Iran Super Thread- Merged

[CougarKing]

Here's 2 pictures of the Iran carrier replica/"target" barge, c/o of the National Post newspaper site:

 

[CougarKing]

A growing threat from Iran's 2 naval forces:

Defense News

Iran's 2 Navies Bring Mixture of Threats


Mar. 24, 2014 - 01:30PM  | 

By AWAD MUSTAFA

(...SNIPPED)

“It has built up a powerful mix of capabilities for both regular and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] forces to defend territory, intimidate neighbors, threaten the flow of oil and shipping through the gulf, and attack gulf targets,” he wrote.


“It has a dedicated force to train and equip non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas and Shiite extremists in Iraq — potential proxies that give Iran leverage over other states.”


Matthew Hedges, a military analyst based here with the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, added that the Iranian support of non-state actors such as Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen are some of the leading threats in the region.


“The Iranian Revolutionary Guards [Corps] threaten every state in the region,” he said. “The IRGC possess mini-subs and are a constant menace to not only the UAE Navy, but to all naval trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz as they are particularly hard to trace. There have been numerous unconfirmed reports that Iranian midget subs have been spotted within a number of the regional ports, something which is particularly worrying for the entire [Gulf Cooperation Council] region.”


In November, gulf naval commanders stated that the IRGC mini-subs are a major danger in the gulf’s littorals.


“Anti-submarine operations are causing a real challenge to our units in the Arabian Gulf waters due to the small subs that are being used in shallow waters, which creates a challenge for sonar systems to detect them,” UAE Navy Chief Rear Adm. Ibrahim Musharrakh told the Gulf Naval Commanders Conference on Nov. 6.



“Furthermore, the merchant traffic creates clutter and noise that diminishes the capability of submersible devices to spot and helps the mini-subs to operate without being spotted,” he said.



The Iranian Navy and Revolutionary Guard Corps have launched three classes of submarines, two of which are small subs, since 2007. The programs, however, have been secretive, and limited information has been released by the Iranian naval command.



According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a nonprofit nuclear watchdog, three Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines were commissioned from 1992 to 1996. They are called Tareq-class subs in Iran.

(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

Outside analysts respond to the Iranian government's statement that the carrier replica is just a movie prop:

Defense News

Analyst: Iran's Carrier Replica Unlikely To Be Movie Prop

Mar. 24, 2014 - 05:54PM  |  By JEFF SCHOGOL

Iranian media reports that Iran is building a replica of a US aircraft carrier for a prop in an upcoming movie strain credibility, a naval analyst told Military Times.

The New York Times first reported that satellite photographs show the Iranians are building a non-working replica of the USS Nimitz that is two-thirds the size of the actual ship. Iranian newspapers have subsequently reported that the mockup is a prop for an upcoming movie about an Iranian airliner shot down by a US cruiser in 1988, according to The Guardian.

But the costs of building such a big model of a ship make it hard to believe that it would be used for a movie, said Christopher Harmer, of the Institute for the Study of War.

“It only makes sense to build a two-thirds model of a ship for movie if you are making a major commercial success movie,” Harmer told Military Times on Monday.


(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

So much for sending their two-ship " armada" to threaten the US...  :

Military.com

Iran Calls Off Plan to Send Warships to Atlantic

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the country has temporarily called off a plan to dispatch warships to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Sunday report quoted Iran's navy chief Admiral Habibollah Sayyari as saying such changes of naval plans are routine, "considering the situation in the region."

Sayyari did not say why Iran changed the plan but said that "when piracy increases in the Gulf of Aden some changes will be applied in the assignments."

He said another fleet would be sent to the Atlantic Ocean in the future

(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

More idle threats?  :

I think it's more likely that a Harpoon/Tomahawk barrage can sink the entire Iranian surface fleet in 50 seconds than the other way round...

Iran admiral: US ships are a target in case of war

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran will target American aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf should a war between the two countries ever break out, the naval chief of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard warned Tuesday as the country completes work on a large-scale mock-up of a U.S. carrier.

The remarks by Adm. Ali Fadavi, who heads the hard-line Guard's naval forces, were a marked contrast to moderate President Hassan Rouhani's recent outreach policies toward the West — a reminder of the competing viewpoints that exist at the highest levels within the Islamic Republic.

(...EDITED)

"Aircraft carriers are the symbol of America's military might," he said. "The carriers are responsible for supplying America's air power. So, it's natural that we want to sink the carriers."

The Revolutionary Guard's naval forces are separate from the main Iranian navy. They are primarily based in and around the Gulf and include a number of missile boats and fast-attack vessels.

The commander said the Guard navy has already carried out exercises targeting mock-ups of American warships. In one case, he said, it took 50 seconds to destroy one of the simulated warships.

Tasnim, another semi-official news agency close to the Guard, reported that "an investigation" has found that the Nimitz-class carriers used by the U.S. could be seriously damaged or destroyed if 24 missiles were fired simultaneously.

From AP via Yahoo News

 

[CougarKing]

Speaking of idle threats...  ;D

An Iranian stealth submarine sinks before targeting a mock US carrier in an a naval exercise (debka.com)
May 6, 2014

The sub was launched just a year ago.
The Iranians drew a tight veil of secrecy over the accident, curtailing the search for the estimated 10 crewmen to avoid drawing the notice of US or other intelligence agencies in the region.

Chinese and Russian teams secretly enlisted to help search for the sunken mini-submarine, quickly abandoned it saying that none of the crew could have survived. It was up to Iran to decide, they said, whether to continue the search at the risk of exposing its plans for sinking US carriers in a war contingency. So long as the sub stayed on the bottom, its stealth technology would make it hard for Western intelligence to locate it.

The ill-fated submarine was to have shown its paces by striking a replica of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier Iran had built at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

The replica was spotted by US satellites. Challenged for an explanation, the Iranians first tried claiming it was to be used in a film documenting the naval forces present in the Persian Gulf.

Iranian Ghadir-class mini-submarine
Image from: debka.com

 

[George Wallace]

Speaking of idle threats...  ;D

Iranian Ghadir-class mini-submarine
Image from: debka.com

As a non-Navy landlubber, to me it looks like a single torpedo tube mounted on deck obstructed by forward hatch and fixed railings.  Seems to me that they would sink themselves if they fired.  Not that I am complaining.

 

[CougarKing]

So much for a "more diplomatic Iran" under Rouhani...  :

Agence-France Presse

Exclusive: Iran pursues ballistic missile work, complicating nuclear talks
BY LOUIS CHARBONNEAU AND PARISA HAFEZI
VIENNA Thu May 15, 2014 6:36pm EDT

(Reuters) - Despite apparently reducing illicit purchases that breach U.N. sanctions, Iran is pursuing development of ballistic missiles, a confidential U.N. report says, posing an acute challenge to six powers negotiating with Tehran to rein in its nuclear program.

On Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described as "stupid and idiotic" Western expectations for his country to curb its missile development. He decreed mass production of ballistic weapons, striking a defiant tone just before nuclear talks resumed on Wednesday in Vienna.

The high-stakes negotiations aim for a deal by a July 20 deadline to end a long stand-off that has raised the risk of a wider Middle East war.

Tehran's often repeated view that missiles should not be part of the nuclear talks appears to enjoy the support of Russia, one of the six global powers.

But a senior U.S. official made clear this week that Tehran's ballistic capabilities must be addressed in the negotiations since U.N. Security Council resolutions on Iran "among many other things, do say that any missile capable of delivering a nuclear weapon must be dealt with."

(...EDITED)

 

[Colin Parkinson]

As a non-Navy landlubber, to me it looks like a single torpedo tube mounted on deck obstructed by forward hatch and fixed railings.  Seems to me that they would sink themselves if they fired.  Not that I am complaining.

Looks like they bought them from BC

 

[CougarKing]

Looks like they bought them from BC

Sigh... A pity the old WW1-era HMCS CC1 and CC2, Canada's first subs, weren't preserved... 

 

[CougarKing]

Defense News

Uncertainty as US-Iran Nuclear Deal Deadline Approaches
Jun. 21, 2014 - 03:45AM  |  By ZACHARY FRYER-BIGGS

(...EDITED)

The long-sought nuclear deal, which would halt progress on Iran’s nuclear weapons program while also building in increased monitoring in exchange for the relaxation of US and EU sanctions, is still being hammered out with a July 20 deadline fast approaching. Both the Obama administration and the Iranian government have expressed optimism that a deal can be done.

(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

Reuters

Exclusive: U.N. experts trace recent seized arms to Iran, violating embargo
Fri Jun 27, 2014 8:24pm EDT

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. expert panel has concluded that a shipment of rockets and other weapons that was seized by Israel came from Iran and represents a violation of the U.N. arms embargo on Tehran, according to a confidential report obtained by Reuters on Friday.

The finding comes just days ahead of the next round of negotiations in Vienna between Iran and six world powers aimed at securing a deal that would gradually lift international sanctions on Tehran -- including the arms embargo -- in exchange for curbs on the controversial Iranian nuclear program.

(...EDITED)

 

[CougarKing]

Tehran meddling in Iraq...

All Iranian Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes have just deployed to Iraq

Jul 01 2014

On Jul. 1, all the seven operational Su-25 Frogfoot attack planes operated by the Pasdaran (informal name of the IRGC – the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) have completed their deployment to Imam Ali Airbase where they will join the ex-Russian Air Force Su-25s already delivered to Iraq in the air war against ISIS (Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

The aircraft (three Su-25UBKM and four Su-25KM jets, according to ACIG.org sources) will be operated by four Iraqi pilots and 10 Iranian pilots.

The aircraft and support to fly them would be part of a military contract (backed by the U.S.) according to which Iran’s IRGC Air Force will receive six Su-30K multirole jets destined to Iraq.

(...SNIPPED)

Iran is believed to have joined the air war on ISIS since Jun. 21 when unidentified war planes launched heavy air strikes on the city of Baiji, north of Baghdad which had been invaded by ISIS.

The Aviationist

 

[Journeyman]

Tehran meddling in Iraq...

The aircraft and support to fly them would be part of a military contract ( backed by the U.S. ) according to which Iran’s IRGC Air Force will receive six Su-30K multirole jets destined to Iraq. ...

If you're going to point fingers, at least try to include the key players

 

[a_majoor]

Iran will find its resources becoming a bit thin on the ground as ISIS continues to grow. I personally expect to see ISIS beginning to take the fight to Iran proper, as well as into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah (Iran's proxy), with all the various second and third order effects that would bring:

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/can-hezbollah-sustain-assad-and-itself

Can Hezbollah Sustain Assad and Itself?

Rupert Sutton

As Sunni fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) poured south into Iraq last month, a statement from Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of the major Iraqi Shia militias battling rebel groups in Syria, announced it was withdrawing fighters to deal with this threat.

That’s bad news for Bashar al-Assad, whose regime relies heavily on the support of these paramilitary auxiliaries. The loss of these fighters will likely see Damascus seek further support from Hezbollah, leaving the Lebanese group facing a deadly dilemma—as every resource committed to the regional struggle potentially undermines domestic security.

Drawn to the conflict in Syria as it took a more sectarian turn during 2013, large numbers of Shia militiamen have travelled from Iraq to fight alongside the government. Unlike many of the Sunni foreign fighters, these Shia units are well trained and equipped, and often have experience of both asymmetric and small-unit warfare, something highlighted by Phillip Smyth of the University of Maryland.

Their skill and experience, not to mention their numbers, have played a significant part in enabling the regime to slowly gain the upper hand in the past year, but now recent estimates by analysts at the Five Dimensions Consultancy, in Dubai, have suggested that the heavy fighting in Iraq could see up to 25,000 returned home.

The withdrawal of these veteran fighters will leave the Syrian government concerned over the potential decline in security in areas where they have been based. The Daily Star of Beirut has already quoted residents of a Damascus neighborhood where Iraqi militants have been battling rebel units as saying they have already noticed numbers dropping, and this will only be exacerbated as Sunni jihadists push further into Iraq.

With ISIS growing in strength across the region, and shipping captured matériel back to its units in Syria, the government cannot let its efforts against the rebels slacken now. Parts of Damascus and western Syria are already defended by Hezbollah units, and the government will now hope that a significant part of the shortfall could be made up by a greater commitment from the Lebanese group.

This appears to be confirmed by a military intelligence source in the country who has recently told Five Dimensions that Hezbollah is believed to have begun a recruitment drive in its South Beirut strongholds. While accurate numbers are difficult to confirm, the source has suggested that the group is seeking a further 3,000 fighters to send to Syria in addition to the 15,000 already deployed there.

In addition, Hezbollah’s leader has openly stated that the party would do all it could to protect Shiite shrines in Iraq from ISIS, claiming, “We are ready to sacrifice martyrs in Iraq five times more than what we sacrificed in Syria, in order to protect shrines, because they are much more important.” Echoing the rhetoric used to justify intervention in Syria, this signals a continuing commitment to the regional conflict the group is engaged in alongside the governments in Damascus and Tehran.

However, the extent to which the group can afford to commit more men to the fight across Syria and Iraq without damaging its security in Lebanon should be questioned. In September 2013, as the organization mobilized in response to threatened Western airstrikes on Syria, it was reported that regular fighters in the Bekaa Valley were leaving their posts, and in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, experienced men at security checkpoints had been replaced by teenagers.

This evidence of decreasing manpower comes at the same time as Iranian funding for the group appears to be on the wane, with both Hezbollah’s military and social service wings forced to cut costs. The group is already facing a financial challenge after pledging to support the families of up to 500 fighters killed in Syria, and the added costs of further recruitment and training will not be easy to absorb. 

This suggests that any increase in the group’s Syrian presence will be detrimental to its strength at home, yet Hezbollah simply cannot afford domestic weakness now. The suicide-bombing that struck south Beirut suburb of Tayyouneh on June 24th has reiterated the threat facing Shia districts in the city, and when taken alongside the premature detonation of a bomber in a West Beirut hotel on June 25th, shows that Sunni militants continue to seek opportunities to carry out attacks. 

As such, Hezbollah’s leadership now faces an unpalatable choice. It has sacrificed too much to abandon a regional struggle it sees as existential, and must continue to stand by President Assad. However, every man dispatched to Damascus is one less to defend the group’s strongholds in Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood, and with it its reputation. Finding the right balance will be exceptionally difficult.

Rupert Sutton is a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, where he focuses on the risks emanating from sectarian conflict and Islamist militant groups in the Levantine region.

 

[CougarKing]

Iran's Revolutionary Guards/Pasdaran involved in the Iraq fighting against ISIS:

Reuters

Iran's elite Guards fighting in Iraq to push back Islamic State
ReutersBy By Babak Dehghanpisheh

By Babak Dehghanpisheh
BEIRUT (Reuters) - In early July, hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral of Kamal Shirkhani in Lavasan, a small town northeast of the Iranian capital Tehran. The crowd carried the coffin past posters which showed Shirkhani in the green uniform of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and identified him as a colonel.

Shirkhani did not die in a battle inside Iran. He was killed nearly a hundred miles away from the Iranian border in a mortar attack by the militants of the Islamic State “while carrying out his mission to defend” a revered Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra, according to a report on Basij Press, a news site affiliated with the Basij militia which is overseen by the Revolutionary Guards.

Shirkhani’s death deep inside Iraq shows that Iran has committed boots on the ground to defend Iraqi territory.

(...EDITED)

Senior Iranian officials have denied that any Revolutionary Guard fighters or commanders are inside Iraq. But there’s no doubt that prominent politicians and clerics in Iran have been rattled by the rapid gains of the Islamic State and the threat it poses, not only to the Iraqi government but to Iran itself.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani pledged his government’s support to help counter the threat posed by the Islamic State if the Iraqi government requested it.

(...END OF EXCERPT)

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Iran's Revolutionary Guards/Pasdaran involved in the Iraq fighting against ISIS:

Reuters

Ahh, Dubya's master plan finally starting to bear fruit!!

 

[CougarKing]

Tehran shows off its latest weapons:

Defense News

Iran Unveils New Missiles, Drones
Aug. 24, 2014 - 09:16PM  |  By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran on Sunday unveiled two new missiles and two new drones it said have been added to its arsenal, in a ceremony attended by President Hassan Rouhani.

The Ghadir (Mighty), with a range of 300 kilometers (185 miles), is a ground-to-sea and sea-to-sea missile, the official IRNA news agency said.

It is in the same family as the Ghader or Qader cruise missile, which has a range of 200 kilometers.

The other missile unveiled on Sunday, the Nasr-e Basir (Clear Victory), is equipped with a seeker homing head. Its range was not given.

The new Karar-4 (Striker) drone can track and monitor enemy aircraft, the agency said, while the Mohajer-4 (Migrant) drone is designed to perform photographic and mapping missions.


(...SNIPPED)


In May, Iran said it had succeeded in copying an American RQ-170 Sentinel drone that it forced down and recovered nearly intact in December 2011.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[CougarKing]

Even if Iran is fighting covertly against ISIS in Iraq, it appears there is no place in Obama's anti-ISIS coalition for them:

Reuters

Kerry opposes Iran role in anti-Islamic State coalition
BY JASON SZEP
ANKARA Fri Sep 12, 2014 9:12pm EDT

(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday it was "not appropriate" for Iran to join talks on confronting Islamic State militants, as he appeared to play down how fast countries can commit to force or other steps in an emerging coalition.

Kerry met Turkish leaders to try to secure backing for U.S.-led action against Islamic State militants, but Ankara's reluctance to play a frontline role highlighted the difficulty of building a willing coalition for a complex military campaign in the heart of the Middle East.

As he tours the region to gather support for President Barack Obama's plan to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier to defeat Islamic State Sunni fighters, Kerry said Shi'ite Iran should have no role in talks on how to go about it.

(...EDITED)

 

[a_majoor]

Kerry and the administration are being stupid (no surprise there). The United States should do nothing at all in the region (except perhaps arming the Kurds) and using their considerable power to keep things contained within the confines of the region.

Let Iran do the heavy lifting against ISIS and the rest, and let the Sauds, Gulf States and anyone else in the region support ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhoods etc. to their heart's content. After all Iran and the Sauds and Gulf States have state of the art weaponry they can  hand out to proxies like Assad and Hezbollah or ISIS, so let them expend their own blood and treasure on exterminating apostates and attempting to set up regional hegemonies.