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| Iran |
| Iran Shows Off Missile Might Amid Nuclear Fears |
| 2003-09-22 |
| TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran, under pressure to dispel fears it is developing nuclear arms, Monday paraded six of its newly deployed medium-range missiles, which military analysts say could reach Israel or U.S. bases in the Gulf. It was the largest number of Shahab-3 ballistic missiles put on public display since Iran announced in July it had finished testing the weapon and deployed it to the Revolutionary Guards. "Nope, nope, we don’t threaten nobody, nope, nope." The sand-colored Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, towed along to the accompaniment of rousing military music, were the climax of a lengthy parade to commemorate the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Great idea, commemorate a horrible war that wiped out hundreds of thousands of youth soldiers by parading missiles. Iran’s reformist President Mohammad Khatami said the show of strength should not be read as saber-rattling. "The Islamic Republic of Iran’s policy is based on detente," he said at the parade led by disabled war veterans. "We are opposed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons but we insist on our absolute right to be powerful in the scientific and technological arena." "We too must have a saber to rattle!" Uzi Rubin, former director of Israel’s Arrow anti-ballistic missile system program, said Iran’s Shahab-3 was a clear threat to the Jewish state. "The (Shahab’s) increased range covers the whole of Israel, north to south, from deployment areas deep within Iran, and thus increases concern as to what would happen if such missiles were armed with WMD warheads," he told Reuters. Television pictures showed one of the missile carriers displayed a defiant message in bold letters on a giant yellow banner facing Khatami. "We will stamp on America," it read. Iran insists its nuclear scientists are not working on a weapons program but trying to meet soaring electricity demand. "Oh, the missiles? They’ll, um, help us meet soaring electricity demand." U.N. nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declined to comment on the missiles. Definitely no twitch on the surprise meter there. The IAEA Governing Board has given Iran until the end of October to dispel doubts that its stated policy of developing nuclear energy was not a cover for building atomic arms. And if the Iranians don’t, the IAEA will ... give them until the end of Hard-liners in Iran say Tehran should follow North Korea’s example and pull out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty rather than cave in to international pressure. But Mohsen Aminzadeh, deputy foreign minister for Asia-Pacific affairs and seen as a close aide to the reform-minded Khatami, said Iran must regain international trust by signing the NPT Additional Protocol for snap inspections of nuclear sites. "America accuses us of having a clandestine nuclear program. We deny it but that is not enough to neutralize America’s plots against us," he said. "If there is no other way to change the negative atmosphere created by America against Iran but accepting the Additional Protocol, then accepting the protocol is beneficial for us," he told the official IRNA news agency. And then his lips fell off. Based on the North Korean Nodong-1 and modified with Russian technology, the Shahab-3 is thought to have a range of 810 miles. Iran says it is intended to serve purely as a deterrent and has not declared how many Shahab-3 it has been able to manufacture. Military analysts say questions remain about its reliability and accuracy. A NKor-designed missile built by mullahs? |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #10 This kind of thing is driving idiotarian left pop-culturists crazy, and making their inherent insanity and duplicity plain for all to see. For a generation, it has been holy writ among LLL conformists, handed down by Hollywood itself, that nuclear energy is eeeviiiillll. Now, the logic of membership in the cultural fifth column requires them to defend Iran's acquisition, not just of nuclear energy, but of nuclear weapons. Similarly, "peace" activists like the Mennonite Central Committee and ANSWER find themselves supporting suicide bombers and guerrilla attacks on American troops, as well as atrocities by the "resistance" forces in Kashmir and Chechnya. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2003-9-22 11:10:39 PM |
| #9 agreed - good catch Tony |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-9-22 9:32:51 PM |
| #8 Good catch, Tony. |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-9-22 8:52:34 PM |
| #7 I always wondered where the Banjo playing retard from Deliverance got to. Now I know he must be running Iran. Even Kim wasn't stupid enough to troop out the missiles during his latest gala activities. Kim must have encouraged them to show off the merchandise in order to drop himslef to number two on the list of Country Most In Need of A Whoopun. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-22 7:47:06 PM |
| #6 When you see a military parade imagine a guy in a sexy sports car. The parade is a show because there is nothing where it counts. We all remember the fine parades that Saddam had every year. Boy those guys can parade. Fight no. Parade sure. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2003-9-22 7:13:14 PM |
| #5 The real question should be is "So Isreal, when are you gonna neutralize this threat?" They'll do it on a moment notice and bypass the UN altogether. (Smart people those Israelis.) |
| Posted by: Paul 2003-9-22 5:30:34 PM |
| #4 Thanks for the link and great read, Tony. That is exactly what I was worried about. The nutcases will stop at nothing. We (meaning all of humankind) should be going to the planets instead of spending all our treasure eliminating Islamic nutcases. But we are where we are now and WOT is the task before us. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-9-22 5:07:40 PM |
| #3 AP, That's a *very* good point. For a very sobering and bleak analysis, see http://belmontclub.blogspot.com "The Three Conjectures", which are: Conjecture 1: Terrorism has lowered the nuclear threshold Conjecture 2: Attaining WMDs will destroy Islam Conjecture 3: The War on Terror is the 'Golden Hour' -- the final chance I'm not a policy wonk, but it made quite a bit of sense to me. Full URL is The Three Conjectures |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2003-9-22 4:33:59 PM |
| #2 It is a mad mad mad world out there, but not the old MAD (mutually assured deterence) but just plain looney. Atomic weapons in the hands of terrorists, NORKS, Iranians, Jihadi Pakistanis, et al is a nightmare. They will find a proxy and will threaten to nuke one of our cities if we do not leave them alone. Then what do we do? We are entering the most perilous stages of the WOT, and that is what to do about the NORKS and Iran. And the clock, boys and girls, is ticking down to zero. Maybe the mainstream press ought to write a story about this, instead of a detailed travelogue of the view from within their colens. Sheesh! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-9-22 3:32:31 PM |
| #1 I think the Iranians are picking up the Paleo habit of never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity...they seem to be deliberately asking for a 55 gallon drum of whupass to be opened....you'd think at some point their self-preservation instincts would override their raving lunatic instinct, but noooooo |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-9-22 2:52:43 PM |