DTN News - IRAN DEFENSE NEWS: Iranian Warships Enter Mediterranean Sea

DTN News - IRAN DEFENSE NEWS: Iranian Warships Enter Mediterranean Sea

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 18, 2012: Iranian ships moved through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday, the IRNA news agency reported, citing the country's navy commander, Admiral Habibollah Sayari.

Sayari said the passage through the Suez Canal was only the second made by Iranian ships since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

It follows the passage of the Iranian frigate Alvand and the supply ship Kharg on Feb. 22 last year. The ships successfully moved through the canal and then docked two days later at the Syrian port of Latakia.

Israel called last year's passage a "political provocation" and put its own navy on alert in response.

It was not known how many ships passed through the canal Saturday. However, Sayari said the ships were docked in the Saudi port city of Jeddah ahead of their passage through the canal, AFP reported.

Two Iranian ships -- the destroyer Shahid Qandi and the Kharg -- were docked in Jeddah two days ago.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/02/dtn-news-iran-defense-news-iranian.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Panetta Cites ‘Red Lines’ Iran Should Avoid

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Panetta Cites ‘Red Lines’ Iran Should Avoid


(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 16, 2012:  The nation is open to reaching diplomatic solutions with Iran, but is keeping all options on the table in case clear-cut “red lines” are crossed, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said today.


Speaking to members of a House Appropriations subcommittee, Panetta said Iran is becoming increasingly isolated in the world.


“The international community has sent a very clear message,” he said. “We will not tolerate this. You’ve got to change your ways. You’ve got to come into the international community. You’ve got to abide by international laws, rules and regulations.”


The United States and the international community share the same concerns, Panetta noted. First, he said, “We will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.”


Panetta said intelligence reports clearly indicate that Iran continues to develop its enrichment capability; however, “intelligence does not show they’ve made the decision to proceed with developing a nuclear weapon.”


“That is the red line that would concern us and that would ensure the international community, hopefully together, would respond,” he said.


The international community also will not allow Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, the secretary said. The strait is the only sea passage to the open ocean for petroleum-producing nations in the Persian Gulf region. Iran recently threatened to cut off access to the strait if the United States continues to maintain an aircraft carrier presence there.


Other concerns include the spread of violence, the country’s support of terrorism and its attempts to undermine other nations, Panetta added.


“All of that has been made very clear,” he said.


The international community has implemented strong diplomatic and economic sanctions that are having “a very strong impact,” he said.


“We are open … to negotiations with them to try to find a diplomatic solution to these issues, but we do keep all options on the table in the event the red lines, I just made very clear, are crossed,” Panetta said.


http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/02/dtn-news-defense-news-panetta-cites-red.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Navy says Iran Prepares Suicide Bomb Boats In Gulf

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Navy says Iran Prepares Suicide Bomb Boats In Gulf

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 12, 2012: Iran has built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the U.S. Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the region said on Sunday.

Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt shipping in the Gulf or strike U.S. forces in retaliation if its oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear program comes under attack.

"They have increased the number of submarines ... they increased the number of fast attack craft," Vice Admiral Mark Fox told reporters. "Some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory."

 "We have watched with interest their development of long range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic missiles and of course ... the development of their nuclear program," Fox, who heads the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said at a briefing on the fleet's base in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Iran now has 10 small submarines, he said.

Military experts say the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet patrolling the Gulf - which always has at least one giant supercarrier accompanied by scores of jets and a fleet of frigates and destroyers - is overwhelmingly more powerful than Iran's navy.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/02/dtn-news-defense-news-us-navy-says-iran.html

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Navy says Iran Prepares Suicide Bomb Boats In Gulf

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U.S. Navy says Iran Prepares Suicide Bomb Boats In Gulf

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 12, 2012: Iran has built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the U.S. Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the region said on Sunday.

Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt shipping in the Gulf or strike U.S. forces in retaliation if its oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear program comes under attack.

"They have increased the number of submarines ... they increased the number of fast attack craft," Vice Admiral Mark Fox told reporters. "Some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory."

 "We have watched with interest their development of long range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic missiles and of course ... the development of their nuclear program," Fox, who heads the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said at a briefing on the fleet's base in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Iran now has 10 small submarines, he said.

Military experts say the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet patrolling the Gulf - which always has at least one giant supercarrier accompanied by scores of jets and a fleet of frigates and destroyers - is overwhelmingly more powerful than Iran's navy.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/02/dtn-news-defense-news-us-navy-says-iran.html

DTN News - IRAN DEFENSE NEWS: Iran To Equip Navy with New Flying Boats BAVAR 2 To Monitor Oil Tanker Traffic Through Straits Of Hormuz

DTN News - IRAN DEFENSE NEWS:  Iran To Equip Navy with New Flying Boats BAVAR 2 To Monitor Oil Tanker Traffic Through Straits Of Hormuz

 

 (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 31, 2012: Iran has three squadrons of new flying boats, Iranian news agencies reported. The craft, dubbed the Bavar 2, is armed with a machine gun and carries surveillance cameras, according to a report from the Iranian Student News Agency

 

 "Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the few countries which managed to design, build and use flying boats in a short time," said Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, who oversaw the delivering of the aircraft at the Bandar Abbas naval facility on the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz. The delivery comes as Iran celebrates its Week of Sacred Defense, which commemorates its eight-year-long resistance to the 1980 Iraqi invasion, according to the Fars News Agency 

While there is little available information as to the performance characteristics of the flying boats, and the only known weapon system is a good old-fashioned machine gun (some reports say they can carry missiles, but certainly nothing heavy enough to sink a major warship), it would be a mistake to discount these new vessels. While they might not have much chance of ever winning a battle against Western warships or aircraft, they are well suited to a task believed to be the most likely response to Iran if war with America were to come — massed suicide attacks.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2012/01/dtn-news-iran-defense-news-iran-to.html