Iran and the Fallacy of Saber-Rattling

Among several broadly held misconceptions about Iran is that to get Iranians to make concessions we want them to make at the negotiating table the United States must credibly threaten to inflict dire harm on them—specifically, with military force—if they do not make the concessions. Some in the United States (and some in Israel) who are especially keen on promoting this notion would welcome a war. If war preparations and brinksmanship used to communicate such a threat lead the two nations to stumble into an accidental war—and there is a real danger they might—so much the better from their point of view. But the belief in saber-rattling as an aid to gaining an agreement in the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program extends to many who actually want an agreement and are not seeking a war. We have heard more about this lately in connection with Chuck Hagel's nomination to be secretary of defense. People ask whether this nominee, who has evinced an appreciation of the huge downsides of a war with Iran, would be able to rattle the saber as convincingly as the same people think a secretary of defense ought to rattle it.
Even the usually thoughtful David Ignatius has adopted this line of thought. In his latest column he makes a comparison with nuclear deterrence in the time of Dwight Eisenhower. Under the doctrine of mutual assured destruction, a “bluff” of “frightening the Soviets with the danger of Armageddon” was used to dissuade them from overrunning Western Europe. “Obama,” says Ignatius, “has a similar challenge with Iran.”
No, he doesn't. One situation was deterrence of what would have been one of the most epic acts of aggression in history. The other is an effort to compel a far lesser country to curtail or give up an avowedly peaceful program, and to do so by threatening what itself would be an act of aggression. Thomas Schelling has taught us that deterrence and what he called compellence have significant differences, with the latter generally being harder to accomplish than the former. And this is in addition to all the other vast differences in scale, subject matter and morality between nuclear deterrence during the early Cold War and the current standoff with Iran.
These and other differences get to one of the problems with the common notion about threatening military attack in response to Iran not crying uncle at the conference table: a difficulty in making such a threat credible no matter how energetic a saber-rattler the secretary of defense might be. This is related also to the question Mr. Obama posed during the election campaign, about whether his opponent wanted a new war in the Middle East. At the level of public sentiment, most Americans do not want to become engaged in a new war in the Middle East. At the more sophisticated level of policy analysis—if that analysis is done thoroughly and objectively—such a war would be seen to have enormous costs and disadvantages. One of those disadvantages would be—as members of the opposition in Iran have repeatedly warned—to strengthen politically Iranian hardliners whose position is based partly on implacable hostility from the United States and who would benefit from a rallying around the flag in response to foreign attack. Another disadvantage would be the directly counterproductive one of leading the Iranians to make the decision they probably have not yet made, which is to build a nuclear weapon.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Hold Exercises In Strait Of Hormuz

The naval force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has held exercises to test new equipment and battle tactics in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported on Sunday.
The drills tested the IRGC naval force's combat-readiness, speed in responding to natural disasters and familiarity with new weapons, the Fars news agency reported.
They were the fifth such tactical exercises held by the force and took place near Bandar Abbas, a Gulf port on Iran's southern coast, Fars said. It did not say when they took place.
Iran's regular navy, separate from the IRGC's naval branch, held drills in the Gulf in late December and early January meant to showcase the country's military capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil exports passes.
Iranian officials have often said Iran could block the strait if it came under military attack over its disputed

Briton jailed in US over Iran missile smuggling

A British businessman was sentenced to 33 months in a US prison Wednesday for trying to smuggle a key missile component to Iran, officials said.

Christopher Tappin, 66, pleaded guilty in November to attempting to ship specialized batteries used for the Hawk air defense missile to Iran using false export papers.

"Those who violate federal law for monetary gain, and in the process put the national security of the United States and its allies at risk, will face prosecution and punishment for their callous disregard for the public's safety," United States Attorney Robert Pitman said in a statement.

Tappin was caught in a sting operation involving an undercover federal agent.

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He admitted to wiring about $25,000 from a London bank to pay for five batteries and even paid the agent $5,000 for fines after they were supposedly seized by customs officials.

He planned to ship them to Iran through Britain.

His co-conspirators -- Cyprus-based Robert Gibson and Portland, Oregon, resident Robert Caldwell -- were sentenced to 24 months and 20 months, respectively, in federal prison in 2007.

Tappin will also have to pay a fine of $11,357.14: his anticipated profit from the scheme.

Iran Targets Dissidents With 30,000-Strong Spy Army

In February 2010, Iranian spies had Tehran’s most wanted man in their sights. Their target, Sunni Islamist militant Abdolmalek Rigi, had killed an Iranian general and was responsible for a string of terrorist attacks in Iran from across the Pakistani border. After Rigi boarded a commercial flight to Dubai that took him through Iranian airspace, secret agents on board appeared, ordered the plane to land, and then arrested Rigi. He was later executed.
That’s just one operation in recent years by the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, or MOIS. According to a new report by the Federal Research Division at the Library of Congress, the spy agency counts as “the most powerful and well-supported ministry among all Iranian ministries” (.pdf) in terms of finances and support. The report, first obtained by Bill Gertz at The Washington Free Beacon, describes a 30,000 strong army of spies — the largest intelligence agency in the Middle East — responsible for assassinating political opponents, espionage, and, above all, crushing potential rivals to Tehran’s ruling elite.
But first note that the MOIS is distinct from the Quds Force, the combination special forces and CIA-styled intelligence wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. According to the report, the MOIS is mainly a domestic agency directed at infiltrating regime opponents inside Iran — as well as dissident groups organized by Iranian expatriates around the world. It’s currently headed by cleric Heydar Moslehi, who the U.S. government has sanctioned for being allegedly responsible for “beatings, mental abuse, and sexual abuse” carried out against Iranian political prisoners.
That makes it distinct from the Quds Force, Iran’s combination of foreign intelligence service and special forces units. The Quds Force — led by the mysterious Gen. Qassem Suleimani — is responsible “for the most part” in carrying out “extraterritorial operations such as sabotage, assassinations, and espionage.”
The MOIS is also opaque by nature, and it’s worth treading cautiously with the report’s claims, some of which are quite alarmist. There are allegations Iran works with al-Qaida against the U.S., but the report is scant on the details aside from attempts by Osama bin Laden to approach Iran during the 1990s. The claim also belies evidence, in recent years, that the relationship between Iran and al-Qaida has been characterized more by hostage trading and hostility rather than working together as allies.

The report claims the MOIS and Iranian Quds Force are using Hezbollah agents in Latin America to wage “asymmetrical warfare against the United States,” though this is likely overstated. The former U.S. military chief for South America, Gen. Douglas Fraser, said last March that Hezbollah was expanding into South America but that its operations were mainly confined to fundraising and “illicit activities” tied to the drug trade, not terrorist attacks.
But the report still presents a detailed look at its history and organization. The MOIS was birthed after the Iranian revolution of 1979, but the agency’s roots go further back, to the time when Iran had a pro-U.S. government headed by the dictatorial Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Brought to power in a CIA-backed coup, the Shah built a secret police force called SAVAK to spy on, arrest and execute opponents of his regime. At the time, the main targets for SAVAK operations were Persian communist groups, and the agency became notorious for assassinating political dissidents and torturing thousands of political prisoners. Ultimately, SAVAK failed to protect the regime, which was overthrown in the 1979 revolution that brought the current Islamist regime to power.
SAVAK was disbanded and its director, General Hassan Pakravan, was executed shortly after the revolution. But the new regime needed spies of its own. The regime created several new spy agencies, but these were a complicated hodge-podge of groups with little centralized control. What did the regime do? They took three of the new agencies, combined them into the MOIS under the direct authority of the Ayatollah, and granted amnesty to former SAVAK agents needed to help staff it.
Reactivating the former agents was partly born out necessity: Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980, and Tehran needed experts to root out Iraqi spies. But SAVAK tactics would also go on to be used against the regime’s opponents more broadly, including assassinations of dissidents inside and outside Iran. The agency has even created a team called Oghab 2, or Eagle 2, to protect Iran’s nuclear program against sabotage. But they don’t seem to have been particularly effective.
Today, according to the report, the MOIS considers the exiled Iranian terrorist group Mujahideen-e Khalq, or MEK, to be “the most serious dissident organization with regard to the Revolution.” Once supported by Saddam Hussein, the MEK has in recent years sought to build ties to prominent American lobbyists and figures from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to ex-CIA director Michael Hayden, and successfully lobbied the Obama administration into removing their group from the State Department’s list of known terrorist groups. The MEK hasn’t launched a terrorist attack in some time, but is still known for cult-like behavior and indoctrination rituals.
Iran treats the MEK more seriously than it may deserve, perhaps given the group’s ties to Washington insiders. But the MEK is a fringe cult and has scant support among Iranians. If the regime’s spies should feel threatened by anyone, it should be the Iranian public.

Tehran will conduct several military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz in the coming months

Tehran has programmed several military maneuvers in the sensitive Strait of Hormuz in the coming months, according to the commander of the Navy Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Admiral Ali Fadavi, which however did not specify the exact timing .

Iran's long-range missiles said to lag U.S. intelligence fears

An internal report for the U.S. Congress has concluded that Iran probably is no longer on track, if it ever was, to having an ocean-crossing missile as soon as 2015.
The study casts doubt on a view long held by U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran could be able to test-fly by 2015 an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, if it receives "sufficient foreign assistance."
"It is increasingly uncertain whether Iran will be able to achieve an ICBM capability by 2015," said the report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, which works exclusively for lawmakers.
Iran does not appear to be receiving as much help as would likely be necessary, notably from China or Russia, to reach that goal, according to the 66-page report dated Thursday.
It is also increasingly tough for Tehran to obtain certain critical components and materials because of international sanctions related to its disputed nuclear program.
In addition, Iran has not demonstrated the kind of flight test program generally deemed necessary to produce an ICBM, said the study by Steven Hildreth, a specialist in missile defense who consulted seven external expert reviewers.
The study appears to be the most detailed unclassified look yet at Iran's controversial ballistic missile and space programs. It does not address Tehran's nuclear program, which has prompted international fears that it could lead to atomic weapons at short notice.
An effective nuclear-weapons capability requires three things to work together - enough fissile material, a reliable weapons device and an effective delivery system, such as a ballistic missile that can grow out of a space launch program.
Iran's efforts to develop, test and field ballistic missiles and build a space launch capability have helped drive billions of dollars of U.S. ballistic missile defense spending, further destabilized the Middle East and contributed to Israel's push for pre-emptive action.

Iranian missile threats have also prompted a U.S. drive for an increasingly capable shield for Europe, largely built by contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, Raytheon Co and Northrop Grumman Corp.
ASSESSING THE ICBM THREAT
The U.S. intelligence community since 1999 has stuck to the conditional 2015 date, provided Iran gets enough outside help, for a potential Iranian ICBM capable of reaching the United States, which is at least 10,000 kilometers away.
An ICBM is generally defined as having a range greater than 5,500 km (3,400 miles). Such missiles from Iran could threaten targets throughout Europe and the Middle East.
"With sufficient foreign assistance, Iran may be technically capable of flight-testing an intercontinental ballistic missile by 2015," the Defense Department told Congress in its 2012 annual report on Iranian military power.
Michael Birmingham, a spokesman for the office of the Director of National Intelligence, which leads the 17 organizations which comprise the U.S. intelligence community, said views among spy agencies vary on the Iranian ICBM outlook.
He added that the 2015 date cited by the Defense Department was "heavily caveated."
Iran appears to have a significant space launch effort, not merely a disguised cover for ICBM development, the Congressional Research Service report said.
Iran became the ninth country to demonstrate an indigenous space launch capability on February 2, 2009, when it launched an Omid satellite from a Safir 2 rocket.
Iran has stated it plans to use future launchers to put intelligence-gathering satellites in orbit, a capability that is a decade or so in the future.
Tom Collina, research director of the private Arms Control Association, a Washington-based advocacy group, said the report suggests the United States could respond in a more "measured" way to a potential Iranian long-range missile threat.
"We do not have to deploy missile defenses on the East Coast by 2015, as some in Congress want, nor do we have to rush missile defenses into Europe, which makes Russia nervous," he said.

Two Powers, Qatar And Iran, Try To Sway Hamas

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--The courtship of Hamas between rivals Iran and Qatar has been one of the Middle East's intriguing subplots of the Arab Spring. The bloodshed in Gaza has now sharpened their competition for influence with the Palestinian militant group and the direction it takes in the future.
Qatar has sought to use its vast wealth to win over Hamas with investments and humanitarian aid and encouraging Arab partners to do the same — part of the hyper-rich U.S. allied nation's broader campaign to bring under its wing Islamist movements that have risen to power in the region the past two years. Qatar's influence with Hamas could edge it away from armed action toward diplomacy.
Iran, meanwhile, is invigorating its longtime role as the builder of the rocket arsenal for Hamas' military wing.
For Hamas, there are benefits in both directions — and it's happy to play both sides. During a celebration rally in Gaza City after an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire came into place ending fighting between Israel and Hamas, Gazans wildly waved flags of Qatar, along with those of Egypt and Turkey, in gratitude for those countries' diplomatic support.
At the same time, Hamas' leader-in-exile Khaled Mashaal, who is based out of Qatar, gave a very public thanks to Iran for standing by Gaza with crucial military assistance. Fighters in Gaza also hailed the new reach of their arsenal, with Iranian-designed Fajr-5 rattling Israel by reaching the outskirts of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Visiting the Syrian capital Damascus on Friday, Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani, who is close to the country's supreme leader, promised leaders of Palestinian militant groups that his country would continue to boost "the resistance's capabilities in confronting the Zionist arrogance and aggression," according to Palestinian official Khaled Abdul-Hamid, who attended the meeting.
The reminder of Hamas' reliance on Iran for weapons could help smooth a relationship that has been running through a rough patch because of the civil war in Syria, Iran's top ally.
Embarrassed by the Syrian regime's crackdown on a mainly Sunni Muslim uprising, Hamas leaders based in Damascus for years broke with Syria and left for Qatar and Egypt. Though Iran continued to send weapons to Hamas, the break undermined the "Axis of Resistance" grouping Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas that Iran has assembled in the Arab world.
It's doubtful Iran can fully reclaim its position as the main big brother for Hamas. But Tehran's image is certain to receive some lingering boost in Gaza.
For Hamas, hyper-rich Qatar is a political and economic lifeline, a key part of the militant group's attempts to bolster its ties with the Western-backed Gulf states in efforts gain more international legitimacy. Last month, Qatar's emir became the first head of state to visit the Gaza Strip since Hamas took control five years ago. The Gulf state pledged nearly $500 million in aid and a song called "Thank you, Qatar" played on Gaza radio and TV as the emir was given a hero's welcome.
During the heat of the Gaza battle the past week, Qatar's prime minister gave a blistering dressing down to the Arab League during an emergency meeting, saying Arab nations had to do more to fight Gaza's poverty and isolation than just pass resolutions.
"We can't give hope without delivering," Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani told the gathering last week in Cairo.
Two days after his outburst at the Arab League meeting in Cairo, Sheik Hamad suggested that his country would be willing to open dialogue with Israel on a long-term Gaza truce if it leads to lifting the blockade. The Arab Spring, he added, has made Israel feel more vulnerable, but also perhaps more ready to make deals.
"We need to talk with everyone to reach a comprehensive peace," he told CNN on Monday.
For Qatar, the outreach to Gaza also is part of far wider ambitions to become a major policy-shaper in the Middle East. The tiny Gulf nation has emerged as a strong backer of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has risen to power in Tunisia and Egypt after the fall of those countries' autocratic leaders in early 2011.
In February, Qatar brokered talks between Hamas' Mashaal and his longtime rival, internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Qatar has also sought to influence Syria's rebels. This month, it hosted Syrian opposition groups in a breakthrough effort to unite rebel factions under one coalition, which has opened the way for greater international recognition and promises of aid. Qatar had led calls to supply Syrian rebels with heavy weapons to counter air and tank attacks by Bashar Assad's forces. Qatar also was a key backer of the Libyan uprising.
On Thursday, Qatar also invited the newly formed Syrian opposition coalition to appoint its ambassador to the Gulf state, the Qatari news agency reported.
Salman Shaikh, director of The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar, said it's not a matter of "having to go all for Iran or all for Qatar.'
"What Qatar is trying to do is change the reality. They are trying to blaze a trail that will weaken the international isolation of Gaza from the Israeli blockade," he said.
Qatar has so far stopped short of offering any kind of military support for Gaza to avoid a rift with Washington, Israel's most powerful ally.
Iran takes a very different view.
Officials in Tehran boasted this week about its longtime arms support for Hamas militants — part of Iran's bookend strategy to equip anti-Israel factions in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon on Israel's northern border.
Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the head of the Revolutionary Guard, said Iran supplied fighters in Gaza with the technology to "quickly" produce the Fajr-5 missiles. The statement fits with previous Iranian denials that it is not directly sending missiles to Gaza, but suggests close coordination on construction and movement of supplies, presumably through the smugglers' tunnels linking Gaza and Egypt.
The Gaza fighting, at the least, bought Iran some restored street credibility as its image was battered by its backing for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"The war with Israel reminded Hamas that Israel is the main issue not Syria," said Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a professor in politics in Tehran's Allameh University.
But Hamid Reza Shokouhi, editor of Iran's independent Mardomsalari daily, said the bump in Iran's popularity with Gazans could be only "short-term." He questioned whether Iran could sustain its influence in Gaza against the almost unlimited resources of Qatar and its Gulf partners.
Iran's Foreign Ministry and a parliamentary committee have applied for permission to visit Gaza in the coming weeks via the border crossing with Egypt, said Hasan Qashqavi, deputy foreign minister in charge of consular affairs.
Qatar's prime minister said the competition for influence is Gaza only likely to intensify as other nations such as Turkey and Egypt reach out.
"We are not trying to take Hamas from anybody else, from Iran or others," he said in the CNN interview. "Hamas, they have to decide for themselves. I think they are pretty mature to decide for themselves."

Turkey Swaps Gold For Iranian Gas

Loophole in Western Sanctions Allows Iran to Buy Gold in Turkey With Turkish Payments for Gas Imported From Iran

Turkey on Friday acknowledged that a surge in its gold exports this year is related to payments for imports of Iranian natural gas, shedding light on Ankara's role in breaching U.S.-led sanctions against Tehran.
The continuing trade deal offers the most striking example of how Iran is using creative ways to sidestep Western sanctions over its disputed nuclear program, which have largely frozen it out of the global banking system.
The disclosure was made by Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister and top economic policy maker Ali Babacan in answers to questions from the parliamentary budget committee.
Iran provides 18% of Turkey's natural gas and 51% of its oil. But since U.S. and European Union sanctions ban Tehran from receiving payments in dollars or euros, Ankara pays Iran for the gas in Turkish liras. The lira is of limited value for buying goods on international markets but ideal for purchasing Turkish gold. The government hasn't specified how it pays for Iranian oil.
"In essence, gold exports [to Iran] end up like payments for our natural gas purchases," Mr. Babacan said. "Turkey is depositing the payment for the gas we purchase from Iran to Iran's account in Turkey…I don't know exactly how they then transfer it," he said.
The identity of the final destination of the gold in Iran isn't known, but the scale of the operation and its dramatic expansion suggest the Iranian government plays a key role, analysts say.
In Turkey, state-run lender Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS has been responsible for processing the payments, since the U.S. adopted a measure in January to stop dealing with financial institutions working with Iran's central bank, freezing out private Turkish banks from facilitating payments. Halkbank raised 4.5 billion liras ($2.5 billion) Monday in Turkey's biggest offering in a secondary share sale-a 20.8% stake, according to a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange.
Mr. Babacan's remarks Friday helped clarify an aspect of Turkish trade policy that has been a source of speculation since unusually high exports to Iran first appeared in March, the month Iran was cut off from the Swift global payments network, effectively blocking the country from performing international financial transactions.
Tehran has sought alternative means of payment for energy exports—its main foreign currency earner and economic lifeblood—including renminbi and rupees, as well as gold, in an attempt to skirt international sanctions and pay for its soaring food costs.
Analysts cautioned that although the trade with Iran wasn't illegal, Ankara wanted to keep details out of the public eye for fear of raising the ire of Washington, which is leading the international push against Tehran for its alleged push to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes including medical treatments.
Turkey sold $6.4 billion of gold to Iran in the first nine months of this year, up from just $54 million in 2011, according to official data, tripling Ankara's exports to its eastern neighbor and almost evening the trade balance that historically has been dramatically in Tehran's favor. Iran accounts for 60% of Turkey's gold exports this year, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 30% of the total.
Those transactions also helped cut a gaping Turkish current-account deficit to 7% of gross domestic product in September from an unsustainable 10% at the end of last year and improved Turkey's short-term external financing needs—a key development that this month that enabled Ankara to secure its first investment-grade credit rating in almost two decades.
The glittering bilateral gold trade has supplemented a strong trading relationship. Despite tightening sanctions, Turkey's total trade with Iran rose 50% to a record $16 billion in 2011. The countries have already surpassed that peak with $18.8 billion in almost evenly split exports and imports in the first nine months of this year.
Although Turkish gold sales to Iran spiked parallel to U.S. and European Union sanctions, August and September saw bullion exports shrink amid a jump in sales to the United Arab Emirates, leading to speculation that the gold is now traveling to Iran through the U.A.E.
"Historically, Turkey is a gold importer due to demand from the jewelry industry, albeit it seems that current gold exports are related to demand from the U.A.E. and on to Iran. There has been concern that these sales somewhat reflect illicit trade with Iran," said Tim Ash, head of emerging markets research at Standard Bank PLC in London.
Traders in Istanbul's famed Grand Bazaar, which still plays host to a significant percentage of Turkey's gold trade, have speculated for months that Iran's government had been behind the bullion buying spree, since there was no discernible increase in the amount being purchased by traditional Iranian customers or tourists.
The government has denied direct links between the role of rising gold sales in buying energy, with Energy Minister Taner Yildiz saying in July that Turkish importers were paying for gas and oil in dollars and liras as per their purchasing agreements.
"This is a statement of what until now has seemed obvious, but was officially kept under wraps," said Robert O'Daly, a Turkey analyst at Economist Intelligence Unit in London. "As long as Turkey is importing gas from Iran, the gold exports will continue to be substantial."
While ties between Tehran and Ankara have become increasingly complicated in the past two years, as the Arab uprisings have polarized foreign policy aims, the neighbors have enough mutual interest to maintain a healthy trading relationship. The countries split most recently over the Syrian conflict, where Iran supports President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey backs rebels seeking to oust the regime in Damascus.

Iran to launch satellite to space by solid-fueled missile

Chief Commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Mohammad Ali Jafari announced that Iran will launch new satellite to GEO orbits in space by solid-fueled missile, Fars reported.

Jafari said that as part of marking the first anniversary of IRGC general Hassan Tehrani's death, Iran will be launching its satellite into space by a solid-fueled missile.
One year ago, IRGC General Hassan Tehrani got killed as a result of an explosion occured during the missile test, that was supposed to test the solid-fueled rocket carrying a satellite to space.
"Iran has not launched a over 100-kg satellite (by liquid-fueled missile) to GEO orbit so far, but we planned this project and developed after Tehrani's death," he added.
Iran has already sent three satellites into space. On February 3, the country successfully launched its third domestically manufactured satellite, named the Navid (Promise), into orbit.

The Safir one satellite carrier rocket was used to launch the Navid research satellite.
The commander, Gen. Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, was a major figure in IRGC efforts to build long-range missiles, who died reportedly during a test of missile in a military base last November.

Iran successfully tests Koker-1 VTOL drone

Iran has successfully tested its first vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone, dubbed "Koker-1", and will officially unveil it on the Kish Island in the next calendar month of Azar (Nov. 22-Dec. 20), the Mehr News Agency reported.

The drone reportedly uses ultra-advanced technology and has been manufactured in Iran for the first time.

The "Koker-1" drone does not require runways at all and can take off and land vertically, experts say.

It is capable to fly continuously for three hours within a radius of 170 kilometers at 12,000 feet height in different climatic conditions.

According to earlier reports, Iranian experts have also built another radar-evading drone, named "Liko", with the capacity of carrying 100 kg of cargo for 100 kilometers.


"Liko" is also capable of non-stop flights for three hours. The 53-kg UAV can fly at an altitude of 16,000 feet and requires the shortest landing runway length.

Iran's first indigenous long-range drone "Karrar" was unveiled in August 2010.

"Karrar" is capable of carrying a military payload of rockets to carry out bombing missions against ground targets, flying long distances at a very high speed, and gathering information.

Iranian jets fire on U.S. drone

wo Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf on November 1, the Pentagon disclosed on Thursday.
The incident, reported first by CNN, raised fresh concerns within the Obama administration about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes.

The drone was on routine maritime surveillance in international airspace east of Kuwait, 16 miles off the coast of Iran, U.S. officials said. The Predator was not hit.

"Our aircraft was never in Iranian airspace. It was always flying in international air space. The recognized limit is 12 nautical miles off the coast and we never entered the 12 nautical mile limit," Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in responding to questions from reporters after CNN reported the incident.
Little said the United States believed this was the first time an unmanned aircraft was shot at by the Iranians in international waters over the Gulf.  In December of 2011, a U.S. surveillance drone crashed in eastern Iran.  Iranians claimed to have shot it down, and created a toy model of the drone to celebrate its capture.
Little stopped short of calling the incident an act of war although the Pentagon was concerned.

Two U.S. officials explained the jets were part of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps force, which has been more confrontational than regular Iranian military forces.

At least two bursts of gunfire came from the Su-25s' cannons. The drone started to move away but the Iranian aircraft chased it, doing aerial loops around it before breaking away and returning to Iran.
The Obama administration did not disclose the incident before the presidential election, but three senior officials confirmed the details to CNN on Thursday.  They declined to be identified because of sensitive intelligence matters surrounding the matter.
The drone's still and video cameras captured the incident showing two Su-25s approaching the Predator and firing onboard guns.
The Iranian pilots continued to fire shots that went beneath the Predator but were never successful in hitting it, according to the officials.
U.S. military intelligence analysts are still not sure if the Iranian pilots simply were unable to hit the drone due to lack of combat skill, or whether they deliberately were missing and had no intention of bringing it down.
But as one of the officials said, "it doesn't matter, they fired on us."
Little said the United States has to assume Iran was trying to bring down the Predator.
The United States protested the incident but had not heard back from Iran.
Iran has, at other times, been confrontational in the region.  In January, the U.S. military and coast guard had close encounters with Iranian Navy vessels which approached at high speeds and exhibited provocative behavior.
Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, declined to say whether his country knew about the incident before Pentagon officials

Iran's Speedboats Capable of Launching Cruise Missiles

Iran's speedboats have been equipped with the capability to fire different types of anti-ship cruise missiles, an Iranian defense official announced on Monday.

"Our missiles have the capability of being launched from boats with the speed of over 30 knots, and these missiles include Zafar, Nasr, Nour and Qader," Deputy Defense Minister and Head of Iran's Aerospace Organization General Mehdi Farah told FNA, adding that "Qadir missiles" will also be added to the list in near future. He underlined Iran's growing missile capability as well as the special capabilities of Iran's cruise and coast to sea missiles, and underlined high flexibility in the tactical use and missions of these missiles. "The tactical use (and goals) of these missiles can vary in accordance with the type of threat." In May, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said that Iran has allocated thousands of its speed boats for military purposes, adding that production of missile-launching speedboats is under Iran's monopoly. "All throughout the world, Iran is the only country which has speed vessels with the ability of firing (rockets and missile) at high speeds," Fadavi said at the time. "We now have speedboats which can launch missiles as they traverse at a speed over 60km (per hour)," the commander underscored. Zafar (Triumph) is a short-range, anti-ship, radar guided missile capable of hitting and destroying small and medium-sized targets with high precision. The missile can be mounted onto light and speed boats, enjoys a high capability in anti-electronic warfare and is highly destructive. The anti-ship missile, called Nour (Light), is a long-range cruise missile manufactured by Iran and has already been mounted on several military gears. Iran's latest cruise missile production, Qader (Mighty), was displayed to the public during the military parades marking the Week of Sacred Defense in September