Pentagon Report Says Iran May Have Nukes That Could Reach U.S. By 2015

Nukes Could Reach U.S. By 2015

From the JP:

US intelligence agencies have assessed that as early as 2015, Iran will be set to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), that has the capability to strike the United States, a released Pentagon report states.

"Iran has ambitious ballistic missile and space launch development programs and continues to attempt to increase the range, lethality, and accuracy of its ballistic missile force," the report says.

"Iran could develop and test an ICBM capable of reaching the United States by 2015."

The US Department of Defense assessment was compiled by The National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, together with the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center and the Office of Naval Intelligence.

The report also stated that China and North Korea were rapidly proliferating the developments of nuclear warheads capable of hitting the United States, as well as supporting the development of advanced Iranian missile capabilities.

"Iran has an extensive missile development program, and has received support from entities in China, and North Korea," the report says.

Not only is Iran closing in on such power capabilities, but is also actively training for its use.

"Iranian ballistic missile forces continue to train extensively in highly publicized exercises," the report says, "these exercises enable Iranian ballistic missile forces to hone wartime operational skills and evolve new tactics."

This report comes following a July 5th test failure of an American missile defense system.

Four US Republican lawmakers on Friday urged Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to conduct another test of the missile defense system this year after last week's test failure, and to make development of a next-generation interceptor a top priority.

The lawmakers said the cause of the failed July 5 missile defense test was not yet clear, but they argued that President Barack Obama's cuts in spending on missile defense had reduced funding for needed tests and maintenance of the system.

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After Morsi: Opportunity And The Risk Of Flare-Up In Gaza

The June 30 Egyptian revolution was difficult to predict precisely. Although many commentators, journalists and members of the intelligence community could have said on the eve of the demonstrations that Mohammed Morsi’s position was problematic, or even under threat, it’s doubtful that any of them would have put any money on last week’s events turning into a full-fledged military coup (some would call it a popular revolution).

At the end of an eventful week that, in keeping with most post-revolutionary eras, saw dozens killed, many question marks remain as to the future path of Egypt and its relationship with Israel. At first glance, the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t appear to augur any terrible long-run development for Israel. However, the immediate repercussions were already felt this week, when jihadist terror organizations based in the Sinai upped their efforts to target Egyptian targets on the one hand (on Tuesday night two Egyptian soldiers were killed in an ambush, and another was killed on Friday), and to attack Israeli targets on the other, as in the rockets fired at Eilat last weekend.

It’s yet unclear how the Egyptian military will conduct itself vis-à-vis Hamas. It’s no secret that the Egyptian military is hostile toward Palestinian organizations. And yet, as long as the Muslim Brotherhood was governing, actions against Hamas had an air of legitimacy, owing to the pact between the Brothers and their protégés among the ranks of the Palestinians’ leadership in Gaza.

Nowadays, of course, the Egyptian army doesn’t consider Gaza its top priority. Sinai, on the other hand, is an entirely different story: The tunnels between the Gaza Strip and the peninsula are perceived in Cairo as a palpable threat to Egyptian national security, in light of the fact that arms — and terrorists — are being smuggled not only from Sinai into Gaza, but also in the opposite direction.

Officials in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv say that Hamas has no interest in causing an escalation, even following Morsi’s ouster. But the closure of the tunnels could precipitate such severe financial distress in Gaza that Hamas would feel impelled to take actions that will result in the reopening of one of the most important economic arteries to the territory.