Iranian Alert - April 1, 2006 - Iran tests new stealth missile

Regime Change Iran ^ | 4.1.2006 | DoctorZin

[DoctorZIn]

Top News Story

Iran tests new stealth missile.

• Times Online reported that Iran today test-fired a new missile with the ability to avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously.
• Islamic Republic News Agency during a joint Iranian maritime war-game in the Persian Gulf, reported that: "One unit of Shahab 2 missile is to be launched to resemble peace and friendship among littoral states of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman."
• Dow Jones Newswires reported that the U.S. State Department said Iran's successful test of a nuclear-capable missile demonstrates Iran's "very active and aggressive military program" that is worrisome to the world.
• The Washington Post reported that Iran's armed forces on Friday successfully test fired a domestically produced missile which can evade radar, adding: "This technology is completely new, without copying any other missile systems that may exist in other countries."

 

The Iranian earthquake, the response.

• Yahoo News reported that President Bush offered assistance Friday to earthquake victims in Iran, saying the United States cares about the suffering of the Iranian people.
• IranMania reported that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday offered US humanitarian aid to the victims of the earthquake in Iran.
• Reuters reported that relief efforts are under way after a series of earthquakes on Thursday night struck Iran's western Lorestan province with over 300 villages in the remote area were reportedly affected, with between 30 and 100 percent of homes damaged.
• Photos of the earthquake damage.

 

Britain recruited Badr militia for Iraqi security.

• The Times reported that the Badr organization, trained in exile by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards was deliberately recruited by Britain to join the new Iraqi security services after Saddam Hussein was overthrown.

 

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Reuters reported that Iran's influential former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, said that putting the U.N. Security Council in charge of the Iranian nuclear file risked harming Iran, the region and the West.
• Radio Free Europe reported that the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion, Asma Jahangir, disclosed an official Iranian government letter that reportedly tells government agencies to collect information -- "in a highly confidential manner" -- about Baha'i members. She explained why the information will likely be used to persecute and discriminate against Baha'i believers.
• Amir Taheri, Asharq Alawsat argued there is no civil war in Iraq: here is why.

[RightWhale]

What are you doing posting super-secret atomic vacuum cleaner spy drawings? Is Our Man in Havana been reassigned to Teheran?

[Threepwood]

That's a fine drawing, but from my studies, it looks like North Korea lacks the expertise to make a functional wristwatch.(Seriously, they basically stole a bunch of swiss machine tools in the 1970's, and have had...mixed results operating them. Mixed, as in buy a sundial.)

I kid, I kid. The inability to make consumer goods is not that important in a command economy, or for strategic considerations. Spend enough scarce resources, and sometimes indigenous weapons programs work A-ok. In this case, maybe North Korean missile technology works like a charm.

The real question is exactly what we know about the terrifying weapon, which right now is nothing other than what the Iranians want us to. They have every incentive to say it is the most lethal thing since spoiled kim chee. Until I see some evidence that this is a fielded, reliable, and accurate weapon I'm not going to be too impressed.

Of course, adaquate evidence might streak down on Tel Aviv, cause WWIII, and the end of my life and yours, but everything is a gamble. Big claims need big proof, and a bunch of bucknuts theocrats surrounded by potential enemies might not be the most reliable source of it.