Monday
Aug232010
UPDATED Iran: Today's Shiny Object for Media? Why, It's an Ambassador-of-Death Drone Bomber!
Monday, August 23, 2010 at 14:56 
UPDATE 23 August: Another day, another super-shiny, super-scary object. From Bloomberg:Iran announced it has begun producing two types of missile-equipped speedboat, a day after the country unveiled a long-range drone that can carry bombs.
“Enemies should be careful not to play with fire,” Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on state television today at the opening ceremony for the vessels’ production lines. “If they attack Iran our response will not be limited to one region and will be unpredictable.”
The Seraj-1 is a rapid-assault vessel that can operate in stormy weather, while the Zolfaqar can travel at 82 miles per hour and is equipped with the Nasr missile to strike enemy ships, Vahidi said, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. Both speedboats will “significantly boost the Iranian navy’s defense capability,” he said.
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Yesterday it was the Bushehr nuclear plant, but attention spans can be short. So let's see what shiny object has been held up for our attention today....
Why, it's an unmanned drone bomber, courtesy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian military on Defense Industry Day. Ahmadinejad's pitch played on pre-emptive strikes (since the US did it in Iraq in 2003, why can't Tehran?):
If there is an ignorant person or an egoist or a tyrant who just wanted to make an aggression then our Defense Ministry should reach a point where it could cut off the hand of the aggressor before it decided to make an aggression.
We should reach a point when Iran would serve as a Defense umbrella for all freedom loving nations in the face of world aggressors. We don't want to attack anywhere, Iran will never decide to attack anywhere, but our revolution cannot sit idle in the face of tyranny, we can't remain indifferent.
Iran's Press TV is mighty proud:
The Karrar UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] is capable of carrying a military payload of rockets to carry out bombing missions against ground targets. It is also capable of flying long distances at a very high speed.
Iran's defense industries have demonstrated spectacular progress in the recent year, launching numerous domestically-built armaments, including aerial and sea-borne military vehicles such as submarines, combat frigates, and various types of missiles.
Iran inaugurated the production line of two domistically-built UAVs with bombing and reconnaissance capabilities.
The two hi-tech drones named 'Ra'd' (Thunder) and 'Nazir' (Harbinger) are capable of performing long-range reconnaissance, patrolling, assault and bombing missions with high precision.
Ra'd, a UAV especially designed for assault and bombing missions, has the capability to destroy specific targets with high precision.
And the Associated Press has a ready-made, over-the-top headline, courtesy of Ahmadinejad. Can you spot which three words below it chooses (clue: it's not "peace and friendship"):
The jet, as well as being an ambassador of death for the enemies of humanity, has a main message of peace and friendship.
Reader Comments (7)
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I'm puzzled why you choose a teaser like "Ahmadinejad’s pitch played on pre-emptive strikes (since the US did it in Iraq in 2003, why can’t Tehran?)", implying very clearly that it was Tehran that was planning pre-emptive strikes, and then follow in your text with "If there is an ignorant person or an egoist or a tyrant who just wanted to make an aggression then our Defense Ministry should reach a point where it could cut off the hand of the aggressor before it decided to make an aggression." and "...Iran will never decide to attack anywhere, but our revolution cannot sit idle in the face of tyranny, we can’t remain indifferent", which implies that Iran is referring to pre-emptive strikes by "aggressors," clearly referring to the US and Israel. A recent article reported that if Israel was going to strike Tehran's nuclear facility it had to do it before it became a radiation-threat. This clearly points to a pre-emptive strike by Israel. A far more important question is why Washington has been working fastidiously since the '70's to keep both Iraq and Iran from becoming first world states; the answer to this question goes directly to the state of Israel and domestic US politics.
I think there is a clear attempt in Ahmadinejad's speech today to claim that Iran has a legitimate right to strike against an "aggressor" before he/she can strike first.
That is the same rationale used by the Bush Administration for the strike against Iraq in 2003 and the possible rationale that Israel would used for a military strike against Tehran --- I am certain Ahmadinejad was cognisant of both these instances when he made his statement.
None of this, of course, negates your point that Washington's power politics in the region is also significant, both historically and in the context of today's events.
S.
[...] Iran: Today's Shiny Object for Media? Why, It's an Ambassador-of … [...]
[...] Iran: Today's Shiny Object for Media? Why, It's an Ambassador-of … [...]
I agree with your assertion Scott. It is quite clear in AN's statement
"then our Defense Ministry should reach a point where it could cut off the hand of the aggressor before it decided to make an aggression."
Barry
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