WarSclerotic

Iran Practicing for An EMP Attack on the U.S. Say U.S. Lawmakers. But How Credible is That Claim? | Ottawa Citizen.

The potential for war with Iran is being hotly debated, in light of the new report about that country’s alleged nuclear arsenal.

“The regime in Iran poses a significant threat to regional and global peace,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told reporters, responding to the release of the International Atomic Energy Agency report. The report, released Wednesday, laid out the most details yet of Iran’s alleged effort to build a nuclear arsenal.

But there has been some questioning the sources of that report.

And now, some lawmakers in the U.S. are suggesting that Iran might have some ideas on what to do with those nuclear weapons (if they do indeed have them).

They claim that Iran’s military and Revolutionary Guard are practicing for the detonation of a nuclear weapon near space, the ultimate goal being an Electromagnetic Pulse attack on the U.S.

Republican Representative Trent Franks says Iran is practicing launching a ballistic missile from a vessel in the Caspian Sea and they also have tested high-altitude explosions with their Shahab-111 missile.

“Terrorists think that electromagnetic pulse or some type of attack is their ultimate asymmetric weapon,” he told Aviation Week recently. “Iran’s (actions) clarify that jihadist nation’s intent for the U.S. and Israel.”

But how real is the threat from Iran? That is unclear.

If Iran had the bomb, would it use it on an attack against the U.S., as that would likely mean the destruction of Iran in a retaliatory strike?

Whatever the case, in Ottawa, the Harper government has been talking a hard line. “Canada is deeply disturbed by the actions of the current Iranian regime,” Baird said. “The information presented in the report is only the latest of a series of grave concerns our government has with the regime.”

“Canada will continue to work with its like-minded allies to take the necessary action for Iran to abandon its nuclear program,” Baird said. ”We encourage others to join in this effort. It is not a question of if, but to what extent, we will act in response to this report.”

Poll: Most Americans back Israeli strike on Iran – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Some 57% of Americans say they support Israeli military action against Iran’s nuke sites

Yitzhak Benhorin

Most Americans support an Israeli strike on Iran‘s nuclear sites, while a smaller majority endorses such US strike, according to a poll commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League.

Some 63% of poll respondents characterized Israelas a “crucial ally” and said that the Jewish state’s relationship with the US does not undermine America’s image in the world.

As to Iran’s development of nuclear weapons, the poll showed that 57% of Americans support Israeli military action to prevent such scenario while only 31% opposed such move. Some 50% of respondents supported US military action against Iran, while 44% expressed their objection to such strike.

Israeli F-16 – soon in Iran? (Photo: EPA)

Meanwhile, nearly half of all Americans said they sympathize with the State of Israel, while only 18% said they sympathize with the Palestinians. Some 63% of respondents said they believe Israel is serious about peace, while only 37% thought otherwise.

Overall, 73% of Americans said that the US can count on Israel as a strong ally.

“The poll demonstrates once again that no matter the degree of change in the Middle East, the one constant is the American people’s strong support for Israel,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “It is particularly significant that Americans ‘get it’ with regard to the need for direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians as well as the need to act to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.”

The poll, titled American Attitudes Toward Israel, the Palestinians and Prospects for Peace in the Middle East, encompassed 1,754 adults and was undertaken in October.

Iran military base explosion: 17 feared dead in massive blast near Tehran | Mail Online.

By Daily Mail Reporter

A huge explosion at one of Iran’s key military bases has killed at least 17 soldiers.

The blast near the capital Tehran could be heard more than 50 miles away and triggered fears of an Israeli attack or sabotage by anti-Government forces.

The Pentagon put troops in Iraq and the Persian Gulf on a heightened state of alert.

Explosion: A cloud of black smoke and flames at the Revolutionary Guard ammunition depot near Tehran after the blast

Blazing: Flames are pictured shooting into the sky from the Iranian arsenal. The blast was heard 30 miles away

But yesterday Iran blamed the incident at the Revolutionary Guards’ base on an accident caused by moving ammunition. It denied any link to nuclear testing or missile-firing.

Iran’s Fars news agency said 17 had died and many more had been taken to hospital. A local politician told the Iranian parliament’s website the blast had destroyed ‘a large part of the ammunition depot’ but he ruled out the explosion being ‘in any way political’.

In October last year, a blast at a Revolutionary Guards’ ammunition storage area in the city of Khorramabad killed 18 soldiers and left dozens injured. It was blamed on a fire that had spread to the site.

Close-up: The blast rips through a building

Amateur video captured smoke rises from the accidental explosion at a Revolutionary Guard ammunition depot

The UN’s nuclear watchdog released a report on Tuesday which prompted new fears that Iran’s nuclear programme has a military objective. There has also been speculation in Israel’s media that Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is considering strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites in the hope of stalling or ending its programme.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence has in recent weeks reviewed contingency plans following any unilateral strike by Israel.

The plans cover the evacuation of British citizens and the role for minesweepers in the Gulf in the event that the key oil artery is mined by Iran.

Dissidents have carried out sabotage in parts of Iran but few attacks near Tehran.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security.

DEBKAfile Special Report November 12, 2011, 9:53 PM (GMT+02:00)

No ordinary blast at Shahryar IRGC base

Brig. Hassan Moghadam, head of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) missile development and sections of its nuclear program, was killed in one of the two consecutive explosions that hit two IRGC bases 46 kilometers west of Tehran Saturday, Nov. 12. The official fatality figure is 32.  Fourteen hours after explosions blasts could still be heard and fires raged.  debkafile‘s exclusive sources report the bases are located in Malard, a town in the Shahryar district. The Moadarres facility was the first to be hit, while the second and bigger blast occurred at Amir-al-Mo’menin.

Their force was such that the Iranian Red Crescent rushed 45 ambulances to the two facilities plus 23 buses converted to first-aid vehicles and a helicopter to evacuate the critically injured.

However, only six rescue workers were given access to the Moadarres base and none were permitted to enter to enter Amir-al-Mo’menin because of the facility’s sensitivity.

Fourteen hours after the explosions, the blasts continued and fires raged.  Surrounding streets were closed and reporters kept away from the scene.

Our sources report increasing evidence that the first explosion was caused by a failed effort to mount a nuclear warhead on a Shahab-3 intermediate-range missile.

It was powerful enough to shatter windows and damage shops in Tehran. People gathering on street corners wondered if Israel had attacked Iran’s nuclear sites or destroyed Revolutionary Guards missile bases.  They recalled Supreme Ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s threat Thursday, Nov. 10 to take the war to the streets of Tel Aviv if Tehran was attacked.

IRGC spokesman, Brig. Ramedan Sharif, sharply denied what he said was speculation that the military base was linked to Iran’s nuclear program. “This blast is not related to any nuclear tests,” he said in response to widespread rumors. He insisted the explosion had occurred at an ammo store which was part of the Guards’ “self-sufficiency” system, a term they apply to their munitions plants and the factories manufacturing missile components.

The Iranian authorities, after raising the fatality figure to 32, withheld information on the injured, most of which where transferred to IRGC rather than civilian hospitals. Some may have been foreign engineers or scientists whose presence Tehran is anxious to conceal.

The Emergency Council which deals with extraordinary happenings liable to affect the regime’s stability met in emergency session Saturday night.

Earlier Saturday, debkafile reported on the two huge explosions at two separate military bases west of Tehran killing dozens of Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), wounding many more and trapping an unknown number under rubble.

In Tehran, 40 kilometers away, windows were shattered and damage caused vehicles and shops. The blasts were heard in Tehran’s center.

debkafile‘s military and Iranian sources report that the explosions may have been part of a series carried out by Iranian dissident groups last month.

The suspicion of sabotage was strengthened by the occurrence Friday of a big fire at a Tehran warehouse used according to our sources by the IRGC for crowd dispersal gear.
The ammo base blown up Saturday in the town of Malard in Shahryar district contained large quantities of rubber bullets, tear gas and other ordnance. A short time later, the second explosion hit a light arms depot at a military camp of Bidganeh several kilometers away. That both were accidents is hardly credible.
The two blasts were confirmed by the Iranian lawmaker Hossein Garussi without further details.

Tehran recently broke up an armed dissident group called Oghab. Three members were executed and the others were allowed to flee the country. An organization of that name operates in the United States, but its leader denied involvement in any sabotage operations inside Iran.