Iranian armed forces members march during the annual military parade in Tehran (Reuters)
Chief of Staff of Iranian Army says Iran may switch from defensive policy to “offensive” tactics if national interests come under threat.
Major General Mohammad Bagheri, the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said on Sunday that Iran may switch from its defensive policy to “offensive” tactics if its national interests come under threat, the Mehr news agency reported. Continue reading
NICOSIA — Iran has been rocked by huge explosion near a nuclear facility.
The Iranian media have reported an explosion in the northern Iranian city of Qazvin.
The blast, reported on May 6, was said to have taken place near a secret nuclear enrichment facility in Abyek. Continue reading
“This maneuver was among the most spectacular drills ever held by the Iranian Army in which 55 airborne, helicopter and other units of the ground forces took part,” Brig. Gen. Manoucher Kazemi, head of the Army’s Western Command, said.
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Iranian state television showed footage from the exercise, said to have
taken place near the towns of Qaser Shirin and Sarpol Zahab. The footage showed Iranian troops parachuting from helicopters. Continue reading
Report submitted to Congress also reveals Tehran has ‘methodically cultivated network of sponsored terrorist surrogates capable of targeting US, Israeli interests’
WASHINGTON – The Iranian army is continuing to improve the accuracy and destructive power of its long-and-short-range ballistic missile force, according to a Pentagon report that was submitted to the US Congress.
The report, which was obtained by Bloomberg News, said that as part of the improvements, Iran’s military is designing a maneuvering weapon to target vessels.
The June 29 report, which was signed by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, states that Tehran “has boosted the lethality and effectiveness of existing systems by improving accuracy and developing new submunition payloads” that extend the destructive power over a broader area than a solid warhead.
According to Bloomberg, the report found that the improvements are in tandem with routine ballistic- missile training that “continues throughout the country” and the addition of “new ships and submarines.”
Bloomberg said the report also addresses the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and the assistance it offers to Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and Iraqi Shiite groups. It also repeated the US assessment that Iran with “sufficient foreign assistance may be technically capable of flight-testing” an intercontinental ballistic missile by 2015.
Full article: Pentagon: Iran improving missiles to target vessels (Ynet News)
A successful joint exercise carried out Friday, Feb. 10, demonstrated the interoperability of the US Aegis and Israel’s Arrow 4 ballistic missile defense systems and, most importantly, of their two radars, the US AN/TPY-2 X-band and Israel’s EL/M-2080 Super Green Pine, debkafile’s military sources report.
It was a key milestone in the development of the US missile shield’s Middle East capabilities ahead of a potential war with Iran and the fourth significant preparatory step taken in the last ten days.
On the East Coast of the United States, the large-scale Bold Alligator 2012 exercise is drilling amphibian landings on a fictitious Iranian shore; in the Middle East, an American airlift this week ferried reinforcements to the Persian Gulf over Sinai; the Iranian army is in the middle of a major war game “under war conditions” opposite the Strait of Hormuz; and Israel is putting the finishing touches to its new Depth Command set up for operations behind enemy lines.
Full article: Successful US-Israel radar test launches US missile shield’s operational phase (DEBKAfile)
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