Posted on 04/05/2006 11:25:28 AM PDT by bd476
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Wednesday it has successfully test-fired a "top secret" missile, the third in a week, state-run television reported.
The report called the missile an "ultra-horizon" weapon and said it could be fired from all military helicopters and jet fighters.
The tests came amid war games being held since Friday by the elite Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea at a time of increased tension with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.
Iranian television called it a "turning point" in its missile tests but gave no other details.
At the same time, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, said the United States must recognize Iran as a "big, regional power."
Speaking on state television, Safavi said Iran could use the Straits of Hormuz to apply pressure on foreign powers. About two-fifths of the world's oil supplies pass through the 34-mile-wide entrance to the Gulf.
"The Straits of Hormuz are a point of control and economic pressure on the energy transfer route for those foreign powers that might want to undermine regional security," Safavi said.
He reiterated that Iran could defend itself against any invasion and added: "I advise Americans not to move toward a military strike against Iran."
On Tuesday, Safavi called for foreign forces to leave the region. The U.S. 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain.
That same day, Iran tested a new surface-to-sea radar-avoiding missile equipped with remote-control and searching systems, state TV reported. It said the new missile, called Kowsar, was a medium-range weapon that Iran could mass-produce.
It also said the Kowsar's guidance system could not be scrambled, and it had been designed to sink ships.
On Friday, Iran tested the Fajr-3, a missile that it said can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads. Iran also has tested what it calls two new torpedoes.
One of the torpedoes, unveiled Monday, was tested in the Straits of Hormuz. That seemed to be a clear warning to the United States that Iran believes it has the capability to disable oil tankers moving through the Gulf.
The Revolutionary Guards have been holding their maneuvers code-named the "Great Prophet" since Friday.
Some military analysts in Moscow said it appears the high-speed torpedoes likely were Russian-built weapons that may have been acquired from China or Kyrgyzstan.
Others have questioned their capabilities of evading advanced radar systems such as those in Israel.
The United States said Monday that while Iran may have made "some strides" in its military, it likely is exaggerating its capabilities.
"We know that the Iranians are always trying to improve their weapons system by both foreign and indigenous measures," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. "It's possible that they are increasing their capability and making strides in radar-absorbing materials and technology."
But "the Iranians have also been known to boast and exaggerate their statements about greater technical and tactical capabilities," he said.
Safavi on Wednesday rejected the U.S. claims that Iran had exaggerated its capabilities.
"They tried to say what is related to our equipment was just a bluff. But we announce that the advanced equipment were based on a real and domestic industry," he said.
The U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran give up uranium enrichment, a crucial part of the nuclear process. Washington is pressing for sanctions if Tehran continues its refusal to do so, though U.S. officials have not ruled out military action as an eventual option, insisting they will not allow Iran to gain a nuclear arsenal.
On Tuesday, state TV also said the Revolutionary Guards had tested what it called a "super-modern flying boat" capable of evading radar.
The report showed the boat, looking like an aircraft, taking off from the sea and flying low over the water.
Iran has held war games for two decades to improve its combat readiness and test locally made equipment.
Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.
We could defeat them, but Iran is a huge country with a big population. Defeating them would be one thing; if we had to do it, occupying them would be another.
I couldn't agree with you more. As a matter of fact, there is an article in this month's Naval Proceedings (one of the professional journals of the US Navy) about the difficult terrain and climate in Iran. It's also twice the size of Iraq, with a much larger population.
I'm not saying we couldn't do it, but it wouldn't be a walk in the park, particularly if we had to occupy the country after an invasion, which we almost certainly would.
The main obstacle may be political, and as usual, political concerns trump military ones. The popularity of the war in Iraq is at an all-time low, and I don't believe the American people would get behind a new war in the Middle East. If Iran found a way to attack America in a big way(perhaps by sending terrorists into this country, perhaps by sinking one of our ships in the Persian Gulf), then people might support a war, otherwise, I'm not sure they would.
Still, as you say, there are some very good reasons for the Iranian leadership to start a war, and they may end up forcing us to attack - or giving us an excuse to attack, depending on how you look at it.
- ThreeTracks
I actually envisioned that old cartoon of the Saddam Scud launcher where a camel had a missile in his mouth and a guy was standing there with a hammer waiting to smash the camel's testicles.
I don't believe they have 1 missile much less 3. All the same, I suggest we target all of their "missiles" with a massive bombing effort by our unbelievably talented Air Force.
The Traitor in Chief, the gift that keeps on giving.
I was thinking of the Hunley when I mentioned the exercise bikes. I'm thinking that the Hunley would give the Iranian sub a run for its money.
Young yes, 65% under the age of 30. Sophisticated? Absolutely not. Politically, most are even naive. I would guess you are making your assessment on the young Iranian ex-pats you have met or seen in action overseas and not the 99% or so of the Joe Six pack youth inside Iran.
Even the students are very "unsophisticated" and even what there is to be found is skin deep. That's where so many analysts go wrong. Specially in situational scenarios they create. Simple literacy at a national level (forget national level education including any international knowledge) was only just over a generation old by the time the Revolution happened.
This also a reason for all the conflicting "solutions" being submitted to governments by their intel agencies and military analysts. Few are based on "reality" or realistic comprehension of the populace demographics, mindsets, probable reactions or capacity to think at a level "assumed" by the submitters as it presently exists.
We all forget that it was only in the last 10 to 15 years of the reign of the late Shah (1965 onward) that Iran BEGAN to emerge from the Dark Ages. In all fairness, it took him that long just to get the door open for them. Only to fall back into the darkness when Khomeini took over in 1979.
And they were intentionally sunk deeper into supersition and Islamic dogma. Don't be fooled by the two or three million out of a population of over 70 million, inside Iran, who are the "skin" under which lies the rest of a decent enough but very ignorant population. Again, intentionally kept that way by the Mullahs.
I agree. Since 1979, education for the general population has been provincial and religious, at best. The vocal unrest seems only to be among those who were already adults under the Shah, and among those university students who have been able educate themselves beyond the religious dogma.
As for the professional classes, they're probably the smallest minority. Without the Russians they would not be able to go nuclear or develop all of their new super weapons (such as they are). Without Russian engineers and techs (hired since the collapse of the Soviet Union), they'd probably be hard pressed to keep the lights on. Oil money can buy a lot.
That is why we do not occupy most of it. We just occupy Kuzestan, their Gulf Islands, and use very heavy bombing, and a blockade. Iran's economy relies entirely on oil. If they cannot sell their oil they will collapse.
And I might add, they do produce goods and grow crops that are exported to many other countries, including the neighboring arab states which depend on Iranian imports and which Truly are dependent on the sale of oil.
Last count there were about 40,000 Russian consultants operating inside Iran in almost every facet of technical life, construction and industry. Plus consultive roles.
Their salary/earnings every month are quite significant an income flowing into Russia as much of it appears to do.
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