The Mullah missiles of summer


Amir Taheri:

Convinced that President Obama is preparing the United States for a strategic retreat, the leaders of Iran's Khomeinist regime have put their latest military hardware on show in support of their claim of domination in the Middle East.

In a four-day "firepower show" that started Sunday, the Revolutionary Guard -- a parallel army -- is simulating attacks on US bases and warships in the Persian Gulf. Code-named Great Prophet, the exercises have unveiled a new generation of medium-range missiles designed to hit Israel as well as US military assets in Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.

The new weapons belong to the family of Shahab and Sejjil missiles developed with the help of North Korean, Chinese and Russian technology. The first generation of these missiles had a range of 75 miles. The new generation, just unveiled, has a range of 1,200 miles.

"The Zionist regime is within [750 miles] distance from us," Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the IRGC aerospace project, told the official news agency IRNA. "Thus, we are able to hit it [Israel] from deep within our own territory."

Hajizadeh mocked the United States as "an empire in decline," adding that it is Iran and not "an outside power" that must ensure the region's security.

"The Americans have facilitated our task by building bases in surrounding countries," Hajizadeh said. "Their bases are placed between [75 and 430 miles] from our missiles. We could hit all of them from many different directions."

Attending the Great Prophet show were military delegations from 18 countries, including North Korea, China, Russia and Brazil.

Part of the exercises consisted of Iranian-made drones shooting down "attacking American" warplanes. According to Hajizadeh, the Russian "guests" were allowed to inspect and examine the drones and the aircraft they'd shot down over the Persian Gulf.

"We only regard the US and Israel as strategic enemies and do not feel threatened by any other country," Hajizadeh said. "Thus, we have no need for longer-range missiles, although we have the technology to develop them."

...
They maybe surprised by how many of their neighbors have a different view of them. They may also be surprised by the US weapons that would attack their missiles and other weapons.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

29 % of companies say they are unlikely to keep insurance after Obamacare

Bin Laden's concern about Zarqawi's remains