Kish Air Show Gallery

Tragedy at the Kish Air Show

From IRNA:

The 54-year-old German pilot of a plane crashed on the Persian Gulf island of Kish has been killed.

The ultra-light plane crashed while performing air maneuver in the Fourth International Iran Kish Air Shows.

The pilot lost control of the ultra-light aircraft and lost his life as it hit Kish Airport runway.

Over 100 companies from Iran, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Canada, France, China, and a number other counties were participating in the Show.

The exhibition opened on Tuesday and ran until October 31.

More than 80 light and ultra-light planes were among the aircraft on display in the Kish exhibition.

The Show came on the heel of three previous such successful shows organized by the Kish Trade Promotion Center fully supported by Kish Free Zone Organization in cooperation of the Civil Aviation Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CAO-IRI).

A large number of domestic companies active in the aviation, aerospace, airlines and other related industries, manufacturers, research institutes and universities as well as foreign companies took part at the show.

It exhibited vast range of products, systems and services in the aviation and aerospace fields.

The event received a warm welcome from the traders and specialists.

Iranian interest in the Antonov-148 jet

From PressTV:

A senior Ukrainian official has revealed that Iran is to purchase and later produce a version of the Ukrainian-made Antonov airplanes.

Dmitro Kiva, chairman of the Kiev-headquarters of the Antonov Aerospace Company, announced that Iran "will fully participate" in the subsequent production of Antonov-148 mid-range passenger jet, Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.

The An-148, developed in Ukraine during the 1990s, is a twin-engine high-wing passenger plane designed for operation at rough airfields.

The Ukrainian official stated that the Iranian national aviation authorities are holding talks with their Ukrainian counterparts to make a version of An-148 which would be suitable for Iran's terrain.

"The Iranians are absolutely interested, they want to go forward on this," Kiva said.

Some 16 Russian and Ukrainian airlines and Cuba's national Cubania de Aviacion have voiced willingness to purchase An-148 once its production has begun.

The price for an An-148 once in production line would be between 18 and 22 million dollars depending on configuration, according to the Antonov Company.

New naval bases on Oman Sea coast

From PressTV:

Iran plans to build new naval bases along the Sea of Oman coast, east of the Strait of Hormuz to boost its military control over the Persian Gulf.

The Iranian Navy Commander Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said Wednesday establishing an impenetrable defense line in the east of the Strait of Hormuz is in line with the Iranian Navy's new mission which is to maintain its powerful presence in the Persian Gulf region.

Sayyari added that the new bases would be soon built along the Iranian coastline from Bandar Abbas to Pasa Bandar.

"Should the enemy commit a foolish move, it will be sent into the depths of the Indian Ocean and Sea of Oman before reaching the Strait of Hormuz and entering the Persian Gulf," Sayyari said.

An estimated 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

Iran has warned it could block the strategic strait, if its enemies dare to raise a military attack over its nuclear program.

Inaugurating a new naval base at the strategic port of Jask earlier this week, Iran's Deputy Army Commander Brigadier General Abdolrahim Moussavi said, "In the past, our military had to brace itself for countering regional enemies but today we are faced with extra-regional threats."

Tough Talk from Iran after US raid into Syria

From Fars News Agency:

Iranian defense officials Tuesday said the armed forces of the country were ready to deal with enemy threats, specifically in electronic warfare.

Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar spoke of the technological developments of the nation's armed forces at a presentation at Malek Ashtar University of Technology in Isfahan.

He noted the military was in full combat readiness on all fronts, adding forces were ready to deal with any intimidation.

"We are ready to seriously deal with the enemies' threats in all areas, mainly in electronic warfare," he said.

Speaking of the global economy, Najjar said the world reaction to the crisis was a testament to the declining influence of Washington.

"We are witnessing that the world public opinion hates the United States," he said.

His comments follow earlier statements made by Mehdi Karroubi, an Iranian presidential candidate with the National Confidence Party, who said Tehran could repair relations with the United States if Washington "abandons its hegemonic objectives" in the region.

Other Iranian military officials also warned this week against a unilateral strike on the Islamic Republic in the wake of a US raid against Syria.

Deputy Army Commander Brigadier General Abdul-Rahim Mousavi told reporters on Tuesday that the time has come for the enemy to acknowledge Iran's defense capabilities.

"Recognition of Iran's naval mastery has traveled beyond the country's southern waters, and has reached the far ends of the Indian Ocean," said Brig. Gen. Mousavi.

The Iranian commander stressed that giant Western aircraft carriers and battleships do not intimidate world nations as they once did.

In a Tuesday statement, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' (IRGC) naval commander, Admiral Morteza Saffari said that Iran's navy has been reorganized and is ready to defend the nation against all threats.

"Iran's naval forces will make sure that the enemy will live to regret any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic," said Admiral Saffari.

Acting IRGC commander Mohammad Hejazi, meanwhile, vowed on Tuesday that Iran's armed forces would shield the nation from invaders and defend the Islamic Republic's national interest.

"IRGC forces have the determination and experience to guard Iran's national interests," said Brig. Gen. Hejazi.

"They (the enemy) should learn from the mistakes of the past and realize that Iran is unlike any other country in the Middle East," he added.

New generation Saegeh fighter planes

From PressTV:

A senior Iranian defense official says the country has successfully produced a new generation of Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) fighter jets.

The General Manager of Iran's Aviation Industry Organization in the Defense Ministry, Majid Hedayat, said Wednesday that the organization would soon launch a mass production line for the new fighter jets.

"The new generation of Saeqeh fighters are equipped with additional facilities and capabilities," Fars News Agency quoted Hedayat as saying.

Iran test flied the first generation of the home-manufactured 'Saeqeh' fighter jets in September 2007.

Hedayat added that Iranian experts have also produced other military planes, which would later join the Air Force squadron for naval patrolling purposes.

Interesting to see if the new generation of Saegeh will outnumber the low quantity production line of the last generation.

Kamov Ka-32A to be manufactured in Iran

From PressTV:

Russia has agreed to commence cooperation with Iran on mass producing semi-heavy choppers in the country, an Iranian official says.

The deal will see Russian firm Kamov cooperate with Iran's Aerospatiale Industries Organization (AIO) on designing and producing civilian helicopters.

"Under the agreement, more than 50 helicopters including in a new and civil design of the Kamov Ka-32A will be manufactured inside Iran," the CEO of the AIO, Majid Hedayat, said Wednesday.

The Kamov Ka-32A is a compact air transporter, capable of operating without ground support. It is designed for search and rescue missions as well as medical and emergency evacuation, loading and unloading ships at sea, and offshore operations.

The announcement comes a day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the newly imposed US sanctions on Russian state arms trader Rosoboronexport would not stop Moscow from engaging in military cooperation with Tehran.

The US State Department announced on Thursday that it had taken punitive measures against Rosoboronexport for allegedly providing sensitive technology to Iran.

A Kamov official said earlier in October that the firm, established about 60 years ago for the development and production of helicopters, was set to sign a contract with Iran before the end of the year.

Sergei Mikheyev, the general designer at Kamov, said the contract might be similar to a Tupolev deal reached last August, in which Iran ordered more than 100 Tu-204 airliners on the condition that Iran eventually license-produces the aircraft.

Libya, Croatia and the S-300

From Middle East Newsline:

Libya was said to have transferred a long-range Russian-origin air defense system to Iran.

A Croatian magazine said the Libyan Navy transported several S-300 air defense batteries from the former Yugoslav republic to Iran. The magazine, Necenzurirano, said Libyan warships docked in the Croatian port city of Kraljevica to transfer the S-300 to Iran.

There was no confirmation of the report. Croatia and Iran were said to have close relations, particularly in the naval sector.

From Cafe-Syria.com:

A Croatian website has reported that Zagreb recently sold S-300 missile systems to Iran. Croatia is known to have purchased the advanced anti aircraft defense systems following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The web magazine Necensurirano also reported that Libyan warships were docked at the Croatian port of Kraljevica where the missile systems were being loaded in preparation for transfer to Iran. Details of the Croatian deal were reported in The Jerusalem Post.

The report also noted that Ronen Bergman's The Secret War with Iran, published Tuesday in the US, repeats the claim made in the Hebrew version of the book, published last year, that the Iranians already have S-300s. Bergman writes ""Iran has purchased an enormous number of anti-aircraft missiles from Russia, some of which, according to Mossad sources, are S-300 missiles, considered among the most advanced in the world.

These missiles have been deployed around Bushehr and other strategic targets." Bergman writes. He claims that during the Second Lebanon War,Israeli satellite photographs detected changes at several locations in Iran.

Earlier this month media reports claimed Russia threatened to supply the sophisticated S-300 air defense system to Iran,if Washington pushes through Nato membership for Georgia and Ukraine. The advanced air defense system would enable Iran to lock in on 100 targets at once and fire on planes upto 120 kilometers away.

In August, Syrian President Bashar Assad visited Russia to discuss the purchasing of the S-300 missile system from Moscow as well as the Pantsyr-S1 Air Defense Missile system, the BUK-M1 surface-to-air medium-range missile system.

New Naval Base Part 2

From PressTV:

Iran's Navy Commander says the new naval base in the strategic port of Jask will be used to block the Strait of Hormuz in case of war.

In a Tuesday interview, Chief Navy Commander Habibollah Sayyari said the presence of foreign forces near Iranian waters prompted the army to expand its strategic positions in the Sea of Oman.

"The newly-inaugurated naval base offers a new defensive front to the east of the Strait of Hormuz," said Rear Admiral Sayyari.

He stressed that the base would become an impenetrable barrier in the event of war, blocking the entry of enemy naval units into Persian Gulf waters.

Washington and Israel have threatened to strike the Islamic Republic, under the pretext of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

A US attack on the Syrian village of Sukkariyah on Monday, has raised speculation about the likelihood of a unilateral strike on the Islamic Republic.

Tehran has warned that in the event of war, it would not hesitate to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world's sea-transited crude oil passes.

In a Sep. 11 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy says that in the two decades since the Iran-Iraq War, the Islamic Republic has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.

According to the report, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN) has been transformed into a highly motivated, well-equipped, and well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world's oil lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.

The study says that if Washington takes military action against the Islamic Republic, the scale of Iran's response would likely be proportional to the scale of the damage inflicted on Iranian assets.

Iran arming 'freedom armies'

From AFP:

Iran is arming "freedom armies" in the Middle East, according to a top commander of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards quoted Sunday by a military website.

"Today, not only our armed forces are self sufficient but the freedom armies of the region get part of their weaponary from us," said Hossein Hamedani, deputy commander of Iran's volunteer Basij militia.

His comments appeared on the public relations website of the Revolutionary Guards, of which the Basij militia forms a part.

Like those of the Revolutionary Guards, commanders of the militia are appointed by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Hamedani whose military rank was not provided, did not elaborate further on what he meant by "freedom armies."

But Iran has dubbed Palestinian groups such as the Islamist movement Hamas and the hardline Islamic Jihad as well as the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah as "freedom armies" since all have vowed to fight Tehran's regional arch-foe, Israel.
Tehran has always maintained that its support to these groups is merely "moral" and that it does not provide them with any military means, despite claims to the contrary by Washington.

After Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003, Shiite majority Iran has been accused by the US of providing arms to Shiite insurgents in Iraq, an allegation that has been denied by Tehran.

New Naval Base

From PressTV:

Iran says the country's military is set to expand its defensive fronts in the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

The announcement by Iran's Deputy Army Commander Brigadier General Abdolrahim Moussavi came after the country's Armed Forces inaugurated a new naval base in the strategic port of Jask on Monday.

Describing the port of Jask as the main entrance to Iranian waters, Brig. Gen. Moussavi said the new naval base would act as a protective barrier against enemy infiltration.

The Iranian commander added that the country's Armed Forces have set up an 'impenetrable naval barrier' in the eastern parts of the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman.

Moussavi also stressed the need for the expansion of Iran's military bases, arguing that, "In the past, our military had to brace itself for countering regional enemies. This is while today we are faced with extra-regional threats."

The President's health

Recent rumors regarding Ahmadinejad’s health are reminiscent of similar rumors about Khamenei a couple years back. In the case of Khamenei, the rumors were not true, that he had cancer and was dying. (Some even said he had died.) Now the rumor mill swirls around President Ahmadinejad, that he is exhausted from a heavy schedule and may not run in the upcoming Presidential election. This rumor will turn out like the last.

Reading List- October 26, 2008

-Nukes: Too Deep to Hit
by Mark Hosenball
NEWSWEEK

-Elusive consensus on Iran
by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Asia Times Online

-Iran’s Presidential Election Takes Off
by Farideh Farhi
Informed Comment Global Affairs

IRGC/AF Commander's Defiant Comments

From IRNA:

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Airforce Brigadier General Hossein Salami said here (Rusdar, Gilan Prov.)Saturday that not an acre of Iran can be occupied.

"The arrogance knows pretty well that not an acre of our country can be occupied. Those taking lessons from Ashura will never yield to the enemy," said Salami in an address to a group of people in a ceremony held to commemorate a group of the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war martyrs.

He said Iran is invincible and highly powerful than ever. "Former Soviet, (former Iraqi ruler) Saddam Hussein and Taliban couldn't stand the US and were collapsed one after another but Islamic Iran has for 30 years been targeting the US policies on whole the universe." He added, "We are today highly powerful and can target enemy everywhere on earth. That does not represent all our power; Our power lies in our faith, our statesmen's will and in our cohesion and unity."

Interesting comment depicting Iran’s successful resistance, during which time the USSR, Hussein’s Iraq and the Taliban were knocked out one by one.

(Top photo from PBS)

Officer Graduation at Imam Ali University (video)

Video includes demonstration by Iranian commandos and a choreographed military parade.

US Military Publications on Iran

Two publications for the US Military:

-Cultural Intelligence for Military Operations – Iran
Marine Corps Intelligence Activity

-Iranian Strategy in Iraq: Politics and “other means”
Joseph Felter, Brian Fishman
CTC at West Point

Belarusian jet forced to land in Iran

From Press TV:

Iranian warplanes have forced a Belarusian fighter [sic] jet to land for interrogations after the plane violated the country's airspace.

Iranian officials forced the Ilyushin Il-76 to land in the southern port city of Bushehr early Wednesday morning, Belarusian News Agency BelTA reported.

The plane was carrying a Belarusian military delegation to Doha in Qatar to attend the end of a military exercise dubbed Rapacious Falcon, Belarus' Foreign Ministry said according to BelTA.

Members of a military delegation aboard the plane were interrogated by Iranian officials before they were permitted to leave Iranian soil.

Belarus' Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to Belarus, Seyyed Abdollah Hosseini, who apologized and assured that Tehran would conduct a comprehensive investigation into the incident, which he said occurred due to lack of coordination.

Yet another intercept/forced landing in Iran that has been reported in the Iranian press.

IRIAF Maneuvers II (video)

News Report from 2nd Tactical Air Base at Tabriz.

Officer Graduation at Imam Ali University

H/T to maydayfire @ IMF

Revolutionary Guards Reportedly Captured in Iraq

The Long War Journal is reporting the detention of seven members of Iran’s IRGC, found inside Iraqi territory by Iraqi police and border guards.

Iraqi police captured three armed Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps officers today in the city of Al Kut in Wasit province, a police official told Voices of Iraq. "Three Iraqi(sic) Revolutionary Guards along with their guide were detained on the border region between Iraq and Iran in eastern Wasit after entering Iraq illegally," said Police Major Aziz Latief al Imara. "The forces seized amounts of ammunitions found in their possession."

On Oct. 18, Iraqi border guards captured four more members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps in the Mandali district in Diyala province. "A force from the 4th contingent of the Iraqi border brigade in Diyala province arrested last night four members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard inside the Iraqi territories," an anonymous official told Voices of Iraq. "The four were in military uniform with guns in their possession and were moving within the Iraqi territories."

IRGC Navy in Action (video)