Teheran präsentiert unterirdische Raketensilos

Irans Revolutionsgarden demonstrieren militärische Stärke: Parallel zu einem Manöver präsentierten sie unterirdische Raketensilos. Von dort aus könnten Langstreckenraketen auf Israel und US-Stützpunkte in Afghanistan abgeschossen werden

Auf den Fernsehbildern von der Abschussrampe war dem Bericht des iranischen Staatsfernsehens zufolge eine Schahab-3-Rakete zu sehen, die mit einer Reichweite von knapp 2000 Kilometern Israel oder US-Stützpunkte im Nahen Osten erreichen könnte. Die Silos können demnach Raketen unterschiedlicher Reichweite aufnehmen. Sie seien elektronisch mit den Einsatzzentren verbunden, erklärte General Ali Hadschisadeh von den Revolutionsgarden am Dienstag im Staatsfernsehen. Die Technik für das Raketensilo soll vollständig im Iran hergestellt worden sein.

Raketen können US-Stützpunkte erreichen

Nach Angaben des Generals können die Raketen Israel und US-Stützpunkte in Afghanistan erreichen. „Unsere Raketen wurden genau dafür entwickelt, potenzielle Bedrohungen durch die USA und das zionistische Regime zum Ziel zu nehmen“, sagte Hadschisadeh. Das Rüstungsprojekt sei keine Bedrohung europäischer Staaten. „Die US-Stützpunkte in Afghanistan sind 120 bis 700 Kilometer von uns entfernt“, sagte Hadschisadeh. Sie könnten daher ebenso wie Israel „von uns zum Ziel genommen“ werden.

Die Revolutionsgarden hatten am Montag ihr Manöver „Prophet 6“ begonnen, bei dem die Elitetruppe nach eigenen Angaben auch Raketen testet. Das sei keine Bedrohung anderer Staaten, beteuerte Hadschisadeh. Die Revolutionsgarden hatten im Mai und Oktober neue ballistische Raketen erhalten und arbeiten an Raketen der Folgegeneration. Der Westen ist vor allem besorgt wegen der Rakete Schahab-3 mit ihrer Reichweite von bis zu 2000 Kilometern. Befürchtet wird auch, dass Raketen zum Transport von Atomsprengköpfen dienen könnten. Teheran bestreitet jedoch, sein Atomprogramm für militärische Zwecke nutzen zu wollen.

Iran verweigert Zusammenarbeit mit UN-Gesandten

Die Regierung in Teheran lehnte es am Dienstag ab, den neuen Berichterstatter der Vereinten Nationen für die Menschenrechte im Iran zu empfangen. „Wir haben in der Vergangenheit mit anderen UN-Rechtsgesandten zusammengearbeitet“, erklärte ein Sprecher des Außenministeriums. „Doch in diesem Fall war die Ernennung eine politische Maßnahme, die alle anerkannten Regeln missachtet.“

Die laufenden Manöver würden faktisch darauf abzielen, „Frieden und Ruhe in der Region zu fördern, weil ein machtvoller Iran jede militärische Konfrontation abschrecken könnte.“ Das gelte besonders für eine Bedrohung durch Israel. „Die westliche Sorge über unsere Militärmacht sehen wir mit Wonne“, fügte der Sprecher hinzu.

Teheran wirft den USA vor, mit politischem Druck die Ernennung des UN-Berichterstatters Ahmed Shaheed aus den Malediven durchgesetzt zu haben. Es vertritt zudem die Ansicht, den UN fehle das nötige Verständnis für islamische Normen. Menschenrechte könnten nicht ohne Berücksichtigung der Kultur und des Glaubens generalisiert werden.

 

Quelle: jba/stj/dpa/AFP/Reuters

 

Iran feuert Mittelstreckenraketen ab

Der Iran hat erstmals Mittelstreckenraketen über dem Indischen Ozean getestet. Das Regime feuerte zwei Raketen mit einer Reichweite von 1900 Kilometern ab. Unklar ist, warum es keine internationalen Reaktionen auf den Test gab.

Der Test sei bereits zu Beginn des Jahres erfolgt, sagte der Chef der Luftfahrtabteilung der Revolutionsgarden am Samstag im Staatsfernsehen. Der Test sei angekündigt worden, um die Zielregion für Schiffe zu sperren. Gewöhnlich testet die Islamische Republik Raketen in den weiten Wüstengebieten des Landes.

Die einzige iranische Rakete mit einer Reichweite von 1900 Kilometern ist die Schahab-3-Mittelstreckenrakete. Sie soll sogar eine Reichweite von 2000 Kilometern haben und damit ganz Israel oder US-Stützpunkte in Afghanistan erreichen können. Der General erklärte jedoch nicht, warum der Erfolg dieses Tests erst fünf Monate später verkündet wurde und warum es keine internationalen Reaktionen gab.

Quelle: cp/dpa/Reuters

US-Generalstabschef: Iran verstärkt Waffenlieferungen nach Irak

Der Iran verstärkt nach US-Angaben seine Waffenlieferungen für schiitische Milizen im Irak. Der Iran schicke zunehmend moderne Waffen in den Irak, sagte US-Generalstabschef Mike Mullen am Donnerstag (Ortszeit) in Washington. Teheran unterstütze "sehr direkt extremistische Truppen, die unsere Soldaten töten", sagte Mullen. Die iranischen Waffenlieferungen seien "bedeutend" und hätten zugenommen. Es bestehe kein Zweifel daran, dass Teheran seinen Einfluss vor allem im Süden des Irak auszudehnen versuche.

Quelle: AFP

Attentat auf Gouverneur

Viele Tote bei Anschlag im Irak

Bei einem Terroranschlag auf das Haus eines Provinzgouverneurs sind in der südirakischen Stadt Diwanija mindestens 22 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. Über den Hergang des Attentats gibt es unterschiedliche Angaben. So heißt es in einigen Berichten, vor dem Haus hätten sich zwei Selbstmordattentäter in ihren Autos in die Luft gesprengt.
In anderen Berichten wird gemeldet, ein Selbstmordattentäter habe sich während eines Wachwechsels vor dem Kontrollposten in die Luft gesprengt. Kurz darauf sei eine Autobombe gezündet worden. Die meisten Toten seien Wachleute. Durch die Wucht der Detonationen wurden auch andere Gebäude beschädigt. Bei einem Anschlag auf ein Restaurant in der nahe gelegenen Stadt Muassajab wurden nach Polizeiangaben fünf Menschen getötet.
Die knapp 200 Kilometer südlich von Bagdad gelegene Stadt Diwanija, in der mehrheitlich schiitische Muslime leben, gehört nicht zu den Regionen des Irak in denen es häufiger Terroranschläge gibt.

Iran test-fires short-range missiles

TEHRAN – Iran said it successfully test-fired short-range missiles during military drills Sunday by the elite Revolutionary Guard, a show of force days after the U.S. and its allies warned Tehran over a newly revealed underground nuclear facility it was secretly constructing.

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, said Iran also tested a multiple missile launcher for the first time. The official English-language Press TV showed pictures of at least two missiles being fired simultaneously and said they were from Sunday's drill in a central Iran desert. In the clip, men could be heard shouting "Allahu Akbar" as the missiles were launched.

"We are going to respond to any military action in a crushing manner and it doesn't make any difference which country or regime has launched the aggression," state media quoted Salami as saying. He said the missiles successfully hit their targets.

The powerful Revolutionary Guard defends Iran's clerical rulers. It has its own ground, naval and air units and its air force controls the country's missile program.

The tests came two days after the U.S. and its allies disclosed that Iran had been secretly developing a previously unknown underground uranium enrichment facility and warned the country it must open the nuclear site to international inspection or face harsher international sanctions. The drill was planned before that disclosure.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she doesn't believe Iran can convince the U.S. and other world powers that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, putting Tehran on a course for tougher economic penalties beyond the current "leaky sanctions."

The Iranians must "present convincing evidence as to the purpose of their nuclear program. We don't believe that they can present convincing evidence, that it's only for peaceful purposes, but we are going to put them to the test," Clinton told CBS' "Face the Nation."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, meanwhile, said the disclosure of the site could force more economic penalties against Iran.

He played down the effectiveness of military strikes against the site, however, arguing that pressuring Tehran economically and diplomatically would have a better chance of changing the Tehran government's policies.

"The reality is, there is no military option that does anything more than buy time," he told CNN's "State of the Union" in an interview broadcast Sunday.

The newly revealed nuclear site in the arid mountains near the holy city of Qom is believed to be inside a heavily guarded, underground facility belonging to the Revolutionary Guard, according to a document sent by President Barack Obama's administration to lawmakers.

After the strong condemnations from the U.S. and its allies, Iran said Saturday it will allow U.N. nuclear inspectors to examine the site.

Nuclear experts said the details that have emerged about the site and the fact it was being developed secretly are strong indications that Iran's nuclear program is not only for peaceful purposes, as the country has long maintained.

Israel has trumpeted the latest discoveries as proof of its long-held assertion that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.

"The revelation of the secret Iranian facility also demonstrates to even the most skeptical people the evil intentions of Iran," said Danny Ayalon, Israel's deputy foreign minister.

"The Iran's ongoing military maneuvers including the last one and all their missile tests are a huge challenge to the international community," he added in an interview with Israel's Channel 10.

He described Iran as the "most serious threat" to peace in the world.

By U.S. estimates, Iran is one to five years away from having nuclear weapons capability, although U.S. intelligence also believes that Iranian leaders have not yet made the decision to build a weapon.

Iran also is developing a longer-range ballistic missile that could carry a nuclear warhead, but the administration said last week that it believes that effort has been slowed. That assessment paved the way for Obama's decision to shelve the Bush administration's plan for a missile shield in Europe, which was aimed at defending against Iranian ballistic missiles.

Salami said Iran would test medium-range Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 missiles on Sunday night and a longer-range Shahab-3 missiles on Monday, during drills set to last several days.

Salami said the short-range Fateh and Tondar missiles were test fired on Sunday, but did not give specifics on range or other details.

He told reporters Iran had reduced the missiles and their ranges and enhanced their speed and precision so they could be used in quick, short-range engagements.

He said the Revolutionary Guards' current missile tests and military drills are indications of Iran's resolve to defend its national values and part of a strategy of deterrence and containment of missile threats.

Iran has had the solid-fuel Fateh missile, with a range of 120 miles (193 kilometers), for several years. Fateh means conqueror in Farsi and Arabic. It also has the solid-fueled, Chinese-made CSS 8, also called the Tondar 69, according to the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a private group that seeks to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The Tondar, which means thunder, has a range of about 93 miles (150 kilometers.)

State media said the Revolutionary Guard tested a multiple launcher for the first time, designed for the Zelzal missile. Tehran has previously tested the Zelzal — versions of which have ranges of 130-185 miles (210-300 kilometers) — but only single launch.

In July 2006, Israeli military officials said their jets had destroyed a missile in Lebanon named Zelzal, which they said Hezbollah had received from Iran and could reach Tel Aviv. Zelzal means earthquake.

Iran's last known missile tests were in May when it fired its longest-range solid-fuel missile, Sajjil-2. Tehran said the two-stage surface-to-surface missile has a range of about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) — capable of striking Israel, U.S. Mideast bases and southeastern Europe.

The revelation of Iran's secret site has given greater urgency to a key meeting on Thursday in Geneva between Iran and six major powers trying to stop its suspected nuclear weapons program.

The U.S. and its partners plan to tell Tehran at the meeting that it must provide "unfettered access" for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, within weeks.

The facility is Iran's second uranium-enrichment site working to produce the fuel to power a nuclear reactor, or potentially the material for a weapon.

A close aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday the site will be operational soon and would pose a threat to those who oppose Iran.

"This new facility, God willing, will become operational soon and will blind the eyes of the enemies," Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani told the semiofficial Fars news agency.

Evidence of the clandestine facility was presented Friday by Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. On Saturday, Obama offered Iran "a serious, meaningful dialogue" over its disputed nuclear program, while warning Tehran of grave consequences from a united global front.

Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who heads the country's nuclear program, said Saturday that U.N. nuclear inspectors could visit the nuclear site. On Sunday, he told Press TV Iran and the IAEA would work out the timing of the inspection.

The small-scale site is meant to house no more than 3,000 centrifuges — much less than the 8,000 machines at Natanz, Iran's known industrial-scale enrichment facility, but they could still potentially help create bomb-making material.

Experts have estimated that Iran's current number of centrifuges could enrich enough uranium for a bomb in as little as a year. Washington has been pushing for heavier sanctions if Iran does not agree to end enrichment.

Iran says US journalist in prison

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's judiciary spokesman says a U.S. journalist detained about a month ago is being held in a prison north of the capital, Tehran.

Ali Reza Jamshidi says 31-year-old Roxana Saberi is being held in Evin prison on a court order. He refused to provide further details in Tuesday's press conference.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hasan Qashqavi said Monday that Saberi was engaged in "illegal" activities because she continued working in Iran after the government revoked her press credentials in 2006.

Saberi's father, Reza, has said his daughter told him in a Feb. 10 phone call that she was detained after buying a bottle of wine. Reza Saberi, who lives in Fargo, N.D., said he has not heard from her since.

How Close Is Iran to a Bomb?

Iran now has enough low-enriched uranium to make one atomic bomb—at least theoretically. Independent analysts say that became clear after the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency issued its latest inspection report on Feb. 19, revealing the presence of 1,010 kilograms of the material Washington and the Europeans hoped would never exist.

It's a grim milestone on the road to nuclear perdition; but, then, Iran has passed so many of those in the last five years. And many, like this one, were not quite as dramatic as initial reports implied. U.N. inspectors quickly downplayed stories that they'd not only underestimated the quantities in earlier reports, but they might even have been deceived. Sources close to the IAEA also suggested that it would take about 50 percent more of the low-enriched stuff to process enough high-enriched stuff to make a bomb (a target that could be reached later this year). And in any case, the threat is hypothetical: the potential fuel for one device does not a nuclear power make. The question of whether Tehran moves to arm itself with nukes today, tomorrow, next year, next decade or ever remains open. Indeed, the Iranians say they have no such intentions; they're processing the uranium for future power plants like the one at Bushehr that was fired up in a trial run last week.

Is there any red line Iran may hesitate to cross? The last big one—so big it could start a war—is what's known as "breakout": effectively renouncing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to which Iran is a signatory, halting U.N. inspections and opening the way for a full-bore nuclear-weapons program. What Iran has now achieved, says former inspector David Albright, of the Institute for Science and International Security, is "breakout capability." Perhaps that's all Iran really wants: enough mastery of enrichment to keep the world guessing about its nuclear defenses without provoking massive retaliation. IAEA Director-general Mohamed ElBaradei tends toward this view. But as Albright says, "We just don't know … I think people should be worried."
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Already, Iran has curtailed its cooperation with the IAEA, making it much harder for inspectors to uncover any secret facilities. And it has yet to give a convincing explanation about evidence that it was running a secret program in the past specifically designed to create nukes. A 2007 American National Intelligence Estimate concluded Iran had stopped that program in 2003, but there is no guarantee it hasn't cranked it up again.

So what should Europe and the U.S. do? Obama's team has yet to articulate policy in detail, but the likely emphasis will be on talk—even as it tries to tighten sanctions on Tehran. Iran's economy has become much more vulnerable as oil prices plunge. Albright thinks gasoline supplies should be cut off to a country that, while it produces a great deal of crude, has almost no refining capacity. A process of dialogue may be long and frustrating, but the bottom line is now measurable: 1,010 kilograms of failure.

Iran threatened with economic meltdown

The sharp downward spiral of oil prices has prompted economists to predict that Tehran is facing severe financial hardship within the space of a few months.

Iran's presidential contenders have to address the budget deficit brought about by the plummeting oil prices and the world banking crisis.

The country's economy is almost totally dependent on oil, which accounts for 80% of the country's foreign exchange receipts, while oil and gas make up 70% of government revenue.

Cash rolled in when the price of oil was above $140 a barrel and the country amassed huge foreign currency reserves, but with the price falling to around $40, that revenue has dried up accordingly.

For the first time since the Islamic revolution in 1979, Iranians will turn away from geopolitics and focus instead on the state of their economy when they go to the polls in June.

Impact of sanctions

On top of the recession and falling oil prices, Iran also has to grapple with sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Nations.

The US sanctions imposed in 1980, after the hostage-taking by students in Tehran, prohibit American citizens from having dealings with Iran.

They also make it difficult for other oil and gas companies to invest in Iran and then get US business.

The UN sanctions were imposed because of Iran's alleged attempts to develop nuclear weapons by enriching uranium, something it denies.

Under those sanctions, the foreign assets of 13 Iranian companies are frozen, some officials are banned from travelling abroad and the sale of products with a possible military use is forbidden.

An advisor to the European Union, Dr Mehrdad Emadi-Moghadam from Staffordshire University in England, says the UN sanctions are more effective because they include regions and countries which were not co-operating with the US sanctions.

"Iran cannot enter into American or EU trade agreements, so it has been forced to acquire its goods though second parties," he says.

"When it needs technology or commodities, Iran has to pay between 12 and 20% more than it would otherwise have cost them."

Lagging behind

Being unable to update its technology has resulted in Iran having an antiquated manufacturing base.

In a country where the government is the biggest employer and the biggest contractor, companies are suffering from the harsh economic downturn.

"A number of our projects, mostly from ministries which have ordered them, have been halted because of a lack of funds," says Ali Pahlavan, who works in an engineering company in Tehran.

"We are a one-product economy to some extent - diversification and modernisation has not taken place to the extent it should have," he concedes.

He admits that many of the country's problems are due to the sanctions, but says the government is also at fault.

"The revolutionary government pursues mostly ideological and political goals," he says, "The economy has taken a back seat and is not the number one priority."

Despite having a heavily state-controlled economy, there is a private sector operating in Iran.

"Iranians have always been innovative, but the private manufacture and construction sectors do not receive the kind of government support or regulation to help support exports," Dr Mehrdad Emadi-Moghadam says.

Social expectations

The social problems of chronic and growing unemployment are also a cause for concern.

Despite its considerable oil wealth, the country still has 26% inflation and a high level of unemployment.

More than 35% of the population aged under 30 are experiencing long-term unemployment.
Dr Emadi-Moghadam sees a dichotomy, whereby one part of the population is very familiar with the latest Western innovations, while the other side is prevented from having access to ideas freely and connecting to the world economy through commercialising their ideas and activities.

As Iran commemorates its 30th anniversary of the revolution, he does not believe that it has achieved its stated objectives.

"When you take the overall view, Iran has actually regressed and is now in the bottom third of countries which receive foreign investment or perform well in international trade," he says.

The country also performs badly in almost every internationally-recognised index of bribery and corruption.

Iran is one of the wealthiest nations as far as natural resources is concerned and its citizens expect the government to provide things such as cheap fuel.

Thirty years after the revolution, fuel is still heavily subsidised.

"The revolution was partly due to economics. Shah Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi couldn't provide what the people wanted when the oil price dropped," Dr Mehrdad Emadi-Moghadam says.

Clerical veto

By any orthodox standard, Iran's economy is run in a bizarre fashion.

With its currency pegged to the US dollar, the regime's petrodollars are worth less and less every year and the government is unable to put up taxes, because such a move would be too unpopular.

The president has been attempting to resolve some of the difficult economic decisions the government has to make.

He recently introduced an Economic Reform Plan, with the aim of enabling the government to reduce dependence on oil revenues and tackling the country's economic problems, including rising inflation.

The plan would cut costly energy subsidies and redistribute a larger portion of the sum among citizens.
The president says only his original proposal could achieve the objectives his government seeks in maintaining the economy, but it has not been approved by lawmakers.

The government had asked for $35bn to implement the plan, but parliament only approved $8.5bn.

Although Iran is a democracy, the clerics have veto powers over any legislation.

When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad campaigned for his present position, he fought on a platform of fighting corruption and achieving fairness in distribution of revenue.

Dr Mehrdad Emadi-Moghadam says the president has failed on all accounts in the last four years and his achievements, or lack of them, will play a key role in the forthcoming elections.

Iraqi president meets top Iranian leaders

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is meeting top Iranian leaders on Friday on his second trip to the Islamic republic in almost two years, the offical IRAN news agency reported.

Talabani, a Kurd, will hold talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the head of Iran's Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and others.

Other media reports said Talabani is also expected to meet Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Iraqi leader arrived in Iran on Thursday on his way home from a trip to South Korea. He is accompanied by a high-level delegation from the ministries of foreign affairs, trade and electricity.

He previously visited Iran in June 2007.

Ahmadinejad travelled to Iraq in March 2008 in the first ever visit by an Iranian president to the former arch-foe, symbolising the flourishing ties between Tehran and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

The two Shiite-majority countries fought a war between 1980 and 1988 in which around one million people died.

Relations have warmed considerably since the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime in Iraq by US-led forces.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited Tehran in January to seek Iran's help in rebuilding the country and the two neighbours agreed to establish a high-ranking joint committee to improve cooperation.

Iran Launch Could Mean EMP Weapon

Iran, after a decade of trying to develop space capabilities, today joined the small club of countries able to build and launch a satellite into orbit. In and of itself, the Iranian technological success worries American and other countries national security experts because it places Iran much closer to being able to deliver a nuclear warhead against an enemy.

But there is another reason American military and national security officials are so worried: in at least two earlier ballistic missile launches, the Iranians launched in ways that “appear they were designed to optimize an EMP burst,” according to a Pentagon source with detailed knowledge of the Iranian’s efforts and of space technology.

Iran launched the satellite on the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the clerical state, a fact noted by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as he declared the country’s success.

EMP stands for electro-magnetic pulse and it is one byproduct of a nuclear blast. EMP destroys power sources, communication capabilities and would cripple or destroy the abilities of most satellites to function. A percentage of military communication and other satellites are hardened against EMP but the gravest effect would be on the ground, the space expert said. “As bad as the space part of this is, that is pretty bad, but the ground part of it is much, much worse. Effectively, whoever was subjected to an EMP burst would be shoved back to an agricultural state.” Few civilian assets such as power grids, generators, telephone systems and commercial communications satellites are hardened against EMP.

A 2007 report by the congressionally-mandated Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack detailed the devastation that could result from a relatively unsophisticated EMP strike. It also detailed how EMP works and what measures the U.S. government might take to reduce the risk from it.

One independent study, “Initial Assessment of Electromagnetic Pulse Impact Upon Baltimore-Washington-Richmond Region,” says a Scud-type missile launched from a small ship 200 miles off our coast could cause up to $771 billion in damage, equal to 7% of gross domestic product.

This is part of the reason why the State Department has expressed “great concern” about the development. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the satellite launch appeared to indicate Iran was working on a ballistic missile capable of “increasingly long range.” Combine a long-range ICBM with a nuclear payload and you get a new member of an even smaller club, the countries such as the U.S., Russia, China, France and Britain who can play the deadly serious global strategic game of hitting places around the globe with nuclear weapons.