Iran successfully launches new satellite into orbit

Iran successfully launches new 'Navid-e Elm-o Sanat' satellite into orbit on February 3, 2012.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/224625.html

The Islamic Republic of Iran has successfully launched its domestically-built Navid-e Elm-o Sanat satellite into orbit following a decree by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The satellite, completely designed and built by Iranian experts, blasted into orbit late Thursday on the third day of the 10-Day Dawn celebrations, marking the 33th anniversary of the victory of Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The 50-kilogram orbiter lifted off into space with an orbital angle of 55 degrees on the Iranian-made Safir satellite-carrier.

Head of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli said the domestically-built Navid satellite will circle the Earth at altitudes between 250 and 370 kilometers.

He added that the remote-sensing observation satellite is designed to take hi-res pictures of the globe.

The ISA chief noted that the satellite will also collect data on weather conditions, which comes in handy for weather forecasts and management of natural disasters.

Fazeli further said that the satellite is expected to orbit the Earth once every 90 minutes and send images to ground stations.

Navid-e Elm-o Sanat is a telecom, measurement and scientific satellite whose records could be used in a wide range of fields.

Iran launched its first domestically-produced satellite, Omid (hope), into orbit in 2009.

The Omid data-processing satellite was designed to orbit the Earth 15 times every 24 hours and transmit data via two frequency bands and eight antennas to an Iranian space station.

Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959.

Iran war: Excuse for US bankruptcy

The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis transits the Straits of Hormuz, November 12, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/220538.html

The US is preparing for a military confrontation with Iran as it is financially, economically, politically and morally bankrupt, a political writer says.

"America is now bankrupt: financially, economically, politically -- and morally. Its criminal aggression towards Iran is just one of many parts of a jigsaw that add up to a clear and grotesque picture of what the United States of America now represents in the 21st Century world," Finian Cunningham wrote in an article published on Global Research.

Terminally in debt, mass poverty at record levels, rampant militarism, and draconian curbs on civil liberties are the signs that the US is bankrupt, according to Cunningham.

The analyst said that "all options on the table" statement by the White House for Iran comes despite the knowledge of US officials that Iran is not after nuclear arms.

"The US is pushing the world into possibly a World War III scenario on the basis of a totally spurious claim that even its own top brass do not believe," he wrote.

Cunningham said that American intelligence agencies in at least two US National Intelligence Estimates in 2007 and 2010 reported that Iran is not attempting to develop a nuclear weapon.

The analyst also referred to recent remarks by Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as he confirmed that war plans against Iran are going ahead.

"My responsibility is to encourage the right degree of planning, to understand the risks associated with any kind of military option, in some cases to position assets, to provide those options in a timely fashion. And all those activities are going on," Dempsey said.

The war threats come after four rounds of US-backed sanctions imposed by the UN and unilateral sanctions by certain US allies failed to stop Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

Anti-Iran measures provoked by the US and Israel are aimed to deny Iran's right of having peaceful nuclear technology.

As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has the legal right to develop nuclear capability for civilian purposes.

Iran attack to terminate in vortex of war

The US military is preparing a massive military campaign against Iran by sending thousands of American troops, warships and weaponry to Israel.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219986.html

An American analyst maintains that a possible military strike on Iran by the US or its lackey, Israel, will lead to a vicious circle of retaliation which may draw the whole world into the vortex of war.

“Whether the United States launches a major assault on Iran or Israel does, Iran will retaliate against US troops and probably Israel and possibly the United States itself as well. And the United States will without any doubt re-retaliate for that,” Davis Swanson added.

Noting Washington is ready to start a war against Iran, the analyst said over the past decade, the US has been using every kind of accusation against Iran to convince the world that Iran is an international menace.

The article which was published on Global Research added, “The United States has labeled Iran an evil nation,…designated part of Iran's military a terrorist organization, falsely accused Iran of crimes including the attacks of 9/11, murdered Iranian scientists and funded opposition groups in Iran.”

Swanson said in addition to flying drones over Iran, the US has been building up military forces all around the country's borders, while imposing cruel sanctions on Tehran.

He added that in the latest turn of events, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has come under “corrupting influence” of the United States to claim that Iran is secretly developing a nuclear weapon.

The IAEA claims, he wrote, come despite Iran voluntarily accepting stricter standards than the Agency requires as the country is not obliged under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to declare all of its installations to the Agency.

Swanson said even if Iran sought to build a nuclear weapon, “strategically, legally, and morally weapons possession is not ground for war, and neither is pursuit of weapons possession.”

“Many in the US government and military oppose attacking Iran…. Much of the Israeli military is opposed [to war] as well, not to mention the Israeli and US people,” he said.

Swanson said the latest concoction against Tehran “is that 'Iran did 9/11' lie” which has been refuted in detail by many researchers both in and outside the United States.

“Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, which did play a role in 911 as well as in the Iraqi resistance, is being sold record quantities of that good old leading US export of which we're all so proud: weapons of mass destruction,” he said.

Warning against possible outcomes of war with Iran, he added that the environmental damage of war would be tremendous as it would trigger a nuclear arms race among regional countries.

UK destroyer in PG: Message to Iran

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219847.html

Amid the anti-Iran war rhetoric, the British Royal Navy has dispatched its most advanced and sophisticated destroyer to the Persian Gulf.

The Ministry of Defense confirmed on Saturday that the one-billion-pound destroyer would join the British presence in the region.

The Telegraph claimed the vessel has been fitted with new technology in order to shoot down any missile in Iran's armory.

The new anti-Iran measure comes after the US is reportedly sending thousands of American troops, warships and weaponry to Israel for joint military maneuvers with Tel Aviv.

Commander of the US Third Air Force based in Germany Lt.-Gen Frank Gorenc described the deployment as not just an "exercise," but a "deployment."

The US and its Western allies have put more pressure on Iran following the release of the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in November.

The IAEA accused Tehran of conducting activities related to developing nuclear weapons. Iran, however, strongly dismissed the allegations.

The war threats come after four rounds of US-backed sanctions imposed by the UN and unilateral sanctions by certain US allies failed to stop Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

Last week, Iran's Navy wrapped up massive 10-day military drills in the strategic Strait of Hormuz to show that the country is ready to defend itself against any attack.

IRGC begins military drills in Iran's Khaf

File photo showing IRGC tanks during military drills

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219810.html

A high-ranking Iranian military commander says the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has started military drills codenamed “Shohaday-e Vahdat (Martyrs of Unity)” in eastern Iran.

Commander of IRGC Ground Forces Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said the first phase of the exercise has started on Saturday in the vicinity of Khaf city, adding that the main phase of the maneuvers will kick off on Monday.

Bolstering security along Iran's border areas and strengthening the combat readiness of the IRGC Ground Forces are the main goals of the drills, he added.

“Transferring the experiences of the Sacred Defense [Iran's eight-year war with Iraq] to the new generation and young officers and practicing tactical strategies of [the IRGC] ground forces in various combat sections of asymmetrical warfare are other goals of the Shohaday-e Vahdat drills,” he added.

Pakpour said the IRGC would use some of its tactical capabilities and innovations during the drills.

Noting that the exercise also aims to increase the readiness of IRGC forces under extreme climatic conditions, the commander said, “Shohaday-e Vahdat maneuvers are taking place in Khaf where the temperature drops 15-21 degrees below zero.”

On Friday, Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh explained that the country holds military drills in response to enemy threats particularly those posed by the US, which uses the language of threat against Iran, and its moves in the region can only be considered hostile.

On December 24, 2011, Iran's Navy launched a massive 10-day naval exercise codenamed Velayat 90 which covered an area stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.

Different classes of submarines, including Tareq and Ghadir, the newest surface-to-sea missile systems, and torpedoes were employed in the maneuvers.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy announced on January 5 that the IRGC would be holding a major military maneuver in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz in February.

IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said the drill, the seventh in a series of drills dubbed the Great Prophet, will be different compared to previous exercises held by the IRGC.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, connects the Persian Gulf with the Sea of Oman and is a major oil route.

Britain brags about war on Iran

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219801.html

British foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has violated the international law by threatening to attack Iran if it closes its territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz to transit.

His threat comes despite Iran's clarification that it does not seek to close the strategic waterway and the fact that under the international law the issue is not Britain's business as it has no sovereignty in the region.

Hammond said in a speech in Washington that closure of the World's most important oil artery would be “illegal and unsuccessful” saying Britain and the US would keep the water lane open using the might of their “joint naval presence” in the Persian Gulf.

His illegal threat against Iran as a sovereign nation followed Iranian Navy's massive military exercises over an area from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden, which the Navy said were defensive in nature.

Iranian Navy chief, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari earlier made clear “our intention is to bring stability and security to the region” without any need to “resorting to powers from outside.”

Hammond's talk of war and the legal status of an attempt to close the strategic waterway also came as almost any vessel sailing through the Strait of Hormuz should pass through Iranian territorial waters especially upon entrance into the Persian Gulf where ships have to pass the waters off the Iranian islands of the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb, and Faroor.

Indeed, Hammond risked international derision by describing a sovereign country's move to block its own territory to international transit as illegal while he was himself violating the United Nations Charter.

The UN Charter prohibits member states from both threatening and using force against other member states in international disputes, except in self-defense.

The Strait of Hormuz is vital to global oil trade as 40 percent of the seaborne oil transit, equal to a daily 15.5 million barrels of oil passes through the waterway.

Peace activists have described Britain's “saber-rattling” against Iran as “beyond stupid” while there are fundamental questions about the fact that Britain is capable of going to another war following the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, which have brought the British economy to its knees.

Hammond hid that aspect of the issue when talking of Iran, yet he confirmed the financial setbacks to any future military adventurism by London officials elsewhere in his comments.

"Without strong economies and stable public finances it is impossible to build and sustain, in the long-term, the military capability required to project power and maintain defence,” he said.

"That is why today the debt crisis should be considered the greatest strategic threat to the future security of our nations," he added.

Iran develops tech. to spot stealth jets

Top Iranian military commander Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/184440.html

A top Iranian commander says the country's military has developed the technology to spot and intercept radar-evading aircraft.

“The (Iranian) Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base is capable of detecting, identifying, intercepting and countering different types of radar-evading planes and enemy's cruise missiles... in the country's skies,” said Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili.

“In order to spot, identify, intercept and deal with enemy spy planes, we will tap into the country's full potential,” he added.

The top Iranian commander further underlined that the Islamic Republic remains vigilant against Israeli and US military threats.

“The more the threats, the more vigilant we will be, and the more the sanctions, the more our progress,” he noted.

Esmaili pointed out that the morale of the Iranian nation, particularly the Armed Forces, is “at the highest level possible.”

“By God's grace and thanks to the perseverance of local experts, at the moment we have developed modern radar and missile systems, and there are no problems in this regard,” he went on to say.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran bears no animosity toward any country, but we will firmly counter any aggression should we witness any hostile act by other countries,” the senior commander stressed.

Commander of the Aerospace Division of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced earlier that a lot of super-modern enemy spies had been shot down.

In some cases, said Hajizadeh, aircraft similar to the downed planes were built through reverse engineering.

He had also announced the downing of two US spy planes over the Persian Gulf.

IRGC ready to escort Gaza aid ships

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=129275&sectionid=351020101

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has expressed readiness to escort aid convoys seeking to pierce the three-year Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The announcement comes nearly one week after Israeli navy commandoes killed nine activists onboard the Turkish flagship of the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, a convoy of nine ships carrying aid to the impoverished Palestinians trapped inside the enclave since 2007.

"In the wake of (last week's) unfair attack, it is Iran's duty to defend the innocent people of Gaza," Mehr News Agency, quoted Ali Shirazi, the Leader's representative in the IRGC naval forces, as saying on Sunday.

"Iran's naval forces are ready to escort the peace flotilla to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities," Shirazi added.

Shirazi went on to say that if the Leader of the Islamic Revolution issued a decree, the IRGC naval forces would immediately dispatch escort ships.

Despite international outrage over the deadly assault, which has triggered massive protests in Europe and the Middle East, Israeli commandoes boarded another aid ship on Saturday.