-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: January 17, 2007 1:12:40 PM PST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Iran shoots down U.S. spy drone amid growing U.S.
military pressure
http://english.people.com.cn/200701/17/eng20070117_341962.html
IRAN SHOOTS DOWN U.S. SPY DRONE AMID GROWING U.S. MILITARY PRESSURE
Iranian troops have shot down a U.S. pilotless spy plane recently,
an Iranian lawmaker announced on Tuesday as the Islamic Republic
was facing increasing military pressure from its arch rival --the
United States.
The aircraft was brought down when it was trying to cross the
borders "during the last few days," Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh, a
member of the parliament, was quoted by the local Fars News Agency
as saying.
The lawmaker gave no exact date of the shooting-down or any other
details about the incident, but he said that "the United States
sent such spy drones to the region every now and then."
SECOND U.S. AIRCRAFT CARRIER
The announcement came amid reports that the United States is
increasingly flexing its muscles to counter Iran's growing regional
assertiveness and put more pressure on Tehran over its
controversial nuclear programs.
It was reported Tuesday that a second U.S. aircraft carrier, the
USS John C. Stennis, will arrive in the Middle East in about one
month, the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq war in 2003 that the
United States will have two carrier battle groups in the region.
The USS John C. Stennis, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carrier
that has a capacity for 5,000 sailors, is scheduled to sail Tuesday
from its home port of Bremerton, Washington, said Commander Kevin
Aandahl of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain. In about
one month, the USS John C. Stennis, including an air wing of more
than 80 tactical aircraft, will join Fifth Fleet forces that
includes aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
"This demonstrates our resolve to do what we can to bring security
and stability to the region ... (and) dissuade others from acting
counter to our national interest," Aandahl said.
U.S. President George W. Bush announced earlier this month that the
United States was taking other steps to beef up security of Iraq
and protect U.S. interests in the Middle East, such as sending an
additional aircraft carrier to the Gulf and deploying Patriot air
defense systems to the region.
HARSH REMARKS AGAINST IRAN
The latest move comes just one day after new U.S. Defense Secretary
Robert Gates made harsh remarks against Iran, indicating that
Iran's perception of U.S. vulnerability in the region was part of
the reason the Pentagon sent the aircraft carrier and the Patriot
missiles.
"The Iranians are acting in a very negative way in many respects,"
Gates told reporters on Monday after a meeting with NATO Secretary
General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Brussels.
"The Iranians clearly believe that we are tied down in Iraq, that
they have the initiative, that they are in a position to press us
in many ways," Gates said.
Gates also said that the deployment of Patriot air defense systems
and the second aircraft carrier in the Gulf region indicated the
Bush administration's "reaffirmation" of the importance of the
region, adding that stability in the region is in "long-term,
strategic, vital interests" of the United States.
The United States accuses Iran of using its influence to meddle in
the region, especially in Lebanon and Shiite-majority Iraq, besides
seeking a nuclear weapon, which has been rejected by Iran.
In an interview with Fox News earlier the month, Vice President
Dick Cheney said that Iran was "fishing in troubled waters" in
Iraq, adding "we think it's very important that they keep their
folks at home."
Meanwhile, U.S. forces are still holding five Iranians arrested in
northern Iraq last week, who the United States says have been
connected to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard faction that arms
insurgents but Tehran says are merely consular staff.
In a show of defiance, an Iranian government spokesman said on
Monday that the country was pushing ahead with its plan to install
at least 3,000 centrifuges for nuclear fuel production.
WAR ON IRAN BEFORE APRIL?
The Kuwait-based Arab Times reported on Sunday that the United
States might launch a military strike against Iran before April 2007.
The report, written by the daily's editor-in-chief Ahmed al-
Jarallah citing a reliable source, said that the attack would be
launched from the sea, while Patriot missiles would guard all Arab
countries in the Gulf.
The unidentified source claimed that Bush had recently held a
meeting with Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Gates,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other aides in the White
House, where they discussed the plan to attack Iran in minute detail.
He indicated that participants of the meeting agreed to "impose
restrictions on the ambitions of Iranian regime" before April
without exposing other countries in the region to any danger.
Claiming the attack will be launched from the sea and not from any
country in the region, he said, "The United States and its allies
will target the oil installations and nuclear facilities of Iran
ensuring there is no environmental catastrophe or after effects."
The United States has started sending its warships to the Gulf and
the build-up would continue until Washington has the required
number by the end of this month, he said.
According to the source, the Bush administration believes that
attacking Iran will create a new power balance in the region,
calming down the situation in Iraq and paving the way for its
democratic project, which have to be suspended due to interference
of Tehran and Damascus in Iraq.
NEW DEFENSE SYSTEMS FOR IRAN
In what could be a sign of the Iranian beefing up of military
preparation in face of the U.S. sabre-rattling, Iran obtained new
anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov confirmed on Tuesday that
his country had delivered the Tor-M1 missile defense systems to
Iran under a deal signed in 2005 and would consider further
requests by Tehran for defensive weapons.
"We have delivered modern short-range Tor-M1 air defense systems to
Iran. We are developing our cooperation with Iran based on the
provisions of international law and if Iran needs to procure
defense weapons, we are ready for such cooperation," Ivanov was
quoted by the Russian Interfax news agency as saying.
Moscow struck the one-billion-U.S.-dollar deal with Tehran in
November 2005 to supply it with Tor-M1 missiles.
Russian officials described the missiles as air defense systems
that are used only to bring down aircraft and guided missiles at
low altitudes but can not strike ground targets.
Interfax said that Tor-M1 is capable of simultaneously tracing up
to 48 targets and firing at two targets flying at altitudes ranging
from 20 to 6,000 meters.
Source: Xinhua
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