Ahmadinejad: Iran building three-stage rocket

Posted on 05/08/2010 by terrortrends

“The country’s scientists are working on a three-stage rocket that will take us to 1,000 kilometres,” according to Ahmadinejad.

The Iranian president said the rocket’s engines would have a thrust of between 120 and 140 tonnes, or four times higher than the rocket used to launch Iran’s first satellite into space in February 2009.

“Last time, we sent a satellite to 250 kilometres … Next year it will be sent to 700 kilometres, and the year after that to 1,000 kilometres,” he said.

This is obviously very worrying, since the technology involved in multiple stage rocketry to put a satellite in orbit is little different from that required to send a warhead over intercontinental distances. Couple this development with Iran’s uranium enrichment program, and we have a gathering storm…

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.1fdd62d1d5fae296fbd87d17e1df4c8e.3e1&show_article=1

Filed under: Ahmadinejad, ballistic missiles, missiles, space program | Leave a comment »

Iran and extremist Sunni groups closer than we thought

Posted on 29/07/2010 by terrortrends

Cooperation among Iran, al Qaeda and other Sunni extremist groups is more extensive than previously known to the public, according to details buried in the tens of thousands of military intelligence documents released by an independent group Sunday.

U.S. officials and Middle East analysts said some of the most explosive information contained in the WikiLeaks documents detail Iran’s alleged ties to the Taliban and al Qaeda, and the facilitating role Tehran may have played in providing arms from sources as varied as North Korea and Algeria.

The officials have for years received reports of Iran smuggling arms to the Taliban. The WikiLeaks documents, however, appear to give new evidence of direct contacts between Iranian officials and the Taliban’s and al Qaeda’s senior leadership. It also outlines Iran’s alleged role in brokering arms deals between North Korea and Pakistan-based militants, particularly militant leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and al Qaeda.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/07/cooperation-among-iran-al-qaeda-and-other-sunni-jihad-groups-more-extensive-than-previously-known.html

Filed under: Al Qaeda, North Korea, Pakistan, sunni groups | Leave a comment »

General Odierno: Iran Behind Violence in Iraq

Posted on 29/07/2010 by terrortrends

General Odierno

In an interview with Voice of America News, General Raymond Odierno, Commanding General of Coalition/US forces in Iraq, has warned of threats to U.S. and Iraqi security forces emanating from extremists with ties to Iran:

“Many of them live in Iran, many of them get trained in Iran, and many of them get weapons from Iran.”

General Odierno said he believed the Qods Force, a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, is involved in training and funding these militants: “So obviously there is some connection. Kata’ib Hezbollah specifically – we had significant threat warning from them about attacks on U.S. forces for varying reasons. I think they also, by the way, have conducted attacks against Iraqi security forces as well, and this is to create, I believe some type of instability and lack of confidence in the government of Iraq.”


Filed under: Iraq, IRGC, Qods Force | Leave a comment »

Tea Party endorses Israel’s right to attack Iran

Posted on 26/07/2010 by terrortrends

Almost two dozen Tea Party-affiliated lawmakers cosponsored a new resolution late last week that expresses their support for Israel “to use all means necessary to confront and eliminate nuclear threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the use of military force.”

The lead sponsor of the resolution was Texas Republican Louie Gohmert, one of four congressmen to announce the formation of the 44-member Tea Party caucus at a press conference on July 21. The other three Tea Party Caucus leaders, Michele Bachmann, R-MN, Steve King, R-IA, and John Culberson, R-TX, are also sponsors of the resolution. In total, 21 Tea Party Caucus members have signed on, according to the latest list of caucus members put out by Bachmann’s office.

The resolution cites threats by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to “annihilate” the state of Israel, endorses other means to persuade Iran to stop pursuing nuclear weapons, and states the lawmakers’ support for an Israeli military strike “if no other peaceful solution can be found within reasonable time.”

“Members of the Tea Party caucus can and do speak for themselves,” said Gohmert in an emailed statement, “but most if not all members have strong beliefs that we should not turn on our backs on our best friends and reward those bent on our destruction. This resolution was borne out of concern for the threat, not merely to Israel, but also to the United States.”

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/07/26/tea_party_caucus_members_endorse_israeli_attack_on_iran

Filed under: Ahmadinejad, Israel, nuclear program, Tea Party | Leave a comment »

Iranian submarines to be ready in one month

Posted on 20/07/2010 by terrortrends

Iran’s new domestically built submarines are to be unveiled in August, Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said, according to Press TV.

Iran announced in 2008 that it had started building submarines to give its military “the most advanced arms” and maintain “security” in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Defense Ministry inaugurated the production line for the Qaem submarines two years ago, saying the vessels would have the capacity to launch torpedoes and subsurface missiles.

http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21098:iranian-made-submarines-to-be-unveiled-next-month-defense-minister-says&catid=4:iran-general&Itemid=26

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Nuclear scientist found in U.S., claims to be kidnapped

Posted on 13/07/2010 by terrortrends

A missing Iranian nuclear scientist, who Tehran claims was abducted by the U.S., has taken refuge at the Pakistani embassy in Washington and is asking to return to his homeland, Iran said Tuesday.

Iran has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. abducted Amiri — charges the Americans deny. U.S. media reported in March that the 32-year-old scientist had defected to the U.S. and was assisting the CIA in efforts to undermine Iran’s disputed nuclear program.

Adding to the confusion, Amiri himself appeared in a series of videos giving conflicting messages, including one where he claimed he was abducted by American and Saudi agents and taken to the U.S. and another saying he was freely studying in the United States.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/07/13/iranian-nuclear-scientist-seeks-refuge/

Filed under: nuclear program, nuclear scientist | Leave a comment »

Iranian agents found at opposition camp in Iraq

Posted on 09/07/2010 by terrortrends

The Iranian opposition has reported that the Teheran regime sent agents to deploy outside an opposition camp in Iraq.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran said agents from the Iranian Intelligence and Security Ministry entered Iraq on July 4 as the U.S. military withdrew from a position outside Camp Ashraf. Camp Ashraf is home to an estimated 3,400 members and relatives of the Mujahadeen Khalq, regarded as the most violent group opposed to Iran’s mullah regime.

“They entered Iraq under the guise of relatives of Ashraf residents in order to replace other MOIS [Iranian intelligence] agents currently stationed outside the gates of Ashraf to step up the psychological torture of Ashraf residents,” the council said on July 5.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_iran0623_07_07.asp

Filed under: Iranian Opposition, Iraq | Leave a comment »

Iranian-backed Hezbollah has arms depots in Lebanon

Posted on 07/07/2010 by terrortrends

Israel’s military released maps and aerial photographs Wednesday showing what it described as a network of Hezbollah weapons depots and command centers inside villages in south Lebanon, near the Israeli border.

The Israeli material included detailed maps and 3-D simulations showing individual buildings that the military identified as rocket storehouses. Some were shown to be located close to schools and hospitals.

Hezbollah, a powerful Shiite organization backed by Iran, attacked an Israeli border patrol in 2006, sparking a monthlong war in which Israel went after the group in a massive air, sea and ground campaign, while Hezbollah launched around 4,000 rockets into Israel. Nearly 1,200 people died in Lebanon and 159 lost their lives in Israel.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/07/07/israeli-military-says-hezbollah-network-arms-depots-inside-south-lebanon/

Filed under: Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Terrorism | Leave a comment »

Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant to be ready by September–Thanks to the Russians

Posted on 07/07/2010 by terrortrends

Iran says Wednesday that the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a joint project with Russia, would be ready for operation in two months, the ISNA news agency reported.

Atomic agency chief Ali-Akbar Salehi said important, so-called hot tests have been concluded and, according to both Russian and Iranian experts, the plant would be ready by September.

The light-water reactor in Bushehr is internationally tolerated because of Russia’s involvement and guarantees that the nuclear fuel would be delivered from and nuclear waste returned to Russia, reducing fears of nuclear proliferation.

This of course assumes that the Russians will live up to their commitments and that Iran won’t simply decide not to send the spent fuel to Russia. (Contrary to popular belief, spent fuel from a light water reactor can be used for weaponry.)

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iran-says-bushehr-nuclear-plant-to-be-ready-by-september-1.300555

Filed under: Bushehr, nuclear program, Russia | Leave a comment »

Iranian woman to be stoned to death for adultery

Posted on 05/07/2010 by terrortrends

Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, a mother of two, is waiting to die in Iran by a method of execution described by her lawyer as “barbaric” — stoning.

She will be buried up to her chest, deeper than a man would be, and the stones that will be hurled at her will be large enough to cause pain but not so large as to kill her immediately, according to an Amnesty International report that cited the Iranian penal code.

The 42-year-old woman from the northern city of Tabriz was convicted of adultery in 2006, and her execution is imminent, said prominent human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei.

Ashtiani was forced to confess after being subjected to 99 lashes, Mostafaei said Thursday in a telephone interview from Tehran.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/01/iran.stoning/index.html

Filed under: human rights | 3 Comments »

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