'Die Welt': Iran building rocket bases in Venezuela

The Iranian government is moving forward with the construction of rocket launch bases in Venezuela, the German daily Die Welt wrote in its Thursday edition.

Iran is building intermediate- range missile launch pads on the Paraguaná Peninsula, and engineers from a construction firm – Khatam al-Anbia – owned by the Revolutionary Guards visited Paraguaná in February. Amir al-Hadschisadeh, the head of the Guard’s Air Force, participated in the visit, according to the report. Die Welt cited information from “Western security insiders.”

> In fact, few know our ships off the coast of Cuba were dropping depth charges on Soviet submarines.

I a seaman apprentice (E2) aboard a destroyer of the coast of Cuba in late 1962. I know about exactly what we did there.

One would think North Korea may also have simular plans.

I did a quick metasearch and read-up, and here is what I found.

In 2008 the Director of the DIA reported to Congress that the North Koreans had got their hands on Soviet discard technology and were producing copies/improved copies of the SS-N-6 sea-launched ballistic missile, which the Norks had redeveloped as a land-based IRBM, US codename "Musudan". This missile had a range of about 1200-1500 nm in Soviet service, and lofted a single warhead rated at 1.75 megatons. It was a MAD weapon deployed on "Yankee"-class SSBN's; this was the weapon system I was personally tasked against when I was in the Nav 40 years ago.

In 2008 the Norks apparently made available a number of these revenant Soviet vehicles to the Iranians, who announced (and Reuters reported) in 2009 a successful test of the "Sejil" IRBM, which appears to be the "Musudan". This weapon system is distinct from the homegrown "Shahab"-series missiles the Iranians had been developing, the (then) latest of which had been developed to the IRBM/1000-mile class.

These systems would appear to be what Ahmadinejad and Chavez appear to be preparing to deploy in Venezuela.

Right about now would be a good time for USG to move definitively, and with exterminative thoroughness, against the Iranian nuclear-weapons program.

I knew of that by foreign media. The average Venezuelan has NO access to anything that detracts from the dictator communism in general. Me, I have my means.

Disgracefully, I believe the technology was put in place by American companies, just like China.

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