December 25, 2022
Iranian pro-government media published an article on Sunday bragging about its “integrated missile network” and how it has armed the “resistance” in the Middle East. By “resistance,” the report was referring to a network of pro-Iranian groups and proxy groups it supports, particularly Hezbollah, the Palestinians and Yemen.
The article begins as a tribute to Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, an Iranian IRGC general who was killed in an explosion at a missile facility near Tehran on November 12, 2011.
The report notes that “several IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] officers were also martyred in the Moddares arsenal explosion along with Tehrani Moghaddam. At the time of his martyrdom, Tehrani Moghaddam was preparing a missile test.” The article notes that he was a key figure in the missile program for years, often considered the “father” of Iran’s missile program.
Iranian IRGC rulers inherited an impressive arsenal in 1979 from the Shah’s regime, including modern aircraft and other weapons. However, as they suffered attrition in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, they had to replace the modern Western systems the Shah’s army had used with new weapons – so they began developing missiles and drones. The missiles were based on Soviet models, or Soviet-origin models that came from China, or eventually, from North Korea, as well as from other sources.
The Tehran Times article notes, “Moghaddam also established the Lebanese Hezbollah’s missile units during a visit to Lebanon in the 1980s. Analysts believe that Tehrani Moghaddam has based Iran’s defense strategy on missile capabilities and missile deterrence, a move that effectively removed the military option of the enemies of Iran from the table.”
Iran's missile threat overview
The article is unique in that it provides an overview of Iran’s missile threats. It is ostensibly a historic article, summarizing the last two decades of Iran helping Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, the Hashd in Iraq, the Syrian regime and others develop missiles.
The overall message is also forward-looking. Iran is moving more missiles and missile technology to Yemen and Lebanon, all amid active threats to the US, Israel and the Gulf from these proxy locations, such as Iraq or Syria.
According to the report, Palestinian groups began using missiles against Israel years ago, and eventually began to use the Fajr 5 rocket. This system was “strengthened” into a better missile in 2013, and Hezbollah began to deploy Iranian-backed missile technology against Israel. Missiles were used in the Second Lebanon War in 2006, and Hezbollah was eventually equipped with the Fateh 110 missile.
IRAN HAS also used this missile in its attacks against Kurdish groups in Iraq. The article brags about Iran targeting an Israeli Sa’ar 5 ship during the Second Lebanon War. The report adds that the missile Hezbollah used was an anti-ship cruise missile with a range of 120 km., approximately 75 miles.
“Recently, during the border dispute with the Zionist regime over the Karish gas field, Lebanon’s Hezbollah released a picture of a cruise missile launcher, which is similar to the Iranian Abu Mahdi anti-ship cruise missile launcher with a range of 1,000 km. [621 miles],” the article explains, adding that Hezbollah holds missiles that can target the “furthest” places in “the occupied territories,” a thinly veiled reference to Israel.
The article also hints that Iran helped equip the Syrian regime with missiles, in addition to the Houthis, specifically referencing the “unveiling” of missiles.
The Houthis began by using older missiles that were left over in Yemen from previous wars.
“In the next step, by upgrading the Scud missiles left over from the Soviet era, they obtained Barkan series liquid fuel missiles with a different warhead and very similar to the Iranian missiles,” the report notes.
The Houthis have now upgraded these missiles – apparently with Iranian IRGC advice – and they now have liquid- and solid-fuel missiles, the article claims.
“What is a noteworthy point in this field is that the resistance forces in both Yemen and Lebanon today are equipped with surface-to-surface, anti-ship and cruise ballistic missiles, missiles that are able to hit all types of vessels in different ranges with proper accuracy and destructive power, and if appropriate tactics are used, they are also able to pass through the defense systems of combat vessels.”
This shows that Iran is increasingly thinking about targeting shipping vessels. Tehran used drones to target commercial ships in the summer of 2021 and again in November of this year.
The article, despite clearly bragging that Iran equipped the “resistance” in Yemen, also says, “No official source in Iran has yet officially confirmed the sending of missiles to Yemen and the resistance front. It seems that now the resistance groups have achieved the technologies of using and sometimes manufacturing all kinds of missiles and rockets.”
Indeed, they achieved this through Iran’s advice and backing.
The end result, the report says, is that Iran has now sought to create an “integrated missile network” that will be very important for the region, putting it “under the umbrella of the integrated missile and drone network of Iran and its allies, and a new challenge will arise for America and its regional supporters.”
This is the main point of the article, suggesting that Iran has knit together the missiles that are used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Hezbollah’s missiles, and those in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
This gives Iran thousands of practical frontlines to use missiles against the US, Israel, the Gulf and others. It also extends this threat to the sea, with ranges up to 1,000 km., covering a very large area. Countries in the region are rushing to integrate their air defenses against this threat.
Iran says Western claims show 'effectiveness' of its drones
December 25, 2022
Iran's top general has said that Western claims its drones are being used by Russia against Ukraine show the 'effectiveness' of Tehran's unmanned aerial vehicles, Iranian media reported Sunday.
Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones to carry out attacks against Ukraine in the months-long conflict, causing significant damage to civilian and energy infrastructure.
In response, Western nations have sanctioned a number of Iranian firms and military generals, including the chief of the staff of Iran's armed forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri.
Tehran had repeatedly denied supplying weapons "to be used" in the war in Ukraine, but admitted in early November that it had sent drones to Russia before the invasion began in February.
"Today's atmosphere-creating by the world of arrogance (a reference for the United States and its allies) regarding the use of Iranian drones in the Ukraine war, is part of the enemy's psychological warfare," Bagheri said, according to Tasnim news agency.
"Apart from the fact that many of these claims may be false, this, in fact, shows the effectiveness, importance and high rank of the Islamic republic in the field of drones."
The United States and Israel, the Iran's arch foes, accuse Tehran of dispatching fleets of drones to its proxies in the Middle East, including Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, the regime of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Yemen's Huthi rebels.
Iran started developing drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in the 1980s during its eight-year war with neighbouring Iraq.
Bagheri said that Iran will continue to develop UAVs.
"The country's armed forces will continue to grow and develop their drones... we will cooperate with other countries on drones", he was quoted as saying by Tasnim.
"Our drone systems are at a high ranking in the world in terms of accuracy, durability and continuity of operation and mission execution, and they perform various missions", he added.
Iranian Supreme Court upholds death sentence against man for role in protests
December 24, 2022
Iran's Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the death sentence handed down to a man for his role in anti-government protests sparked in September following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a woman arrested in Tehran for allegedly wearing a veil incorrectly, while overturning the death sentence against a second defendant.
The Supreme Court said it rejected the appeal filed by the man, identified as Mohamad Qabaldo, who was convicted of running over six policemen in November, an event that resulted in the death of one officer, while the other five were injured, according to the Iranian news portal Mizan Online.
In the case of Saman Saidi, a rapper sentenced to death in October for criticizing the government in his songs, the court has decided to accept his appeal, so the death sentence against him has been overturned. However, it has ordered that the trial be retried.
The Iranian authorities have so far executed two people convicted for their role in the demonstrations, while several thousand have been arrested. Among them are more than 20 facing the death penalty, according to a report published on December 10 by the local daily 'Etemad'.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard recently confirmed that more than 300 people have been killed since the start of the protests, in what was the first official toll since the mobilizations began over the death of Amini, a member of Iran's Kurdish minority. The figure is lower than the one provided by the NGO Iran Human Rights, which points to more than 400 deaths as a result of repression by the security forces.
Iran offers to provide university education to Afghan women in the face of Taliban ban
December 24, 2022
The Iranian authorities have shown on Saturday their willingness to provide university education to Afghan women after the Taliban announced the suspension of classes for female students in these centers in Afghanistan, unleashing a new wave of criticism from the international community.
Rasul Mousavi, head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's West Asia Department, said on his Twitter account that Tehran is ready to "solve the problems of women's education" in Afghanistan, including options "through the Internet".
Thus, he detailed that he has transferred the proposal to the Taliban representative in Tehran, Abdulqayum Soleimani, after Iran was critical of the decision of the fundamentalist group and asked that the decision be reversed to allow the resumption of classes for women in universities in Afghanistan.
Earlier on Saturday, the Taliban used water cannons to suppress a protest in the Afghan city of Herat against the ban on women's access to university education, amid a raft of restrictive measures that have limited the public role of Afghan women.
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