Iran to unveil indigenous S-300 missiles: Army cmdr

Most of the news coming out of Iran is fake, believe 50% of what you hear or read.

“Although because of US stonewalling efforts, Iran failed to purchase the S-300 system [from Russia], this system is being developed in the country and will be officially unveiled [in the next Persian calendar year],” deputy commander of Iran Army for self-sufficiency and research, Rear Admiral Farhad Amiri said on Sunday.

The official said the manufacturing of the Iranian S-300 system is underway and its subsystems have been already tested, adding that Bavar-373 missile system is projected to be unveiled in 2014.

Under a contract signed in 2007, Russia was required to provide Iran with at least five S-300 defense systems.

Moscow refused to deliver the system to Iran under the pretext that it is covered by the fourth round of the UN Security Council sanctions against Iran.

Over the past years, Iran has attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly assured its neighbors that its military might poses no threat to other countries, insisting that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.

Iran unveils new drone, missile systems

Iran confirms secret nuclear 'Quds' site

The international community is still suffering from the INENWS (Iraq Non-Existant Nuclear Weapons Syndrome) which is largely benifitting Iran

Iran has inadvertently confirmed WND’s report that the Islamic regime is working on nuclear weapons at a secret facility known as “Quds,” a name synonymous with the Arabic word for “Jerusalem.”

Satellite images reveal the existence of the secret Quds site, indicating Iran, with North Korean help, clearly crossed the red line and is in the final stage of arming its missiles with nuclear warheads; and Iran not only has made great progress in enriching uranium to weapons grade, but also has succeeded in converting the highly enriched uranium to metal, a key step in making nuclear warheads.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly requested inspection of the Parchin military site, where it is believed the regime has tested nuclear bomb components. The regime replied that military sites are off-limits and has stonewalled the IAEA for over a year while satellite images show a great effort to clean up the area.
Golpanews, with its connection to the highest levels of the Iranian government, is laying the groundwork for calling Quds a military site and therefore not accessible for inspection by the IAEA.

Quds consists of three facilities:

• The first is where the regime’s scientists are enriching uranium to weapons grade. They already have enough plutonium for several bombs and are in the last stage of putting together a nuclear warhead. This site is called “Quds” after Jerusalem, as they believe soon Israel will be destroyed and Jerusalem restored to Muslim rule.
• The second, which makes missile warheads, is dubbed “Marty Mughniyah” after the Hezbollah terrorist who, under the command of the regime, conducted multiple terrorist acts that killed hundreds of Americans and Israelis.
• The third facility is a vast site that houses over 380 missile depots and launching pads.

US U-2 Reconnaissance Plane Shooed away from Iranian Airspace

Sure :)

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli on Tuesday said his forces have shooed away a US U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance plane seeking to approach the Iranian airspace on February 10, when Iranians were celebrating the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

Speaking to reporters about Iran's air-defense capability, Esmayeeli said his forces pursue and fulfill four missions, which include discovering, indentifying and detecting aggressive aircraft using 3,600 air defense stations and points which are working under an integrated air-defense system.

He pointed to the achievements of his forces in the last Iranian year (ends on March 20), and said that the air-defense units were able to "discover, identify and detect a U-2 aircraft which uses various types of hi-tech for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering missions".

"On Bahman 22 (February 10) and around noon, a U-2 reconnaissance radar-evading aircraft received our warning signal over the general zone in the Sea of Oman before it could approach Iran's borders," Esmayeeli said, adding that the U-2 plane regarded Iran's warning and complied with its orders and moved away from Iran's airspace.

The commander said that the plane might have intended to take images and gather intelligence over Iran's Southern regions.

The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day and night, very high-altitude (70,000 feet/21,000 m), all-weather intelligence gathering. The U-2 has also been used for electronic sensor research, satellite calibration, and communications purposes.

It has participated in conflicts such as Afghanistan and Iraq, and supported several multinational NATO operations. The role of the U-2 is increasingly performed by alternative platforms, such as surveillance satellites, unmanned reconnaissance drones and conventional aircraft.

In similar remarks in October, Esmayeeli had stressed Iran's capability to confront US spy planes and drones, and said his forces have so far warned tens of US spy planes, including the advanced Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, to keep away from Iranian airspace.

Is Iran outsourcing its nuclear program to North Korea and Pakistan?

Iran's North Korean nuclear connection: top Tehran nuclear official was in Pyongyang for test 

   

Is it possible Iran has paid for and outsourced their nuclear program to North Korea?
One leading expert say yes. And Iran might be providing their best nuclear scientist as well.
Reports that Iran’s leading nuclear scientist, Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was present for North Korea’s third nuclear test on Feb. 11 are raising further concerns. Particularly since the latest international negotiations over Iran’s nuclear ambitions concluded this week in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with little more than an agreement to meet again.

The London Times first reported on Feb. 17 that Fakhrizadeh, who despite the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1747, may have traveled “evidently to Pyongyang, most likely via China” to witness North Korea’s third and successful nuclear test. This despite the U.N. calling upon member states to  “exercise vigilance and restraint” and “notification” in allowing him entry or transit.
Iran has refused to make Fakhrizadeh available for interviews by investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency.  No confirmed image of him has been made public.


If China knowingly permitted him transfer from Iran across China to witness the North Korea test … then it would appear that China or at least some element in China are cooperating with nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran.” The Feb. 11 test has been described by experts as a miniaturized atomic bomb test of a relatively small yield of 6-7 kilotons, mounted on a Nodong missile.
This latest demonstration shows Pyongyang has not changed its strident military posture despite its new leader Kim Jong-un’s higher profile. North Korea has been working on warhead designs in its highly secretive program for approximately 25 years.

Ambassador Graham added: “The objective of this test has said to be the development of a compact highly explosive nuclear warhead mated with a North Korean missile. Iranian missiles were developed from North Korean prototypes. It could appear that North Korea is building nuclear weapons for transfer to Iran.”Graham also drew attention to North Korea’s completed uranium enrichment plant, which when visited by American experts in 2010, was described as “stunning and to be better than anything the Iranians have.”He added, “This opens the door via technology sold to North Korea years previously by Pakistani proliferator A.Q. Khan to build a significant number of weapons.”
Sanctions are not working. Confronting the “triangular trade,” which refers to the cooperation among Iran, China and North Korea on nuclear programs, is a growing challenge. In addition, Iran may have more than one plan to obtain full nuclear weapons capability.
“Indeed, the West could have it all wrong, says Graham. “The Iranians perhaps in fact are going to use their enrichment facilities at Natanz and Qom to fabricate peaceful reactor grade uranium, and have outsourced their nuclear program to North Korea. North Korea might even agree to store the Iranian weapons produced with Iranian money.”

 

Iran shows extracted video from captured RQ-170 UAV

Iran unveils its new home-made optimized Zulfiqar Zolfaqar main battle tank

Iranian home-made Zulfiqar (Zolfaqar) tanks optimized by Iranian Army experts were unveiled by Commander of the Iranian Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan on Monday, February 4, 2013. During the unveiling ceremony, which was attended by a group of army commanders and high-ranking military officials, advanced versions of Zolfaqar tank was unveiled. 

The ceremony was held on the occasion of the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations (marking the Iranian revolution's victory over the former Pahlavi regime) and the anniversary of historic return of the late Imam Khomeini to the country from exile on February 1, 1979 and ends with the victory of the Islamic Revolution on February 11.

In mid-January, Pourdastan said Iran will start mass-production of Zolfaqar tank after the approval of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.

Pourdastan had earlier said that Iran continued optimizing Zolfaqar tanks in a bid to upgrade its capabilities against modern threats. 

"Each day we work on a newer version of Zolfaqar tanks so that the tank could maintain its efficiency in the battlefield and ground defense," Pourdastan told FNA in September.

"We certainly make changes in Zolfaqar tanks in accordance to threats and prepare it and make it an advanced tank in accordance with our battleground needs."

Zolfaqar is a second generation of Iran's main battle tank (MBT). The test prototypes of the tank were evaluated in 1993. Six semi-industrial prototypes of the tank were produced and tested in 1997. The tank has a distinctive box-shaped, steel-welded turret of local design. Zolfaqar combat weight is reported to be 36 tons and has a 780 hp diesel engine; the tank has a 21.7 hp per ton ratio.

Iran Unveils New Fighter Jet: Qaher-313

Iran today unveiled the mock-up of a domestically built fighter jet that can reportedly evade radar. The single-seat Qaher-313 (F-313) can combat both other aircraft and ground targets, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported. The government has not announced if any flight tests has been conducted on an actual prototype model, and when the new fighter will go into full production. No technical specifications of the aircraft has also been released.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed the manufacturing of Qaher-313 as manifestation of the country’s growing self-reliance in defense industry. In a ceremony broadcast on state TV, Ahmadinejad said the Qaher-313 (“Dominant-313”) shows Iran's will to “conquer scientific peaks.”

“Qaher-313 is a fully indigenous aircraft designed and built by our aerospace experts. This is a radar-evading plane that can fly at low altitude, carry weapons, engage enemy aircrafts and land at short airstrips,” said Iran’s Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said. (IRNA, 2 February)

Iran's English-language state Press TV claimed Qaher was similar to the American-made F/A-18, an advanced fighter capable of dogfighting as well as penetrating enemy air defenses to strike ground targets.

Iran Currency Hits Historic Low

 

 

The Iranian currency hit a record low against the dollar on Thursday, trading at 40,000 rials to a dollar in Tehran’s open markets. The previous low record was in October 2012 when the exchange rate sank to 37,000 rials/dollar, creating  currency crisis and protests in the bazaar.

On 31 January 2012, the rial was traded at 18,500:1. Today’s plummeting of the currency means that rial has lost two-thirds of its value in one year.

Satellite Photos Show No Damage to Iran’s Fordo Nuclear Site

Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) today released Astrium commercial satellite imagery of Iran’s Fordo Fuel Enrichment Plant taken on 22 January, a day after the website WND had claimed that the site was the target of a major explosion. The imagery (top photo) shows no exterior signs of an explosion or major damage. As ISIS experts have observed, there are no “intensified activity in the form of emergency or cleanup vehicles that one would expect to see around the site in the wake of an incident of this magnitude.”  (ISIS, 30 January)

During the last few days, Iranian, Israeli, and U.S. officials denied that sabotage or a major incident occurred and IAEA concurred.

Top photo: Satellite imagery of the Fordo fuel enrichment site from January 22nd, one day after the reported explosion that caused major damage to the site. The imagery shows no damage to the outside and no discernible signs of emergency vehicles or activity at the tunnel entrances. (ISIS)

Bottom photo: GeoEye imagery from Google Earth of the Fordo site two months before the alleged underground explosion at the site. (ISIS)

Iran will unveil new defense equipment during ceremonies celebrating the Islamic Revolution

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi announced that his ministry would display several defense achievements in the next few days. Vahidi said new achievements will be unveiled during the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies from January 31 to February 10, celebrating the victory of the Islamic Revolution back in 1979.

The minister informed that a space observing base or space observatory, dubbed as 'Imam Sadeq', will be inaugurated during the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies, adding that the base will be tasked with monitoring the country's expeditionary space missions.

The Iranian minister further announced that Iran would unveil the latest home-made fighter jets in the coming days, and said, "The aircraft will be different from the other fighter jets Iran has already made."

Pointing to the other projects and achievements to be unveiled in mid February, Vahidi said Iran would launch mass-production of air-defense products. 

He added that important projects are underway in missile fields and will be announced later.

Iran has also taken wide strides in designing and manufacturing different types of light, semi-heavy and heavy weapons, military tools and equipment. Tehran launched an arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

4460 Dead From Air Pollution--Iranian Health Ministry

Some kind of conspiracy against Iran ;) ?

The BBC reported on Saturday that Mr. Hasan Aghajani, advisor to the health minister, had told an Iranian TV station that 4460 Iranians had died as a result of air pollution in the past year (1).

He also reported a 10% increase in emergency service calls, and a 30% increase in visits to the cardiology centers in Tehran.

Last Wednesday, schools and government buildings were shut down to avoid exposing the public to toxic levels of air pollution and to reduce traffic in many iranian cities, including: Tehran, Isfahan, and Ghom. Tehran was shut down again this past saturday under similar circumstances.

More than 22 million Iranians live in polluted cities and are subject to increased health risks resulting from air pollution (1).

Iran test-fires Noor long-range missile in naval drill

Iran Successfully Test-Fires Qader, Nour Missiles in Drill

Iranian Navy Tests Short-Range Cruise Missiles in Velayat 91 Drills

Iran to Test Fire New Surface-to-Air Missile

Iran navy will test fire its new Ra’d (“Thunder”) missile during the six-day “Velayat 91” drills that started today. The indigenous surface-to-air missile is designed to strike medium-range targets. (Fars News Agency, 28 December)

Iran test fired its first indigenous medium-range anti-radar missile, Mehrab (Altar), during the Velayat 90 naval exercises in December 2011.

IRGC Navy Holds Maneuvers in Persian Gulf

 IRGC Navy began a four-day naval exercise on Tuesday in the Asaluyeh and South Pars region of the Persian Gulf. The region holds one of the world’s largest natural gas reserves.
“The exercises are aimed at improving the different units of IRGC Navy in Fourth Region. We will assess our defense capabilities of human forces and facilities,” said IRGC Rear Admiral Ali Reza Nasseri. (Mehr News Agency, 26 December)

Iran’s regular navy will also hold maneuvers on Friday, covering a 400,000-mile area from the Strait of Hormuz to northern part of the Indian Ocean.