Monday, June 18, 2007
Iran: Russia will block US missile defense plan
Jun. 17: Iran said Sunday it had received indications from Russia's president that he would not follow through with an offer to allow the US to use a radar station in neighboring Azerbaijan for missile defense against Teheran.
Iran is known to possess a medium-range ballistic missile called the Shahab-3 that has a range of at least 1,300 kilometers, capable of striking Israel. In 2005, Iranian officials said they had improved the range of the Shahab-3 to 2,000 kilometers. With this range, Teheran could strike Eastern Europe, but Western Europe would be out of reach. Although Western experts believe Iran is developing the Shahab-4 missile, thought to have a range between 2,000 and 3,000 kilometers, Iran has not confirmed such reports.
Iran initially acknowledged in 1999 it was developing the Shahab-4, but claimed it would be used only as a space launch vehicle for commercial satellites', presumably just as the nuclear bombs will be used for peaceful purposes.
The above is mainly taken from the "Jerusalem Post", FWIW.
The Qabala, Azerbaijan radar station is protected by checkpoints and electrified fences. Some people in nearby villages were wary of discussing the radar station openly. But others expressed fears that it was emitting harmful radiation.
"This station is very dangerous, it badly affects people's health," Sabir, a retired farmer, told the BBC. "Plants are dying, vegetables do not grow, and lots of women and children have health problems."
Not much of an offer from Russia, then, according to BBC accounts, and USA does not seem to want it anyway. But it leaves the strong impression that both the Russians and Iranians concerned are not peacemakers, and maybe unfit for their jobs from the point of view of their own country's citizens.
IMO: When things get this much of a mess we can perhaps be fairly sure that neither Iran nor Russia remotely understand what they are doing. So this should be a chance for expert Western diplomacy. With Margaret Beckett and her coups and George W. Bush and his Bible Belt diplomacy apparently taken from the Book of Revelations, we can only contemplate the potential number of megadeaths and hope the Russians and Iranians can see reason and cut it out. The quick fix is Bunker-buster bombs and if necessary the removal of Moscow from the most expensive city in the world status (easy with nukes and maybe the old Carter/Kruschev joke (I think it was) would work with Putin, this time the other way round).
Iran is known to possess a medium-range ballistic missile called the Shahab-3 that has a range of at least 1,300 kilometers, capable of striking Israel. In 2005, Iranian officials said they had improved the range of the Shahab-3 to 2,000 kilometers. With this range, Teheran could strike Eastern Europe, but Western Europe would be out of reach. Although Western experts believe Iran is developing the Shahab-4 missile, thought to have a range between 2,000 and 3,000 kilometers, Iran has not confirmed such reports.
Iran initially acknowledged in 1999 it was developing the Shahab-4, but claimed it would be used only as a space launch vehicle for commercial satellites', presumably just as the nuclear bombs will be used for peaceful purposes.
The above is mainly taken from the "Jerusalem Post", FWIW.
The Qabala, Azerbaijan radar station is protected by checkpoints and electrified fences. Some people in nearby villages were wary of discussing the radar station openly. But others expressed fears that it was emitting harmful radiation.
"This station is very dangerous, it badly affects people's health," Sabir, a retired farmer, told the BBC. "Plants are dying, vegetables do not grow, and lots of women and children have health problems."
Not much of an offer from Russia, then, according to BBC accounts, and USA does not seem to want it anyway. But it leaves the strong impression that both the Russians and Iranians concerned are not peacemakers, and maybe unfit for their jobs from the point of view of their own country's citizens.
IMO: When things get this much of a mess we can perhaps be fairly sure that neither Iran nor Russia remotely understand what they are doing. So this should be a chance for expert Western diplomacy. With Margaret Beckett and her coups and George W. Bush and his Bible Belt diplomacy apparently taken from the Book of Revelations, we can only contemplate the potential number of megadeaths and hope the Russians and Iranians can see reason and cut it out. The quick fix is Bunker-buster bombs and if necessary the removal of Moscow from the most expensive city in the world status (easy with nukes and maybe the old Carter/Kruschev joke (I think it was) would work with Putin, this time the other way round).
# posted by uv : 9:23 AM
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