April
29, 2023
Iran’s
missile program has received considerably less attention than its nuclear
program; however, it could directly threaten the U.S. homeland.
The
Iranians have disguised their quest for an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
(ICBM) under the guise of its drive for space technology, not unlike the
Soviets with Sputnik in 1957.
“The
IRGC space program, which is separate from the state-run space program, adds
complexity to this picture. The IRGC space program initially did serve, more or
less, as a cover for developing long-range missile technologies, but it appears
to have a larger purpose recently,” the U.S. Institute for Peace said last
June. “Regardless of Tehran’s intent, international concerns will probably grow
as Iran develops more capable rockets for satellite launching for fear that
they these could be re-purposed as long-range ballistic missiles.”
The
Intelligence Watching Iran’s Weapons Programs
The
U.S. Intelligence Community’s 2023 threat assessment noted that Iran’s space
program “shortens the timeline” to an ICBM for Iran because they use “similar
technologies.” The Israelis have reached similar conclusions about the goals of
Iran’s ballistic missile program, Ha’aretz reported in December.
Some
believe Iran’s recent reconciliation with Saudi Arabia could lead to it
increasing its focus on the development of new technologies such as
solid-propelled missiles that could be used in its ICBM program.
North
Korea is widely believed to have obtained technology to miniaturize its nuclear
weapons and place them atop its missiles. Considering the history of technology
sharing between Iran and North Korea, sharing that technology with Iran is not
beyond the realm of possibility. A U.S. government source told Reuters in
September 2020 that Iran and North Korea were collaborating on ICBM
technologies.
CIA
Director William Burns stated in February that the U.S. believes Russia could
be helping Iran to advance its missile technology in exchange for economic aid.
“What
we also see are signs that … Russia is proposing to help the Iranians on their
missile program and also at least considering the possibility of providing
fighter aircraft to Iran as well,” Burns said.
U.N.
Security Council Resolution 2231 was passed following the Iranian nuclear
agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which called
on Iran to refrain from developing missiles that could be used to deliver a
nuclear weapon.
Iran
Pushes Forward
Iran
placed its first satellite into orbit in April 2020 atop a Ghaem-100 rocket.
Both the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Aerospace
Industries Organization operate this launch vehicle. This rocket includes
technology likely derived from North Korea’s Hwasong missile series.
It
successfully tested the Ghaem-100 again in November.
A
letter to the U.N. Security Council sent by the British, German, and French
governments estimated that the missile could be converted to carry a 1,100 lb.
warhead, but disputed Iranian claims that it had intercontinental range.
Iran
tested a rocket known as the Zoljanah, a two-stage launch vehicle that has both
a liquid-propelled and a solid-propelled stage last June.
Statements
by Iranian officials appear to validate Western concerns about Iran’s intent.
IRGC
Aerospace Forces Deputy Commander Seyyed Majid Mousavi claimed on Iranian TV in
November 2020 that Iran had ICBM technology.
Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s personal representative Nassir Hosseini
announced during a Nov. 11, 2022 sermon that the Ghaem-100 missile “is an
intercontinental missile and a satellite carrier that uses solid fuel.”
“This
is a message for the enemies of this land. The range of this missile is about ;
whereas, America is about ,” Hosseini said, according to translation by MEMRI.
“Our enemies have realized that if they make the slightest mistake our response
will be harsh and destructive.”
Hosseini
claimed the missile could strike any target on land or in space and evade
missile defenses.
Mehdi
Baktiari, editor of the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency, claimed on Iranian TV
last November that Iran could deploy an ICBM whenever it decides to.
"However,
at any moment, when they so desire, they can build an intercontinental missile
with a range of, more or less, , with a warhead weighing several hundred ,”
Baktiari said. “We now have the Ghaem-100 satellite launcher. Inshallah, within
several years, we will have the Ghaem-120 launcher. This is the launcher
envisioned by the martyr Tehrani-Moghaddam, and inshallah, it will get us to an
orbit 36,000 kilometers above ground.”
Even one American in Iraq is too many, Iran leader tells Iraqi
president
April
29, 2023
DUBAI
(Reuters) - The United States is an unreliable friend, and Iraq should not
allow any U.S. troops on its territory, Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei told visiting Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid on Saturday.
Iran,
which has strong ties with Iraq, opposes the U.S. military presence on its
borders in Iraq and the Gulf, saying Western military intervention is the root
of insecurity in the region.
"Americans
are not friends of Iraq. Americans are not friends with anyone and are not even
loyal to their European friends," state media quoted Khamenei as saying.
U.S.
national security agencies are investigating after a leak of classified
documents has suggested the United States spied on allies including Ukraine.
"Even
the presence of one American in Iraq is too much," Khamenei told Rashid,
who was in Tehran with a delegation to boost ties between the two neighbours.
The
United States has some 2,500 troops in Iraq to help advise and assist local
troops in combating Islamic State, which in 2014 seized territory in the
country.
"Iraq's
main effort is to deepen relations with Iran and resolve certain remaining
issues between the two countries," Rashid was quoted as saying, without
referring to Iraq's ties with the United States.
Israel’s ‘nuclear extinction’ called for at Iranian exhibit in
Afghanistan
April
29, 2023
The
Islamic Republic of Iran organized an exhibition in Afghanistan’s third-largest
city of Herat that advocated the “nuclear extinction” of Israel in April as
part of the month-long Al-Quds Day celebrations.
“This
exhibition is an example of the Iranian regime's exporting of its antisemitic
ideology. There is a permissive environment in Afghanistan for the Iranian
system to do so now, especially with the Taliban in charge, and there are
natural linkages to the Hazara community, which have a significant presence in
Herat," Jason Brodsky, policy director for the US-based United Against
Nuclear Iran (UANI), told The Jerusalem Post.
"These
Cultural Centers are not spreading the views of the Iranian people, but of the
Islamic Republic, and it is part of a drive for recruitment, incitement, and
influence.“
The
Hazara are a largely a Shi'ite Muslim ethnic group. Nearly all of Iran’s over
87 million Muslims are Shi'ite.
Exhibit
falling on Al-Quds Day
The
Herat exhibit that urged the nuclear obliteration of the Jewish state coincided
with the antisemitic Al-Quds Day event. The founder of the Islamic Republic
leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini created Al-Quds Day after Iran’s 1979 Islamic
Revolution. Israel and the Western powers have accused Iran's regime of
building nuclear weapons. Tehran denies that it seeks to construct an atomic
bomb.
People
chant slogans as they set fire to a representation of Israel's flag, marking
al-Quds Day, (Jerusalem Day), during the fasting month of Ramadan in Peshawar,
Pakistan April 14, 2023. (credit: Fayaz Aziz/Reuters)
MEMRI
wrote that Al-Quds Day "is celebrated generally on the last Friday of
Ramadan, which this year was on April 21, to emphasize the call for the
liberation of Jerusalem. However, Al-Quds Day was marked this year on both
April 14 and April 21, the former perhaps in expectation that it might have
been the last Friday of Ramadan. In South Asian countries, Eid Al-Fitr was
celebrated on April 21 and April 22, 2023.”
Tufail
Ahmad, a Senior Fellow for the MEMRI Islamism and Counter-Radicalization
Initiative, published a report on the “upsurge of anti-Israel events,
antisemitism, and statements in South Asia, especially in Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and Pakistan-controlled Azad Jammu & Kashmir and in Indian
Kashmir and other cities of India, during the holy month of Ramadan, starting
March 23, 2023.”
Watan24.com
reported that in the province of Herat, Shi'ite leaders celebrated Al-Quds Day
on April 14. Allama Hojatoleslam Ahmadi, the head of Herat's Shia Ulema
Council, delivered a diatribe in to people in Herat city: "Israel will not
continue as a state, this being a divine promise,” according to a Dari-language
news website.
Pakistani
columnist: Nuclear-armed Pakistan is the cure to Israel's existence
MEMRI
also noted that the Pakistani columnist wrote in their local newspaper Roznama
Dunya that nuclear-armed Pakistan is an antidote to "the cancer named
Israel." The MEMRI website also posted photographs of the antisemitic
Al-Quds Day demonstrations including a ”replica of Al-Quds presented at Al-Quds
Day rally in Karachi city on April 14, 2023, showing a grave of Israel with the
words inscribed ‘RIP Israel’" and of “protesters trampling upon images of
the Israeli and American flags.”
Maulana
Syed Kalbe Jawwad Naqvi, the general secretary of the Majlis Ulama-e-Hind,
addressed protesters in India’s Lucknow's Asafi Mosque, who held banners with
slogans declaring "Death to Israel, America," and "Free
Palestine."
The
radical Islamist Jawwad Naqvi added that "very soon, Israel will be
obliterated, the prophecy about which has proven to be correct, because the
blood of the oppressed, will never go in vain."
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