Iran's "Euro-missile" goes into production

[Smurf-Herder]

Iran missile able to reach Europe 'on target' in test launch
21 May 2009
By Zahra Hosseinian in Tehran

PRESIDENT Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday Iran had tested a missile that defence analysts say could hit Europe, Israel and US bases in the Gulf – a move likely to fuel western concern about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Mr Ahmadinejad announced the test on the same day that campaigning for the 12 June presidential election officially started. A US defence official also confirmed the launch.

Mr Ahmadinejad, whose moderate challengers in the 12 June vote accuse ADVERTISEMENThim of isolating Iran with his anti-western speeches, said the country had the power to send any attacker "to hell".

He was addressing a rally in the northern Semnan province, where the official IRNA news agency said the test took place. State television showed footage of the Sejil 2 missile soaring into the sky, leaving a vapour trail.

The stated range of the surface-to-surface missile – some 1,200 miles – would be almost as far as Shahab 3, another Iranian missile. Analysts say such weaponry could reach Israel, US regional bases and south-east Europe.

"The Sejil 2 missile, which has an advanced technology, was launched today … and it landed exactly on the target," Mr Ahmadinejad said.

Defence minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said Sejil had "great destructive power" and that mass production of the missile had started, stressing it was aimed at deterring any aggressors, the ISNA news agency reported.

Iran previously test-fired a Sejil last November, saying then it was a new generation of surface-to-surface missile.

http://news.scotsman.com/world/Iran--missile-able-to.5288361.jp

And from the people who gave us the initial intelligence on Iran's nuclear program, back in 2002:

Iran: "Sejil 2" Missile has 2,500 kilometer range; could carry nuclear warhead
Thursday, 21 May 2009

NCRI - According to information obtained by the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) from inside of Iran, the "Sejil 2" (Sijil 2) Missile could carry nuclear warhead and is part of the clerical regime's drive to obtain nuclear weapons. The clerical regime announced on Wednesday, May 20 that it had test fired this missile successfully.

The range of this missile is more than Shahab3 and is 2,500 Kilometers. Some of the European countries are within the range of this missile. In order to prevent international rebuke and intensification of sanctions against the clerical regime, it refrains from announcing the true range of this missile.

This is a two-staged missile; enabling it to have a longer range. It is a solid fuel missile that constitutes a new technology in the mullahs' ballistic missiles.

Sejil 2 was manufactured by the Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO) of the clerical regime’s Ministry of Defense, namely by the Bakeri Industries Group and Hemmat Industries Group (subsidiaries of AIO) located in Khojir region, East of Tehran. Major portion of the missile was manufactured by the Bakeri Industries Group. The AIO was expanded significantly during Ahmadinejad's presidency.

The Commander of Bakeri Missile Industries Group is the Revolutionary Guard Mehrdad Akhlaqi Ketabchi and the Commander of Hemmat Industries Group is the Revlutionary Guard Nasser Maleki. These two individuals as well as the industrial groups, which are involved in manufacture of missiles, are named by the UN Security Council resolution 1747 and the US Government sanctions list.

The ruling religious dictatorship in Iran, in the absence of a decisive policy on behalf of the international community and by taking advantage of the Western governments policy of appeasement combined by their repeated calls for talks, has stepped up its efforts to acquire nuclear bomb and to expand its missiles arsenal.

The Iranian Resistance warns against immediate threats posed by the clerical regime to the security and stability in the region and the world over. It also calls on the UN Security Council to impose arms, technological, diplomatic and oil sanctions against mullahs’ regime immediately.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 21, 2009

http://ncr-iran.org/content/view/6381/1/ (http://ncr-iran.org/content/view/6381/1/)

[Smurf-Herder]

Iran tests new Sajil-2 missile that can hit Tel Aviv, Athens

http://photos.upi.com/slideshow/lbox/190428addf81b6fc96077893fa938fc5/Iran-Missile-Test.jpg

WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the White House this week he was giving Iran till the end of the year to comply with U.S. diplomatic efforts to get it to cease its nuclear weapons program, but he may not have that much time. On Wednesday Iran announced it had successfully tested a medium-range rocket. The Sajjil-2 surface-to-surface missile has a range of 1,240 miles -- and Israel is well within that radius. So is Athens, the capital of Greece, and so is southern Italy.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke of the test Wednesday, not long after he was confirmed as one of four candidates in Iranian presidential elections on June 12

"I was told that the missile is able to go beyond the atmosphere then come back and hit its target. It works on solid fuel," Ahmadinejad said during a speech in Semnan in northern Iran.

"The defense minister told me today that we launched a Sejil-2 missile, which is a two-stage missile, and it has reached the intended target," he added.

Ahmadinejad told the Farsi news agency that the Sajil-2 was powered by a solid fuel propellant. This allows the missile to be smaller, making it more difficult to intercept, and solid fuels usually permit greater acceleration after launching.

The U.N. Security Council, prodded by the United States, has approved three different sets of economic sanctions against Iran to try and peacefully force it to abandon its nuclear and long-range missile programs. But Tehran enjoys excellent relations with Russia and China and enjoys observer status in the Russian and Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization. So the Iranians certainly do not feel isolated.

Ahmadinejad made that clear in his comments Wednesday. "They thought we would retreat but that will not happen. I told them you can adopt 100 sets of sanctions, but nothing will change," he stated.

The timing of the test may have been in part intended to boost Ahmadinejad's own political prospects. He is running for re-election to another four-year term as president of Iran. Many of his domestic policies and his economic record have been very unpopular. But he has been approved as one of the four candidates for the election on June 12, and with the strong support of the nation's Shiite Muslim religious establishment, he still looks the favorite to win.

U.S. intelligence analysts have downplayed previous Iranian claims of successful missile tests. However, Iran does appear to now have a relatively reliable limited intermediate-range ballistic missile capability. And on Feb. 3 Tehran successfully launched its first satellite into orbit. The multi-stage missile that carried the payload could just as easily have carried a nuclear warhead halfway around the world to Washington or New York in little more than 30 minutes.

On March 1, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that Iran already had enough nuclear material to make a nuclear weapon. He called Iran's development of a nuclear weapon "a very, very bad outcome for the region."

Mullen's comments were especially significant because they served notice that the U.S. defense establishment has quietly shelved the controversial and -- at the time -- much criticized National Intelligence Estimate last year that said Iran was still at least five years away from developing nuclear weapons and the delivery systems to carry them.

Iran has been building up its nuclear installations for a long time. They have never been systematically attacked by the U.S. Air Force. Iran has had close, highly effective links for at least 20 years with both North Korea and Pakistan. As UPI Editor at Large Arnaud de Borchgrave has documented, A.Q. Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, has brokered deals with Iran and acted as a middleman to funnel much crucial technology to Tehran. Iran also enjoys extremely warm diplomatic relations with Russia and China, and Russia is now close to finishing at last the Bushehr nuclear reactor complex in Iran.

Consequently, Iran has moved far faster and more effectively than most U.S. pundits imagined or predicted. Wednesday's missile test reveals there are no signs it is slowing down.

http://www.upi.com/news/issueoftheday/2009/05/20/Iran-tests-new-Sajil-2-missile-that-can-hit-Tel-Aviv-Athens/UPI-96681242828876/

[radioguy]

What's the problem Smurf?

Obama will just talk to them, and I'm sure that before you know it, the president will be holding hands with them and singing "feel good" songs around the campfire.

It's the era of "Hope & Change" baby... Get used to it. :lmao2:

[Smurf-Herder]

Looks like their version of the US Pershing-2.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0en9dj1aP10tI/610x.jpg

[Smurf-Herder]

Israel Asserts Right to Strike Iran Without Warning U.S.
Friday, May 22, 2009

Israel has no obligation to inform the United States of an impending attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Israeli national security adviser Uzi Arad said yesterday (see GSN, May 21).

The United States, Israel and much of Europe have expressed concern about Iranian uranium enrichment activities that could support nuclear-weapon development, but Tehran has said its atomic ambitions are strictly peaceful. In a recent meeting with CIA chief Leon Panetta, Israeli leaders reportedly vowed to warn Washington of any imminent Israeli military action against Iran (see GSN, May 14).

However,"there have been past instances in which Israel did not update the United States regarding military operations," Arad told Israeli army radio, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

During a visit to Washington this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "clarified that Israel reserves itself operational freedom, and several of the most senior figures in the Obama administration said 'of course,'" Arad added (Xinhua News Agency I, May 21).

The Israeli air force yesterday wrapped up a four-day defense drill that simulated missile and aircraft attacks by Iran and other neighboring states, Agence France-Presse reported.

The drill "was successful and important. What we saw strengthens our security that there is someone we can trust," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.

The exercise did not include dry-run strikes on Iran, a military official told AFP (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 21).

Meanwhile, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee's top Republican expressed concern Tuesday about the Obama administration's plan to pursue dialogue with Iran through 2009 before potentially adopting a harder line on the Middle Eastern state's nuclear efforts, the Washington Times reported.

"That's a high-risk strategy ... based on the estimates that we have that are out there" about the time line of a possible Iranian effort to build a nuclear bomb, said Representative Peter Hoekstra (Mich.). Some U.S. estimates suggest that Iran could obtain a nuclear weapon within a year, and Israel believes Tehran could have the bomb even earlier, according to the Times.

Military strikes might not eliminate all of Iran's nuclear facilities, Hoekstra said: "I've got concerns whether we know where all their capabilities and things are (located)."

Instead, he urged the United States to work with Russia, China and European nations to establish "a vigorous sanctions regime" aimed at pressuring Tehran to abandon its disputed nuclear activities (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, May 21).

The head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday reaffirmed his belief that Iran poses a major nuclear threat, Reuters reported.

"I'm one who believes that Iran getting a nuclear weapon is calamitous for the region and for the world," Adm. Michael Mullen told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"It then, in my view, generates neighbors who feel exposed, deficient and then develop or buy the capability themselves," he said, hinting that a nuclear-armed Iran could trigger an arms race in the region. "The downside, potentially, is absolutely disastrous."

"Major leaders, internationally, have got to come together to arrest this growth or the long-term downside for the people in the world is really, really tragic and drastic," Mullen said (Andrew Gray, Reuters, May 21).

Elsewhere, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced his predecessor's decision to suspend uranium enrichment in a 2003 agreement with three European powers, the Associated Press reported yesterday.

Mohammad Khatami signed the deal in an effort to assuage Western fears that Iran was seeking a nuclear weapon. The uranium enrichment process can generate nuclear plant fuel but also nuclear bomb material.

The reformist leader reneged on the agreement in 2005, after the international community pressed Tehran to shutter its enrichment program permanently. The effort resumed under Ahmadinejad's leadership in early 2006.

"Enemies have designed colonial policies. When they drew up the disgraceful agreement in their Sa'adabad meeting, they considered the Iranian nation finished," Ahmadinejad said, according to his Web site (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Baltimore Sun, May 21).

Tehran continues to watch Washington for changes in its Iran strategy, former Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said yesterday.

"Do not think that with verbal tactics you (U.S. officials) will inflict Islamic Republic with negligence. We are monitoring your behavior and have several scenarios on the table for your behavior," state media quoted the Iranian parliament speaker as saying.

"Iran is ... closely watching the activities of the United States of America in order to see if there is a real change as promised by the country's president," he said (Xinhua News Agency II, May 21).

http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20090522_9232.php

[Smurf-Herder]

Israeli Air Force sharpening Arrows for Iran
Sun, 03 May 2009 03:02:02 GMT

http://www.presstv.ir/photo/20090503/naderian20090503070558843.jpg

Israeli Air Force is exercising with rockets capable of reaching Iran preparing for a variety of 'scenarios' in the event of a war with the country.

The IAF has deployed its Arrow and Patriot missile interceptors pitting the apparatuses against different projectiles, The Jerusalem Post reported on Saturday.

"We are working hard to be ready for the Iranian threat," an Air Force officer was quoted as saying.

"We are preparing for barrages, split warheads and other surprises and therefore we need to retain a high operational level by everyone, including reservists," who have been drafted in for related weekly drills which "simulate different scenarios," he added.

Israel and the West accuse Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of pursuing a military nuclear program -- an allegation that has been rejected by Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Based on the allegations, Tel Aviv has been issuing the Islamic Republic successive threats that it would pound the country's nuclear facilities. The Israeli authorities have, as well, been invariably supportive of sanctions as a means of pressuring Tehran into abandoning its nuclear activities.

This is while, according to former US president Jimmy Carter, aerial footages and recurrent reports have confirmed Israel's possession of nuclear armament making it the sole host to such facilities in the Middle East.

Iran's nuclear facilities have been geared for processing low-level enriched uranium into the essentials for fuel production at the power reactors which generate electricity.

The Israeli marksmen have, meanwhile, been busy concluding the 17th test of the Arrow II ballistic missile system jointly funded by Tel Aviv and Washington as a defensive facility against 'Iranian and Syrian ballistic missiles'.

The IAF is, as well, slated to hold joint military exercises with the US military. The Arrow, the American THAAD and Aegis defensive gear would be re-examined during the war games.

As their prime target, the forces have been instructed to interdict Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic missile -- a capable hardware, which Iran has warned to use to respond to any possible attacks on its soil.

Last month, the Iranian Army Ground Force warned such response would be of greater magnitude than the first strike carried out by invaders.

"Iran's military mechanism is comprised of both defensive and deterrent plans. The Islamic Republic's reaction to any transgression will be strong," said Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force, General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan.

He also conjured up Israel's failures in Palestine and Lebanon despite its cutting-edge arsenal of weaponry.

The Shahab-3 is reportedly capable of reaching as far as 2,000 km (1,250 miles) with a 1,000-760-kilogram payload.

More sophisticated among the Iranian army's recently-developed armament, is the surface-to-surface Sejjil missile which boasts a farther range.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=93381&sectionid=351020104

[Zebulon0351]

What's the problem Smurf?

Obama will just talk to them, and I'm sure that before you know it, the president will be holding hands with them and singing "feel good" songs around the campfire.

It's the era of "Hope & Change" baby... Get used to it. :lmao2:

I guess that is a lot better than invading a country that doesn't have a nuclear program in the first place. :lmao2: :lmao2:

[The_Limit]

Iran's weapon program is a joke.

[Smurf-Herder]

Iran's weapon program is a joke.

Yeah ... if you think of North Korean and Pakistani weapons systems as a joke. How can you say their weapons program is a joke?

They put a satellite into orbit for Chistsake.

[GetAClue]

Yeah ... if you think of North Korean and Pakistani weapons systems as a joke. How can you say their weapons program is a joke?

They put a satellite into orbit for Chistsake.

That is part of the "Hope and Change" message. He "hopes" the Iran's weapons program is a joke, and therefore it is. Problem solved.