Iran artilleries get anti-aircraft systems

Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=137877§ionid=351020101


A senior Iranian commander says the country's armed forces are boosting their surface-to-air firepower with the introduction of new anti-aircraft missile systems.

Iran's “artillery units will soon receive new anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems” to enhance the country's defense capabilities, Fars news agency reported the commander of the anti-aircraft post of the Khatamolanbia Headquarters, Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani, as saying on Sunday.

The military chief said that the Khatamolanbia anti-aircraft post is “rapidly upgrading its defense systems in every way.”

He also noted that the country's artilleries have already deployed another anti-aircraft missile, named Mersad (Ambush), as operational.

Mersad medium-range missile system is the first domestically-built air defense system, which is said to be more powerful than the US-made Hawk missile.

It features cutting-edge technology that makes it able to destroy modern aircrafts at low and medium altitudes, Iran military officials say.

Mersad is also equipped with sophisticated radar signal processing technology, an advanced launcher, and contains exclusive electronic equipment for guidance and target acquisition.

It could be linked to other anti-aircraft batteries, providing the ability to combat electronic warfare.

Iran began mass-production of the missile earlier this year in order to deliver a sizeable number to the country's armed forces by year's end.

IRGC mobilizes forces along borders

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=130682§ionid=351020101



A senior Iranian commander says the presence of American and Israeli forces along the western borders of Iran has prompted the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC) to mobilize its troops in the area.

Brigadier-General Mehdi Moini, who is the commander of IRGC in West Azarbaijan Province, told reporters on Tuesday that certain Western countries sought to overstate the issue of ethnic conflict in the region.

"Through magnifying the ethnic, religious strife in the region and inciting terrorist groups, they seek to destabilize our province," Brig. Gen. Moini said.

The official, however, explained that the strong presence of IRGC forces in the region has thwarted all enemy attempts to destabilize the western Iranian province.

"The presence of US and Israeli forces along Iranian borders is the reason behind Iran's military movements in the region," he said.

The IRGC commander went on to explain that while the enemy has suffered much damage in the course of such movements, no Iranian base has suffered damages.

West Azarbaijan Province is located in northwest Iran. It shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

20,000 Palestinian homes under demolition threat

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121861&sectionid=351020202



Palestinian officials warn that more than 20,000 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem al-Quds could soon face demolition orders from Israeli municipal authorities.

Ahmad Ruweidi, the Palestinian Authority's legal advisor on al-Quds affairs, said Israeli courts will soon hand demolition orders to Palestinian homeowners over what Tel Aviv calls violation of construction rules over the past 10 years and the requirement of renewable licenses.

The figure does not include homes whose owners have already received final demolition orders from Israeli courts or the Israeli municipality in al-Quds, Ruweidi noted.

This means that all owners will live in a state of fear that at any moment their homes could be demolished or a family member may be found homeless on the street, he cautioned.

Ruweidi said Israel's policy was intended to force Palestinians in al-Quds to pay large sums to engineers and lawyers in addition to significant fines for the so-called 'violations of construction restrictions.'

Major differences between the Palestinians and Israelis are growing deeper over Tel Aviv's continued demolition of Palestinian houses in al-Quds and its efforts to create a demographic wedge in the region.

On Saturday, acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas told delegates at the Arab League summit in Libya that Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in annexed East al-Quds in particular, remained the main obstacle to the resumption of the 'peace' talks.

Abbas described al-Quds, which Palestinians have long been demanding as the capital of their future Palestinian state, as "the jewel in the crown as well as the door and the key to peace."

"We emphasize that we hold onto every grain of soil and stone in Jerusalem (al-Quds). We are determined to defend Palestine's capital," he stressed.

Russia rejects sanctions on Iran's economy

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118047§ionid=351020104


Russia has indicated that it will agree to any new sanctions against Iran only if the punitive measures target the country's nuclear program and not its economy.

"If in future hypothetically, if new sanctions are imposed, we are sure that sanctions should be limited to non-proliferation only," Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters in the German city of Munich.

The sanctions, he explained, should "not be expanded to cultural, humanitarian, economic parts of Iranian activity."

The annual security conference was also attended by the Iranian Foreign Minster, Manouchehr Mottaki, who was upbeat on his meeting with the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Yukiya Amano.

"Today I had a very good meeting with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano," Iran's top diplomat said on the sidelines of the conference in southern Germany.

When asked about the nature of the discussions, the IAEA chief said their meeting had "covered a variety of areas."

"That included of course in Iran and the Tehran research reactor. We had a very interesting discussion, and on my part I can currently say that dialogue is continuing and should be accelerated," he added.

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, also known as the P5+1 group, failed to agree on new punitive measures against Iran last month.

The West has been pressuring Tehran to accept a UN-backed draft deal which requires Iran to send most of its domestically produced low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for conversion into a more refined fuel for the Tehran nuclear reactor that produces medical isotopes.

Iran, however, has not accepted the proposal, calling for "concrete guarantees" for the return of the refined fuel since some Western countries, namely France and Germany, have previously failed to honor their nuclear commitments to Tehran without any repercussions.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday declared that Tehran would have "no problem" sending out its stock of LEU for further refinement into the nuclear fuel required for the Tehran reactor.

EU and US officials have, however, rejected Iran's concerns, accusing the Islamic Republic of trying to buy time to delay planned sanctions on Iran's entire energy sector, including its oil and natural gas industries

Russia, rejects, sanctions on Iran’s economy, US, building up, for war