Iran Nuclear Standoff

[BEER980]

brunota2003 They are practicing for war. Most large countries do. We are sending a carrier group to train off the coast near Venezuela. How do you think they feel about it? Part of the objective is to stir the pot while showing you mean business. When you make threats you have to back them up sooner or later.

[MiamiensisWx]

Yep... they mean business in one way or another...

[Brent]

As tensions increase between the United States and Iran, U.S. intelligence and terrorism experts say they believe Iran would respond to U.S. military strikes on its nuclear sites by deploying its intelligence operatives and Hezbollah teams to carry out terrorist attacks worldwide.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00981.html

Front page headline in Sunday's Washington Post.

[BEER980]

That goes without saying. I would expect at least that to happen. Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas cells here would have plenty of targets picked out just waiting to strike. Wave after wave of suicide bombings sweeping the country. Run that "Breaking News Alert" or front page headline through your head for awhile. The possibility is very real.

[cycloneye]

Government in secret talks about strike against Iran
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 04/02/06



The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran.

A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran.

It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme.



Ummmmm this is getting very serious as time goes by.

[Derek Ortt]

the talks are so secret that the media found out

[brunota2003]

no, they announce secret talks, however, what they discuss, such as exactly what would happen will remain secret. plus its probably bluffing by saying what they will discuss

[cycloneye]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/04/ ... index.html

Another test made by Iran this time an underwater high speed missle fired from a submarine.

[feederband]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/04/02/iran.missile.ap/index.html

Another test made by Iran this time an underwater high speed missle fired from a submarine.

Yea I saw the test on the news...It was fast but it never metioned the range of the missle ...I think the boat carrying the missle would have to be pretty close to one of our ships to mean anything...If it doesn't have good range I would doubt its effectiveness.... Athough maybe it would have a market in the terrorist world...

[BEER980]

It looks like it is based on the Shkval and that one has a range of 7,500 yards or just over 4 miles. It would be quite handy in the Strait of Hormuz.

[cycloneye]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story. ... 682957.htm



More wargames from Iran.

[JTD]

The buzz in Washington is that war may be inevitable:

http://www.forward.com/articles/7616

[BEER980]

I would be surprised if we didn't start a war with Iran. I also think it is a good bet that we will use nuclear weapons against Iran. We may use the Bio weapon card as another reason to hit them. It seems there is no easy way to go with this situation. It could be a very rough year ahead.

[azsnowman]

It looks like it is based on the Shkval and that one has a range of 7,500 yards or just over 4 miles. It would be quite handy in the Strait of Hormuz.

Ya gotta admit, It beats the ROCKS these people have used for weapons since the beginning of time

[BEER980]

Iran has missiles to carry nuclear warheads
By Con Coughlin
(Filed: 07/04/2006)

Iran has successfully developed ballistic missiles with the capability to carry nuclear warheads.

Detailed analysis of recent test firings of the Shahab-3 ballistic missile by military experts has concluded that Iran has been able to modify the nose cone to carry a basic nuclear bomb. The discovery will intensify international pressure on Teheran to provide a comprehensive breakdown of its nuclear research programme.

Last week, the United Nations Security Council gave Iran 30 days to freeze its uranium enrichment programme that many experts believe is part of a clandestine attempt to produce nuclear weapons. Iran denies it is trying to acquire a nuclear arsenal. But ballistic missile experts advising the United States say it has succeeded in reconfiguring the Shahab-3 to carry nuclear weapons. The Shahab-3 is a modified version of North Korea's Nodong missile which itself is based on the old Soviet-made Scud.

The Nodong, which Iran secretly acquired from North Korea in the mid-1990s, is designed to carry a conventional warhead. But Iranian engineers have been working for several years to adapt the Shahab-3 to carry nuclear weapons. "This is a major breakthrough for the Iranians," said a senior US official. "They have been trying to do this for years and now they have succeeded. It is a very disturbing development." The Shahab 3 has a range of 800 miles, enabling it to hit a wide range of targets throughout the Middle East - including Israel.

Apart from modifying the nose cone, Iranian technicians are also trying to make a number of technical adjustments that will enable the missile to travel a greater distance. Western intelligence officials believe that Iran is receiving assistance from teams of Russian and Chinese experts with experience of developing nuclear weapons. Experts who have studied the latest version of the Shahab have identified modifications to the nose cone.

Instead of the single cone normally attached to this type of missile, the new Shahab has three cones, or a triconic, warhead. A triconic warhead allows the missile to accommodate a nuclear device and this type of warhead is normally found only in nuclear weapons. According to the new research, the Iranian warhead is designed to carry a spherical nuclear weapon that would be detonated 2,000 feet above the ground, similar to the Hiroshima bomb.

Although US defence officials believe that Iran is several years away from acquiring nuclear weapons, they point out that the warhead could hold a version of the nuclear bomb Pakistan is known to have developed. Iran has acquired a detailed breakdown of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. The development of the Shahab-3 is just one element of a wide-ranging missile development programme.

In 2003 the Iranians concluded another secret deal with North Korea to buy the Taepo Dong 2 missile, which has a range of 2,200 miles and would enable Iran to hit targets in mainland Europe. Earlier this week the Iranians announced that they had successfully test-fired a new missile, the Fajr-3, which has the capability to evade radar systems and carry multiple warheads.

Source

[JTD]

Seymour Hersh who broke the story that war was being planned for Iraq writes that President Bush has concluded that he wants regime change in Iran and military action will be necessary.

The report also goes onto state that Bush wants to use tactical nuclear weapons against Iran but that the joint chiefs will resign if he approves this as part of the plan.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/a ... 417fa_fact

This is insane.

[brunota2003]

hasnt Iran had the capabilites to carry nukes on their missles in the first place? so why is that so "shocking" all of a sudden?

[BEER980]

"They have been trying to do this for years and now they have succeeded. It is a very disturbing development."

I guess not until now.

Missile experts noted that such triconic nose cones have great range, accuracy and stability in flight, but less payload space. Therefore, experts say, they have typically been used to carry nuclear arms.

[cycloneye]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... altop.html

The question is if really the U.S will strike with nuclear weapons Iran because the consequences will be very bad in the region.

[BEER980]

I think we will use nukes. Some of the underground areas can't be hit with regular bunker busters from what I have read. Yes it will be a bad road to travel and one I would rather not go. Short of acepting Iran as a nuclear power there is not really much of a choice.