Iran Defies Obama, Orders Expansion Of Missile Program

[Geaux4it]

This ties in with my other thread about what the Iranians will do with their new windfall of 159+ Billion dollars.

What could go wrong?

-Geaux
============

Earlier today, we outlined Washington's plan to slap new sanctions on Iran in connection the October test-firing of Tehran's next generation, surface-to-surface ballistic-missile Emad.

Although the launch itself apparently didn't violate the letter of the nuclear deal, it did violate a UN ban on developing missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. That triggered an outcry from some members of Congress who feel that the Emad launch amounted to a slap in the face for both the US and Israel considering the ink is barely dry on the nuke accord.

Bowing to the pressure, the Obama administration will now move to sanction around a dozen individuals and companies with ties to Tehran's missile program.

For its part, Tehran vigorously defends its right to develop what it says are "defensive" weapons. Shortly after the Emad was first test-fired, Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said Iran “doesn’t ask anyone’s permission to enhance its defense power or missile capability and will firmly pursue our defense plans, particularly in the field of missiles.”

As a reminder, Iran has the largest and most diverse ballistic missile arsenal in the region according to the ironically-named US Institute Of Peace, and on Thursday, an indignant Rouhani has now ordered Dehghan to "expedite" the missile program.

• ROUHANI ORDERS DEFENSE MINISTER TO EXPEDITE MISSILE PROGRAM
• ROUHANI SAYS IRAN HAS A RIGHT TO DEVELOP MISSILES AS THEY ARE NOT DESIGNED TO CARRY NUCLEAR WARHEADS

As Reuters reports, "President Hassan Rouhani ordered his defence minister on Thursday to expand Iran's missile programme, in response to a U.S. threat to impose sanctions over a ballistic missile test Iran carried out in October.

Iran Defies Obama, Orders Expansion Of Missile Program | Zero Hedge

 

[TheCrusader]

You don't know much about missile technology. Nothing Iran has can carry any kind of Nuclear Weapon which is the only stipulation about Iran's ballistic missile program in the agreement.

 

[Moonglow]

and sanctions are being put into place because of their actions...

U.S. preparing missile sanctions against Iran
Washington (CNN)The Treasury Department is preparing sanctions against a number of Iranian and other international companies and individuals for their alleged role in developing Iran's ballistic missile program, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
U.S. preparing missile sanctions against Iran - CNNPolitics.com

 

[TheCrusader]

and sanctions are being put into place because of their actions...

U.S. preparing missile sanctions against Iran
Washington (CNN)The Treasury Department is preparing sanctions against a number of Iranian and other international companies and individuals for their alleged role in developing Iran's ballistic missile program, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
U.S. preparing missile sanctions against Iran - CNNPolitics.com

Separate to the Iranian Nuclear Agreement because that agreement only prohibits developing missiles capable of carrying a miniaturized Nuclear warhead.

 

[Preacher]

Iran is merely reacting to more aggression by the US and its sanctions,I am with Iran on this one.

 

[miketx]

Iran is merely reacting to more aggression by the US and its sanctions,I am with Iran on this one.

Then you are a traitor.

 

[Preacher]

Iran is merely reacting to more aggression by the US and its sanctions,I am with Iran on this one.

Then you are a traitor. View attachment 58368

To this Ass Kissing Kosher country GOOD RIDDANCE! I am a Confederate American son...I own NO allegiance to the USA.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Iran is merely reacting to more aggression by the US and its sanctions,I am with Iran on this one.

What sanctions?

 

[waltky]

Iran got more to worry about with Saudi Arabia at the moment...

Iran-US Tensions Flare Over New Sanctions Threat
Jan 01, 2016 - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has denounced possible new US sanctions on his country that could jeopardize a hard-won nuclear deal due to be finally implemented within weeks.

In a letter to his s minister, Rouhani said reports that the US Treasury Department planned to blacklist companies and individuals with ties to Iran's ballistic missile program constituted "hostile and illegal interventions" that justified a response. The comments from Rouhani, who said the military should intensify its development of missiles, seemed to cause backtracking in Washington with reports that the White House had put the intended sanctions on hold indefinitely.

In the five months since the nuclear deal was struck US officials say Iran has conducted two missile tests, one of which state media reported at the time, on October 11. Iran also recently aired television footage of an underground missile base. The actions angered the United States and a United Nations panel found earlier this month that the tests breached previous resolutions aimed at stopping the Islamic republic from developing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

US military officials said last week that the Iranian Navy had test fired several rockets near the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman in the Strait of Hormuz.​

But the threat of new sanctions -- the nuclear deal is due to lift past measures that froze Iran out of the global financial system and crippled its oil exports -- brought already worsening relations to a head. It also came after US officials said an Iranian vessel had test-fired several rockets near three Western warships, including the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier. The alleged incident in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on December 26 drew denials from Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who are responsible for protecting Iranian interests in the strategic waterway where much of the world's oil passes.

Spokesman General Ramezan Sharif accused the US of fabricating the incident as part of a "psychological operation". The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday that the US was preparing fresh sanctions against companies and individuals in Iran, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates over alleged links to Tehran's ballistic missile program. But on Thursday the newspaper said the measures had been delayed -- although they remain on the table -- over fears the nuclear deal could be derailed.

Warnings of reprisals

See also:

White House Says More Work Needed Before Any Iran Sanctions
Jan 03, 2016 -- The White House said on Jan. 2 it has more diplomatic and technical work to do before announcing any sanctions in response to ballistic missile launches by Iran.

The US is considering designating a number of additional targets for sanctions related to Iran's ballistic missile program. Congress has been notified of those deliberations. Some lawmakers have criticized the administration for what they describe as delayed punitive action in response to Iran's recent missile tests.

Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, said the pact that the US and others negotiated with Iran last year to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon will not impede future sanctions. "The fact of the matter is we have additional work that needs to be done before we would announce additional designations, but this not something that we would negotiate with the Iranian government," Rhodes said. "They don't get a say in who we impose sanctions on." Rhodes spoke with reporters about the year ahead in foreign policy as President Barack Obama prepared to return from his annual Christmas vacation in Hawaii.

Rhodes said the additional work the US is undertaking is not based on push-back from Iran. "We fully expect them to protest our sanctions. They do that when they know we're preparing them. They do that after we make announcements of designations." In this latest case, he said, "we just have additional work that we need to do as a US government before we would announce additional designations."

White House Says More Work Needed Before Any Iran Sanctions | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says now dat dey showed where it's at - we can bomb it with a bunker-buster...

Iran unveils second underground missile, likely to irk U.S.
Tue Jan 5, 2016 - Iran unveiled a new underground missile depot on Tuesday with state television showing Emad precision-guided missiles in store which the United States says can take a nuclear warhead and violate a 2010 U.N. Security Council resolution.

The defiant move to publicize Iran's missile program seemed certain to irk the United States as it plans to dismantle nearly all sanctions on Iran under a breakthrough nuclear agreement. Tasnim news agency and state television video said the underground facility, situated in mountains and run by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, was inaugurated by the speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani. Release of one-minute video followed footage of another underground missile depot last October.

An Iranian Emad rocket is launched as it is tested at an undisclosed location​

The United States says the Emad, which Iran tested in October, would be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and U.S. officials say Washington will respond to the Emad tests with fresh sanctions against Iranian individuals and businesses linked to the program. Iran's boasting about its missile capabilities are a challenge for U.S. President Barack Obama's administration as the United States and European Union plan to dismantle nearly all international sanctions against Tehran under the nuclear deal reached in July. Iran has abided by the main terms of the nuclear deal, which require it to give up material that world powers feared could be used to make an atomic weapon and accept other restrictions on its nuclear program.

But President Hassan Rouhani ordered his defense minister last week to expand the missile program. The Iranian missiles under development boast much improved accuracy over the current generation, which experts say is likely to improve their effectiveness with conventional warheads. The Revolutionary Guards' second-in-command, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, said last Friday that Iran's depots and underground facilities are so full that they do not know how to store their new missiles.

Iran unveils second underground missile, likely to irk U.S.

See also:

New Saudi-Iran crisis threatens wider escalation
Tue Jan 5, 2016 - The last time Saudi Arabia broke off ties with Iran, after its embassy in Tehran was stormed by protesters in 1988, it took a swing in the regional power balance in the form of Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait to heal the rift.

It is hard to see how any lesser development could resolve the region's most bitter rivalry, which has underpinned wars and political tussles across the Middle East as Riyadh and Tehran backed opposing sides. Riyadh's expulsion of Iran's envoy after another storming of its Tehran embassy, this time in response to the Saudi execution of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr, raised the heat again, making the region's underlying conflict even harder to resolve. At the heart of the new crisis is Saudi Arabia's growing willingness to confront Iran and its allies militarily since King Salman took power a year ago, say diplomats, choosing with his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to abandon years of backroom politics.

Supporters of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protest against the execution of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, during a demonstration in Najaf, Iraq​

Last year, Riyadh began a war in Yemen to stop an Iran-allied militia seizing power in its southern neighbor and boosted support to Syrian rebels against Tehran's ally President Bashar al-Assad. Its execution of Nimr, while mainly driven by domestic politics, was also part of that open confrontation with Iran, according to political analysts. The interventions followed years of Riyadh complaining about what it regarded as unchecked Iranian aggression in the region. It has pointed to Iran's support for Shi'ite militias and accused the country of smuggling arms to groups in Gulf countries - which Iran denies. "We will not allow Iran to destabilize our region. We will not allow Iran to do harm to our citizens or those of our allies and so we will react," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told Reuters on Monday, signaling Riyadh would not back down.

The Saudi decisions in Syria and Yemen were also partly a response to Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, which lifted sanctions on Tehran, theoretically giving it more money and political room to pursue its regional activities. The new crisis has had the effect of hardening a wider confrontation between the loose-knit coalitions of allies each can call upon in the region; some of Riyadh's allies also cut diplomatic ties with Tehran after the embassy attack, while Iran's warned of repercussions. That chain reaction may now complicate complex political talks over the formation of a government in Lebanon, efforts to bring Syria's warring parties to talks, stalled negotiations to end Yemen's civil war and Riyadh's rapprochement with Baghdad.

SIMMERING MISTRUST

 

[paulitician]

The U.S. has been in bed with possibly the most evil nation on earth for decades. And that nation is Saudi Arabia. It's the biggest supporter of Global Islamic Terrorism. Most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis. And it along with the U.S., provided the funding & arming of ISIS. Iran understands that completely. It's time to end this awful 'friendship.'

 

[paulitician]

Just more ugly Blow Back. Iran sees Saudi Arabia funding & arming horrific groups like ISIS. They also see the U.S. funding & arming Saudi Arabia. And Saudi Arabia just executed a well-respected Shiite Cleric. So Iran isn't exactly happy.

Our constant meddling over there has likely caused a coming bloody Sunni/Shiite War. When does it end. When do we stop all the awful meddling?