boutons_
11-02-2006, 12:34 PM
I just love how the Iraq war has projected US power so convincingly around the globe, but especially to the Axis of Evil countries.
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http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/11/02/world/02iran.650.jpg
November 2, 2006
Soon After U.S. Ends Exercise, Iran Fires Several Missiles
By CHRISTINE HAUSER (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/christine_hauser/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Iran (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iran/index.html?inline=nyt-geo) fired several missiles with a range of more than 1,000 miles today during a military maneuver that started just days after the United States and several allies, including Persian Gulf states, held exercises in the same area.
Iranian news outlets reported that “dozens” of missiles were fired, including the Shahab-3, which has a range of about 1,000 miles and is capable of carrying cluster warheads, and the shorter range Shahab-2. The Iranian news agency ISNA posted photographs of what it said were the missiles, shown billowing smoke as they were launched, in the so-called “Great Prophet” exercises involving air, naval and ground forces.
The agency quoted a senior official as saying that the launchings were not linked to any developments in the nuclear issue. But it said that the launchings showed that Iran had reached an international level of achievement in its ballistic missile program.
“The first and main goal of this exercise is to demonstrate power and national determination to defend the country against any possible threat, and show Iran’s missile capability which has increased the country’s defense capability,” the ISNA report said.
Iran had test-fired Shahab-3 missiles in the late 1990s and then upgraded versions of it since then. In 2000, it said that it had successfully test-fired the Shahab-3 missile twice in two months, saying that it had no military purpose but was intended to put communications satellites into orbit.
Today’s exercises come at a particularly sensitive time for Iran and its troubled relationship with the United States, which says Iran’s nuclear program is intended to develop a weapons arsenal.
Earlier this week, more than two dozen countries, including three Arab gulf states, practiced intercepting and searching vessels suspected of trafficking in unconventional weapons. The military maneuvers, conducted about 20 miles outside Iranian territorial waters, appeared to signal to Iran that an American coalition with regional states was intent on denying it access to nuclear, chemical and biological arms.
Iran says that it has the right to develop its nuclear program for power, and a spokesman for the country’s parliamentary national security and foreign affairs council said today on ISNA that Iran intended to launch more centrifuge cascades after starting a second one recently.
“We are preparing another centrifuge cascade and we plan to continue this until we become capable of providing our own nuclear fuel,” said the spokesman, Kazem Jalali. He said they would only be used for research and development.
On Wednesday, the Bush administration also accused Tehran of planning with Syria to topple the Lebanese government. And the United Nations Security Council (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/security_council/index.html?inline=nyt-org) has demanded that Iran halt its enrichment program, and members were debating a resolution that could entail sanctions.
Iran has long seen ballistic missiles as an important weapon, and those fired today are capable of striking Israel, Turkey and other countries in the region.
Iran fired Scud missiles at Baghdad and Kirkuk during its war with Iraq and later embarked on an effort to secure additional missiles and missile technology from foreign suppliers, including North Korea. The Shahab-3 is a liquid-fueled missile that is based on North Korea’s No-dong missile.
The State Department said in March that Iran had a “very active and aggressive” military program, after Iran announced that it had test-fired another missile known as the Fajr-3, which Iranian officials then said was capable of carrying several warheads and evading an enemy’s radar.
During the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hezbollah/index.html?inline=nyt-org) this summer, Hezbollah fired several rockets deep inside Israel that American and Israeli officials believed might have been an upgraded version of the Fajr-3 supplied by Iran.
Nazila Fathi contributed reporting from Tehran for this article.
==========================
http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/11/02/world/02iran.650.jpg
November 2, 2006
Soon After U.S. Ends Exercise, Iran Fires Several Missiles
By CHRISTINE HAUSER (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/christine_hauser/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Iran (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iran/index.html?inline=nyt-geo) fired several missiles with a range of more than 1,000 miles today during a military maneuver that started just days after the United States and several allies, including Persian Gulf states, held exercises in the same area.
Iranian news outlets reported that “dozens” of missiles were fired, including the Shahab-3, which has a range of about 1,000 miles and is capable of carrying cluster warheads, and the shorter range Shahab-2. The Iranian news agency ISNA posted photographs of what it said were the missiles, shown billowing smoke as they were launched, in the so-called “Great Prophet” exercises involving air, naval and ground forces.
The agency quoted a senior official as saying that the launchings were not linked to any developments in the nuclear issue. But it said that the launchings showed that Iran had reached an international level of achievement in its ballistic missile program.
“The first and main goal of this exercise is to demonstrate power and national determination to defend the country against any possible threat, and show Iran’s missile capability which has increased the country’s defense capability,” the ISNA report said.
Iran had test-fired Shahab-3 missiles in the late 1990s and then upgraded versions of it since then. In 2000, it said that it had successfully test-fired the Shahab-3 missile twice in two months, saying that it had no military purpose but was intended to put communications satellites into orbit.
Today’s exercises come at a particularly sensitive time for Iran and its troubled relationship with the United States, which says Iran’s nuclear program is intended to develop a weapons arsenal.
Earlier this week, more than two dozen countries, including three Arab gulf states, practiced intercepting and searching vessels suspected of trafficking in unconventional weapons. The military maneuvers, conducted about 20 miles outside Iranian territorial waters, appeared to signal to Iran that an American coalition with regional states was intent on denying it access to nuclear, chemical and biological arms.
Iran says that it has the right to develop its nuclear program for power, and a spokesman for the country’s parliamentary national security and foreign affairs council said today on ISNA that Iran intended to launch more centrifuge cascades after starting a second one recently.
“We are preparing another centrifuge cascade and we plan to continue this until we become capable of providing our own nuclear fuel,” said the spokesman, Kazem Jalali. He said they would only be used for research and development.
On Wednesday, the Bush administration also accused Tehran of planning with Syria to topple the Lebanese government. And the United Nations Security Council (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/security_council/index.html?inline=nyt-org) has demanded that Iran halt its enrichment program, and members were debating a resolution that could entail sanctions.
Iran has long seen ballistic missiles as an important weapon, and those fired today are capable of striking Israel, Turkey and other countries in the region.
Iran fired Scud missiles at Baghdad and Kirkuk during its war with Iraq and later embarked on an effort to secure additional missiles and missile technology from foreign suppliers, including North Korea. The Shahab-3 is a liquid-fueled missile that is based on North Korea’s No-dong missile.
The State Department said in March that Iran had a “very active and aggressive” military program, after Iran announced that it had test-fired another missile known as the Fajr-3, which Iranian officials then said was capable of carrying several warheads and evading an enemy’s radar.
During the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/h/hezbollah/index.html?inline=nyt-org) this summer, Hezbollah fired several rockets deep inside Israel that American and Israeli officials believed might have been an upgraded version of the Fajr-3 supplied by Iran.
Nazila Fathi contributed reporting from Tehran for this article.