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US: Envoy Won’t Attend UN Disarmament Councils Led By Iran

Insists Iran Should Be Barred From Holding Chair

by Jason Ditz, May 13, 2013

The Obama Administration has announced that they will no longer allow their ambassador to attend UN Conference on Disarmament meetings because the rotating chairman position has passed to Iran.

The US maintains that since there are sanctions against Iran they should be barred from holding “any formal or ceremonial positions” at the UN. Iran will hold the position from May 27 through June 23.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman shrugged off the complaints, saying that the 65-member council came up with the monthly rotating leadership plan, and since Iran is a member it was eventually going to be the leader.

Iran has been supportive of calls for a nuclear-free Middle East, a plan which the NPT member states initially supported, but which the US loudly condemned since Israel is the sole nation in the region with nuclear weapons.

http://news.antiwar.com/2013/05/13/us-envoy-wont-attend-un-disarmament-councils-led-by-iran/

Iran Navy to Get Advanced Cruise Missiles

Russian S-300 air defense missile system (archive)
© RIA Novosti. Yury Shipilov
22:41 12/05/2013

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – Iran’s Navy will receive cruise missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers, the director of Iran’s Defense Ministry’s Aerospace Organization said on Sunday.
“The new missiles will have “enhanced precision” and other “super advanced capabilities,” Brigadier General Mehdi Farahi was quoted by Press TV as saying.
In late April, Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi announced plans to unveil new ballistic and cruise missiles as well as other new military achievements within the next five months.
Iran has successfully test-fired a medium range shore-to-sea ballistic missile in the Persian Gulf as well as three new surface-to-surface domestically produced missiles.
It test-fired the Naze’at 10 and Fajr 5 during a military exercise in mid-March. The Fajr-5 is a long-range artillery rocket with a maximum range of 75 kilometers (47 miles), while Naze’at-10 is a medium-range ballistic missile capable of hitting targets within a radius of 100-300 kilometers (62-186 miles).
Iranian officials and commanders have repeatedly stressed that all tests and training of the Iranian armed forces are only for deterrent and self-defense purposes.
On February 10, Iran successfully tested the Fakour air-to-air missile and on December 31, 2012 the Ra’d (Thunder) surface-to-air missile, Press TV reported.
In July, Iran’s Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi announced progress in the development and manufacture of an indigenous version of the advanced Russian S-300 air defense missile system.
Iranian military officials said the missile system, called Bavar (Belief) 373, is more powerful and advanced than the Russian S-300.
An $ 800 million contract to supply Iran with the Russian missile system was signed in late 2007, under which Russia was to deliver five S-300PMU-1 battalions to Tehran. However, on September 22, 2010, Russia’s then-President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree terminating the contract in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1929, which bans the supply to Iran of conventional weapons including missiles and missile systems, tanks, attack helicopters, warplanes and ships.

http://www.en.rian.ru/military_news/20130512/181106657/Iran-Navy-to-Get-Advanced-Cruise-Missiles.html

Iran unveils indigenous stealth reconnaissance, combat drone. Wow…this will shake things. Watch out Zionist entity, they do watch you!
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/05/09/302684/iran-unveils-stealth-recce-combat-drone/

Iran unveils a new indigenous stealth reconnaissance-combat drone dubbed Hamaseh on May 9, 2013.
Thu May 9, 2013 6:19PM GMT

In August 2010, Iran unveiled its first indigenous long-range drone, Karrar, which is capable of carrying out bombing missions against ground targets, flying long distances at a high speed, and gathering information.”
Iran has unveiled its latest indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a reconnaissance and combat drone dubbed Hamaseh.

The drone was unveiled on Thursday during a ceremony attended by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi.
“This drone has been built by defense industry experts and is simultaneously capable of surveillance, reconnaissance and missile and rocket attacks,” Vahidi said on the sidelines of the ceremony.

“This aircraft with its stealth quality can avoid detection by the enemy,” he added.

High altitude and long flight range are two other distinguishing features of the new Iranian UAV.

Iran has made important breakthroughs in its defense sector in recent years and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems.

In August 2010, Iran unveiled its first indigenous long-range drone, Karrar, which is capable of carrying out bombing missions against ground targets, flying long distances at a high speed, and gathering information.

Shahed 129, characterized by a 24-hour nonstop flight capability, was another indigenously produced drone introduced in September 2012.

On December 17, 2012, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said Iran had launched the production line of the ScanEagle drones, adding that the IRGC naval and aerospace divisions were employing the UAVs.

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Related Stories:
• Iran to unveil Hamaseh combat drone
• ‘Iran to unveil new recce, combat drone’
• Iran Navy to unveil two achievements
• Iran will nip any threat in bud: Cmdr.
• Iran unveils new UAV, missiles
• Iran to display UAVs in Army Day parade

West threatens Iran, targets nation with sanctions: Analyst

Thu Apr 25, 2013 6:3PM GMT

Iran has repeatedly announced that Western sanctions against Tehran are effectively hindering the imports of medicines to the country, thereby jeopardizing the lives of millions of patients suffering from special diseases such as thalassemia, hemophilia, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and many others.”

Related Interviews:

‘Anti-Iran embargoes seek to hurt people’
‘US-led militants to disturb world peace’

Related Viewpoints:

Shame on Western deception!

A political analyst has slammed the Western countries for targeting the ordinary Iranian people by slapping sanctions against Iran over its nuclear energy program.

“They (Western countries) are threatening Iran and not only threatening Iran but carrying out the sanctions policy which is intended to harm the people as a whole,” Richard Becker said in an interview with Press TV.

He also criticized the double standards that prevail in the international arena, under which “the rich countries are free to do whatever they want to” while the countries which refuse to obey “the dictates of Washington…are battered.”

Becker noted that sanctions are intended “to deprive the people of adequate food and medicine just as it was done in Iraq.”

The analyst pointed to the humanitarian ramifications of the US-engineered sanctions against Iraq under the rule of former dictator, Saddam Hussein, which adversely affected the lives of millions of Iraqis.

“Why isn’t the United States and why aren’t the US and the British governments, which did what they have done to Iraq, why aren’t they held before international bodies and tried for their crimes against humanity?”

Iran has repeatedly announced that Western sanctions against Tehran are effectively hindering the imports of medicines to the country, thereby jeopardizing the lives of millions of patients suffering from special diseases such as thalassemia, hemophilia, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and many others.

Many analysts and experts have called for the trial of US President Barack Obama for the imposition of the illegal restrictions on Iran.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/04/25/300235/west-threatens-iran-targets-nation/

West threatens Iran, targets nation with sanctions: Analyst

Thu Apr 25, 2013 6:3PM GMT

Iran has repeatedly announced that Western sanctions against Tehran are effectively hindering the imports of medicines to the country, thereby jeopardizing the lives of millions of patients suffering from special diseases such as thalassemia, hemophilia, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and many others.”

Related Interviews:

‘Anti-Iran embargoes seek to hurt people’
‘US-led militants to disturb world peace’

Related Viewpoints:

Shame on Western deception!

A political analyst has slammed the Western countries for targeting the ordinary Iranian people by slapping sanctions against Iran over its nuclear energy program.

“They (Western countries) are threatening Iran and not only threatening Iran but carrying out the sanctions policy which is intended to harm the people as a whole,” Richard Becker said in an interview with Press TV.

He also criticized the double standards that prevail in the international arena, under which “the rich countries are free to do whatever they want to” while the countries which refuse to obey “the dictates of Washington…are battered.”

Becker noted that sanctions are intended “to deprive the people of adequate food and medicine just as it was done in Iraq.”

The analyst pointed to the humanitarian ramifications of the US-engineered sanctions against Iraq under the rule of former dictator, Saddam Hussein, which adversely affected the lives of millions of Iraqis.

“Why isn’t the United States and why aren’t the US and the British governments, which did what they have done to Iraq, why aren’t they held before international bodies and tried for their crimes against humanity?”

Iran has repeatedly announced that Western sanctions against Tehran are effectively hindering the imports of medicines to the country, thereby jeopardizing the lives of millions of patients suffering from special diseases such as thalassemia, hemophilia, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and many others.

Many analysts and experts have called for the trial of US President Barack Obama for the imposition of the illegal restrictions on Iran.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/04/25/300235/west-threatens-iran-targets-nation/

Iran dealing mortal blow to US global hegemony: Irish analyst
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/04/14/298236/iran-deals-mortal-blow-to-us-hegemony/

Iranian soldiers march during an annual military parade in the capital city, Tehran. (File photo)
Sun Apr 14, 2013 3:14PM
Related Interviews:
• ‘US govt. responsible for insulting Islam’
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Iran poses a mortal blow to US global hegemony due to its growing political sway across the region as well as its huge oil reserves, an analyst says.

Finian Cunningham, an expert on international affairs, wrote in a column for Press TV that Iran presents a “greater and more problematic challenge” than North Korea to “US global hegemony.”
“Iran exerts a controlling influence over the vital drug that keeps the American economic system alive – the world’s supply of oil and gas,” he said.

Cunningham warned that any possible military strike on Iran would end in a “deathblow to the waning American and global economy.”

The analyst added that another “reason why Iran presents a mortal challenge to US global hegemony is that the Islamic Republic is a formidable military power,” citing the Islamic Republic’s almost “80-million-strong people committed to anti-imperialism.”
“Any strike from the US or its allies would result in a region-wide war that would pull down the very pillars of Western geopolitical architecture, including the collapse of the Israeli state and the overthrow of the House of Saud and the other Persian Gulf oil dictatorships,” warned Cunningham.

The US, Israel and some of their allies have falsely accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and Tel Aviv repeatedly threatening Tehran with a military strike.

The US and European Union have also used the unfounded allegation as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions against Tehran.

Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, noting that as a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

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Related Stories:
• Tehran ralliers rap West insults to Islam
• ‘US, EU sacrifice people for Israel’
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• ‘Uncultured Zionists after religious rifts’

Attack on Iran may trigger World War III: Iranian envoy
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/04/14/298169/attack-on-iran-may-spark-wwiii-envoy/

Iran’s Ambassador to France Ali Ahani
Sun Apr 14, 2013 6:49AM GMT
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Iran’s Ambassador to France Ali Ahani has warned against any military attack against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities, saying such aggression may lead to World War III.

“A potential Israeli attack against Iran with an objective of destroying its scientific and nuclear facilities is sheer madness. Its consequences are disastrous and uncontrollable,” Ahani said, Fars news agency reported.
“Iran will not stand idly by in the face of such aggression. This can entail a chain of violence that may lead to World War III,” the Iranian envoy warned.

Ahani said that according to Resolution 533 of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN Security Council must react firmly against any threats on nuclear facilities, adding that certain entities apparently want to ignore this issue.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have falsely accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and Tel Aviv repeatedly threatening Tehran with a military strike.

The US and European Union have also used the unfounded allegation as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions against Tehran.

Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, noting that as a committed member of the IAEA and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

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Related Stories:
• Cmdr. warns of WWIII if Iran attacked
• ‘Israel pushing for World War III’