Iran Starts Production of Warship Missile Launchers

TEHRAN – Iran on Monday said the two warships began producing high-speed missile launchers  along the coastline and surrounding sea routes vital Strait Hrmuz. Inauguration of rapid production of ships and Zolfaqar Seraj a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated an unmanned bomber aircraft produced in the country, which he referred to would send a “death” to Iran’s enemies. IRNA official news agency announces Seraj (Lights) and Zolfaqar will be produced at the industrial complex naval defense ministry.Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi was inaugurated, said the ships will help strengthen the defense forces of Iran, IRNA said.

“Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s defense industries rely on the army and junk (Revolutionary Guards) is strong and the military, with their full strength, can guarantee security in the Persian Gulf, Oman Sea and the Strait of Hormuz,” said Vahidi.IRNA Zolfaqar is preaching a new generation of ship missile launcher that can be used for patrol and attack operations.

The ship was designed for rapid strikes against ships and equipped with two missile launchers, two machine guns and a computer system for controlling the missiles, “says the news.Fars news agency quoted the statement as saying Zolfaqar Vahidi is equipped with a cruise missile Nasr (Victory) “which has a tremendous destructive power.Iran has previously said Nasr missile can destroy targets up to 3000 tons.

IRNA preach, Seraj, specially designed for tropical climates, also serves as a vessel of war for use in the Caspian Sea, the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and can fire rockets and also used in violent seas,The launch of the productions were done to coincide with the annual activities of a “government week”, a period when the country is usually announced the successful ituh latest technology.

Ahmadinejad, on Sunday inaugurated a small unmanned bomber, a period when the country was generally indicates the success of new technology.Ahmadinejad, on Sunday inaugurated an unmanned bomber aircraft with a cruising range of up to 1.000km he called “the ambassador of death.” State media said the bomber, stable (Striker), can carry four rudat stealth cruise, two bombs each weighing 115kilogram or a sophisticated missile weighing 230 tons.

Tehran claims its military began on Friday when it fired a ground-to-surface missile, named Qiam (Resurrection), and there will be some more announcements in the next few days.The Islamic Republic is also expected to test the third generation missile Fateh (Conqueror) 110, after the exhibit’s version of the missile has a range of 150 to 200kilometer shoot.

Iran recently held four mini-Ghadir submarine built in the DSLAM country, a ship “invisible”, designed to be operated in such shallow peairan Bay.”The latest military activity coincided with warnings against any attack on Iranian territory.

Implacable foe, the United States and Israel, not military action involving Iran’s controversial nuclear program it.Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, where about 40 percent of the oil tanker through those waters in case of a military attack.(AFP)

senior official said on Monday Iran has started work on a new uranium enrichment nuclear plant

Iran has started work on a new uranium enrichment nuclear plant, a senior official said on Monday, part of a big expansion of its nuclear program which has contributed to fears in the West it aims to build a bomb.Defying Western pressure to curb its sensitive nuclear work, Iran announced in November it planned to expand its enrichment activities by building 10 new sites. The announcement was condemned by the United states and its European allies.”The president has confirmed the designated location of a new nuclear site and on his order the building process has begun,” Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi, a senior adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told the semi-official ILNA news agency.

“New locations on which the plants should be constructed this year have been determined and initial construction is underway,” Samareh-Hashemi was quoted as saying.Iran’s top nuclear official Akbar Salehi told Reuters in February that Iran would start construction of two enrichment sites by March 2011.Washington is pushing for a fourth round of United Nations sanctions on Iran in the coming weeks to pressure it to halt its enrichment-related work, which Tehran says is entirely peaceful.Iran started higher-level enrichment in February, saying it needed the 20 percent enriched fuel for a research reactor in Tehran making medical isotopes. Such potent material is not necessary to generate electricity.

Tehran has said it is still willing to swap low-level enriched uranium for higher-grade fuel enriched abroad — a move which would help address fears about Iran’s enrichment activities — but the exchange must happen on Iranian soil.The West believed it had persuaded Iran, at talks in Geneva last October, to hand over some of its uranium stocks to be enriched abroad, but that deal fell apart soon afterwards.Samareh-Hashemi said any import of enriched uranium would not mean Iran planned to stop its own enrichment.”The domestic production of (nuclear) fuel does not contradict importing it,” he said.

“We have started to produce uranium domestically based on our need to provide fuel for the Tehran research reactor and this will continue until our needs are met.”In a separate development, state-owned Jam-e-Jam daily said Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, would soon be stepping down as his term was coming to an end. Soltanieh was not immediately available to comment.(Reuters)

Hillary Clinton flies to Latin America on Sunday, working to buff a lackluster U.S. image in a region where Brazil is emerging as a regional power with global aspirations

WASHINGTON  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flies to Latin America on Sunday, working to buff a lackluster U.S. image in a region where Brazil is emerging as a regional power with global aspirations.The trip, featuring Clinton’s first stops in South America as secretary of state, includes a visit to Chile on Tuesday, although officials said they were assessing the situation after Saturday’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the country.Brazil is the centerpiece of Clinton’s five-day visit and she will use her March 3 stop there to seek support for the drive on the U.N. Security Council to put new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.Brazil  a non-permanent member of the council  has been reluctant to get tough on Iran and analysts say Clinton faces a diplomatic test as she seeks to bring President Inacio Lula da Silva on board in the final weeks before U.N. diplomats unveil the sanctions strategy in New York.But the trip also marks a fresh U.S. start in Latin America, which saw early hopes for better ties with the Obama administration fade amid disputes over last year’s Honduras coup and the continued U.S. embargo on communist-ruled Cuba.That disappointment was underscored this week when the “Rio Group” including Mexico and Brazil agreed to form a new regional bloc that explicitly leaves out the United States  a thumbed nose at a power many feel is still too cavalier in its dealings with its southern neighbors.”Their early expectations were very large, and probably impossible to meet,” said Peter DeShazo, director of the Americas program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“There has been a lot more continuity in policy than people expected.”Latin America-watchers say Clinton’s itinerary speaks volumes. The first two stops on the trip, Uruguay and Chile, have both recently held smooth elections and are regarded as models of moderate, market-oriented economies.She winds up with stops in Costa Rica, another stable longtime U.S. ally, and Guatemala, which has seen its strategic importance skyrocket as a major new front in the battle against international drug traffickers.”She is making the right stops,” said Roberto Izurieta, head of the Latin America Department at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.”She is supporting moderate economic policies and democratic principles. It is the right message.”

TOUGH SELL ON IRAN

Despite the Latin America focus, Iran will top the agenda as the United States and other veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, along with Germany, seek to agree on a resolution calling for new sanctions on Tehran.Russia has sounded more positive about possible sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes but which western powers fear is a cover for building atomic weapons.But China has called for more talks, and Brazil which hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in November is also reluctant, a position Clinton may not be able to change.

Julia Sweig, director of the Latin American program at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Brazil’s own experience with both nuclear energy and democratic transformation made it leery of U.S. saber-rattling over Iran’s current crisis.”They see themselves as having had an experience both in shifting toward a peaceful nuclear program and in shifting to democracy that Iran might have the potential to undergo right now,” Sweig said.

“They are still insisting on not isolating Iran, though I don’t know how long they will be able to play that out.”Brazil has also pushed for a change in U.S. isolation of Cuba Lula payed an “emotional” visit to the island last week and those calls are likely to be repeated during Clinton’s two stops in Central America.While the Obama administration resumed migration talks with Cuba that had been suspended by former President George W. Bush in 2004, it has been cautious on any broader policy change despite repeated prodding by its Latin American neighbors.

Clinton is also likely to be pressed on Honduras, which is struggling to return to stability and legitimacy after a coup last year toppled President Manuel Zelaya.The United States helped to broker new democratic elections in November that brought President Porfirio Lobo to power. But Washington was widely accused of failing to take a strong enough line on Zelaya’s ouster  raising bitter memories of U.S. support for past military coups in the region.”She’s got to make up for lost time, especially over Honduras,” Sweig said. “American credibility has really taken a hit.”(Reuters)

Iran's supreme leader accused the United States on Wednesday of war-mongering and of turning the Gulf into an "arms depot," hitting back at U.S.

TEHRAN  Iran’s supreme leader accused the United States on Wednesday of war-mongering and of turning the Gulf into an “arms depot,” hitting back at U.S. accusations that the Islamic state was moving toward a military dictatorship.The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were the latest sign of growing tensions between Tehran and Washington, which are embroiled in a long-running and escalating row over Iranian nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.The United States is leading a push for the U.N. Security Council to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran, which says its nuclear program is solely to generate electricity so it can export more of its oil and gas.

Last month, U.S. officials said the United States had expanded land- and sea-based missile defense systems in and around the Gulf — a waterway crucial for global oil supplies — to counter what it sees as Iran’s growing missile threat.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the United States believed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were driving the country toward military dictatorship and should be targeted in any new U.N. sanctions.In an apparent reference to Clinton’s visit to the Middle East earlier this week, Khamenei said the Americans had dispatched “their agent” to the region to accuse Iran’s Islamic system of government.

“But no one believes these lies because they know that America is the real war-mongering state. They have turned the Persian Gulf into an arms depot,” Khamenei said.”They invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and are now accusing the Islamic Republic. Everybody knows that the Islamic Republic is for peace and brotherhood among all Islamic states in the world,” Khamenei said, state television reported.PUNCH IN THE MOUTHIran faces growing Western calls for a new round of targeted U.N. sanctions against it after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week ordered the start of higher-grade uranium production.

During her three-day visit to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Clinton denied the United States planned to attack Iran and said Washington wanted dialogue with Tehran but could not “stand idly by” while Iran pursued a suspected nuclear weapons program.The West accuses Iran of covertly trying to build nuclear bombs. Iran, the world’s fifth-largest crude oil exporter, says its nuclear facilities are part of a peaceful energy program and it would retaliate for any attack on them.
Khamenei, Iran’s top authority, said the Iranian people had punched its enemies “in the mouth” by turning out in large numbers to rallies last week marking the 31st anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

On Thursday, Iranian state television said “tens of millions of people” rallied to support the revolution across the country of 70 million, which is facing its worst domestic crisis in three decades after a disputed presidential election last June.An opposition website said security forces fired teargas at opposition supporters staging a Tehran counter-rally on the February 11 anniversary of the revolution that toppled the shah.Khamenei, who like other Iranian leaders accused the West of stoking post-election unrest and meddling in Iran’s internal affairs, accused “arrogant powers” of opposing the Islamic Republic because of its call for justice in the world.(Reuters)

The White House is warning Iran's leader to take seriously a year-end deadline over its nuclear program

The White House

WASHINGTON The White House is warning Iran’s leader to take seriously a year-end deadline over its nuclear program, responding sternly to defiant language by the Iranian president.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ah-muh-DEE’-neh-zhahd) on Tuesday dismissed a looming deadline from the Obama administration and its allies for Tehran to accept a U.N.-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. President Barack Obama wants Iran to respond to an offer of dialogue and show it will allay fears of weapons development.Otherwise, Washington and its allies are warning of new, tougher sanctions on Iran.White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Ahmadinejad may not recognize the deadline but “it is a very real deadline for the international community.”

Iran's president dismisses deadline for nuclear deal,US says cannot dominate Mideast

TEHRAN,   Iran’s president has dismissed a year-end deadline set by the Obama administration for Tehran to accept a U.N.-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.The deal aims to diminish Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, easing the West’s fears that the material could be used to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran, which denies it seeks to build a bomb, has balked at the deal’s terms.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that “if Iran wanted to make a bomb, we would be brave enough to tell you.”He says the West can give Iran “as many deadlines as they want, we don’t care.”Ahmadinejad spoke on Tuesday to supporters in the southern city of Shiraz. He lashed out at Washington, saying Iran won’t allow the U.S. to dominate the region.

Iran plans to build ten new uranium enrichment plants

Iran announced earlier today that it plans to build ten new uranium enrichment plants. Iranian media reported that the Cabinet approved the construction of the plants just two days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) censured Iran for its nuclear activities.The proposed facilities, reported to be similar to Iran’s main nuclear plant at Natanz, would vastly increase the nation’s capacity to produce enriched uranium. Iranian media quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying that Iran should get to the point where it can produce 250 to 300 tons of nuclear fuel each year.”We should reach a position where we can produce from 250–300 tonnes of nuclear fuel a year. To do this we must employ new centrifuges with a higher speed,” he commented.Ahmadinejad said the new Iranian-designed centrifuges used to enrich uranium will have higher speeds than those currently being used. He added that Iran “is not joking around with anyone” when it comes to defending its nuclear rights.

The announcement seems to make good on a warning earlier in the day that pressure on Iran would force it to reduce its cooperation with the IAEA. Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said western pressure may force parliament to review the country’s stance toward the UN nuclear agency.Iranian Members of Parliament said that “we consider the behaviour of the IAEA to be that of double standards and political. We want it to give up this double standard which has tarnished its reputation.”

The five-plus-one group of nations working on the Iran nuclear issue – the US, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany – all voted Friday for the IAEA censure of Iran for defying international demands to freeze uranium enrichment and for secretly building a nuclear facility. The move appeared to take many officials in Tehran by surprise.The tensions coincide with problems over an IAEA proposal to send Iran’s uranium abroad for enrichment, part of a plan to ease some concerns that Iran might be pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying that the programme is for civilian purposes only. The country has offered counter-proposals to the deal, but the IAEA has not accepted any of them.An unnamed US official said that “if [the plant construction is] carried out, [it] would constitute yet another violation of Iran’s continuing obligation of suspension of all enrichment-related activities. There remains a fleeting opportunity for Iran to engage with the international community, if only it would make that choice.”