Posted on 08/20/2006 2:22:58 PM PDT by humint
Three factories in Iran are mass-producing the sophisticated roadside bombs used to kill British soldiers over the border in Iraq, it has been claimed.
The lethal bombs are being made by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps at ordnance factory sites in Teheran, according to opponents of the country's theocratic regime.
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Designed to penetrate heavy armour, the devices being manufactured in Iran involve the use of "explosively formed projectiles" or EFPs, also known as shaped charges, often triggered by infra-red beams.
The weapons can pierce the armour of British and American tanks and armoured personnel carriers and completely destroy armoured Land Rovers, which are used by the majority of British troops on operations in Iraq.
The Sunday Telegraph revealed in April that Iranian-made devices employing several EFPs, directed at different angles, were being used in Iraq.
And in June, this newspaper obtained the first picture of one of the Iraqi insurgent weapons - designed to fire an armour-piercing EFP - believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 17 British soldiers.
British Government scientists have already established that the mines are precision-made weapons thought to have been turned on a lathe by craftsmen trained in the manufacture of munitions.
Members of the Washington-based Iran Policy Committee have released the details about the three bomb factories gathered by the exile group, the National Council for Resistance in Iran (NCRI).
Iranians working for the NCRI pinpointed the facilities at three industrial sections called Sattari, Sayad Shirazi and Shiroodi. The factories are in the Lavizan neighbourhood in northern Teheran which is controlled by the country's defence ministry. The Sattari Industry specialises in anti-tank mines and operates under the aegis of the IRGC's al-Quds or Jerusalem Force.
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Alireza Jafarzadeh, a former spokesman for the NCRI who in 2002 revealed the existence of two Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz and Arak, said the devices were smuggled to Iraq via Iran's Shalamcheh border region.
"These sites are close to a military site, known as Lavizan 2, that is now being used for Iran's nuclear programme. It shows there is a high level of co-ordination by the Iranian regime, which wants to destabilise Iraq to make way for an Islamic Republic.
"This is not a ragtag workshop in some remote area. These sites are within an area that is one of the most sanitised parts of Teheran which is controlled by the Iranian Defence Ministry."
He added that NCRI sources reported the movement of EFP devices from Teheran into Iraq as recently as June and that supplies of the devices, which began last year, had been stepped up in recent months.
The infra-red triggering mechanism for roadside bombs was perfected by Hezbollah, under Iranian tutelage, against Israeli forces in the 1990s. Mr Jafarzadeh said that in recent weeks Iran had facilitated the movement of cash from Shia groups in Iraq to Hezbollah.
Brig James Dutton, then the commander of British forces in southern Iraq, revealed last November that EFPs had led to a marked increase in the lethality of attacks. He said the "technology certainly, and probably the equipment is coming through Iran". He added: "They come in various grades, these EFP improvised explosive devices, from those that could be made in a relatively simple workshop to those that would require a reasonably sophisticated factory."
Last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a former IRGC commander and the man believed by Western intelligence agencies to be in charge of Iranian operations in Iraq, was asked in an interview with CBS television why Iran would furnish roadside bombs to Iraqi insurgents.
He ignored the question, instead responding: "We are saddened that the people of Iraq are being killed. I believe that the rulers of the US have to change their mentality. I ask you, sir, what is the American army doing inside Iraq? Why are the Americans killing Iraqis on a daily basis?"
The factory disclosures come amid growing unease among soldiers in Iraq over what they believe is inadequate protection against terrorist booby traps.
There are fears that soldiers' lives are being put at risk by senior officers insisting that troops must conduct patrols in armoured Land Rovers even though they provide little or no protection from such insurgent devices.
Pressure continues to mount on the Ministry of Defence to introduce a new range of military vehicles that will protect troops from the terrorist bombs in Iraq.
The last two soldiers to be killed by the device were Lieut Tom Mildinhall, 27, and L/Cpl Paul Farrelly, 28, both members of the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards, who were killed on May 28 in a district north-west of Basra.
But, then again, we don't even take care of our own borders.
That thing is the Claymore from hell.
When is the world going to finally wake to the fact that Iran is behind so much of the instability of the world? Is there ANY doubt what they will do if they get nukes?
Or we need to bomb those plants...
We need to bomb the Iranians until they don't have anything to export.
We need enough troops in Iraq to better control the Syrian and Iranian borders. You can bomb these plants and the Iranians will build other ones. I really think Rumsfeld either needs to accept the fact we need more troops, or resign and have someone come in who will bring more troops in.
Be a real shame if a little accident were to take place at those facilities. Explosives manufacture can be very dangerous, you know.
AT one time I thought Israel could take them, but not anymore.
Bush and Rumsfeld border control?
[Snicker]
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But, first we need our politicians to get some of these...
There should be a campaign to snuff the the teams emplanting IEDs.
Whether we want to admit it or not, Iran is at war with the US and has been for quite a while. We need to get serious about that, IMHO.
Should be possible to rig up a hand held radar unit to spot these devices.
I am sick of seeing that gross picture!
An 8 year old child caught stealing bread in a market of Iran is punished in a public place, in the name of Islam! His arm will be crushed an d he may lose its use permanently. A religion of peace and love, they say? How can anyone believe them when they commit such acts?
President Bush will do little to nothing to stop the Iranians from exporting IED's to Iraq, development of their nuclear program, supporting Hizbullah, etc. The Iranians are perfectly aware that the Bush administration will take no serious steps to stop any of these activities.
This silly "cease-fire" Bush engineered with the French probably left the Iranians laughing hysterically at just how weak the West has become.
As for sending more troops to Iraq. Ya, it might help to some degree, but what we are really talking about here is imposing American will on an Islamic land. We might could achieve some success if we were willing to be brutal and ruthless with anyone in Iraq who oppose us, but the American people are not ready to support a war like that. Not yet anyway.
One of these days Britain, The United States and Israel are going to get a bellyful of dying from weapons being made in Iran. On that day hell will be coming to see Iran and those people who have allowed their country to be ruined by religious Mullahs and a crazy little dwarf will pay the price of their perfidy.
I don't care about the politics of it. I don't care if we lose seats. We must be ready.
We need to draft again so that we are not having to catch up later. We are in a world war, and we need to draft again!!!
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