Posted on 09/17/2007 5:35:52 PM PDT by blam
Iran threatens missile attacks on US targets
By David Blair, Diplomatic Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:33pm BST 17/09/2007
Iran threatened to fire long-range missiles at American targets in the Middle East yesterday as the war of words between Teheran and the West continued to escalate.
A senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard, the largest component of the Islamic republic's armed forces, chose this moment to outline the capability of his country's ballistic missiles.
The Shahab-3 rocket has a range of 1,250 miles, allowing it to strike an array of Western targets across the Middle East.
"Today the Americans are around our country but this does not mean that they are encircling us. They are encircled themselves and are within our range," said Gen Mohammed Hassan Koussechi.
"If the United States is saying that they have identified 2,000 targets in Iran, then what is certain is that it is the Americans who are all around Iran and are equally our targets," he told the official IRNA news agency.
Gen Koussechi added: "We have reached capacities that allow us to hit the enemy at a range of 2,000 kilometres."
A wide array of possible targets faces Iran across the Gulf. Dubai, filled with Western companies, tourists and expatriates, is only 105 miles away.
Iran's armed forces already occupy Abu Musa, an island claimed by the United Arab Emirates, 40 miles from Dubai.
Other potential targets include the oilfields in Saudi Arabia's Eastern province, the headquarters of America's Central Command in Qatar and the main harbour of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus is also in range.
Tension over Iran's nuclear programme is now building. Teheran continues to defy three UN resolutions by enriching uranium, which could produce the essential material for a nuclear bomb.
Later this month, America will probably seek the Security Council's support for a new resolution imposing more sanctions on Iran.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has toughened France's approach towards Teheran, with Bernard Kouchner, his foreign minister, giving warning at the weekend that the world should "prepare for the worst and the worst is war".
Teheran responded yesterday by accusing Mr Sarkozy of being an American stooge.
Iran is enriching uranium using centrifuges. It aims to install 3,000 at the underground nuclear plant in Natanz.
Once it has succeeded — and the technical barriers are formidable — Iran would need about one year to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for one bomb.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reached a new agreement with Iran designed to lay to rest any fears that Teheran is developing a nuclear bomb.
But Western diplomats say the IAEA agreement contains one flaw — it does not specify that Iran must stop enriching uranium. However, Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, said that any talk of war was "hype". He added: "People need to bear with us."
• American forces yesterday captured 12 Iraqis who they accuse of smuggling weapons from Iran. The men, who were detained in Baghdad, had prepared and stockpiled an especially lethal variety of roadside bomb, said the US military.
Are you sure?
Relax, everyone. G. Bush & Co. have sent a double s-load of anti-missile missiles to the ME many months ago, in anticipation of the Iranians firing missiles off. And missiles are their only effective offensive weapon. Iran is now surrounded with missile defenses tighter than Moscow.
The primary targets of Iranian missiles are, in order:
1) US carrier fleets.
2) US bases in Iraq and Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, as well as Italy.
3) Oil terminals and Saudi oilfields.
4) Europe and Israel.
The most important Iranian objective is to get the US out of the Middle East. Any means to achieve this they will regard as a “win.”
Israel is actually pretty low on their missile target list unless Israel attacks them first. If the US leaves, they believe Israel will whither away (bizarre idea).
*It is vital to consider that Iran may have already built nuclear weapons. They could have obtained enriched uranium and plutonium from North Korea, and have been using their uranium enrichment as mostly a ruse to buy time.
*Iranian missile capabilities are a serious threat, and further information about these weapons can be found at:
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iran/missile/shahab-6.htm
(use drop down menu at top to select class of missile)
Finally, I will conclude by saying that the Iranians are correct in their assumption that air attack will not prevent them from developing nuclear weapons. They can either reconstitute their nuclear weapons program, or quite possibly they already have nuclear weapons hidden far away from other targets.
Therefore, in addition to destroying their nuclear infrastructure, we must also destroy the Iranian military and IRGC. And then partition Iran, so that it will no longer have the money or other resources to reconstitute.
An arc of Iran along the coast of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, must be removed. This will include the Kurdish territories in the northwest, down the coast to include the Bushehr nuclear reactor, then East to include Baluchistan next to Pakistan.
This will take away most of their oil, vital minerals needed for their program, and also would reunite and strengthen neighboring countries with people they have much in common with. Iranian Kurdistan to Iraqi Kurdistan. Iranian Arab Khuzestan to Arab Iraq, and Iranian Baluchistan to Pakistan.
Each annexed area would be occupied and defended by the adjacent armies of Kurdistan, Iraq and Pakistan.
Iran would be reduced to Persia and other territories, and there would be no need to destroy, invade or occupy Persia, thus avoiding great loss of life.
The stories also have a clear-cut caste emphasis and that puts them within the realm of Greater India.
Everyone is pretty sure the Arabs had nothing to do with putting the collection together since they didn't even have a well-known written language until the 8th century.
Having read all of the 1001 (that I could get my hands on) and also having read Bandits of the Marsh, I'd like to suggest that some pretty purely traditional Chinese bandit stories got worked into the mix, and a long time ago too!
Abraham's kinsman, Lot, undoubtedly knew some of the tales.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_One_Thousand_and_One_Nights
Sounds good. Especially the ‘double s-load’ part.
The geo positioning sats belong to the US. They were originally military only. Would our military planners have been so dumb as to not make them capable of encrypting the data in just such an event as this??
I still recall the rhetoric from Gulf War I. “This will be the Mother of all Battles! The bodies of the invaders will choke the rivers!†Blah, blah, blah. Iran’s civil and military leadership seem to be smoking too much of the hash that their countrymen grow. I swear, next we’ll hear Amadinnerjacket declare that the Great-great-grandmother of all Battles will begin (that or some other weird moniker for a possible conflict). I hope that Amadinnerjacket survives so that we can force him to be a busboy in a transvestite bar in San Francisco. Then again, he may enjoy that...
Iran cant use the democrats as cover this time if they’re making threats, not a good idea [ =
Jewish people known as "Schmei de Lapu" (Schmidlap) were paper-makers.
That name didn't quite stick but it showed up in Medieval Germany as a common name for folks who made fireworks (one of the other Eastern inventions sweeping Europe). First multi-stage rocket was built in the Middle Ages by a guy named Schmidlap in Germany!
"Schmei", which is obviously the root word for "smith" meant someone who "smeared stuff", or dyed cloth, or mixed cement, etc. Very useful word and was picked up by most European countries as they came into contact with Romans or Spanish Jews.
Do tell.
Excellent info FRiend, thank you.
Probably all inertial guidance.
C-code is easily spoofed. P-code is encrypted.
I saw a related article earlier today. There is no doubt that Iran can create some damage with its 600 ballistic missiles, but it can’t be decisive. The accuracy is good enough to hit area targets as small as refineries, but total damage would be relatively small.
The Gulf allows excellent positioning of our CG’s and DDG’s to shoot these down. Our forces in Iraq are also suitably placed to engage with PACIII. I don’t think Iran is stupid enough to launch on Arab cities, but you never know.
Hopefully, we won’t give the three months heads up to hide these things all over.
According to DEA intel, the Middle East (including Iran), North Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are the main sources of hashish. A few years ago, I saw a DEA world map that indicated source countries for various drugs and the transport routes for the drugs. Iran was shown to be an exporter of Hash, among other things.
With all our boys so close, we can never afford to let them strike first. As with Saddam, as soon as the “shock and awe” starts the iranians troops will start white flagging it big time.
The big talkers think they have safe havens, the average iranian grunt knows he’s going up in smoke. Same with iraqis, I am convinced they has some type WMD that they could have used against our troops, but knew it would result in pure scorched earth on them.
All our enemies remember Pearl Harbor, the reason their leaders end up getting into a war with us is that they are convinced we are paper tigers like klintoon. No way saddam would have let the war start had he known what was coming, especially for him.
Irag nor Irans russki buddies ain’t going to help, because they know we are BAD when pissed.
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