NEWS: Iran Tests 'Strategic Missile'

Iran�s government has indicated that it has successfully tested a ballistic missile Saturday. The announcement by Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani did not indicate if the missile was a new variant of the Shahab-3. He went on to indicated that Iran was "ready to confront all regional and extra-regional threats". The missile which is believed to be able to hit Israel, could also hit US troops in the region. The test occurred during a September 12th - 18th exercise held by Iran�s Revolutionary Guards





Recently news stories have reported that Israel was buying up 5000 US smart bombs including �bunker busting� bombs. These bombs can penetrate up to 6 feet of reinforced concrete. There is concern that Israel may attempt to attack Iran�s reactors site. Iran has stated that if attacked it will defend itself. This latest test comes on the heels of increasing pressure on Iran to eliminate some of its nuclear projects. The Shahab-3, also known as the Zelzal (Earthquake) and has a range of about 1200-1600 km.depending on sources. Based on the North Korean NoDong ballistic missile, it has the range to strike most of the middle east. It is believed that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon as of yet.


Related News Links:
www.globalsecurity.org

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Why Israel probably won't attack Iran
Iran's promise: '80 seconds of hell'
Reality Hammer - Iran will have nukes

[edit on 26-9-2004 by Nerdling]

who wants to know why isreal bought 500 bunker busters that can penetrate 6 feet of concret? because they are going to bomb Iran's nuclear reactor. now that iran has a missile that could reach Isreal and possibly on the verge of having the bomb you think isreal is just gonna sit back and let them have the reactor?

who wants to know why isreal bought 500 bunker busters that can penetrate 6 feet of concret? because they are going to bomb Iran's nuclear reactor. now that iran has a missile that could reach Isreal and possibly on the verge of having the bomb you think isreal is just gonna sit back and let them have the reactor?

Only problem is Israel is set up for the ultimate defense, not the ultimate offense.

It seems to me the questionn is not if Isreal is going to take out the reactor, but what will follow.
Iran has a large airforce, a navy and many ground based missles as well as good radar sites.
Isreal has fewer planes, but better and better trained crews.
They have no real navy to speak of.
I don't think they have ground based missles.
They do have ground based anti-missle missles.

Very interesting....

Now lets look at this for a moment.

According to GlobalSecurity, the Shahab-3 has a range of about 1,300km. Iran has about 100 of these missiles in its inventory, we think.

Now, if this is not the Shahab-3, but in fact the next generation of missile being tested, i.e. with a greater range, then it must be what GS refers to as the Shahab-4.

The Shahab-4 is projected to include improved guidance components, with a range of 2,000 kilometer with a warhead weighing up to 1,000 kilograms. The Shahab-4 would be capable of hitting targets as far away as Germany and western China.

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London) reported on 14 June 2004 that a military source in the Iranian Ministry of Defense, "in a meeting last week with Revolutionary Guards commanders, Khamenei said that Israel was planning to attack Iran's nuclear installations and the Iranian military soon, and therefore defense and military preparedness should be boosted as soon as possible. Khamenei stressed that the increase in petroleum prices allowed Iran to allocate a larger budget to its military projects. [Iran's] Ministry of Defense received $1 billion to resume its Shihab 4 and Shihab 5 project.

Very interesting indeed.

[edit on 25-9-2004 by rangeroftheeast]

Iran could always give overt support to the resistance in Iraq. I wonder how air support for troops would work if jihadis are running around with something more sophisticated than RPGs. In many ways the US presence in Iraq has weakened our ability to negotiate with Iran. Given Ahmed Chalabi is now marked as an Iranian spy, they may have wanted the US in Iraq all along.

Originally posted by mrmonsoon
It seems to me the questionn is not if Isreal is going to take out the reactor, but what will follow.
Iran has a large airforce, a navy and many ground based missles as well as good radar sites.
Isreal has fewer planes, but better and better trained crews.
They have no real navy to speak of.
I don't think they have ground based missles.
They do have ground based anti-missle missles.

What would follow would be a violent exhange of missile and air attacks, Israel has better protection but some of Iran's missiles would still get though nevertheless. The reactions of other countries, such as Syria, could also be explosive.

It would be a real nightmare.

The bunker buster bombs will be used for just that, bunker busting. Exactly where I will not try to guess on. But I half to agree when it happens it is going to be a real night mare.

Do we really know if iran has nuclear weapons?
The best way to find out is for israel to drop some its 500lb Bunker busters and see what happens, a bit like a game of russian roulette.


Dangerous Times Ahead I Think

Originally posted by Silent Smoke
Do we really know if iran has nuclear weapons?
The best way to find out is for israel to drop some its 500lb Bunker busters and see what happens, a bit like a game of russian roulette.


Dangerous Times Ahead I Think

Yeah, the way things are going, I don't think Israel will wait much longer before decided to do something. But it will be more than just a few "bunker busting" bombs. All the nuclear research and production facilities will have to be taken out, and taken out before the contamination levels would be too high. Also, all the long range missile storage and production and testing facilities would need to be destroyed. And of course if Israel will be using a mix of missiles and air strikes, then a lot of radar posts, communications stations and SAM sites will be to be taken out to protect the pilots. It would be MUCH more than just dropping a couple of bombs.

You can imagine what the reaction would be...

Originally posted by rangeroftheeast

Originally posted by Silent Smoke
Do we really know if iran has nuclear weapons?
The best way to find out is for israel to drop some its 500lb Bunker busters and see what happens, a bit like a game of russian roulette.


Dangerous Times Ahead I Think

Yeah, the way things are going, I don't think Israel will wait much longer before decided to do something. But it will be more than just a few "bunker busting" bombs. All the nuclear research and production facilities will have to be taken out, and taken out before the contamination levels would be too high. Also, all the long range missile storage and production and testing facilities would need to be destroyed. And of course if Israel will be using a mix of missiles and air strikes, then a lot of radar posts, communications stations and SAM sites will be to be taken out to protect the pilots. It would be MUCH more than just dropping a couple of bombs.

You can imagine what the reaction would be...

I don't think israil can do this on there own, it would have to be done with the aid of the U.S.A. and with a 140,000 american troops in the region i think we have to be very careful because what you are talking about is all-out war in the Middle East.

If Israel does attack Iran's nuclear facilities I agree it could lead to all out war in the middle east.

But I do not think this is a negative for Israel in the long run. War in that region is happening now, all out war is inevitable. Why wouldn't Israel want to "kick" it off while there are 140,000 US troops right next door. When will they be better protected? I doubt the US would just throw it's hands up if they did and leave them alone. No we are there in force and could ensure that if regional war occurs Israel is well protected.

Just seems the perfect time for Israel to throw some gas on the fire. We might be pissed at them but Bush will not leave them to stand alone. We will just spank them after the fact. If they wait until Iraq is well "stable" and we leave, it could take more for us to help them including time to move troops in. Now is the best time.

Originally posted by Silent Smoke

Originally posted by rangeroftheeast

Originally posted by Silent Smoke
Do we really know if iran has nuclear weapons?
The best way to find out is for israel to drop some its 500lb Bunker busters and see what happens, a bit like a game of russian roulette.


Dangerous Times Ahead I Think

Yeah, the way things are going, I don't think Israel will wait much longer before decided to do something. But it will be more than just a few "bunker busting" bombs. All the nuclear research and production facilities will have to be taken out, and taken out before the contamination levels would be too high. Also, all the long range missile storage and production and testing facilities would need to be destroyed. And of course if Israel will be using a mix of missiles and air strikes, then a lot of radar posts, communications stations and SAM sites will be to be taken out to protect the pilots. It would be MUCH more than just dropping a couple of bombs.

You can imagine what the reaction would be...

I don't think israil can do this on there own, it would have to be done with the aid of the U.S.A. and with a 140,000 american troops in the region i think we have to be very careful because what you are talking about is all-out war in the Middle East.

Well, they will need to fly over Iraq to get to Iran, so they will require at least the approval to use the air space over Iraq. However, if Kerry gets elected, I think the chance of the US helping Israel in an operation like this either covertly or overtly is very small. So I'd imagine Israel may try and do something in October, before the election, or perhaps just wait and hope that Bush gets re-elected.

[edit on 25-9-2004 by rangeroftheeast]

Originally posted by rangeroftheeast

Originally posted by Silent Smoke

Originally posted by rangeroftheeast

Originally posted by Silent Smoke
Do we really know if iran has nuclear weapons?
The best way to find out is for israel to drop some its 500lb Bunker busters and see what happens, a bit like a game of russian roulette.


Dangerous Times Ahead I Think

Yeah, the way things are going, I don't think Israel will wait much longer before decided to do something. But it will be more than just a few "bunker busting" bombs. All the nuclear research and production facilities will have to be taken out, and taken out before the contamination levels would be too high. Also, all the long range missile storage and production and testing facilities would need to be destroyed. And of course if Israel will be using a mix of missiles and air strikes, then a lot of radar posts, communications stations and SAM sites will be to be taken out to protect the pilots. It would be MUCH more than just dropping a couple of bombs.

You can imagine what the reaction would be...

I don't think israil can do this on there own, it would have to be done with the aid of the U.S.A. and with a 140,000 american troops in the region i think we have to be very careful because what you are talking about is all-out war in the Middle East.

Well, they will need to fly over Iraq to get to Iran, so they will require at least the approval to use the air space over Iraq. However, if Kerry gets elected, I think the chance of the US helping Israel in an operation like this either covertly or overtly is very small. So I'd imagine Israel may try and do something in October, before the election, or perhaps just wait and hope that Bush gets re-elected.

[edit on 25-9-2004 by rangeroftheeast]

Do you really think Israil would risk all out war in the middle east?
As they will take the brunt of reprisals, if they cannot contain the palestinians, it would be a very heavy price to pay if they were facing the whole of the arab world.

1. Israel bombs the nuclear reactor (the US administration approval behind this)
2. Iran bombs Israel, Iraq and uses chemical weapons on the US soldiers (very likely)
3. US nukes Iran (else every one would know Israel has WMDs)
4. The middle east in total caos
5. North Korea steps in and nukes Israel and US
6. WWIII

Well done Mr Bush!

Originally posted by WisdomMaster
1. Israel bombs the nuclear reactor (the US administration approval behind this)
2. Iran bombs Israel, Iraq and uses chemical weapons on the US soldiers (very likely)
3. US nukes Iran (else every one would know Israel has WMDs)
4. The middle east in total caos
5. North Korea steps in and nukes Israel and US
6. WWIII

Well done Mr Bush!

Bush doesn't have the mental capacity to deal with complex situations like this. Bush best feature is saying, "Let's git 'em!!"

With our Dumbass-in-Thief, we are doomed.

Does any one hear happen to know how many war heads that missle can carry?

Originally posted by Red Golem
Does any one hear happen to know how many war heads that missle can carry?

The Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) is a special weapon developed for penetrating hardened Iraqi command centers located deep underground. The GBU-28 is a 5,000-pound laser-guided conventional munition that uses a 4,400-pound penetrating warhead. The bombs are modified Army artillery tubes, weigh 4,637 pounds, and contain 630 pounds of high explosives. They are fitted with GBU-27 LGB kits, 14.5 inches in diameter and almost 19 feet long. The operator illuminates a target with a laser designator and then the munition guides to a spot of laser energy reflected from the target.

So there is one BIG warehead.

I doubt Israel is going to make a move on Iran without the US on stand-by. If that happens, all hell will break lose in the middle east.

MK