Velayat-89 Military Maneuvers (4)

click photos to enlarge

Trio of Kaman class (Combattante IIB type) missile boats

Background: Kaman class missile boat equipped

with Harpoon Mk 140 missile launchers

Center: Kaman class missile boat equipped

with Noor (C-802) missile launchers

IRIN Fokker F-27-400M Troopship flies

over a Kaman class missile boat

Background: A pair of Hendijan class general purpose tenders. Foreground: Marines aboard a "whaler type" patrol boat armed with DSkH and G3-A4s.

Helicopter view of IRIS Sabalan (73) Alvand class (ex-Saam)

(Vosper Mk5 type) frigate

"Whaler type" patrol boat containing M-08 type contact mines

Modified SR.N6 Winchester class amphibious hovercraft

BH.7 Mk5 Wellington class combat hovercraft

equipped with Noor missile launchers

Iranian Marines disembark from a BH.7...

...and hit the beaches armed with Iranian UZIs, and motorized elements equipped with RPG-7s. Note use of Universal Camouflage Patterned BDUs.

Marines aboard Honda XL 185 dual sport motorcycles

Marine seaborne assault armed with DShK and G3-A4s.

Mohajer 4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

Photos:

Hossein Zohrevand at Fars News Agency

Rooholla Vahdati at Iranian Students News Agency

Younes Khani at Mehr News Agency

Islamic Republic News Agency

Velayat-89 Military Maneuvers (3)

click photos to enlarge

Prep work on a F-4E Phantom II inside a hardened air shelter

F-4E moved by Schopf tow tractor beyond hardened air shelter

F-4E armed with AIM-9P Sidewinders; equipped with 600 gallon centerline fuel tank and two 370 gallon wing tanks

A pair of F-4Es armed with AGM-65 Mavericks

F-4E, possibly 91 TFS "Sharks" based at

TFB.9/Bandar Abbas (OIKB)

F-4D Phantom II strike fighters of 101 TFS

based at TFB.10/Chahbahar (OIZC)

Photos:
Ali Hashemi at Fars News Agency
Amir Hossein Khorgoui at Iranian Students News Agency
Abdul Rezvani at Mehr News Agency

Velayat-89 Military Maneuvers (2)

click photos to enlarge

Foreground: IRIS Bayandor (81), Bayandor class (ex-PF 103 type) large patrol corvette. Background: IRIS Lavan (513), Hengam class tank landing ship (LST).

IRIS Lavan (513), Hengam class tank landing ship (LST)

Foreground: prep work on TOW-capable IRIAA AH-1J Sea Cobra

IRIADF operation of Shahin (I-HAWK) SAM battery

Chemical defense exercise: field decontamination vehicle, chemical defense ensemble and handheld decontamination nozzle.

Photos: Mahmodreza Amiri at JameJamOnline.ir

Velayat-89 Military Maneuvers (1)

Velayat-89 military maneuvers are currently in progress, lasting a total of eight days and covering approximately 97,000 square miles of Iranian territorial waters. Included areas of operation are the Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean.

click photos to enlarge

IRIAA Elicotteri Meridionali CH-47C Chinook (219) helicopters

Iranian chemical protective suit with M-15 type gas mask affixed. Background: IRIAA CH-47C Chinook.

IRIN Sikorsky RH-53D Sea Stallion (S-65)

IRIAA Bell AH-1J Sea Cobra (209) firing

unguided 70 mm (2.75”) rockets

IRIN Agusta AB-212ASW flies over a Pulse Acquisition Radar

IRIADF Shahin (I-HAWK) SAM battery

(Mersad air defense system)

IRIADF Pulse Acquisition Radar (Mersad air defense system)

Photos: Hossein Zohrevand at Fars News Agency, Younes Khani at Mehr News Agency

Iran: Bin Laden in Washington!

Iran’s leading conservative daily Kayhan has repeated a claim made by the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Osama bin Laden is in Washington, being hosted by former president George W. Bush!

“Our president said that Bin Laden is in Washington, because he has warm relationship with former president George Bush. They worked together in oil industry. But Ben Laden has never worked with Iran,” Kayhan said in its article [Kayhan, 6 May].

Iran’s Dinner Party: Trying to Avoid UN Sanctions?

Iran is hosting a dinner tonight for UN Security Council members. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki invited the 15-nation council to dinner at Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee's residence, and representatives of all member nations, including US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff, are expected to attend [AP, 6 May].

The unusual dinner party is the latest indication of Iran’s diplomatic and political push to make its case and avoid further UN sanctions over its uranium enrichment program.

Ahmadinejad Attacks Clinton, Spares Obama

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday of seeking to provoke a clash with Iran.

"Mrs. Clinton is interested in speedily moving relations with Iran to the point of a clash," Ahmadinejad told ABC television.

Ahmadinejad added that Clinton was constantly taking measures against his government.

Ahmadinejad went on to say he felt Clinton opposed Iran, while President Barack Obama did not.

"Based on the information we possess, Mr. Obama does not have such an opinion, but there's a lot of pressure going around," the Iranian president told ABC.

Ahmadinejad had made even stronger comments earlier this week, calling Clinton "an enemy" of Iran.

"Mrs. Clinton is an enemy of Iran -- it's clear from the position she takes," he told the PBS television network on 3 May.

Iraq: New Shia Alliance; Iran’s Growing Influence

Associated Press is reporting that Iraq’s two main Shia blocks have agreed on an alliance to form the country’s next government. The agreement gives the final decision on all political disputes between the two allied blocks to a group of Shia clerics based in Najaf (the marjaiyah) led by Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.

If the alliance succeeds in forming the next government, the provision could increase the role of senior Shia clergy in Iraqi politics at the expense of the next prime minister’s powers. The agreement would likely further alienate Iraq’s Sunnis, already feeling disenfranchised. The secular Iraqia list led by former premier Ayad Allawi, which was largely supported by Sunnis, received the most votes in the parliamentary elections, but fell well short of a majority to form the next government.

The deal is between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition and the conservative Shiite Iraqi National Alliance. Iran carries great influence with both groups and has long pushed for such alliance.

Mesbah-1 Air Defense System

The newly unveiled Mesbah-1 ("Lantern-1") appears to be a mobile, short range AAA system, which includes defense in the anti-cruise missile/PGM role.

click photos to enlarge

The Mesbah-1 incorporates an automated, radar-guided ZU-23-8 gun system, making it well suited against even very small and LO PGMs. Claimed firing rate is 4000 rounds per minute.

Precise 3D phased array radar mounted

atop an enclosed operating trailer

TI-optical tracking system, also mounted

atop an enclosed operating trailer

Photos: Vahid Reza Alaei at JameJamOnline.ir

Iran Summons UAE Envoy Over Three Islands

Iran summoned the United Arab Emirates charge d'affaires in Tehran over UAE’s renewed claims of the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. Iran considers the three islands as its territory.

"The UAE's charge d'affaires was summoned to the foreign ministry and was issued a stern warning," Ramin Mehmanparast, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters in Tehran.

"There was also a meeting held in the UAE, and they were conveyed the displeasure of our officials towards their unmeasured statements," he added.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah had compared Iran's control of the islands to Israel's occupation of Arab territories.

US: Reduced Nuclear Warheads

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told delegates at NPT Conference in New York on Monday that the US has reduced its operational nuclear warheads to 5,113. In 1967, at the height of the Cold War, the number of US nuclear warheads was at 31,225. The current stockpile represents a 83 percent reduction since then.

Ahmadinejad's speech at the NPT Conference held at the United Nations

Here are links to the complete statement and video of President Ahmadinejad's speech at he 2010 Review Conference to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear weapons (NPT).

Select Quotes:

- "The possession of nuclear bombs is not a source of pride; it is rather disgusting and shameful. And even more shameful is the threat to use or to use such weapons, which is not even comparable to any crime committed throughout the history."

- "Wars, aggressions and above all the shadow of threat and stockpiling of nuclear armaments, and worse than all, the policies applied by few expansionist States, have obscured the prospect of international security for every one. Nowadays, the communities' mindset is largely affected by a sense of intimidation and insecurity. Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation have not come true, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not been successful in discharging its mandate. During the past four decades, some, including the Zionist regime, have been equipped with nuclear arms."

- "There are reportedly more than 20,000 nuclear warheads worldwide half of which belongs to the United States. The other competing party also continues the development of nuclear weapon under the pretext of deterrence. Both of them constitute violation of obligations under the NPT."

- "Regrettably, the government of the United States has not only used nuclear weapons, but also continues to threaten to use such weapons against other countries, including Iran."

- "Enjoying especial privileges in the highest global security decision-making bodies and in the IAEA, certain nuclear weapon States widely exploit these platforms against the non-nuclear weapon States, contrary to the spirit of the NPT. This unjust practice, repeated over and over, has turned into a pattern."

- "So far, none of the non-nuclear weapon States has ever been able to exercise their inalienable and legal rights for peaceful use of nuclear energy without facing pressures and threats. While despite clear provisions of article VI of the Treaty and the Statute of the IAEA, no single report has been issued by the IAEA inspectors on the nuclear weapons facilities of the United States and its allies, nor is there any plan for their disarmament, resolutions have been adopted against non-nuclear weapon
States under the pressure of the same States and under false pretext and with the clear intention of denying them their recognized legal rights."

- "While the Zionist regime which has stockpiled hundreds of nuclear warheads, has waged many wars in the region and continues to threaten the people and nations of the region with terror and invasion, enjoys the unconditional support of the United States government and its allies and receives, as well, the necessary assistance to develop its nuclear weapon program. The same States impose various kinds of pressures on the members of the IAEA on the false pretext of probable diversions in their peaceful nuclear activities without providing even a single credible proof to substantiate their allegation."

- "One of the gravest injustices committed by the nuclear weapon States is equating nuclear arms with nuclear energy. As a matter of fact, they want to monopolize both the nuclear weapons and the peaceful nuclear energy, and by doing so to impose their will on the international community. The aforementioned issues are all against the spirit of the NPT and in flagrant violation of its provisions."

Ahmadinejad at NPT Conference in New York

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected allegations Iran is developing nuclear weapons, saying Washington has offered not "a single credible proof." Ahmadinejad was the only head of state participating in month-long Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference in New York that began this morning.

"Regrettably, the government of the United States has not only used nuclear weapons, but also continues to threaten to use such weapons against other countries, including Iran," Ahmadinejad said.

Ahmadinejad was one of the kickoff speakers, turning the treaty discussions into a stage for Tehran’s continued showdown with the West over its uranium enrichment program.

As Ahmadinejad spoke, the US delegation walked out of the General Assembly hall, joined by several European delegations, including the French and British.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested over the weekend Ahmadinejad was coming to New York "to divert attention and confuse the issue."

“We're not going to permit Iran to try to change the story from their failure to comply" with the NPT, she said on Sunday's "Meet the Press" on NBC.

Opening the conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon directly challenged Tehran.

"The onus is on Iran to clarify the doubts and concerns about its program," the UN chief told the delegates.

The NPT review conference would be a four-week diplomatic marathon meant to produce a consensus final document pointing toward ways to better achieve the NPT's goals of checking the spread of nuclear weapons, while working toward reducing and eventually eliminating them.

There are 189 countries that are the treaty signatories. The exceptions are India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, all of which have nuclear arsenal. The members gather every five years. Any declaration at the end of the conference to improve the existing NPT treaty would need the consensus of all its 189 members. No country can be singled out in the declaration.

In three of the past seven conferences, delegates failed to produce a declaration. This year, with the full participation and urging of the new US administration, a final declaration is widely expected. President Barack Obama has steered the US back onto a negotiating track, including with a new US-Russian agreement to reduce their thousands of long-range nuclear arms.

Note: The facts about the NPT and its history were provided by the Associated Press (AP).

Toofan attack helicopters delivered to IRIAA

Iran's military formally took possession of ten new Toofan ("storm") attack helicopters, which are based on the Bell AH-1J Sea Cobra.

click photos to enlarge

Lineup of seven Toofan twin-engine attack helicopters belonging to Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation (IRIAA); all appearing TOW capable with varying armament configurations.

Toofan armed with M197 3-barreled 20 mm "Gatling-type" cannon in the A/A49E-7 turret, with wingstub stations carrying a pair of 19-Tube 70 mm (2.75") rocket launchers.

Toofan with unpainted parts, with M197 wearing a gun shroud, and a pair of 7-Tube 70 mm (2.75") rocket launchers mounted on the wingstubs.

Toofan armed with a pair of 7-Tube rocket launchers and TOW missile carriers.

Cockpit view. No Multi-Function Display (MFD) or Head-Up Display (HUD) are evident.

Video available here.

Photos: Farns News Agency, Mehr News Agency and JameJamOnline.ir

Ahmadinejad Leaves for New York

Ahmadinejad Leaving Tehran to Attend

NPT Conference in New York

2 May 2010. AFP Photo

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran today to attend the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference in New York.

Ahmadinejad is scheduled to make a speech at the conference on Monday. He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi.

Iran military plane encounters USS Eisenhower over Gulf of Oman

click photos to enlarge

File photo: USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

According to CNN:

An Iranian navy plane that approached a U.S. aircraft carrier last week was flying as low as 300 feet as it neared the USS Eisenhower, U.S. military officials said Wednesday.

The incident, first reported by CNN on Tuesday, came as Iran was beginning a series of military exercises last week meant to show off their military prowess.

The Eisenhower was on duty in the Gulf of Oman in the northern Arabian Sea, in support of the Afghanistan war efforts, when the Iranian maritime patrol aircraft flew within 1,000 yards of the vessel, according to military officials.

[...}

Adm. Gary Roughead, the top Navy officer, confirmed the April 21 incident. The Iranians were "not provocative or threatening. As long as they are professional and not threatening or reckless, it's international space," he said.

Radar on the Eisenhower and other U.S. ships in the vicinity closely tracked the Iranian aircraft as it approached the aircraft carrier to ensure it maintained a nonthreatening path, Roughead said. A senior U.S. military official said the Iranian plane was tracked by U.S. units for nearly 100 miles before it reached the Eisenhower.

The Iranian aircraft was a Fokker F27 that was unarmed, officials said. It remained in the vicinity of the Eisenhower for about 20 minutes before leaving the area, according to the senior official. The Eisenhower had just finished a series of carrier aircraft flight operations and a resupply at sea mission.

[...]

U.S. military officials continue to emphasize that recent encounters with Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf have been professional and without confrontation or problems. The U.S. Navy takes great care to try to stay out of the way of any Iranian forces in the region, officials said.

Initial reports described the Iranian aircraft as a "fighter jet," however it has subsequently been identified as a propeller-driven Fokker F-27. IRIN (Islamic Republic of Iran Navy) aviation fly the Fokker F-27-400M Troopship and F-27-600 Friendship, and sport a distinctive 3-color camo pattern. IRGCN (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy) aviation were known in the past to fly a F-27-600 Friendship, an example of which is grounded at the Tehran Aerospace Center. The IRGCN plane is painted white with grey undersides. The IRIAF and IRIAA also fly F-27s.

Above: IRIN Fokker F-27-400M Troopship

IRIAF spokesman Amir Alavi asserted that routine patrol flights are within the Iranian military's legal rights, and stated that "our planes might have passed near US ships in this corridor [Daryā-e Omman] but there would be no cause for complaint in the matter."

Other Iranian media sources emphasized that CNN was deliberately attempting to raise tensions between the US and Iran, over conduct that is considered routine in the region.

Photo: Babak at Airliners.net

UAE and the Three Islands

The Three Islands

Strait of Hormuz . Persian Gulf

To the north is Iran's Qeshm Island; to the east is the UAE

On Sunday, the UAE foreign minster, Sheikh Abdullah, called on Iran to end the “occupation” of the three islands of the Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa. Last week, the Emirati foreign minister had linked Iran’s ownership of the three Persian Gulf islands to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.

The controversy over the three islands goes back to early 1970s when the British were pulling out of the Persian Gulf. They put pressure on the shah’s government to renounce Iran’s historical claim over Bahrain in return for the three islands, which also had long been claimed by Iran. Shah agreed and Iran occupied the three islands.

Shah's renunciation of Iran’s claims over Bahrain happened when Bahrain became part of the Federation of Arab Emirates (FAE). In return, the FAE (which included today’s UAE plus Bahrain and Qatar) accepted Iran’s sovereignty over the three islands. In 1971, Bahrain reneged on its membership at FAE and the newly formed UAE later reneged on recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the islands. Shah’s government recognized Bahrain’s independence, but did not get UAE’s recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the islands.

Facing the claim by UAE over the three islands, any agreement by the shah’s government to recognize Bahrain in return for the three islands could now be challenged by Tehran. Bahrain and the Trucial States, the predecessor of UAE, did not negotiate with the shah in good faith and the results of those negotiations could now technically be considered null and void.

30th anniversary of 'Operation Eagle Claw'

An interesting Al Jazeera report on the 30th anniversary of the failed American 'Operation Eagle Claw', the attempted rescue of American hostages held in the US embassy in Tehran on April 25th 1980.

Iran Eases Foreign Ownership Rules

Iran announced today that it has adopted new regulations to facilitate foreign investment in its capital markets. All restrictions on foreign investors transferring money out of Iran are removed and the limit of foreign ownership of Iranian companies is raised to 20 percent from 10 percent. Foreign investments are now exempt from paying any taxes.

"The government is now offering broader incentives to foreign investors with fewer regulatory strings attached," said Ali Saleh Abadi, director of Iran's Securities and Exchange Organization. "They will be exempt from paying tax and will no longer be subjected to excessive regulations." [Press TV, 26 April].

Iran is aiming to raise some $12.5 billion in foreign investment by privatizing more than 500 state-owned firms during its current fiscal year that began on 21 March. Among those firms are two carmakers and two refineries.

In the current political atmosphere and the hesitancy of foreign investors to enter the Iranian market, however, IRGC, the country’s most powerful branch of armed forces with extensive economic holdings in the country, is expected to take over the carmakers and the refineries put up for “privatization."

Iran to Increase Gas Import

The National Iranian Gas Company announced today that the import of gas from Turkmenistan would reach 40 million cubic meters a day, a 5-fold increase from the current 8 MMcm/day [Shaha News Agecny, 26 April 2010]. Turkmenistan will commission a second gas pipeline by November to accommodate Iran’s growing imports.

Iran has the world’s second largest gas reserves (after Russia), and shares the world’s largest natural gas field (with Qatar) in the Persian Gulf waters, but the country does not produce sufficient natural gas for domestic use.

Aside from its need to increase natural gas production, Iran needs to raise its oil production and exports as well as expand its refining capacity to meet domestic demands for gasoline. NIOC, the country’s giant state-owned oil company, has estimated that Iran would need some $150 billion in new investments over the next decade to build up its energy sector. But the growing sanctions have resulted in an exodus of foreign oil and gas giants from Iran, bringing the level of foreign investments in oil and gas sector to near zero.

On Saturday, the IRGC, the country’s powerful branch of armed forces, announced that it could fill the gap in the country’s energy sector left by Western oil firms pulling out in the face of the new sanctions. As good a fighting force that IRGC might have become, it is clear that it would fail miserably if it wanted to transform itself into a giant oil and gas company, dependant on high technology and global capital markets to meet the investment needs of the Iranian energy sector.

Great Prophet 5 Maneuvers (6)

click photos to enlarge

Front to back: Fadjr-5 MRLS, Fadjr-3 MRLS, Noor AShM (?),

Noor AShM, HY-2 CD/AShM, HY-2 CD/AShM

Wolf in sheep's clothing: Noor (C-802) concealed single launcher inside medium commercial truck transport. Sidings removed, accordion roof pulled back, outriggers deployed, cab protected, FCS hoisted, internal box elevated and missile fired.

HY-2G Seersucker aboard mobile launcher. The missile is powered by a liquid-fuel rocket motor, with a solid-fuel rocket booster attached under the missile fuselage.

Missile and launcher in IRGC/ASF service are immaculate

Close up detail of solid fuel engine nozzle

HY-2G Seersucker missile launch

Booster rocket jetison

Fadjr-3 ("dawn-3") 240 mm MRLS in elevated firing position

Fadjr-3 rocket launch

Fadjr-5 ("dawn-5") 333 mm MRLS

Photos: Mahdi Marizad at Fars News Agency and Younes Khani at Mehr News Agency