Archive for February 2013

Iran Says Uranium Reserves Almost Tripled as 16 Plants Planned – Bloomberg

February 24, 2013

Iran Says Uranium Reserves Almost Tripled as 16 Plants Planned

By Ben Richardson & Zaid Sabah Abd Alhamid – Feb 24, 2013 4:20 AM GMT

Iran said recent discoveries of uranium resources have almost tripled the country’s reserves of the radioactive fuel and that it plans to build reactors at 16 new locations, Iranian news agencies reported.

Finding domestic supplies of uranium to fuel Iran’s civilian power program is the country’s top priority, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran head Fereidoon Abbasi told reporters yesterday at an annual industry meeting in Tehran, Fars News Agency said.

Iran now has about 4,400 tons of raw uranium, up from 1,527 tons, the Islamic Republic News Agency said, citing Abbasi. World demand for uranium used in power plants was 63,875 metric tons in 2010, according to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency.

Generating nuclear energy would allow Iran to increase exports of oil and gas, IRNA said. The country has the world’s third-biggest oil reserves, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

Abbasi’s announcement comes just days before multilateral talks are to resume over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. The so-called P5+1 group — China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. — will meet Iranian officials in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Feb. 26 to resume talks over the atomic work after an eight-month lapse.

Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian energy and medical research. The U.S., other UN Security Council members and the European Union suspect a covert atomic weapons program. Iran is installing more advanced centrifuges, which will multiply its enrichment capability, the IAEA reported last week, adding that it was unable to conclude that all material in Iran was intended for peaceful purposes.

‘Serious Doubts’

“On our side, we have very serious doubts about their disinterest in nuclear weapons; on their side, they have very serious doubts about our disinterest in regime change,” Thomas Pickering, a former undersecretary of state for political affairs and former U.S. ambassador to the UN, said in a Feb. 21 interview.

Sanctions by the U.S. and EU that aim to force Iran to cease activities that could have a military application are costing Iran about $98.9 million a day in lost oil sales, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The U.S. imposed new sanctions earlier this month that would keep importers from paying for oil with dollars and euros.

The penalties have yet to persuade Iran to bow to international demands to curtail its atomic program. Iran says it needs to enrich uranium to 20 percent levels — four times more concentrated than that used in reactors — for medical research. The U.S. and its allies worry that stockpile may be more easily converted into weapons-grade fuel.

North Korea

Iran’s public avowal of its determination to push ahead with the program follows the detonation of a military nuclear device by North Korea on Feb. 12, less than 24 hours before President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. Secretary of State John Kerry said the underground detonation posed a threat to the U.S. and to global peace and that the response to North Korea would have to be swift and clear, because it would also send a message to Iran.

“This is not only about the DPRK and its continued flaunting of its obligations under three separate Security Council resolutions, this is about proliferation and it’s also about Iran because they’re linked,” Kerry said Feb. 13. DPRK refers to the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The blast took place weeks after UN Security Council members, including China, imposed additional sanctions after North Korea’s December launch of a long-range rocket in violation of a Security Council ban.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Richardson in Hong Kong at brichardson8@bloomberg.net; Zaid Sabah Abd Alhamid in Washington at zalhamid@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net

via Iran Says Uranium Reserves Almost Tripled as 16 Plants Planned – Bloomberg.

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In Syria, new influx of weapons to rebels tilts the battle against Assad – The Washington Post

February 24, 2013

In Syria, new influx of weapons to rebels tilts the battle against Assad – The Washington Post

In Syria, new influx of weapons to rebels tilts the battle against Assad

View Photo Gallery — War presses on in Syria: Having rejected U.N. peace efforts, fighting continues between government and rebel forces.

By Liz Sly and Karen DeYoung, Sunday, February 24, 1:24 AM

ANTAKYA, Turkey — A surge of rebel advances in Syria is being fueled at least in part by an influx of heavy weaponry in a renewed effort by outside powers to arm moderates in the Free Syrian Army, according to Arab and rebel officials.

The new armaments, including anti-tank weapons and recoilless rifles, have been sent across the Jordanian border into the province of Daraa in recent weeks to counter the growing influence of Islamist extremist groups in the north of Syria by boosting more moderate groups fighting in the south, the officials say.

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In Syria, new influx of weapons to rebels tilts the battle against Assad

The arms are the first heavy weapons known to have been supplied by outside powers to the rebels battling to topple President Bashar al-Assad and his family’s four-decade-old regime since the Syrian uprising began two years ago.

The officials declined to identify the source of the newly provided weapons, but they noted that the countries most closely involved in supporting the rebels’ campaign to oust Assad have grown increasingly alarmed at the soaring influence of Islamists over the fragmented rebel movement. They include the United States and its major European allies, along with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the two countries most directly involved in supplying the rebels. Security officials from those nations have formed a security coordination committee that consults regularly on events in Syria, they said.

Although the Obama administration continues to refuse to directly arm the rebels, the administration has provided intelligence assistance to those who are involved in the supplies, and it also helps vet opposition forces. U.S. officials declined to comment on the new armaments.

The goal of these renewed deliveries, Arab and rebel officials said, is to reverse the unintended effect of an effort last summer to supply small arms and ammunition to rebel forces in the north, which was halted after it became clear that radical Islamists were emerging as the chief beneficiaries.

“The idea was to get heavier stuff, intensify supply and make sure it goes to the good guys,” said an Arab official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation. “If you want to weaken al-Nusra, you do it not by withholding [weapons] but by boosting the other groups.”

Louay al-Mokdad, the political and media coordinator for the Free Syrian Army, confirmed that the rebels have procured new weapons donated from outside Syria, rather than bought on the black market or seized during the capture of government facilities, the source of the vast majority of the arms that are in the hands of the rebels. But he declined to say who was behind the effort.

Another coordinator for the Free Syrian Army, whose units have received small quantities of donated weaponry in the past two weeks, said that as much as empowering moderates, the goal of the

The shift was prompted by the realization that rebel gains across the north of the country over the past year were posing no major threat to the regime in Damascus, said Saleh al-Hamwi, who coordinates the activities of rebel units in the province of Hama with others around the country. But the province of Daraa controls a major route to the capital and is far closer.

“Daraa and Damascus are the key fronts on the revolution, and Damascus is where it is going to end,” he said.

Such is the secrecy surrounding the effort, however, that even those receiving the weapons can’t say with certainty who is supplying them, he said, though it is widely assumed that they are being provided by Saudi Arabia, with the support of its Arab, U.S. and European allies.

“All we can say for sure is that there are some new weapons coming across the border in the south, they are coming with high secrecy and they’re only going to groups that they want,” he said.

The Jordanian government denied any role. There has, however, been a rise in the smuggling of small arms, mostly automatic rifles, across Jordan’s border with Syria, and “Jordan is actively trying to prevent this rise in smuggling,” government spokesman Samih Maytah said.

The snowball effect

Despite the secrecy however, the influx was publicized this month by Eliot Higgins, a British blogger who uses the name Brown Moses and who tracks rebel activity by watching videos rebel units post on YouTube.

In a series of blogs, he noted the appearance in rebel hands of new weapons that almost certainly could not have been captured from government arsenals. They include M-79 anti-tank weapons and M-60 recoilless rifles dating back to the existence of Yugoslavia in the 1980s that the Syrian government does not possess.

He also noted that most of the recipients of the arms appear to be secular or moderate Islamist units of the Free Syrian Army. In a sign of how organized the effort is, he said, one of the recent videos shows members of the local Fajr al-Islam brigade teaching other rebels how to use some of the new weapons.

The items appear to have already begun influencing the course of the war, he said. They have contributed to a sharp escalation of fighting in the Daraa area this year in which opposition fighters have overrun government bases, including several checkpoints along the Jordanian border, a key but long-neglected front.

That, in turn, has enabled the rebels armed with the new equipment to seize weapons and ammunition from captured government facilities, giving them clout over other small groups, mimicking the pattern observed in northern Syria, where the ascendancy of Islamist extremists has snowballed into soaring influence as their military victories mount.

“It’s like what happened with the jihadi groups in Aleppo when they started capturing all these bases and getting the best gear,” he said. “You could call it the Aleppo-ization of Daraa.”

The M-79 anti-tank weapons in particular appear to be giving the rebels new confidence to attack government positions and armor, said Jeff White of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who says he also noted the unexpected appearance of the weapons in rebel videos several weeks ago.

“This isn’t a silver bullet that’s going to dramatically shift the equation, but it’s allowing them to inflict more damage on regime forces, and it’s allowing them to have more successes,” he said. “They’re the right kind of weapons, and they’re what the rebels have been asking for.”To what effect?

It seems unlikely, however, that the influx will be enough to decisively influence the outcome of a raging battle that continues to embrace a broad spectrum of tactics and weaponry, from suicide bombs to Scud missiles, experts say.

Though there have been scattered sightings of the new weapons in other parts of the country, including Aleppo as well as Idlib and Deir al-Zour, in those provinces the battle is primarily being fueled by the significant quantities of weapons that the rebels are capturing from government forces, said Joseph Holliday of the Institute for the Study of War.

The rebels have also been asking for anti-aircraft missiles to counter the government’s use of airpower against their strongholds. But there has been no indication that they are acquiring those in significant quantities outside the few they have captured from government bases, White said.

Hamwi said he suspects the real aim of the international effort is to provide the rebels with just enough firepower to pressure Assad into accepting a negotiated settlement but not enough to enable them to overthrow him. “The international community is using us to put pressure on Bashar,” he said.

Although plans for an offensive on Damascus are being readied, the rebels still lack sufficient firepower to take on government forces there, said Mokdad of the Free Syrian Army. “Even if we are getting weapons, it is not enough,” he said.

Taylor Luck in Amman contributed to this report.

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‘New influx’ of weapons in Syria fuelling fight against Assad, extremists

February 24, 2013

‘New influx’ of weapons in Syria fuelling fight against Assad, extremists.

Sunday, 24 February 2013

Free Syrian Army fighters in Aleppo. Rebel forces have complained that weapons and ammunition are drying up. (Reuters)

Free Syrian Army fighters in Aleppo. Rebel forces have complained that weapons and ammunition are drying up. (Reuters)

By AL ARABIYA

Fresh batches of weapons have recently been sent to Syria in a “renewed effort by outside powers” to arm the Free Syrian Army, officials told the Washington Post in a report on Sunday.

In recent weeks, anti-tank weapons and recoilless rifles, among other arms, have been sent across the Jordanian border into the Syrian province of Daraa, the newspaper stated, citing Arab and opposition officials.

The weapons influx reportedly serves the purpose of countering “the growing influence of Islamist extremist groups in the north of Syria by boosting more moderate groups fighting in the south,” the officials told the Post.

“The idea was to get heavier stuff, intensify supply and make sure it goes to the good guys,” an Arab official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the Post. “If you want to weaken al-Nusra, you do it not by withholding [weapons] but by boosting the other groups.”

Al-Nusra Front, which was unknown before the start of the revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad but which now regularly issues statements claiming suicide attacks in Syria.

Another reason for the fresh arms supplies was also to “shift the focus of the war away from the north toward the south and the capital, Assad’s stronghold,” the Post added, quoting a coordinator for the Free Syrian Army, who also remained unnamed.

Meanwhile, the Syrian regime has made strong military advances in the past week.

On Saturday, the United States strongly condemned a series of missile strikes that killed dozens of people in Syria’s second city Aleppo.

At least 37 people were killed and 150 wounded in missile strikes on the Tariq al-Bab district on Friday, according the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The United States Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the series of rocket attacks against Aleppo, most recently the attack using Scud missiles on an eastern district of the city,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

“The Assad regime has no legitimacy and remains in power only through brute force,” Nuland added.

Activists have reported the army’s use of surface-to-surface missiles on various targets in northern Syria since late 2012.

U.S. officials declined to comment to the Post on the new armaments, while the Obama administration continues to refuse to directly arm the rebels.

It has, however, “provided intelligence assistance to those who are involved in the supplies, and it also helps vet opposition forces,” the newspaper noted.

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Syrian rebels say willing to work with IAEA

February 24, 2013

Syrian rebels say willing to work with IAEA – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Free Syria Army says will allow UN’s nuclear watchdog inspectors into seized Al-Kibar compound ‘if our demands are met’

Roi Kais

Published:

02.24.13, 10:20 / Israel News

A spokesman for the Free Syria Army hinted Sunday that the rebels would be willing to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into the Al-Kibar nuclear facility, which they seized last week.

The Al-Kibar facility, according to foreign media reports, was nearly leveled by a 2007 air strike, presumably launched by Israel.

“We’re willing to cooperate with the IAEA if our conditions are met,” the FSA said in a statement.

The London-based Arab newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat further quoted a commander of one of the rebel brigades as saying that the rebels would be willing to lend the IAEA their cooperation in investigating the site, “As long as the revolution is protected.”

He added that the FSA has set up a special security parameter around Al-Kibar, to protect it.

The IAEA has never been allowed to visit the suspected nuclear site.

Al-Kibar (Archive)

The spokesman said that an FSA officer has been made the liaison to the UN agency and will present it with the rebels’ demands, which he said were “Primarily political, technical and logistical, the kind that mean to serve the revolution’s intelligence’s needs.”

He further confirmed earlier reports of the facility’s takeover, saying that the rebels found it empty. He refused to tell the newspaper whether anything was found on the premises to suggest that the facility was used for nuclear work.

“Those details will be given only to the IAEA,” he said.

Meanwhile, the British Telegraph reported Sunday that Washington and London have begun crafting plans to take over or destroy the Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons arsenals, in the event that the volatile situation in the war-torn country deteriorate further.

According to the report, officials in both armies have been holding talks on ways to prevent Syria’s chemical and biological weapons from falling into the hands of terrorist groups, primarily Hezbollah.

Assad is believed to have to the largest nonconventional weapons stockpile in the world.

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Top Iranian general said target of Israeli strike in Syria

February 24, 2013

Top Iranian general said target of Israeli strike in Syria | The Times of Israel.

( Even more focused and successful a strike than any of us could know. Goes well with Fordow. – JW – Kol hakavod l’Tzahal! )

Hassan Shateri, whose death was announced last week, reported to have died in January bombing of Hezbollah-bound weapons convoy

By Gabe Fisher February 24, 2013, 8:31 am

Slain Iranian general Hassan Shateri (photo credit: mashreghnews.ir)

Slain Iranian general Hassan Shateri (photo credit: mashreghnews.ir)

Hassan Shateri, the Iranian general whose killing was reported last week, was actually slain last month in an alleged IAF airstrike that was said to have targeted a weapons convoy heading from Syria to the Lebanese group Hezbollah, the Sunday Times reported.

Iran was quick to blame “mercenaries and supporters” of Israel for Shateri’s death, although it made no indication that he had been killed in that airstrike.

Tehran “will take revenge on Israel for the killing of a Quds Force general in Syria,” said Ali Shirazi, liaison for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force, to a state-run news agency at the time.

Shateri was a high-ranking member of the Quds Force, which is tasked with international operations, and was instrumental in Iran-Hezbollah relations, overseeing the reconstruction of Hezbollah’s armaments in the wake of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Sunday’s report said.

For Israel, he was long a “prime target,” according to an Israeli security figure quoted by The Times.

The report described how, despite the tight security surrounding Shateri, Israeli agents spotted him in Damascus and trailed him as he boarded the convoy headed for Lebanon, after which the air-strike option was utilized.

According to Israeli and Western defense officials quoted by the foreign press at the time, the convoy was leading Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles that, in Hezbollah’s hands, would be considered game-changing in that they would disrupt Israel’s ability to carry out reconnaissance flights over Lebanon.

But according to Sunday’s report, even the specter of advanced surface-to-air weaponry in the hands of Israel’s sworn enemy would not be sufficient, without further cause, to merit a risk-ridden strike deep in Syrian territory.

A senior Israeli source was quoted as saying that Shateri was the real target of the strike and that “a weapons convoy to Lebanon is not on its own a good enough reason for Israel to risk its pilots in an attack through a heavily protected air defense zone.”

Bracing for Iranian relation, Israel has been operating on high security alert, especially internationally, since the January strike, the report said.

Iran condemned the alleged Israeli airstrike at the time, with a top official saying that Israel would regret its “latest aggression” on Syria and calling on the entire Muslim world to defend the Syrian people.

“Just as it regretted its aggressions after the 33-day, 22-day and eight-day wars, today the Zionist entity will regret the aggression it launched against Syria,” said Saeed Jalil, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, evoking past wars between Israel and Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas group.

Israel has not officially acknowledged having carried out an airstrike in Syria, although Defense Minister Ehud Barak alluded at Israeli involvement, saying, “What happened in Syria… that’s proof that when we say something we mean it.”

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Iran says it has brought down a spy drone ‘of the enemy’

February 24, 2013

Iran says it has brought down a … JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

By REUTERS

02/24/2013 02:23

Islamic Republic News Agency says Iran’s Revolutionary Guards brought down foreign surveillance drone during a military exercise; Pentagon spokesman notes that the Iranian did not specifically claim that the drone was American.

Iran's Revolutinary Guard

Iran’s Revolutinary Guard Photo: REUTERS

LONDON – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have brought down a foreign surveillance drone during a military exercise, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said on Saturday.

“We have managed to bring down a drone of the enemy. This has happened before in our country,” the agency quoted war games spokesman General Hamid Sarkheli as saying in Kerman, southeast Iran, where the military exercise is taking place.

The agency gave no details on who the drone belonged to.

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said he had seen the reports. He noted that the Iranians did not specifically claim that the drone was American.

In the past, there have been incidents of Iran claiming to have seized US drones.

In early January Iranian media said Iran had captured two miniature US-made surveillance drones over the past 17 months.

Several drone incidents over the past year or so have highlighted tension in the Gulf as Iran and the United States flex their military capabilities in a standoff over Iran’s disputed nuclear program.

Iran said in January that lightweight RQ11 Raven drones were brought down by Iranian air defense units in separate incidents in August 2011 and November 2012.

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West’s next move: Hezbollah on hit list? | ArabNews

February 23, 2013

West’s next move: Hezbollah on hit list? | ArabNews.

West’s next move: Hezbollah on hit list?

Ali Bluwi

Saturday 23 February 2013

Last Update 23 February 2013 2:27 am

In the second half of the 1970s, Zbigniew Brzezinski — the then national security adviser in Jimmy Carter administration — propounded the idea of religious curtain to confront the Soviet Union, particularly after the latter’s occupation of Afghanistan. Washington did what it took to pave the way for preparing the atmosphere in some countries by propping up some religious parties.
Against this backdrop, Amal — a Lebanese movement — came to the fore as a result of Israeli-Iranian-American agreement. It was followed by the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Hezbollah in 1982, the Islamic Salvation Movement in Sudan in 1985 and finally Hamas in 1987. However, Hamas claims that it came into being as a result of Israeli actions.
Later on, other religious movements surfaced as well. Here, we can refer to Taleban, which was formed in 1996, and the Welfare Party — an Islamist political group — in Turkey in 1983. One can also refer to the Islamist revival in Algeria in 1989, giving birth to the Islamic Salvation Front.
The main reason for the rise of Islamist movement was the need to contain the spread of communist parties, which had spread tentacles and to check the influence the Soviet Union in the region. Interestingly, America alternated its policy with regard to some revolutionary and Pan-Arab countries especially toward Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Algeria and Fatah movement in Palestine.
In addition, Washington sought to reinforce the internal strife between religious and Pan-Arab parties. It was during this era that Washington encouraged the sectarian struggle between Sunnis and Shiites especially after Iran built its policy based on its national and sectarian agendas.
Instead of confronting the Soviet Union — that eventually collapsed in 1989 — these religious parties got involved in the sectarian power struggle.
In his three books, Fouad Ajami — the Lebanese-born American university professor — argued that Washington should put its money on the Shiites rather than on the Sunnis.
In 2005, the king of Jordan warned against the Shiite Crescent that would stretch from Iran to Syria to Lebanon.
After the retreat of the communists in the beginning of the 1990s, religious parties were allowed to participate politically despite the fact that there were misgivings that these parties do not genuinely believe in democracy. In Algeria, the Salvation Front won some 188 seats out of 288 seats in 1991 elections. Not surprisingly, the ruling party did not win more than 16 seats. The Islamist party won national democratic elections, proving to be immensely popular. However, before the parliamentary seats could be taken, the Algerian military violently overturned democracy at the behest of the West.
Also in 2005, Hamas gained some 76 seats out of 132. Following the election, Israel detained many of the movement’s leaders, thus causing a semi separation between Gaza and the West Bank.
The winds of change began to blow in 2010 with all political and security analysts attributing it to the success for the Development and Justice Party (AKP) in Turkey. Then AKP-led government in Ankara advised Washington to reassess its policy toward the Muslim world and the Middle East.
There was a conference — supervised by former US Secretary of the State Medline Albright — which suggested that Washington change its policy toward the region. This took place at a time when Ankara thought that there was a chance to generalize the Turkish Islamic model as opposed to the Iranian model. Back then, three projects came to the fore: The American, Turkish, and Iranian projects. Iran supported the Shiites in Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen. It also reinforced its strategic alliance with Syria and the Shiite communities in the rest of the Muslim and Arab world. Additionally, Iran used Jerusalem and the Palestinian cause as an instrument of its foreign policy.
In 2008, America reached a deal with the Muslim Brotherhood under the patronage of Turkey. In January 2011, the Arab Spring took off with a sort of understanding with the military establishments both in Egypt and Tunisia.
In 2012, Osama Bin Laden’s killing ushered in a new era for the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brothers assured both America and Israel for its support for Turkish-Israeli ties. For this reason, Hamas ended its war with Israel in 2012 declaring a 20-year truce. It is only then some started talking about Hamas’ need to acknowledge Israel within 1967 borders. The withdrawal of Hamas and other Palestinian Islamic factions left Hezbollah and other radical groups on their own in the forefront. For this reason, Hezbollah was left with no options other than supporting the Assad regime. But this time Hezbollah’s arms are directed against both Lebanese and Syrians.
At the beginning of 2013, some Israeli fighters targeted a convoy transporting weapons to Hezbollah. In July 2012, Bulgaria accused Hezbollah of being involved in exploding near an airport, killing some Israeli tourists. Prior to that, India and Georgia accused Hezbollah and Iran of trying to assassinate Israeli diplomats in their countries. Just the beginning of this month, an Israel commando unit assassinated the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Hassan Shatiri. Some source close to Hezbollah linked the assassination with the effort to direct the Western pubic opinion against Hezbollah. They expect that the objective of such a campaign is to put Hezbollah on the list of the terrorist groups. Washington Institute sees that the party is involved in criminal actions in Europe and in actions to destabilize Lebanon.
In his last speech on Feb. 16, 2013, Hassan Nasrallah refuted these accusations and instead threatened Israel. He realized that a series of criminal actions committed by his party would drive the international community to put the party on the terrorist lists. After the decline of its Syrian ally, Hezbollah had no choice but to hope to achieve a phony victory in Syria as in the case of Hamas that declared a 20-year truce. This begs the question whether Hezbollah was on the agenda in the last American-Russian meeting and whether there was a bigger deal?

ali.bluwi@yahoo.com

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Drones, cyber-defense feature in… JPost – Iranian Threat – News

February 23, 2013

Drones, cyber-defense feature in Iran Guards drill

By JPOST.COM STAFF

02/23/2013 11:37

Iranian Revolutionary Guards launch 3-day military exercise in country’s southeast aimed at improving combat preparedness.

Iran’s Revolutinary Guard

Iran’s Revolutinary Guard Photo: REUTERS

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards began a three-day ground and air military exercise on Saturday, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported.

Fars quoted the spokesman for the Great Prophet 8 war games as saying the drills included intelligence-gathering drones as well as tests of the IRGC’s cyber-defense systems.

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According to Fars, the drills are aimed at “maintaining and improving the combat preparedness of the IRGC ground forces, testing the latest combat systems of the IRGC Ground Force and exercising different asymmetric warfare tactics.”

The exercise was being held in the regions of Kerman, Siriz and Sirjan in southeastern Iran.

At the unveiling of an Iranian manufactured air defense system as part of a military parade in September, Revolutionary Guards General Amir Ali Hajizadeh warned Israel against attacking Iran’s nuclear facility saying, “If the Zionist regime makes such a move, there will no longer be a thing called the Zionist regime.”

On the same occasion, commander of Iran’s ground forces Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan told the semi-official Mehr news agency “The enemy will regret it if it one day decides to attack Iran. We will deliver such a response to them that they will regret their act of aggression.”

Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threat

via Drones, cyber-defense feature in… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

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Iran selects 16 sites for new nuclear power plants | Fox News

February 23, 2013

Iran selects 16 sites for new nuclear power plants

Published February 23, 2013

Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has selected 16 locations for the construction of nuclear power plants as part of a plan to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity at multiple sites over the next 15 years.

State TV says Saturday that experts at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran have finished studies to select the best locations across the country. It added that sites were chosen in part for their resistance to earthquakes and military air strikes.

The Islamic republic says it needs 20 large-scale plants to meet its growing electricity needs over the next one-and-a-half decades.

State TV also says that Iran has discovered new uranium resources in the country that will put its reserves at 4,400 tons compared to 1,527 tons three decades ago

via Iran selects 16 sites for new nuclear power plants | Fox News.

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Iran’s IRGC begins major ground, air military exercise – Trend.Az

February 23, 2013

Iran’s IRGC begins major ground, air military exercise

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has begun a major ground and air military exercise that covers the eastern parts of the country, reported PressTV.

The Great Prophet 8 military exercise began on Saturday. The eastern areas that the drill covers include the cities of Kerman, Siriz and Sirjan.

In the first stage of the three-day maneuver, the IRGC Ground Forces attacked mock enemy positions, using intelligence provided by surveillance drones.

Deputy Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Brigadier General Abdullah Araqi said on Saturday that the Great Prophet 8 drill is aimed at exercising various techniques and tactics by implementing principles of passive defense in asymmetric warfare.

The Iranian commander added that the IRGC Ground Forces were improving their defensive capabilities.

The Ground Forces will use the IRGC’s latest military innovations in the upcoming stages.

Over the past few years, Iran has held several military drills to enhance the defense capabilities of its armed forces and to test modern military tactics and equipment.

The IRGC held a three-day missile drill, dubbed the Great Prophet 7, in the central province of Semnan in July 2012.

In January 2012, the IRGC Ground Forces also held the Shohaday-e Vahdat (Martyrs of Unity) military drill in the eastern province of Khorasan Razavi.

Iran has repeatedly stated that its military might poses no threat to other countries, reiterating that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.

via Iran’s IRGC begins major ground, air military exercise – Trend.Az.

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