. It assessed that the expected arrival of the MiG-31 warplanes is proof that they were purchased by Iran from Syria approximately 18 months ago. Furthermore, the organization revealed Iran's military plan to connect all the airbases in Ahwaz province, to set up additional bases for logistical support, and to connect the Al-'Amidiyya airbase to three islands belonging to Ahwaz province, as well as to the three islands contested by Iran and the UAE (Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Moussa), apparently in order to build airfields there, as part of Iran's military plan - as is evident from satellite photographs taken by the UAE.

Satellite photo of Al-'Amidiyya airbase, as posted at www.sonnaalahwaz.org:



Iran Is Developing Chemical Weapons in Ahwaz
The Islamic Ahwazi Sunni Organization's report stated: "In the past, numerous reports by [various] elements claimed that, in addition to nuclear weapons, Iran has a program to develop chemical weapons inside Iran," in violation of the Treaty for the Prevention of the Proliferation of Nuclear and Chemical Weapons [sic, probably NPT and CWC]. Furthermore, "after the April 15, 2005 intifada [the Ahwazi rebellion against the Iranian regime], it was repeatedly reported that chemicals were conveyed to southern Ahwaz for unknown reasons. However, it has now been discovered that Iran is developing chemical weapons and that the transporting [of chemicals] to Ahwaz four years ago was for the purposes of burying the waste from their manufacture."
The organization stated that in Iran, there are two plants for the production of chemical weapons: the Aghajeri chemical plant, situated between Al-'Amidiyya and Behbahan, and the Shaznad plant, situated next to the Arak factories in northern Ahwaz. It also said that, according to Western reports issued several months ago, Iran transferred its first sea transport of chemicals as part of its missile program, including missiles installed on warplanes, which Iran is now trying to adapt for carrying chemical warheads. The organization further claimed that Iran is trying to obtain sulfur for military use.

The Al-Hamidiyya Plan: Attacking Targets in the Gulf States
The Ahwazi organization also reported that the IRGC had established, in the western Ahwaz city of Al-Hamidyyia, four camouflaged military bases spaced some two kilometers apart. It said, citing an IRGC source nicknamed "Al-Dalil Al-Amel," that the bases' access roads were secret and difficult to negotiate, and that only IRGC personnel were permitted to use them. Likewise, said the report, the area is surrounded with observation posts and night-vision surveillance cameras, and training sheds are scattered throughout. It said that these bases were set up for training local elements from the Persian Gulf as well as special forces, which would in future operate in their respective countries - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, and Bahrain.

According to the report, these forces had been trained to carry out operations in the Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and Kuwait - operations that would be rapid and unpredictable, would cause great damage, and would not arouse any suspicion of Iranian involvement. The organization said that the headquarters of these bases were situated entirely in the Gulf region; that they had maps of and information about the targets in this region; and that these headquarters had confirmed that 12 cells had already been trained and had begun to carry out operations for Iran: smuggling large quantities of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and drugs into Iraq and from there to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and storing smuggled weapons in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait so that no Iranian connection could be discerned.

The organization said that the bases' supreme leadership belonged to the IRGC, but were actually led by Hizbullah, and that their training methods were identical to the defense and warfare methods used by Hizbullah. It said that this was because of a decision by Iran to establish fighting groups like Hizbullah that were, like Hizbullah, capable of waging internal war in the cities and streets in time of war.

According to the report, the four bases in Al-Hamidiyya are:
1) A base in the south of the city, for logistical support, with civil and military services such as garages for repairing military vehicles, a hospital with a full medical staff, and mobile hospitals for time of need.

2) South of the above base is a base belonging to it, with fortified storehouses of weapons, equipment and fuel; it is heavily guarded by IRGC special forces.

3) A base north of the city, also for providing logistical support; in 2003, a military airport was set up in it, for use by aircraft for attacking specific targets in the Gulf, Kuwait, southern Iraq, eastern Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.

4) A base with hidden warplanes and missiles equipped with warheads banned by international treaties, as well as surface-to-surface missiles.

The path leading to the military bases in western AhwazProvince



The Iranian Special Forces
The Ahwazi Islamic Sunni Organization notes in its report that Iranian special forces are responsible for training birun marzi ("outside the country") forces operating outside Iran, such as Hizbullah, Hamas, and Houthi (Yemen) forces, as well as sleeper cells in the Gulf and Arab countries. It says that these forces can provide their operatives with diplomatic passports, and possess advanced weaponry and the latest vehicles. Their operatives speak several languages, including fluent Lebanese Arabic, and are responsible for assassinating senior officials. The organization adds that these forces have the capability to carry out operations using biological or chemical weapons, and that they have a direct line to the IRGC leadership and coordinate with Iranian intelligence apparatuses. These forces, it says, have received and deployed dozens of platforms for launchers equipped with Fajr-2 and Shihab-2 missiles that can reach southern Iraq, Kuwait, and eastern Saudi Arabia, and that they can strike specific targets.

The organization also says that in October 2008, three military maneuvers were held that included all aerial and land forces in the four bases at Al-Hamidiyya with the participation of Arab army personnel under IRGC command - including Hamas, Hizbullah, and special Iranian forces, and several groups of independent Iranian sleeper cells in Iraq and in several regions of the Gulf. According to the report, these maneuvers included a presentation of all plans concerning attacks on targets in the Gulf, including American targets, immediately upon receiving orders from the IRGC leadership. It also said that the readiness of the forces, missiles, and aircraft that would participate in the attack had already been ascertained.

Hizbullah and Iranian special forces training buildings:



Discovery of Chinese Radar Systems at Al-Hamidiyya
The organization claimed that six months ago, the IRGC had obtained a sophisticated Chinese radar system (originally called Rakib) and had installed it at the Al-Hamidiyya bases, and that its radar covered most of the western and southern areas of Ahwaz. It said that the system was explosion-proof and could identify stationary and moving objects such as aircraft, ships, and armed forces encircling the region. It could also disrupt enemy communications and withstand enemy attempts to disrupt communications during military activity. The organization said that the Al-Hamidiyya military bases had massive defenses, including antiaircraft missiles, and that in addition to its ground defenses, there are closely-spaced air defense forces, armed with Mithak-2 shoulder-fired missiles.

In conclusion, the organization states:
"The dangerous armament programs now being prepared and implemented in Ahwaz [province] attest to the beginning of impending conflict, in which Al-Ahwaz will serve as a base and starting point for attacking our brothers across the Arab homeland, and in particular in the Arab Gulf. Accordingly, the Ahwazi Islamic Sunni Organization [appeals to] the Saudi National Association [for Human Rights] with the following demands:

"1) To [lobby for] international intervention to inspect the Al-'Amidiyya base, the Arajeri plant situated between Al-'Amidiyya and Behbahan, and the Shaznad plant in northern Ahwaz.
"2) To take steps to dismantle chemical weapons that Iran is producing in Ahwaz, because those harmed first by this are the Ahwazi people and the land of Ahwaz, and after that the Gulf countries and the Arab Gulf.

"3) To take serious steps to condemn Iran and to prosecute it for violating international law concerning the ban on the use of chemical weapons.

"4) To take steps to dismantle Iran's weapons throughout Ahwazi territory.

"5) To protect the Ahwazi Arab people from the consequences of [the military nature of life] in Al-Ahwaz."

[1] The full report was posted at http://www.sonnaalahwaz.org/Central-...090714-04.html.

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Gates Hints at More Secret Nuke Sites in Iran

• By Adam Rawnsley
• October 6, 2009 |
• 12:32 pm |
• Categories: Chem Bio & Nukes, Rogue States, Spies, Secrecy and Surveillance

WASHINGTON, DC — Does Bob Gates know about more secret Iranian nuclear sites? It certainly sounds like it.

Speaking alongside Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last night at a CNN/George Washington University forum, Gates addressed a wide variety of topics, the Secretary of Defense dropped what seemed to be a big hint that the United States knows much more about the Iranian nuclear program than the Iranians might think.

Asked about his faith in potential verification protocols for Iran’s nuclear program, Gates commented that the administration’s attitudes towards Iran in the negotiations process would hinge on “what nuclear sites might they be prepared to be transparent about that have not been declared at this point.”

Sure sounds like he’s talking about more secret nuclear sites in Iran. It certainly goes beyond the more guarded comments Gates gave on the subject to ABC ten days back.

Spies and analysts have peculated for years that Tehran has a slew of clandestine nuclear facilities. Last month, President Obama publicly confirmed those guesses, revealing that Iran’s hidden nuclear enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom. Some experts have argued that the Qom facility only makes sense as part of a larger network of hidden nuclear facilities. ArmsControlWonk’s Joshua Pollack provides a helpful roundup of the various analyses on the prospect, but wisely cautions that other explanations are possible.

It’s also worth noting yet another interpretation: Gates might be bluffing and there might not be more undeclared sites. Maybe we’ll learn more, as talks with Iran progress — and more international atomic inspectors are allowed to sniff around Iran’s nuclear sites.
[Photo: DoD]

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Friday, April 17, 2009
132 suitcase bombs in USA, 250 nuclear warheads in Iran - and the West behaves as nothing will happen!

Interviews and statements of

• 1. General Baluyevsky,
• 2. GRU spy Lunev,
• 3. Gen. Lebed,
• 4. Lebed/Lunev/US Congress/ CIA mock-up nuclear suitcase,
• 5. US defense secretary Robert Gates on unaccounted Russian tactical nukes

1. RUSSIAN GENERAL CONFIRMS IRAN HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS!

by STRATFOR Intelligence, Week of June 4, 2002

"A Russian general's statement about Iran's nukes fails to register with media. Sometime a slip of the tongue is so incredible that no amount of doctoring can explain it. And sometimes a slip of the tongue is as intentional as could be. Take an appearance by Russian Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky. He gave a briefing on Friday in Moscow during the Bush-Putin summit and was asked about whether Iran actually fired the Shihab-3 intermediate-range missile in a successful test earlier this month. The second question was whether Iran can threaten Israel, Russia or the United States with its nuclear and missile programs.

Then the Russian general takes a surprise turn: 'Now, as to whether or not Iran has tested something like that. Iran does have nuclear weapons,' Baluyevsky said. 'Of course, these are non-strategic nuclear weapons. I mean these are not ICBMs with a range of more than 5,500 kilometers and more. But as a military man, I see no danger of aggression against Russia by Iran. As for the danger of Iran's attack on the United States, the danger is zero.'

Remarkably, the other journalists at the briefing completely missed the importance of the general's assertion. The Russian deputy chief of staff has just said on the record that Iran has nuclear weapons, but he stresses they are 'non-strategic nuclear weapons.'

What does that mean? How many purported tactical nuclear weapons does Iran have?

In the early 1990s, Iran was said to have obtained what turned out to be inoperable nuclear bombs from the former Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union. By 1998, Iranian documents had been smuggled to the West that detailed Teheran's problem of opening the locks that kept two such nuclear weapons inoperable. At the time, U.S. intelligence officials called this disinformation by the Iranian opposition."

		Russia
		Russian military stalls on reports Ukraine sold warheads to Iran
		12:25 | 03/ 04/ 2006

MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - The chief of Russia's General Staff said Monday he could neither confirm nor deny reports that Ukraine had sold 250 nuclear warheads to Iran.

"Russia's General Staff has no information about whether Ukraine has given 250 nuclear warheads to Iran or not," General Yury Baluyevsky, also deputy defense minister, said in response to an article in Novaya Gazeta newspaper Monday. "I do not comment on unsubstantiated reports."

The newspaper said that Ukraine had failed to return 250 warheads to Russia in the 1990s when the former Soviet republic declared itself a nuclear-free zone. The paper suggested the warheads could have been sold to a third country, including Iran.

================================================== ===============

2. Lunev: If China and Russia would ally in a war against the United States...they could begin the war tomorrow.
Defector says Russian plan to dupe America is working

Col. Lunev is the highest ranking military intelligence officer ever to have defected from Russia. He did so in 1992 after the Soviet Union dissolved and Boris Yeltsin had come to power.

(here we post part of that valuable information)

What about a first strike on the United States? The likely plan does not include use of missiles first. First the Russians would use their special operation forces, special troops, inside of the United States to destroy targets like communications facilities, airfields, command centers, and other targets that might be difficult to destroy with a missile attack.

Suitcase nuclear bombs at strategic locations are just one small part of their arsenal. I mentioned this in my book and I have been so surprised that the American public is so interested in this. Why? This is not something unusual for Russian military plans.

One of your jobs here in the U.S. as a spy was to look for locations to hook up these suitcase nukes to electric power sources.

It's not really necessary to have an electric power source because the devices can work on a battery. But not for very long.

Are there such bombs in the United States already?

It's possible.

How soon could this war come?

The Russian conventional forces are not in a state of readiness. Their rocket and nuclear forces are. This war scenario could be in place by the request of Russian government in a short time.
If that happened, how long would it take for a strong leader to get the conventional forces ready if he wanted to start a nuclear war against the United States?

A few months. You have to remember that the Russians have the same number of submarines, nuclear missile submarines, ships, bombers, fighters, tanks and the like as they did at the height of Soviet military power. I know that Russian military downswing was connected with Army divisions only, and these divisions could be rebuilt in weeks or months.

China also is moving closer to Russia. China has the largest conventional army in the world. What danger does that pose?
If China and Russia would ally in a war against the United States, with Russia providing the strategic weapons and China the troops, they could begin the war tomorrow.

Well, it does seem that some steps the Russians are taking suggest war preparations. They are building a huge underground complex in the Ural Mountains. Have you heard about that?

You ask about Yamantau Mountain. Well, this is a huge underground city which could be used in time when many Russian cities are destroyed, but the military and political elite will survive and live until our planet will try to restore itself.

Well, it seems to me the most important information you have is that the Cold War isn't over: that the Russian military believes inevitably that there will be a war with the United States.

In April of 1998, Russia used its strategic bombers in an exercise against the United States. These exercises were organized for the future war against America. Before that there were several nuclear exercises.
In the fall of 1998, President Yeltsin commissioned Peter the Great, the world's largest nuclear missile cruiser. They have been doing ground forces exercises. Airborne force exercises. All of these exercises are being conducted for a reason, for the future war against America.

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Iran, Israel, USA, and War Games.


Tim Marshall
October 07, 2009 10:18 AM

Next week Israel and America will undertake joint military exercises. Nothing unusual there. Operation Juniper Cobra (JC) is about missile defence. Nothing unusual there either, it's a regular event. It's an autumn deployment. Ah, that's different. In previous years Operation JC was scheduled for spring, and that was supposed to be the case this year. So what changed?

Timing is everything, and the timing of these war games comes just as the tension over the Iranian nuclear question has risen dramatically, as was always likely after the UN General Assembly. This may not be why the operation was shifted, but it makes sense.

War Games are required to iron out problems of strategy, technology, even personal relationships. But they are also used to send messages. When the Chinese mess around in boats near Tawian, they usually use landing craft boats. This sends the clear message that despite recently warmer relationships, the Chinese still have the option of one day landing back in what they say is part of the Motherland.

The message from Juniper Cobra is that the US will help defend Israel, and that together they are capable of deflecting a ballistic missile attack by Iran.

The Americans and Israeli's will link up their Arrow and Patriot systems and other equipment. Most of the action will take place on computer screens, but there will be some live firing. It will be interesting to see if the cameras are

allowed to film this, if they are it will indicate a deliberate show of strength and it will be noticed from Moscow,
to Pyongyang, to Tehran.

[American Patriot]

Interesting.

No one seems to care there might be nukes already in Iran?

I guess I'm confused, are these DISABLED weapons systems that merely need to have added to them a proper amount of fissile material then?


Wonder where Iran might get such material? I can't imagine.

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U.S. 'Bunker Buster' Readied for Action

Friday, October 9, 2009 9:16 AM

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said a giant "bunker buster" bomb will be ready within months, adding a powerful weapon to the US arsenal amid tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

The 30,000-pound massive ordnance penetrator (MOP) is designed to knock out fortified sites buried deep underground, like those used by Iran and North Korea to protect its nuclear work.

"It is under development right now and should be deployable in the coming months," press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.

The Defense Department had said in August it wanted to speed up production plans for the super bomb, asking Congress to shift funds to the project.

Congress approved the request and the Pentagon announced Friday it awarded McDonnell Douglas Corporation a 51.9-million-dollar contract to enable B-2 aircraft to carry the enormous MOP.

The bomb, which holds 5,300 pounds of explosives, is designed "to defeat hardened facilities used by hostile states to protect weapons of mass destruction," Morrell said.

But he declined to comment whether the weapon's development was in response to Iran's disputed nuclear program.

"I don't think anybody can divine potential targets or anything of that nature. This is just a capability that we think is necessary given the world we live in these days," he said.

"The reality is that the world we live in is one in which there are people who seek to build weapons of mass destruction and they seek to do so in a clandestine fashion."

The United States has refused to rule out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails though President Barack Obama's administration has played down the possibility.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last month that a military strike against Iran would only "buy time" and delay a nuclear weapons program by about one to three years.

The earth-penetrating MOP is often cited as a potential weapon to take out Iran's underground centrifuge facilities in Natanz.

Iran admitted last month it had been building a new uranium enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom, sparking international outrage. In subsequent talks with world powers, Tehran has adopted a more conciliatory stance and agreed to UN inspections of the new plant.

In an earlier request to Congress, the Pentagon comptroller had cited an "urgent operational need" to develop a weapon against buried targets in "high threat environments," ABC television news reported.

The request for the MOP was backed by US Pacific Command, which oversees an area that includes North Korea, and Central Command, which covers the Middle East, including Iran, it said.

Aerospace giant Boeing manufactures the MOP, which could become the biggest conventional bomb ever used by the US military.

--AFP

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Tehran moves to impose gasoline rationing ready for showdown with US

DEBKAfile Special Report
October 9, 2009, 10:50 AM (GMT+02:00)

The Islamic regime in Tehran plans to slash the supply of subsided gasoline to the public by 45 percent and ration individual purchases to 55 liters per month, down from the 100 allowed at present. This announcement Wednesday, Oct. 8, by Iranian oil minister Massoud Mirkazemi was Tehran's second step ahead of an expected showdown with the West over its nuclear program.

DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report: Accusing the US of involvement in the disappearance of an important Iranian nuclear scientist was the first.

The government will have no difficulty in getting the measure through the tame Majlis (Iranian parliament).

Iran imports 40 percent of its gasoline needs because it is short of oil refineries. This shortage is sustained to boost the revenues of the Revolutionary Guards which owns a monopoly on gasoline imports. It has now become a strategic threat to the regime, curtailing fuel supplies for the military in the event of war and undermining Iran's ability to withstand severe sanctions.

Rationing may also provoke domestic unrest. Only 4.2 million liters of gasoline a day will be released, instead of the current 8 million. This will free up some 60,000 or so barrels a day for the Revolutionary Guards emergency stores. A much smaller cutback in 2007 caused serious riots in major cities; many gas stations and fuel depots were set on fire.

Earlier this week, Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki confronted Washington with a charge of US involvement in the disappearance of a nuclear scientist while on a pilgrimage to Mecca last May.

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Iran ready to ‘blow up heart’ of Israel

Ayatollah's representative issues threat if attacked by Jewish state or U.S.

updated 42 minutes ago

	Iranian worshippers burn an Israel flag during a demonstration after Friday prayers in Tehran. View related photos

TEHRAN - Iran would "blow up the heart" of Israel if it was attacked by the Jewish state or the United States, a Revolutionary Guards official was quoted Friday as saying.

"Even if one American or Zionist missile hits our country, before the dust settles, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel," Mojtaba Zolnour said, according to IRNA news agency.

Zolnour is a deputy representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the elite Guards force. Iranian officials have previously said Tehran would retaliate in event of an Israeli or U.S. attack.

Earlier this year, a senior commander said Iranian missiles could reach Israeli nuclear sites. Israel is believed to be the only nuclear-armed Middle East state.

Israel has not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to end a dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions, echoing U.S. policy, although Washington is engaged in a drive to resolve the issue through direct talks with Tehran.

"The Zionist regime and the United States cannot risk attacking Iran," Zolnour said in the holy Shi'ite city of Qom on Thursday, citing Iranian military and technological advances, IRNA reported. Iran refers to Israel as the "Zionist regime."

At talks in Geneva on October 1, Iran agreed with six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- to give U.N. experts access to a newly-disclosed uranium enrichment plant south of Tehran.

Iran and Western powers described talks as constructive and a step forward. However, underlying tension was highlighted before the meeting when Iran test-fired missiles with ranges that could put Israel and regional U.S. bases within reach.

Talks hope

The Geneva talks are expected to win Iran a reprieve from tougher U.N. sanctions, although Western powers are likely to be wary of any attempt by Tehran to buy time to develop its nuclear program.

Senior cleric Ahmad Khatami, leading Friday prayers in Tehran, said the meeting represented a "victory" for Iran.

"The Geneva conference was a very successful one and amounted to a victory for the Islamic Republic," he told worshippers.

"Up until the conference they were constantly talking about sanctions and suspension, but when the conference was held there was no talk of either sanctions or suspension," he said, referring to demands that Iran halt sensitive nuclear work.

World powers at the next round of talks aim to press Iran for a freeze on expansion of enrichment as an interim step toward a suspension that would bring it major trade rewards. Iran has repeatedly rejected such demands.

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October 8, 2009
If You Thought Arab Muslim* Extremists Hated Us Before…

Posted by David Kramer on October 8, 2009 01:29 PM

GOP SENATORS: US, NOT ISRAEL, SHOULD ATTACK IRAN ‘IF NECESSARY’

Two senior Republican senators say the United States, and not Israel, should attack Iran if military action becomes “necessary.” They also say a simple strike at the country’s nuclear capability wouldn’t be enough — the US would have to launch an “all-or-nothing” war against Iran with the aim of crippling the country’s military capabilities.

“I think an Israeli attack on Iran is a nightmare for the world, because it will rally the Arab world around Iran and they’re not aligned now. It’s too much pressure to put on Israel,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News’ Chris Wallace.

So in other words, Sen. Graham, it’s better to have the Arab world rally against the United States?

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Israeli Foreign Minister Says No Immediate Chance of Peace with Palestine, Tells people to “Learn to Live with It”

Atlanta, Ga. 10/08/2009 08:16 PM GMT
(TransWorldNews - Top Story)

Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman remained less than optimistic about the prospect of a peaceful solution to the conflict with Palestine, saying there was no chance of an immediate answer and telling people they needed to “learn to live with it.’

In a radio interview Lieberman declared “We have to be realistic - we will not be able to reach agreement on core and emotional subjects like Jerusalem and the right of return.”

The hard-line minister went on to say, “I am going to say very clearly - there are conflicts that have not been completely solved and people have learned to live with it, like Cyprus.”

While a lasting peace deal appears to be unrealistic to Lieberman he did say a temporary fix could be implemented and the two sides could continue to work on the deeper issues.

Those deeper issues have been centered around Jewish settlements in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem.

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I.C.B.M.?

Iran to launch research rocket into space

2009-10-06 21:47:56

TEHRAN, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Aerospace Research Center official announced on Tuesday that the country will launch its research rocket called Kavoshgar (Explorer) into space by the end of March 2010, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"Iranian Kavoshgar rocket will be sent into the space by the end of the current (Iranian) year (ending on March 20) to do research studies," Head of Iran's Aerospace Research Center Mohammad Ebrahimi was quoted as saying.

Talking at a ceremony marking the World Space Week, Ebrahimi said that "The rocket can be sent to altitudes at the height of 50km to 150km which is not a fly zone for aircraft and satellites ... it can be employed in different researches and studies."

Earlier in February, Tehran announced that the Omid lightweight telecommunications satellite, its first home-made satellite, was successfully sent into space by the Iranian-produced satellite carrier Safir 2, evoking the West's concern over its potential military purposes.

In last November, Iran launched successfully a space rocket which was called "Kavosh 2" (Explore 2).

"The rocket was launched into the space and after completing its mission returned to the earth using parachute," Iran's state TV IRIB said.

Iranian officials have said Iran has plans to put a "series of satellites" into space by 2010 to aid natural disaster management programs and improve telecommunications.

The United States and Israel have consistently refused to rule out the possibility of military strikes against Iran over its refusal to halt nuclear program, accusing Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program.

Iran has denied the charges and insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Editor: Xiong Tong

[vector7]

Defiant Iran Vows to Make 'Enemies Blind'

Saturday, September 26, 2009 7:40 AM

TEHRAN – Iran voiced defiance on Saturday in the face of Western condemnation over a new nuclear fuel plant, with a senior official saying the facility would soon be operational and make the "enemies blind."

U.S. President Barack Obama demanded on Friday that Iran come clean about its nuclear program or risk "sanctions that bite" after the disclosure of the new uranium enrichment plant under construction southwest of Tehran.

On Saturday, Obama said the discovery of the facility showed a "disturbing pattern" of evasion by Tehran which added urgency to its planned talks with world powers in Geneva on Thursday.

The West accuses Iran of seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon. Tehran insists its nuclear activities are aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more oil and gas.

Iran acknowledged the existence of the uranium enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom for the first time on Monday in a letter to the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency.

U.S. officials said the disclosure was aimed at pre-empting an announcement by Western governments, which were aware of the site, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the facility was legal and open for inspection by the IAEA.

"This new plant, God willing, will soon become operational and will make the enemies blind," the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpayegani, who heads the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as saying.

On Friday, Ahmadinejad said the facility was around 18 months from starting operations and that Western powers would regret accusing Iran of hiding it. Iran already has a uranium enrichment plant near the central city of Natanz.

Mohammadi-Golpayegani, a cleric who was speaking at a ceremony marking the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, said the construction of the facility was a sign Iran was at the "summit of power," Fars reported.

"SERIOUS CHALLENGE"
Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in Pittsburgh for a Group of 20 summit, made a joint appearance on Friday to level the new charges against Iran over its nuclear program.

Obama said Tehran had been building the nuclear plant in secret for years and urged it to address international concern that its nuclear program is geared toward making bombs.

"This is a serious challenge to the global nonproliferation regime and continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday.

"That is why international negotiations with Iran scheduled for October 1 now take on added urgency," he said.

Iran will meet the United States and five other powers in the Swiss city of Geneva.

Britain, France and Germany have joined the United States in raising the specter of new sanctions against Iran if it does not take steps to address concerns about its nuclear work.

Russia also signaled a greater willingness to go along with sanctions while China said it favored a "dual track" approach of pressure and talks.

But Iran, which has repeatedly rejected demands to halt its nuclear program, is showing no sign of backing down.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who heads the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, warned the West against taking measures which he suggested could affect Tehran's existing cooperation with the IAEA.

"They should not do something that would make Iran regretful of the existing level of cooperation which is sometimes beyond the agency's legal requirements," he was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.

Boroujerdi said Iran's construction of a new enrichment plant should not negatively overshadow the October talks, "unless these countries are after some pretext to ruin the negotiations and to make them fruitless."

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U.S. officials: We're ready to take action against Iran

By The Associated Press
20:07 06/10/2009

Administration officials told impatient lawmakers Tuesday that they are ready to take swift and substantial action against Iran if it disregards current diplomatic efforts to stop its alleged nuclear weapons program.

At a Senate Banking Committee hearing, lawmakers expressed skepticism that Iran would negotiate in good faith. They said they would not wait long before acting on legislation to impose tough new sanctions on the Tehran government.

Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, said he planned to move forward this month on a proposal to extend restrictions on financial transactions, impose new sanctions on oil and gas pipelines and tankers, restrict exports of certain refined petroleum products to Iran and impose a broad ban on imports from Iran.

He said the world, and particularly the Iranian government, "must know that the United States won't wait long to act and Congress wants action: The fear here collectively is that the Iranian government is taking us to the cleaners on this issue."

Administration officials at the hearing stressed that sanctions against Iran are most effective if imposed by a united international coalition.

Undersecretary of the Treasury Stuart Levey told the panel: The less united we are in applying pressure, the greater the risk our measures will not have the impact we seek.

Last week, the United States and five allies held talks with Iran in Geneva where Iranian officials agreed to open its newly disclosed nuclear plant to United Nations inspectors and take other steps to show it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.

U.S. President Barack Obama said the talks were a constructive beginning, while adding that his administration was working with Congress on new actions targeting Iran's energy, financial and telecommunications sectors in the event Iran did not live up to its promises.

James Steinberg, deputy secretary of state, told the hearing that the administration was realistic about prospects for engaging with the Iranian government. But he said the current dual-track strategy of diplomatic talks with the threat of punitive action was helping develop a strong consensus within the international community if the talks falter.

He said it would be clear by the end of this month whether Iran is serious about meeting two specific commitments: providing access to the newly revealed nuclear facility and shipping low enriched uranium out of the country.

"Our patience is not unlimited," he added.

Levey said that "with targeted sanctions backed by a broad coalition of governments, we can at the very least demonstrate to the Iranian government that there are serious costs to any continued refusal to cooperate with the international community."

International concerns about Iran's nuclear work grew Tuesday with an Iranian newspaper report that the country plans to install a more advanced type of centrifuge at its newly revealed uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom

Iran insists its enrichment work is only meant for use in generating power, but Washington and its allies are suspicions of Tehran's intentions and fear its mastery of the technology will give them a pathway to weapons development.

"Despite years of diplomatic efforts, Iran has continued to choose a collision course with the free world," said Sen. Sam Brownback, a Republican. Brownbeck and Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, are promoting a bill that would allow state and local governments and universities to divest their assets from any company that invests $20 million or more in Iran's energy sector.

Administration officials told impatient lawmakers Tuesday that they are ready to take swift and substantial action against Iran if it disregards current diplomatic efforts to stop its alleged nuclear weapons program.

At a Senate Banking Committee hearing, lawmakers expressed skepticism that Iran would negotiate in good faith. They said they would not wait long before acting on legislation to impose tough new sanctions on the Tehran government.

Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, said he planned to move forward this month on a proposal to extend restrictions on financial transactions, impose new sanctions on oil and gas pipelines and tankers, restrict exports of certain refined petroleum products to Iran and impose a broad ban on imports from Iran.

He said the world, and particularly the Iranian government, "must know that the United States won't wait long to act and Congress wants action: The fear here collectively is that the Iranian government is taking us to the cleaners on this issue."

Administration officials at the hearing stressed that sanctions against Iran are most effective if imposed by a united international coalition.

Undersecretary of the Treasury Stuart Levey told the panel: The less united we are in applying pressure, the greater the risk our measures will not have the impact we seek.

Last week, the United States and five allies held talks with Iran in Geneva where Iranian officials agreed to open its newly disclosed nuclear plant to United Nations inspectors and take other steps to show it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.

U.S. President Barack Obama said the talks were a constructive beginning, while adding that his administration was working with Congress on new actions targeting Iran's energy, financial and telecommunications sectors in the event Iran did not live up to its promises.

James Steinberg, deputy secretary of state, told the hearing that the administration was realistic about prospects for engaging with the Iranian government. But he said the current dual-track strategy of diplomatic talks with the threat of punitive action was helping develop a strong consensus within the international community if the talks falter.

He said it would be clear by the end of this month whether Iran is serious about meeting two specific commitments: providing access to the newly revealed nuclear facility and shipping low enriched uranium out of the country.

"Our patience is not unlimited," he added.

Levey said that "with targeted sanctions backed by a broad coalition of governments, we can at the very least demonstrate to the Iranian government that there are serious costs to any continued refusal to cooperate with the international community."

International concerns about Iran's nuclear work grew Tuesday with an Iranian newspaper report that the country plans to install a more advanced type of centrifuge at its newly revealed uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom.

Iran insists its enrichment work is only meant for use in generating power, but Washington and its allies are suspicions of Tehran's intentions and fear its mastery of the technology will give them a pathway to weapons development.

"Despite years of diplomatic efforts, Iran has continued to choose a collision course with the free world," said Sen. Sam Brownback, a Republican. Brownbeck and Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, are promoting a bill that would allow state and local governments and universities to divest their assets from any company that invests $20 million or more in Iran's energy sector.

[vector7]

11:23 07/10/2009
Where did two Iran nuclear scientists disappear to?

By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent

Two Iranian nuclear scientists disappeared over the past weeks and allegedly defected to the West, the London-based pan-Arabic daily Asharq al-Awsat reported.

According to the report, the first defector is Sharam Amiri, a scientist in Iran's nuclear program who was likely tied to the recently discovered secret uranium enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom.

Amiri disappeared in Saudi Arabia in July while he was on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Defection speculations have been gaining popularity in light of an announcement made by Iran's foreign ministry that it had asked Saudi officials to help locate Amiri. This announcement is unusual because many Iranians go missing during the annual hajj pilgrimage, and in those cases, not only is there no foreign ministry announcement, usually there is no effort made to locate them, despite their families' pleas.

The foreign ministry announcement indicates that Amiri may have a particularly sensitive position in the Iranian nuclear program.

The report regarding the second scientist is also strange. Asharq al-Awsat uses only his surname - Ardebili. He was allegedly arrested in Georgia a few weeks ago. Reports say that Ardebili worked in the Iranian nuclear program as well, but the Iranian foreign ministry fervently denies these claims, and maintains that Ardebili was a businessman who was extradited to the U.S. following his arrest.

If the report is correct and two scientists from Iran's nuclear program indeed defected, it would be a harsh blow to Iran and its nuclear plans on the one hand, and a triumph on the part of Western intelligence on the other.

In 2007, the former Iranian deputy defense minister and senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Ali Reza Asgari defected to the West. Several reports linked both the American CIA and the Israeli Mossad to the operation.

[vector7]

Iran Flexes Muscle in Iraq

Robert Dreyfuss Robert Dreyfuss – Tue Oct 13, 9:55 am ET

The Nation -- Several top Iraqi politicians have been making the rounds in Iran lately, getting support from Tehran in advance of elections scheduled in Iraq for January. Among the politicians: Ammar al-Hakim, the son of the late Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the former Iraqi prime minister who leads a breakaway faction of the Islamic Call (Dawa) party in Iraq.

Their tour, which reflects Iran's intimate relationship to many Iraqi politicians, is a sign that Iran is paying close attention to Iraqi politics. Over the summer, top Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Leader, urged Shiite Iraqis to re-unite into a unified movement for the elections. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who leads another faction of Dawa, initially wanted to join the Shiite bloc, but he demanded too much as a condition for joining, and he eventually opted out. The new Iraqi bloc includes Hakim's ISCI, the Sadrists, Jaafari's Dawa faction, and other Shiite groups. (Maliki still maintains close ties to Iran, however.)

The issue of Iran's influence in Iraq is critical for President Obama's policy toward both countries. The ongoing US talks with Iran, if they make progress, could create space for Iran and the United States to work together on stabilizing Iraq in 2010, when at least 70,000 US troops are scheduled to leave Iraq. But if the US-Iran talks falter, Iran could use its influence in Iraq to create conflict, greatly complicating the planned US pullout. And, of course, if the US-Iran conflict escalates toward confrontation and war, Iran can use its military, intelligence, and political power in Iraq to inflict casualties on American troops there.

Last week, Hakim -- himself a cleric -- visited several top Iranian ayatollahs in Qom, including Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi and Ayatollah Ali Safi Golpayegani, both relative hardliners in the Iranian spectrum. Shirazi told Hakim that "security in Iraq and Iran are inseparable," and he issued a not-so-veiled criticism of US allegations that Iran supports violent Shiite groups that attack US forces, according to the Tehran Times, saying:

"I am surprised to hear some countries saying Iran helps terrorists in Iraq, while Iraq's peace and security is our security and the two countries are not separable."

The Tehran Times added:

"The ayatollah also warned that the enemy is promoting Iranophobia and Iraqophobia, expressing hope that the two countries could thwart the enemy's efforts through joint cooperation.

"Everyone should be aware of the enemy's plots and this fact that the enemy is greedy about Iraq, he added."

Golpayegani, the other ayatollah, told Hakim that Iran's Shiites should stick together under the leadership of the Iraq-based clerics in Najaf, including Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the Persian-born mullah who is the chief religious leader in Iraq and who commands the devotion of Shiites worldwide. It was Sistani who helped assemble the sectarian Shiite-only voting bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, that included the Hakims, Maliki, and Muqtada al-Sadr, in 2005.

In Tehran, Hakim also met Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Saeed Jalili, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki all of whom pledged support for Iraqi national security efforts.

Jalili told Hakim that US forces in Iraq are a threat to both countries:

"Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili, in a separate meeting with Ammar Hakim on Sunday, said the presence of foreign forces in Iraq is a major threat to the country's security situation.

"Jalili added that the presence of occupying forces in Iraq is hindering the country's progress."

Hakim, a thirty-something political neophyte who's inherited his father's mantle, didn't go so far as to agree with his Iranian interlocutors, at least according to the Iranian media. Unlike Sadr, who's made no bones about denouncing the US force, the Hakims have been careful not to express outright opposition to the US role in Iraq.

On the contrary, both the Hakims and Maliki have welcomed US assistance to the Iraqi armed forces and police, as long as that assistance is used to build up the Shiite-led military. But they've resisted including Sunni forces into the army and police, especially the remnants of the Sons of Iraq movement -- the Awakening, or sahwa -- that was funded and sustained by the United States. The Sons of Iraq militia, which were organized by former anti-US resistance fighters and Sunni tribal leaders, have been abandoned by the United States lately, and they've splintered. Some support Maliki, but many of them are drifting back into sullen opposition if not armed resistance.

[American Patriot]

A Hitch in Iran's Nuclear Plans?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/15/AR2009101502761.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns ^ | Oct. 16, 2009 | David Ignatius Since you're probably not a regular reader of the trade publication Nucleonics Week, let me summarize an article that appeared in its Oct. 8 issue. It reported that Iran's supply of low-enriched uranium -- the potential feedstock for nuclear bombs -- appears to have certain "impurities" that "could cause centrifuges to fail" if the Iranians try to boost it to weapons grade.


Now that's interesting. The seeming breakthrough in negotiations on Oct. 1 in Geneva -- where Iran agreed to send most of its estimated 1,500 kilograms of low-enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment -- may not have been exactly what it appeared. Iran may have had no alternative but to seek foreign help in enrichment because its own centrifuges wouldn't work.


"The impurities, certain metallic fluoride compounds, would interfere with centrifuge enrichment" at Iran's facility at Natanz, reported the newsletter's Bonn correspondent, Mark Hibbs.


This news strikes me as a potential bombshell. If the Nucleonics Week report is accurate (and there's some uncertainty among experts about how serious the contamination problem is), the Iranian nuclear program is in much worse shape than most analysts had realized. The contaminated fuel it has produced so far would be all but useless for nuclear weapons. To make enough fuel for a bomb, Iran might have to start over -- this time avoiding the impurities.


You've got to hand it to the Iranians, though, for making the best of what might be a bad situation: In the proposal embraced in Geneva, they have gotten the West to agree to decontaminate fuel that would otherwise be useful only for the low-enriched civilian nuclear power they have always claimed is their only goal.


(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...

[Beetle]

October 18, 2009

Categories:

• 2009,
• IAEA,
• Intelligence,
• Iran

US condemns Iran suicide attack

The U.S. has condemned a suicide attack that killed five Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps members today.
Five commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed in suicide attacks in Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province bordering Pakistan, according to reports.
The Baluch group Jundullah claimed responsibility for the attack, that reportedly killed over 40 people.

Iranian authorities have accused the Sunni group of receiving funding from foreign countries including the United States. The US has denied supporting Jundullah.
"We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. "Reports of alleged U.S. involvement are completely false."

Iran summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires over the attack, Iran's PressTV reported.
"We have heard that certain officials in Pakistan cooperate with main agents of these terrorist attacks in eastern parts of the country," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was cited after a Cabinet session. "It is our right to ask (for extradition) of criminals."

Early Sunday, bombers reportedly struck a car carrying Guards as they headed to a meeting of Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders. "In one attack, a suicide bomber wearing a military uniform and an explosive belt entered a mosque where guard commanders were organizing a reconciliation meeting between local Sunni and Shiite Muslim leaders, according to the semi-official ILNA news service," the Times reported.

The attack reportedly killed Brig. Gen. Nourali Shoushtari, the lieutenant commander of IRGC ground forces, the commanders of Sistan and Baluchistan province, the Iranshahr Corps, the Sarbaz Corps and the Amiralmoemenin Brigade, Iran's Fars News Agency said.

"The [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps] IRGC and local police forces have lost quite a few personnel to Jundallah attacks, including a brigadier last fall," says Mark Fowler, a former CIA officer who heads Booz Allen's Persia House, an Iran research unit that closely monitors open source Iranian press. "Clearly, the regime thought it had made some progress on this ... but obviously not enough. Based on the interview with the captured [Baluch leader] Rigi, it appears the Iranian government has recently been focused not just on a military solution but a public information/propaganda campaign. The meetings [planned for today] are clearly part of this 'soft' outreach/reconciliation effort."

"This latest attack may be in direct response to the regime’s unwillingness to consider commuting the arrested Rigi’s death sentence, or recognize Jundallah’s status and talk to them," Fowler added. "In any case, the Iranians are attempting to cast Jundallah activities as being directly supported by the U.S."

"The Baluch are at more or less permanent war with everybody around them," another former senior US intelligence officer told POLITICO. "They shelter the Taliban from Afghanistan, they smuggle narcotics through Iran to the processing facilities in Turkey, they engage in arms trafficking with everybody and they are of serious concern to the government of Pakistan which has fought more than one war against them. ...[They] believe that [Iran's majority] Shia are heretics.
The US has no ties with them and never has had."

Today's attacks come a day before Iran is due to meet with US, French and Russian diplomats at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna to negotiate upcoming inspections of the Qom enrichment facility and transfer of Iranian low enriched uranium to Russia and France for further processing.
Posted by Laura Rozen 09:43 AM

http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/

[Beetle]

October 18, 2009

Categories:

• 2009,
• IAEA,
• Intelligence,
• Iran

US condemns Iran suicide attack

The U.S. has condemned a suicide attack that killed five Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps members today.
Five commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed in suicide attacks in Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province bordering Pakistan, according to reports.
The Baluch group Jundullah claimed responsibility for the attack, that reportedly killed over 40 people.

Iranian authorities have accused the Sunni group of receiving funding from foreign countries including the United States. The US has denied supporting Jundullah.
"We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. "Reports of alleged U.S. involvement are completely false."

Iran summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires over the attack, Iran's PressTV reported.
"We have heard that certain officials in Pakistan cooperate with main agents of these terrorist attacks in eastern parts of the country," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was cited after a Cabinet session. "It is our right to ask (for extradition) of criminals."

Early Sunday, bombers reportedly struck a car carrying Guards as they headed to a meeting of Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders. "In one attack, a suicide bomber wearing a military uniform and an explosive belt entered a mosque where guard commanders were organizing a reconciliation meeting between local Sunni and Shiite Muslim leaders, according to the semi-official ILNA news service," the Times reported.

The attack reportedly killed Brig. Gen. Nourali Shoushtari, the lieutenant commander of IRGC ground forces, the commanders of Sistan and Baluchistan province, the Iranshahr Corps, the Sarbaz Corps and the Amiralmoemenin Brigade, Iran's Fars News Agency said.

"The [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps] IRGC and local police forces have lost quite a few personnel to Jundallah attacks, including a brigadier last fall," says Mark Fowler, a former CIA officer who heads Booz Allen's Persia House, an Iran research unit that closely monitors open source Iranian press. "Clearly, the regime thought it had made some progress on this ... but obviously not enough. Based on the interview with the captured [Baluch leader] Rigi, it appears the Iranian government has recently been focused not just on a military solution but a public information/propaganda campaign. The meetings [planned for today] are clearly part of this 'soft' outreach/reconciliation effort."

"This latest attack may be in direct response to the regime’s unwillingness to consider commuting the arrested Rigi’s death sentence, or recognize Jundallah’s status and talk to them," Fowler added. "In any case, the Iranians are attempting to cast Jundallah activities as being directly supported by the U.S."

"The Baluch are at more or less permanent war with everybody around them," another former senior US intelligence officer told POLITICO. "They shelter the Taliban from Afghanistan, they smuggle narcotics through Iran to the processing facilities in Turkey, they engage in arms trafficking with everybody and they are of serious concern to the government of Pakistan which has fought more than one war against them. ...[They] believe that [Iran's majority] Shia are heretics.
The US has no ties with them and never has had."

Today's attacks come a day before Iran is due to meet with US, French and Russian diplomats at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna to negotiate upcoming inspections of the Qom enrichment facility and transfer of Iranian low enriched uranium to Russia and France for further processing.
Posted by Laura Rozen 09:43 AM

http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/

[Beetle]

Guest Column: Obama’s Russian Embarrassment

October 19, 2009 |


by Richard Brownell

The naïveté of the Obama administration was on full display this past week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Russia failed to drum up support for tough sanctions against Iran. Clinton and Obama had hoped that Russia would join the United States in bringing heavy pressure to bear to stop Tehran’s nuclear program. They had been led to believe as much just a few weeks ago by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. But Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Clinton that diplomacy needed to be given a chance to work and that sanctions would be “counterproductive.”
Clinton was clearly disappointed by the about-face, but neither she nor Obama should have been surprised by this development. Russia is interested in reestablishing itself as a global power, and its actions are motivated solely by that goal. If Iran develops nuclear weapons, Russia faces no real threat from it. They do business with Iran. The two countries are strategic partners. Only the U.S., its European allies, and Israel would be at risk. In the unlikely event the U.S. were to go to war with Iran to prevent development of its nuclear program, the price of oil would skyrocket and Russia would be able to cash in on its own huge reserves. They win either way.

Liberal supporters of Obama’s foreign policy agenda, such as it is, maintain this is a simplistic view, but modern Russia is not a complex nation. Their goals are clear, and they are committed to realizing them, U.S. concessions notwithstanding. And by concessions, I am referring to Obama’s September move to scrap the Eastern European missile defense system. Russia had been against the development of a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic since President George W. Bush called for it a few years ago. They believed it a threat to their own nation, though it was explicitly designed to protect Europe from a long-range missile attack from Iran.

Obama said publicly at the time that the system was of no use because Iran was 3-5 years away from developing long-range missiles. We have since learned that the Iranians are much closer to building these missiles than we originally assumed, and we simply have no real idea how long it will be before they are capable of detonating a nuclear device.

Recognizing our dangerous lack of knowledge of just what Tehran is up to, wouldn’t it be prudent to proceed with the system anyway?

Obama also stated that the technology just isn’t there yet for effectively deploying the system. This is not accurate, and he was only relying on standard liberal rhetoric that the entire missile defense concept is not technologically feasible. That’s an argument that frankly only a Luddite would embrace. If history proves anything, it is that the human mind is capable of developing whatever gadget is necessary to fill a need. There have been fits and starts along the way to developing a missile defense system, as with any research and development program, but real progress has been made in targeting and deployment in the last decade. For years, liberals have predictably played up the failures and explained away the successes. The failures allow them to argue for reducing funding at precisely the time when more funding is needed to learn from past mistakes and proceed toward a successful system. It’s an interesting little negative feedback loop they have created, and it has slowed the overall progress of the system for decades.

Obama’s public excuses about scrapping the missile defense system and replacing it with some ship-based anti-missile defense in the Mediterranean were only part of the reason behind his actions. He denied this at the time, but it was clear that Obama also hoped to earn points with the Russians by obliquely acceding to their demands to remove the system. His gamble was that by scrapping the system, and irritating our Polish and Czech allies in the process, he would gain Russia’s support in putting the screws to Iran to get that country to give up its nuclear program.

We have now seen that Obama severely miscalculated. Lavrov’s blunt refusal to back Clinton’s call for sanctions against Iran kills the last reason behind Obama’s scrapping the missile shield. Poor strategic thinking and longstanding liberal prejudice against missile defense were also at play here.

Obama’s miscalculation will be an unmistakable blow to American prestige on the world stage. Even if we take him at his word that his decision to cancel the Polish and Czech deployments was not swayed by Russian pressure, the international view that now exists is that America caved to Russia and got nothing in return. And if you need a bigger clue that Obama made the wrong move, consider this: if Dmitri Medvedev, Vladimir Putin, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are pleased with Obama’s call to remove the defense shield and America’s Eastern European allies are upset, then that means that Obama messed up.

http://virginiapatriot.com/?p=108