Iran Building New Missile Launching Sites

Iran Has Built New Missile Launch Site

Western intelligence analysts say a new missile launching facility in Iran will likely be used for testing ballistic missiles, not for launching satellites into space as claimed by the Iranians.

The IHS Jane’s Military and Security Assessments Intelligence Centre published a photo taken last month of the newly discovered site, which is located 25 miles south east of the city of Shahrud in northern Iran.

Analysts at the Centre said the unfinished site has no storage for the liquid rocket fuel used in Iran’s domestic satellite program, suggesting it is built for ballistic missiles using solid fuel.

Shashank Joshi, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute who has written about the Iranian missile program, told The Telegraph: “We often talk about Iran’s nuclear program, but what really spooks countries in the region is the ballistic missiles that could act as a delivery system.

“America has long said Iran might be able to test intercontinental ballistic missiles by 2015,” he said, and added that Iran had been developing solid fuel rockets which are quicker to deploy than liquid fuel versions.

According to Matthew Clements, who edited the Intelligence Centre’s assessments, “This site could be a facility for launching satellites into orbit. However, Iran is already building at least one other site for this purpose and, looking at the satellite imagery we have got, we believe that this facility is most likely used for testing ballistic missiles.”

Iran Building Launch Site For Ballistic Missiles

Saudi Arabia Tries To Woo Russia Away From Syria With Arms Deal

Saudi Arabia offered to buy billions of dollars worth of arms from Russia in return for a Moscow commitment to ease its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad and to not block any future United Nations Security Council resolutions against the Damascus regime.

According to a Wednesday report from Reuters, based on several unnamed sources from across the Middle East, Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan made the proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin when the two met in Moscow last week.

However, an unnamed Western diplomat was pessimistic about the likelihood that Russia would give up its influential position in the region in return for even such a lucrative arms deal. The diplomat told Reuters that Russian officials are also wary about whether the Saudis have a coherent plan for maintaining stability in a post-Assad Syria.

A senior Syrian opposition figure said there had been a “build-up of Russian-Saudi contacts prior to the meeting.”

“Bandar sought to allay two main Russian fears: that Islamist extremists will replace Assad, and that Syria would become a conduit for Gulf, mainly Qatari, gas at the expense of Russia,” he said. “Bandar offered to intensify energy, military and economic cooperation with Moscow.”

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