| FOCUS ON IRAN |
Khamenei: 'Have 2 bombs ready to go in January or you are not Muslims'
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged his country's weapons developers to step up work on making a nuclear bomb, a U.S. official said.
According to the official, an authoritative source in the Iranian exile community has stated that Khamenei met recently with senior government and military leaders on the nuclear weapons program.
Khamenei told the gathering, "We must have two bombs ready to go in January or you are not Muslims," the official said.
Jafari-Jalali, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Majles, stated in an Iranian press interview last week that the recent International Atomic Energy Agency resolution calling on Iran to halt uranium enrichment could lead to Tehran withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Iran's military announced earlier this month that it would test-fire a "strategic" missile during the Ashura 5 military exercises of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami announced the missile test on Sept. 18. "The climax of this stage of the exercises is the actual missile operations and the testing of a series of missiles with different ranges," he said.
Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said earlier this month that, "given that an effective deterrent policy does not halt at a certain point, the Islamic Republic of Iran continues upgrading its defensive capability." Shamkhani said Iran has acquired an effective deterrent power to confront its enemies in the region.
Iran test-fired a Shihab-3 on Sept. 18 and had also tested one in August.
Meanwhile, British intelligence, working with Iraqi security, has uncovered a cell within the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that is working to destabilize Iraq.
The Iranians had paid insurgents to conduct attacks in southern Iraq.
"I don't think there's any doubt that the Iranians are involved and are providing support" to the Iraqi insurgents, Secretary of State Colin Powell said last week.
Western intelligence debates features of Iran's newly designed missile
Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani announced on Sept. 25 that Teheran had launched what he termed a "strategic surface-to-surface missile" a week earlier during the Ashura-5 military exercise in western Iran.
Western intelligence sources said the Iranian Defense Ministry has redesigned the original Shihab-3 warhead to accommodate nuclear weapons. The sources said the new warhead was smaller and had a bottleneck design, a throwback to U.S. and Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles of the 1960s.
The new Shihab-3 warhead was displayed on Iranian television during a report on Aug. 11. The sources said the Shihab warhead was changed from a conical design to that resembling a baby bottle.
The re-entry vehicle resembled the Soviet-origin SS-9, a 1960s liquid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile launched from a silo and carried a nuclear warhead.
Western intelligence sources have argued over the purpose and results of the Aug. 11 Shihab-3 test. CIA analysts determined that the launch -- which took place in a ravine in central Iran -- was a failure because the missile exploded soon after firing. But other analysts said the flight was aborted intentionally and that the exercise was meant to test the Shihab's command and control system.
Uzi Rubin, former director of Homa, Israel's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, said the redesigned Shihab-3 appeared to comprise the first prototype of the longer-range Shihab-4, which Iran said would be used as a satellite launcher. Rubin said the Shihab seen on the Aug. 11 Iranian television broadcast showed a different re-entry vehicle.
"From the re-entry vehicle [RV] base down to the fins, the missile looked like the long familiar Shihab-3 as seen in previous flight tests," Rubin said in an analysis. "The front section of the missile, however, was radically different. Instead of its usual 'Dunce Cap' RV of all the Shihab missiles displayed to date, the Aug. 11 images show a completely different RV, consisting of a conical front section, a cylindrical mid section and a flared skirt at the rear section."
The enhanced Shihab-3 was also said to contain an instrument section located in the RV's flared skirt. Rubin said the new design reflected an upgrade in control programming suitable for precise altitude fusing of nuclear warheads.
The Shihab-3 shown in the Aug. 11 broadcast could travel 1,450 kilometers and would eventually reach 2,000 kilometers. Iran announced plans to use an enhanced version of the Shihab-3 to launch a test satellite into space before March 2005. The reference was to the Safir-313, a 20-kilogram experimental satellite to be launched into an orbit at an altitude of 250 kilometers.
"The release of such an extensive and detailed photographic material is by itself a clear message, not only of self-confidence, but also of warning," Rubin said. "The Shihab-3 is approaching maturity not only as a missile, but also as an integrated weapon system. Clearly, Iran is sending here a powerful warning, and is willing to show its hand in doing so. That she decided to broadcast such a forceful message at this time indicates a serious measure of concern and alarm on Iran's side."
Ashura-5, sponsored by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, comprises 12 mechanized divisions and includes the Shihab-2, which has a range of 700 kilometers.
Additionally, this item comes from Middle East Newsline - I don't have a subscription to this site, so I could only get this part of the story. The main reason it seems important is the term "Asymmetric Warfare". Yes, the very same doctrine as employed by CHINA. Surprise, surprise.
IRAN INTRODUCES NEW WARFARE DOCTRINE
NICOSIA [MENL] -- Iran has introduced what officials termed a new combat doctrine meant to repel any attack by Israel or the United States.
Officials have termed the doctrine "asymmetric warfare" and said it was aimed at countering a threat from a much larger and powerful adversary. They said the combat doctrine sought to identify and exploit Iranian military advantages in any war with a foreign power.
The new doctrine was said to have been demonstrated during the Ashura-5 military exercise in September. During the Sept. 12-18 exercise, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps tested the effectiveness of coordinated air and ground strikes, strategic medium- and intermediate-range missiles as well as other weapons and methods.
IRGC commander Gen. Yahya Rahim-Safavi said Iran developed the concept of asymmetric warfare based on the assessment that Teheran's greatest threats came from Israel and the United States. He said Teheran has sought to deter these two countries by demonstrating Iran's deep-strike capability.