Anyone got a map of this area?
Posted on 02/16/2005 5:31:03 AM PST by 12B
Large blast heard near City of Dailam. Iran TV says fired from unknown aircraft.
No other details.
That's my first assumption. Had it been anyone else, there wouldn't be anything left of the place. MOAB, anyone?
Gas can blew up and they saw the can fall out of the sky/just kidding...
but they also say the Mossad killed the ex leader in Lebanon..I don't believe it until it can be verified.
FoxNews now reporting, Iranians reporting an unknown plane fired a missile. It hit in an unpopulated area.
be right back, gotta make some popcorn . . .
Will do
We've been preparing for this, building data. From this morning...
Iran: US Using Nuke Spy Drones
The United States has been flying spy drones over Iran's nuclear sites, Iran's intelligence minister has been quoted as saying.
"Most of the shining objects that our people see over Iran's airspace are American spying equipment used to spy on Iran's nuclear and military facilities," The Associated Press quoted Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi as saying Wednesday
On Sunday, The Washington Post newspaper quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying the United States has been using unmanned flights for the past year to gather intelligence on Iran's nuclear capability.
"U.S. spying activities over Iranian airspace have been going since a long time ago," AP quoted Yunesi as saying.
"These activities won't reveal anything to them," Yunesi said. "That's to say, it won't give them anything new."
"Our nuclear activities are open and very transparent. Our military activities are all legal," Yunesi said.
"If any of the bright objects come close, they will definitely meet our fire. We possess the necessary equipment to confront them," Yunesi said.
Last month, Yunesi said that the United States had been conducting aerial surveillance, but he neither mentioned drones nor nuclear and military sites, AP reported.
The Iranian air force was ordered in December to shoot down any unknown or suspicious flying objects in Iran's airspace, AP reported. At the time, there were reports in Iranian newspapers that spying devices had been found in a pilotless planes that had been shot down.
Meanwhile Wednesday, Iran's foreign minister, Kamal Kharrasi, was in Berlin for meetings with his German counterpart, Joschka Fischer. European and U.S. efforts to rein in Tehran's nuclear ambitions were expected to be the focus of the talks.
Iran suspended its uranium enrichment program last year under a deal struck with Germany, France and Britain. Tehran plans to decide soon whether to continue the suspension, which is monitored by U.N. nuclear inspectors.
On Tuesday, Kharrasi urged the European Union to make more economic and technological concessions to reach an agreement on Iran'snuclear activities.
"It needs more efforts, more seriousness, more confidence building to be evaluated as a fruitful and positive process," AP quoted him as telling reporters after discussions with the Luxembourg government, which holds the rotating EU presidency.
Conflicting signals
Following Sunday's Washington Post story, U.S. sources gave conflicting signals to CNN about the veracity of the report.
Three senior U.S. military officials disputed the article Sunday, but two well-placed U.S. government sources confirmed it, saying that the overflights have indeed been taking place.
The newspaper -- citing three U.S. officials -- reported that Washington has been using drones to look for evidence of nuclear weapons programs and to "detect weaknesses in air defenses."
Neither the CIA nor the Pentagon commented Sunday on the apparent discrepancy.
The Bush administration has been working to build international pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program, arguing that the country is operating a clandestine weapons program.
Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is designed for civilian energy production only.
Because U.S. intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction turned out to be wrong, some critics of the Bush administration have questioned whether U.S. intelligence on Iran can be trusted.
Britain, France and Germany have been holding talks with Tehran in an attempt to have Iran's uranium-enrichment program permanently frozen. The United States has said it would work with European countries in their efforts.
Meanwhile, Sen. Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CNN's "Late Edition" Sunday that the United States is not flying drones over Iran.
But the Kansas Republican did say that unmanned aerial vehicles -- or UAVs -- have the capability to collect such intelligence.
"I think we ought to be using all of our capabilities in terms of collecting the intelligence we need," said Roberts, who recently commissioned his staff to conduct a review of U.S. intelligence on Iran, in order to avoid the kind of faulty assessments that preceded the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
"It was a world community intelligence failure; we can't let that happen again," Roberts said.
Meanwhile, another U.S. senator said Iran was a greater problem than Iraq, and that America needed to have "all eyes on the ground that we can possibly get."
"They are a dangerous country," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Intelligence Committee's ranking Democrat. "They're much more sophisticated than Iraq."
Several U.S. military officials said they have no information on any U.S. operations over Iran.
A senior military official with knowledge of the region told CNN last week that there were no aircraft, including UAVs, flying over Iranian airspace.
He said no U.S. military aircraft were violating Iranian airspace and that the United States was keeping its assets 12 miles (19 kilometers) off Iranian shores.
In January, the Pentagon criticized an article by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh that said the United States had been carrying out reconnaissance missions in Iran for possible airstrikes as soon as this summer. (Full story)
In December, the Iranian newspaper "Etemaad" reported Iranian citizens' apparent sightings of unidentified flying objects.
People said they saw illuminated objects flying over eastern and western parts of Iran, including the cities of Bushehr and Esfahan.
The objects were flying at an altitude of about 30,000 feet, the report said.
warning from Israel.
I gotta quit watching "24", too many theories are floating in my head...
because CNN says so.
FoxNews adds that the area where the incident occurs is known to have nuclear facilities.
The province mentioned in a post above is on the Caspian, and has a bit of a border with the Soviet Union.
Gilan Province.
see here:
http://globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/images/iran1.gif
from here:
http://globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/maps.htm
Doh! There is no Soviet Union. Drink coffee before posting.
Sky News is reporting that Reuters is repoerting that Iranian tv is reporting.
See #49. Sky (and now Fox) are using Iranian TV as the source (not exactly reliable, but it's all we have to go on for now).
What would be the point? If the pretend that we attacked them, they'd have to respond. If not, and we 'got away with it', then it would show that when the time comes, we really could get away with it.
The sympathy ploy isn't going to work in this case. It would just make them look cynical and crazy.
Dow futures market is rebounding back up.
Re Lebanon blast, fwiw from Ldn guy///
All the classic signs of the secret seven from foggy bottom.
Not even an original scenario.
Misdirection with the svelt tiger lady and george mouthing on about Iraq and even korea and china and everywhere else except the other obvious target of Syria.
Assasinate Musadek using a suicide bomber who cant be identified or followed up unless competent DNA forensic people are allowed access.
Next step:- withdraw ambassador/consul/trade agent (together with local assets needed later` to establish ur new regeime.
Public demos in streets against syria with popular local media stars.
Tame UN allies speak in UN. Make sure all contracts in place.
Protect Lebanon against Syria with overwhelming pre-emptive force.
Oh great - and here I am trying to get a job at ORNL.
US crude oil jumps a dollar
Testing air defenses, perhaps...
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