ALERT Iran preparing to conduct new space launch this weekend (3/12/16)

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/03/12/iran-preparing-to-conduct-new-space-launch-this-weekend.html

Iran

Iran preparing to conduct new space launch this weekend

By Lucas Tomlinson
·Published March 12, 2016
· FoxNews.com
Comments 321

Iran is preparing to launch a new long-range rocket into outer space as soon as this weekend, U.S. officials told Fox News.

The missile is known as a Simorgh and officials are watching the missile on the launch pad as it is being fueled at an undisclosed location inside Iran.

Officials told Fox they have not seen this specific type of rocket launched in the past. AllThingsNuclear.org has reported that Iran's earlier space launches used a smaller rocket, a variant of the Shahab-3.

Any test of a new ballistic missile would be an apparent violation of a UN resolution forbidding Iran from working on its rocket program.

A Simorgh rocket is designed to carry a satellite into space. Officials are concerned that any space launch uses the same technology needed to launch a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile or ICBM.

All Things Nuclear reported that the rocket was first unveiled in 2010.

This week, Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles on one day for the first time since 2012, according to defense officials.

UN Security Council Resolution 2231 says Iran is “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”

Thursday, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander said that Iran's ballistic missile program will continue to move forward, despite threats of international sanctions.

The U.S. State Department says the launches this week were not in violation of the nuclear deal, but “inconsistent” with UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which was tied to the nuclear deal when it went into effect.

Secretary of State John Kerry raised concerns about Iran’s recent missile launches in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Thursday, including reports that Iran scribbled “Israel must be wiped off the Earth” according to State Department spokesman John Kirby.

Both short and medium-range ballistic missiles tested recently by Iran are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

“Iran should face sanctions for these activities,” Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.

"The latest missiles launches are further evidence of Iran's aggression and of how its leaders intend to use the money it is receiving under the Obama nuclear deal." said House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.

Kirby said earlier this week that reports of Iran’s recent ballistic missile launches would be brought to the attention of the UN Security Council.

The launches would not violate the landmark nuclear deal implemented in January, according to Kirby.

Vice President Joseph Biden, while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Wednesday did not acknowledge the missile launch directly, but he issued a strong warning to the Iranians.

"A nuclear-armed Iran is an absolutely unacceptable threat to Israel, to the region and the United States. And I want to reiterate which I know people still doubt here: if in fact they break the deal, we will act," he said.

Despite reports of Iran repeatedly violating the UN resolution by launching ballistic missiles, the State Department is confident additional sanctions could be called upon unilaterally if needed.

“We always have those tools available to us,” said Kirby this week.

In January, the Obama administration sanctioned nearly a dozen individuals and companies tied to Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Appearing in front of the Senate Armed Services committee in Washington, the outgoing head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Lloyd Austin said Tuesday, “Some of the behavior we've seen from Iran of late is certainly not the behavior you'd expect from a nation that wants to be taken seriously.”

Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic & International Studies says the Obama administration’s policy toward Iran is muddled.

“I don't think we've sent clear signals. We seem to be dealing with the nuclear agreement as if it’s some kind of legacy. It won't be a legacy if Iran acts out in other ways,” he said.


Lucas Tomlinson is the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @LucasFoxNews

 

[Housecarl]

Iran Threatens to Walk Away From Nuke Deal After New Missile Test
Started by Jonas Parker‎, 03-08-2016 10:39 AM
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/show...lk-Away-From-Nuke-Deal-After-New-Missile-Test

---

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ith-Iran-has-kickstarted-a-new-arms-race.html

Barack Obama's ill-advised nuclear deal with Iran has kickstarted a new arms race

There is now a genuine risk that Saudi Arabia and its allies will become involved in a dangerous military confrontation with Iran

By Con Coughlin, Defence Editor, Dubai
1:32PM GMT 12 Mar 2016
Comments 9


Iran’s decision to test-fire two ballistic missiles emblazoned with the legend “Israel must be wiped out” in Hebrew is not the sort of reassuring conduct one would expect from a country that claims it wants better relations with the outside world.

Timed to coincide with US Vice President Joe Biden’s tour of the Gulf states and Israel, the missile launches will not only be seen as an unnecessarily provocative act of aggression by countries like Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

They are also deeply embarrassing for the Obama administration, which is still trying to reassure its allies in the Gulf and Israel that its controversial nuclear deal with Tehran has ended Iranian attempts to build nuclear weapons – for the time being, at least.

Only a few weeks ago naive enthusiasts of President Obama’s nuclear deal claimed that gains made by so-called moderates in Iran’s recent elections for the majlis, or parliament, as well as the Assembly of Experts, demonstrated Iran was well on the way to reform and a more transparent system of government.

What these modern-day fellow travellers – and they include many leading lights in our own Foreign Office – fail to appreciate is that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s uncompromising Supreme Leader and guardian of Iran’s Islamic revolution, personally vetted all of the candidates. Thus only those with impeccable revolutionary credentials were allowed to stand. So much for Iran’s new spirit of reform.

Video

For, despite the modest gains made by these so-called reformers, the fact remains that the real power in Iran lies with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), whose duty is both to defend and export Iran’s revolutionary values throughout the Muslim world – with special focus on neighbouring Arab states.

Not only do the Revolutionary Guards control a significant percentage of the Iranian economy – including the country’s vast oil reserves. They are also responsible for Iran’s defence and security policy which, contrary to Washington’s confident predictions in the wake of the nuclear deal, has led to a significant upsurge in Iranian meddling in neighbouring Arab states.

The fear now among pro-Western Arab leaders is that Iran will embark on a military build-up funded by the estimated $150 billion Tehran is set to receive as a result of the sanctions being lifted.

The missile tests will certainly be seen by many regional leaders in that context, particularly as many Western intelligence experts are convinced the missiles are being designed specifically to carry nuclear warheads. In addition to continuing to develop its ballistic missile programme, Tehran last month also concluded a deal with Russia to improve its missile defences.

One of the more obvious failings of Mr Obama’s nuclear deal is that it allows Iran, a country which the CIA says once had an illicit nuclear weapons programme, to continue development work on its ballistic missiles.

Washington no doubt believes there is no harm in Tehran building missiles that can strike at the heart of Europe when it does not have the means to fit them with nuclear warheads.

But that is not how things are viewed in the Gulf. According to senior security officials I have spoken to recently in the region, there is no guarantee that Mr Obama’s deal will prevent Iran from continuing work on its nuclear weapons programme. As one senior defence official commented: “We know the Iranians well, and we know they have no intention of giving up their ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons.”

Video

Not surprisingly, the Gulf states have now embarked on developing a multi-billion pound anti-missile shield of their own. If nothing else, Mr Obama’s legacy to the Middle East will have been to initiate a new arms race.

In Israel, too, intelligence officials take the same view about Iran’s long-term nuclear ambitions, which no doubt explains Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent decision to cancel his proposed visit to Washington later this month.

The problem now is that if Washington is not prepared to take Iran’s continued acts of bellicosity seriously, there are plenty of Arab leaders who will.

For the past two weeks Saudi Arabia has been hosting the Middle East's biggest-ever military exercise – Operation Desert Thunder. An estimated 20 Muslim nations have taken part in the exercise which is aimed at strengthening the ability of the Saudi-led coalition to defend itself against the growing threat posed by Islamist-inspired terror groups, such as Daesh.

But the possibility should not be ruled out that one day these same forces could be used to defend Sunni Arab regimes from the threat posed by Shia Iran. In Yemen, Saudi Arabia is already fighting a proxy war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, while Riyadh has made no secret of its determination to secure the overthrow of the pro-Iranian regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the Obama administration continues to hail the merits of its nuclear deal with Iran, which it insists will form the centrepiece of Mr Obama’s legacy when his presidency concludes later this year.

Yet if Iran continues with unprovoked acts of aggression, such as its latest test-firing of ballistic missiles, then there is a genuine risk that Saudi Arabia and its allies will become involved in a direct, and far more dangerous, military confrontation with Iran. And that is most certainly not the kind of legacy Mr Obama had in mind when he concluded his ill-advised deal with the ayatollahs.

 

[Housecarl]

Essentially from what we've thus far seen of this "satellite launch vehicle" it is an Iranian version/adaptation of the North Korean Unha-3....

http://americaspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Iran_PIX_2_SIMORGH1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ccoAYEp.png?1

http://www.b14643.de/Spacerockets/Diverse/Simorgh-IRILV/SimorghSC.jpg

ETA: For comparison the North Korean Unha-3....

http://kkcdn-static.kaskus.co.id/images/2013/04/23/5085727_20130423111922.jpg

http://i0.wp.com/www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/images/nkir-td-2b-unha-3-2-2012.jpg

 

[Housecarl]

From the end of last month...Obviously the launch schedule slipped.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://thebulletin.org/why-iran-launching-rocket9190

Columnists
25 February 2016

Why Iran is launching a rocket

Ariane Tabatabai
Comments 15

Iran is hoping to launch a rocket next week. This is significant in and of itself, and also a good indicator of the Iranian security establishment’s thinking now that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the international agreement limiting Tehran’s nuclear activities, has gone into effect. It is also an example of the kind of challenges that lie ahead for the United States and other foreign powers dealing with Iran.

Tehran is preparing to launch a two-stage Simorgh rocket, or space launch vehicle, with the goal of putting a satellite into orbit. The Simorgh is named after a mythological Persian bird representing wisdom and healing. In the past, the country has placed four satellites into low-altitude orbit, but none stayed aloft for more than a few weeks; other attempts failed altogether. The Simorgh space launch vehicle is more powerful than previously used models, giving Iran a shot at a successful launch. Tehran has also been developing its satellite technology, and while its designs are nowhere close to the world’s most sophisticated, it is making progress. If next week’s launch is successful, it will mark an advance for the country in both delivery and communications capabilities.

Careful timing. Iran issued a notice to airmen (or NOTAM) for March 1-2 closing the air space above the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Semnan province, east of Tehran, indicating that the launch will take place then. The event will inaugurate the Imam Khomeini Launch Pad, which the space center intends to use in the future to launch larger rockets.

The launch comes at an interesting time in Iranian politics. First, it takes place following the January implementation of the JCPOA. Having seen its nuclear activities limited by the agreement, Tehran feels compelled to assert power in other ways, including by undertaking cyber attacks, testing missiles, and, now, launching a rocket. These displays of power help satisfy the domestic factions who feel like the country made too many concessions, limited its nuclear program too much, and ultimately lost in the negotiations. They appease the hardliners, while allowing the moderates in power and their reformist supporters to continue implementing the nuclear deal and make progress on other items without substantial pushback.

Second, the launch is scheduled to take place (link in Persian) shortly after the 10-day annual period when Iran marks the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The weeks preceding and following this period generally provide a platform for Tehran to showcase its “achievements.” The Simorgh does that job: Members of the Iranian political and security establishments have been hyping (link in Persian) the Simorgh in the media, highlighting that it has a range of 500 kilometers, roughly twice that of older Iranian rockets, and a payload two or three times heavier.

Third, the Persian New Year, March 20, is right around the corner. For the regime, it’s crucial to make sure that when Iranians look back at the past year, they don’t just remember that Iran undid some key parts of its nuclear program under the JCPOA, but also that it stepped forward in other domains. Projecting power with a rocket allows the government to end the year on what it sees as a positive note.

Fourth, the launch, which seems to have initially been scheduled for February 23-24, a few days before parliamentary and Assembly of Expert elections, will now take place after voting. The official campaign cycle (which started around February 18 and ends with the February 26 elections) and the months of politicking that proceeded it have highlighted deep divisions within the country and the regime. The Simorgh, true to the symbolism of its name, is a good healer, allowing the government to end this period of disagreement and unify the political and security establishments (until the next big thing divides them again).

The rocket launch, like missile testing, serves another purpose, too: It helps the regime continue its narrative of self-sufficiency, independence, and progress on scientific, technological, and military fronts. This narrative allows Tehran to signal to adversaries that it’s a power to be reckoned with, while reassuring domestic audiences and rallying them around the flag. Since the early 2000s, the narrative has been framed around the nuclear program, which today remains the centerpiece of the Iranian revolutionary self-image. But Tehran also tries to highlight its mastery of various other technologies, and show it can develop them without help from the outside world, by underlining the progress it has made in the drone, cyber, missile, and space domains in addition to the nuclear fuel cycle.

To be sure, Iran bases many of its “own” designs on those developed by other countries, including the United States. It relies heavily on foreign technology, essentially taking parts from elsewhere and assembling them itself, stamping “Made in I.R. Iran” on the finished products. But the country’s obsession with self-reliance—which goes back to the rule of Reza Shah in the first half of the 20th century, and was revitalized by the isolation stemming from the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s—remains a driving force behind Iran’s science-and-technology programs, and is still central to the story it tells itself.

Pushing the defense envelope. The planned rocket launch is further evidence of Iran’s determination to develop its space delivery vehicle capabilities. While the Simorgh is not a ballistic missile, it does represent a proliferation concern, given the level of overlap between space launch vehicles designed to put satellites into space and ballistic missile technology.

The launch also illustrates Tehran’s willingness to push the envelope in terms of weapons development without actually violating the terms of the JCPOA. In fact, such non-nuclear technological and defense activities are important to making sure that JCPOA implementation moves forward. That’s because the Iranian security establishment will more easily tolerate the concessions made under the JCPOA if it feels like it can boost its cyber, missile, and space capabilities.

Iran’s pursuit of these non-nuclear defense technologies presents a challenge to the United States, the other powers that negotiated the JCPOA with Iran, and the international community, because they require an adequate response that doesn’t jeopardize the deal’s implementation. It would be in no one’s interest to see the agreement derailed and Iran restart nuclear weapons development.

Managing Iranian mischief will require self-awareness in Washington, allowing it to see the limits of its own power so that it allocates resources to battles it can actually win. Washington also has to distinguish between actual violations of JCPOA terms and Iranian efforts to project power, which while not desirable, don’t jeopardize the deal or US national security. In other words, knowing which Iranian offenses are felonies and which are mere misdemeanors will allow the United States to make sound policies. Tehran is sure to continue to try to project power—possibly in more substantive ways than it has so far—and increase its capabilities in various operational domains. US leaders should remain vigilant and begin compiling a list of possible responses that wouldn’t directly or indirectly threaten the JCPOA.

__

Ariane Tabatabai

Ariane Tabatabai is a visiting assistant professor in the Security Studies Program at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a former associate in the Belfer Center's International Security Program and Project on Managing the Atom at Harvard University. Previously, she was a nonresident research associate with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. She was a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the Belfer Center in 2013 and 2014, and received her PhD in War Studies from the Department of War Studies, King's College London in 2015.

Her work has appeared in the Financial Times, the Boston Globe, the National Interest, Haaretz, and Al-Monitor, among other publications. She is a frequent media commentator on nuclear issues in English, French, and Persian, on such outlets as NPR, the BBC, Al-Jazeera, and France24.

 

[Housecarl]

From last year.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
https://www.armscontrol.org/print/6793

Updated: Iran’s Overdue ICBM

Authored by Greg Thielmann on Mon, 2015-02-02 13:30

Iran’s launch of a Fajr (Dawn) observation satellite into orbit on February 2 will undoubtedly confuse the debate over whether or not Iran will soon have an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). It should not; this was not an ICBM-related event. The space launch vehicle (SLV) used in this launch appears to have been a modified Safir, which is based on the Shahab 3 medium-range ballistic missile with an operational range of around 2,000 kilometers.

The Simorgh SLV mockup displayed five years ago would, if built, be able to carry a payload 2-3 times heavier than the Safir. But even if an actual Simorgh SLV were flight-tested soon, it would not constitute an imminent ICBM threat against the United States. Although significantly larger than the launcher used for Iran’s latest satellite launch, the Simorgh is still too small to be a prototype of a military version that could carry a weapons payload 9,000+ kilometers to strike the continental United States.

__________

2015 has long promised to be a banner year for the government in Tehran, marking the long-predicted first flight-test of an Iranian intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It now appears increasingly unlikely that this will happen.

Of course, an Iranian ICBM test by 2015 has long been an official forecast of the U.S. and Israeli governments, not the one in Tehran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has long denied an interest in even developing an ICBM and has not flight-tested military missile systems with operational ranges beyond some 2,000 kilometers.

In order for Iran to be able to threaten the U.S. mainland, it would need a delivery vehicle capable of carrying a several-hundred-kilogram-payload approximately 9,000 kilometers, a daunting technological challenge. (The traditional ICBM-range definition of 5,500 kilometers originated from the shortest distance between the United States and the Soviet Union.)

While dismissing any interest in developing nuclear warheads or ICBMs to deliver them, Iran has outlined ambitious plans for building space launch vehicles (SLVs) to send satellites and astronauts into space. Iran’s space program is a proliferation concern because there is considerable overlap between developing SLVs and ballistic missiles. The problem is further aggravated when space programs are run by the military, as is the case in Iran.

There is great skepticism—particularly in the U.S. Congress—that Iran has benign intentions for either its uranium centrifuges or its SLVs. The view expressed by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) about Iran’s space program during a December 2013 hearing is not uncommon: “it’s well known that [Iran’s space program] is just a cover for military ballistic weapons program.”

Some have pointed to Iran’s Simorgh SLV, shown in mockup nearly five years ago, as the system most easily convertible for use as an intermediate- or intercontinental-range missile. But that rocket has still not flown. While there are indications that large, rocket booster stages have been static-tested in Iran, and the Israeli media has just published reports that a 27-meter-high rocket appears ready to launch, other recent reports suggest major restructuring in or cancellation of Iran’s space program.

It was a 1999 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on the foreign ballistic missile threat that first warned “Iran could flight test an ICBM that could threaten the United States by 2010.” A majority of the analysts cited in that estimate predicted that such a test would occur by 2015, with the probability ranging from “better than even [chance]” to “very likely.”

The intelligence community eventually slipped the “could” date to 2015 and dropped the “likely” estimate entirely, but it has been reluctant to drop its admonition in recent years that Iran could test an ICBM by 2015. Even so, it has introduced qualifiers to its projection—like “with sufficient foreign assistance”—that render the warning almost meaningless.

2015 remains a particularly popular data point for those who wish to argue for inserting missile limits into the Iran nuclear talks with the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) or to make the case for deploying U.S. strategic missile defenses on the East Coast. But outside experts have doubted Iran’s ability to field an operational ICBM during the remainder of this decade.

Now that we have at long last entered the supposed year of the Iranian ICBM, it is time for the intelligence community to take a new look at the available evidence, sharing enough of it with the American people and their representatives in Congress that realistic policy judgments can be reached. The intelligence community estimates should include both what is likely as well as what is possible.

This would allow judicious allocations of severely constrained defense dollars to be made. As importantly, it would permit a more accurate assessment of risk in exploiting promising diplomatic openings in the wake of a possible Iran nuclear agreement.


Author:

Greg Thielmann

 

[Housecarl]

For some good photos check out this thread....

Iranian Simorgh Megathread-First Launch
http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/119059-iranian-simorgh-megathread-first-launch/

Iran Simorgh satellite launching vehicle ( IRILV ) in attachment facility

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8I2Zkax6yA

 

[tiger13]

"if in fact they break the deal, we will act," Earth to Joe Biden, they have already broken the deal, and you haven't acted....

 

[pinkelsteinsmom]

Iran and lil kim need to be turned into a parking lot over night simultaneously.

You think a back pack on a moslem terrorist is bad, wait till you see what these savage bastards WILL do with nukes!

 

[Blacknarwhal]

Someone needs to tell them that, despite what 1950s television may suggest, there are absolutely no goats in space.

 

[vessie]

They'll either make a fake mock-up for photo ops so their people will think they're so important or...

Or, they'll order a bunch of rocket models on Amazon Prime hoping they'll get their models in time to glue them together.

One of them might even be stupid enough (if it's some mullah doing the Amazon ordering) to order a model of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek.

That would be the way backwards mullah from the Rasht region.

The mistake will only be found out when they display the model on the world scene. **titter** V

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.ibtimes.com/iran-may-sti...rocure-materials-missiles-report-says-2335786

Iran May Still Depend On North Korea To Procure Materials For Missiles, Report Says

By Sneha Shankar @SnehaShankar30 On 03/14/16 AT 5:41 AM

A congressional report raised suspicions that Iran may still be depending on North Korea to procure materials needed to develop its ballistic missiles. In this photo, a truck carries a long range Iranian Shahab-3 Ballistic missile during a military parade of Iran's Revolutionary Guardians to mark the anniversary of Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) in a suburb of Tehran, Sept. 22, 2003.

Photo: Getty Images/AFP/Behrouz Mehri

A report by Washington's Congressional Research Service (CRS) raised suspicions that Iran boosted its missile development by taking help from North Korea and may still be dependent on the Kim Jong Un regime to get some materials for the ballistic missiles, Yonhap reported. The CRS report cited the intelligence community to say that North Korea’s cooperation with Iran was significant until the 2000s.

“Iran has likely exceeded North Korea's ability to develop, test and build ballistic missiles. But Tehran may, to some extent, still rely on Pyongyang for certain materials for producing Iranian ballistic missiles, Iran's claims to the contrary notwithstanding,” the report said, according to Yonhap: “For example, some observers argue that Iran may not be able to produce even its Scud B and Scud C equivalents — Shahab-1 and Shahab-2, respectively — without some foreign support for key materials or components.”

However, the report cited James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, as saying in 2014 that Iran was not receiving assistance for its inter-continental ballistic missile program. He also said last month that there has “not been a great deal of interchange” between Tehran and Pyongyang.

While the report raised suspicions about the Iran-North Korea partnership over missile programs, it said that Syria continues to depend on the two countries for its missile program. The report noted a testimony from Defense Intelligence Agency Director Michael Flynn in 2013 that Syria's liquid-propellant missile program — Scud B, Scud C and Scud D missiles — depends on “essential foreign equipment and assistance, primarily from North Korean entities,” Yonhap reported.

Although an official analysis by the U.S. has reportedly said that there has not been any cooperation between Iran and North Korea, local news reports have indicated some alleged cases of cooperation between the two countries. Among the local reports, there has also been speculation about Iranian officials looking into North Korea’s nuclear tests.

“U.S. officials have stated publicly that there is no nuclear cooperation between Iran and North Korea,” the report said, according to Yonhap, adding: “Knowledgeable current and former U.S. officials contacted by CRS said that they were unaware of official unclassified U.S. government evidence of nuclear cooperation between Iran and North Korea.”

The report also cited Dennis Blair, who was director of National Intelligence in 2009, as saying that North Korea could try to transfer its nuclear technology and material. “Pyongyang probably also perceives that it would risk a regime-ending military confrontation with the United States if the nuclear material was used by another country or group in a nuclear strike or terrorist attacks, and the United States could trace the material back to North Korea,” the report cited Blair as saying, according to Yonhap.

He also added, according to Yonhap: “The North might find a nuclear weapons or fissile material transfer more appealing if its own stockpile grows larger and/or it faces an extreme economic crisis where the potentially huge revenue from such a sale could help the country survive.”

North Korea tested nuclear devices in 2006, 2009 and 2013 after which it announced this January that it conducted its fourth nuclear test. Since then, the country has also conducted missile tests, launched a rocket and has threatened attacks against Western allies several times. The United Nations Security Council, US, and South Korea have condemned the nuclear advancements by Pyongyang, but Kim has called to boost nuclear capability furthermore.

Last week, Iran also test-fired several ballistic missiles, challenging a U.N. resolution, and triggering threat of sanctions from Washington. Although Iran’s missile tests raised concerns over the nuclear deal signed by Tehran in exchange of lifting the economic sanctions, officials have said that the nuclear deal was not violated.

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-says-no-u-n-sanctions-iran-over-143034143.html

Russia says no new U.N. sanctions on Iran over missile tests

Reuters
1 hour ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran should not face new United Nations Security Council sanctions over recent ballistic missile tests because they do not violate a U.N. resolution, council veto-power Russia said on Monday.

When asked if Iran should face new sanctions for the missile tests, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: "The clear and short answer is no."

The United States and France have said that if confirmed that the tests involved nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, they would violate a council resolution adopted in July.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Lou Charbonneau; Editing by David Alexander)

Related Stories

1. France says EU could impose sanctions over Iran missile tests Reuters
2. U.S. to raise Iran's 'dangerous' missile tests at U.N. Reuters
3. Iran conducts new missile tests defying US sanctions AFP
4. Israel calls on powers to punish Iran for its missile tests Reuters
5. Iran missile tests did not violate Iran nuclear deal: White House Reuters

 

[Countrymouse]

so.............DID Iran do a new missile launch this weekend, or are we still waiting for it?

 

[Housecarl]

so.............DID Iran do a new missile launch this weekend, or are we still waiting for it?

Looks like we're waiting on the satellite launch.

 

[tanstaafl]

On the more peaceful side of things, there's a new mission to Mars on the way as of this morning. Europe launched the ExoMars mission on a Russian ELV. There's a second part of the mission that is supposed to launch in March 2018, but who knows if that one will launch on schedule as they've had many delays thus far and I think it may be a minor miracle they got this one off today.

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ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Heads to Space

by David Dickinson
March 14, 2016
Sky and Telescope

A Russian Proton rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome earlier today with humanity's sole mission to Mars for 2016: the European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

The launch occurred at 9:31 Universal Time (5:31 a.m. EDT) and went off without a hitch. Next, the Proton rocket and its Briz (Breeze) M upper stage performed a series of looping elliptical passes and correction burns while still in Earth orbit before setting the spacecraft on a path to the Red Planet. (Remember, a malfunction at this stage is what doomed the Phobos-Grunt mission in 2011.)

Final separation of the ExoMars spacecraft occurred as planned 41 minutes 19 seconds after liftoff, and engineers expect to get first contact signalling a healthy spacecraft en route to Mars at 21:28 UT later today.

“It's a milestone that caps off several years of preparation for any complex mission — designing, building and testing ground systems, preparing the flight operations procedures and then finally an intensive period of planning,” says Paolo Ferri, ESA's head of missions operations, in a recent press release.


Tempting the "Galactic Ghoul"

The optimal time for Mars-bound launches comes around about once every two years. The launch window for ExoMars ran from March 14th to 25th, a couple months before Mars reaches opposition on May 22nd. NASA's InSight lander was also set to make the journey to Mars during a similar window, but a sensor leak forced planners to delay the launch. NASA is now targeting a new launch date in May 2018.

ExoMars carries its own lander, dubbed Schiaparelli, slated for release from the orbiter after seven months of cruising to the Red Planet. Release is slated to occur on October 16th — four days before orbital insertion — and Schiaparelli will land three days later at Meridiani Planum, the same region being explored by NASA's long-lived Opportunity rover.

Schiaparelli is named after the famous 19th-century astronomer and Mars observer Giovanni Schiaparelli. Schiaparelli was actually born on this day in 1835.

The battery-powered Schiaparelli lander is only expected to last four Martian days (called sols) on the surface. A successful landing would represent a first for any space agency other than NASA's and the Soviet Union's Mars 2 (which stopped working seconds after its safe arrival); all other Russian attempts to land on Mars failed, as did the British Beagle 2 lander in 2003. In 2015, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed the ill-fated Beagle 2. Landing and operating on Mars is hard, and many in the space community joke that the "Great Galactic Ghoul" has it out for Mars-bound spacecraft.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/launch-of-exomars-orbiter-14032016/

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://nation.com.pk/international/...nch-three-stage-rocket-any-minute-us-official

Iran can launch three-stage rocket 'any minute': US official

March 15, 2016, 10:50 am

(CNN) A U.S. official told CNN the current assessment is Iran could launch a three-stage rocket with a satellite on top "at any minute."
It would be Iran's first ever launch of this configuration, and like the North Korean test earlier this year, would give Iran further insights into intercontinental ballistic missile technology.

The assessment comes after Iran test-fired two ballistic missiles Wednesday, state media reported. The day before that, Iran conducted other missile tests that Washington suggests were in violation of a U.N. resolution.

North Korea to test nuclear warhead, state media reports

The missiles, capable of reaching Iran's archenemy Israel, were marked with a statement in Hebrew reading "Israel must be wiped off the Earth," Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency reported.

The phrase originates from a remark made by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran's Islamic revolution. CNN has not independently confirmed this report, and Iranian media have not shown photographs of the message.

The firings took place on the second and final day of a large-scale military drill, which marked the first time Tehran has fired ballistic missiles since signing a deal with world powers on its nuclear program in July.

U.S. officials said that the first tests did not violate the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but were very likely in breach of a U.N. resolution calling on Iran not to undertake ballistic missile activity.

Iran's state news agency IRNA reported Tuesday that the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had said that the drill had Iran's enemies "shivering from the roar" of the missiles.

The commander, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, said that since Israel -- referred to as the "Zionist regime" -- was within range of the missiles, it was "quite natural" it would be concerned, IRNA reported.

Speaking in Jerusalem on Wednesday, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden assured Israel that if Iran broke the terms of the nuclear deal, "we will act."

"We are united in the belief that a nuclear-armed Iran is an absolutely unacceptable threat to Israel, the region and the United States," he said after a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who strongly opposed the nuclear agreement with Iran.

In a possible reference to Iran's latest missile tests, Biden said: "All their conventional activity outside the deal, which is still beyond the deal, we will and are attempting to act wherever we can find it."

In January, the U.S. Treasury Department levied sanctions against 11 entities and individuals it said were working on behalf of the ballistic missile program.

Iran's development of the technology has raised concerns that it could equip the missiles with nuclear warheads, which Tehran insists it does not possess.

Courtesy: CNN

 

[Housecarl]

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http://allthingsnuclear.org/lgrego/iran-simorgh-satellite-launch-update-part-3

Iran Simorgh Satellite Launch Update, Part 3

Laura Grego, senior scientist | March 14, 2016, 4:58 pm EDT

Iran has again issued a NOTAM for the area around Semnan (OID51 in Arms Control Wonk’s google map). The notice to airmen was issued on Saturday, and is valid from today through Thursday, March 17.

U.S. officials, according to a Fox News report, are watching the Simorgh rocket “on the launch pad as it is being fueled at an undisclosed location inside Iran.” If this is a Simorgh launch, presumably the fueling is taking place at Imam Khomeini Space Center, where launch preparations were observed a few weeks ago, and which is covered by the above NOTAM.

Who knows if it really will get off the pad this week? NOTAMs get issued and expire all the time without a launch.

Third time’s a charm?

This is my third post on this launch, and it doesn’t look so charming. We’ve been watching for a launch for a number of weeks, but the context has changed. Last week, Iran reportedly fired a barrage of ballistic missiles from silos in central Iran. These are the first Iranian missile tests since United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 superseded Resolution 1929 in January with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA), i.e., the Iran nuclear deal, implementation.

The new language “calls on” Iran not to undertake missile activity (rather than “shall not undertake”). In the old language, the banned activity is activity “related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.” In current language, the problematic activity is that “related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.” (Emphasis added.)

As U.S. officials have made clear the administration doesn’t believe last week’s tests are a violation of the JPCOA, but instead that the tests are “inconsistent with” Resolution 2231. (That point is being used to criticize the deal by members of Congress who opposed the Iran nuclear agreement.) That’s essentially how Russia is describing it, too. The Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin stated:

A call is different from a ban so legally you cannot violate a call, you can comply with a call or you can ignore the call, but you cannot violate a call. The legal distinction is there.

However, this doesn’t mean a response isn’t imminent. The members of the UNSC are mulling unilateral sanctions and collective action. The UNSC met today (Monday, March 14) to discuss how to respond to the provocative tests. Afterwards, the U.S. Ambassador Power urged the UNSC to act despite “the quibbling we heard today about this and that,” and said that the U.S. would consider its own response.

As Greg Thielmann notes, the missiles tested last week had all been tested previously and don’t shed much light on the progress of Iran’s more capable missiles. The heat would certainly turn up should the Simorgh actually launch. The Simorgh appears designed specifically as a satellite launcher, not as a ballistic missile, although some of the technology used in it could be used for a ballistic missile. (Again, it is important to reiterate that it would take significant time to convert a satellite launcher to a ballistic missile, that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, and that Iran has not tested a heat-shielding re-entry vehicle.)

But launching a yet more capable rocket this week, before the dust even settles from last week, seems like very poor timing for anyone invested in the success of the Iran nuclear deal.

Previous posts on the launch:
Iran’s Upcoming Simorgh Rocket Launch
Update on Possible Iranian Simorgh Rocket Launch

 

[Housecarl]

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http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=2138

3/24/2016

Air Force Worried About Potential Iranian Space Launch

By Allyson Versprille

Iran's near-term plans to launch a larger, more capable rocket into space has one Air Force official concerned that the vehicle could be used as a missile against the United States or its allies.

"The concerning part to me is that the rocket that they use, that launch satellite, could … [have] a dual-use purpose," said Lt. Gen. Jay Raymond, Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations. "The ability to put a satellite into orbit is the same capability ... as a harmful missile," he told reporters at a Washington, D.C., breakfast March 24.

Between 2009 and 2015, Iran successfully placed four satellites into orbit using a small rocket called the Safir. The Safir is based on the Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile. The rocket that the country plans to use in the upcoming launch is the Simorgh, a more powerful and capable rocket that could put larger satellites into orbit.

The Iranians displayed a mock-up for the two-stage Simorgh for the first time in February 2010. "Iran’s government has announced the maiden launch of the Simorgh several times since 2010, most recently in a window ending on March 10, 2016, but it has not yet happened," said Greg Thielmann, a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association, a non-profit located in Washington, D.C.

The cancellation of the March launch could point to performance issues with the system, he said. "It's a very big question now whether or not they are ready, or whether there have been some technical glitches that have prevented the launch."

Some in the United States have said the system is a cover for the country's development of an intercontinental ballistic missile — or an "ICBM in drag" — according to Thielmann.

However those claims are overblown, he said. "A lot of the things that you hear about this, that it would be the appearance of an ICBM missile threat against the United States, is just wrong."

There are significant differences in the requirements for a space vehicle launch and a military missile, he told National Defense.

"A space rocket that launches a satellite only does part of what needs to be done to test or to demonstrate competence in the technology needed for a military missile," he said. "For very long range, like intercontinental range, the stress on a warhead that returns to the atmosphere is intense — the vibration, the heat. It's not something that you want to happen to anything as delicate as a nuclear weapon."

It is a significant technological hurdle for any country to develop a warhead that can reenter the atmosphere, while remaining accurate enough to hit its target, Thielmann said. "The Iranians have never tested that. The Simorgh — if it launched a satellite — would not be testing that."

The power required in the second stage of a launch is another difference between a space vehicle and a military missile, he noted. The "low-powered thrust that gently puts a satellite in orbit is very different than the kind of high power you need to achieve maximum range and a trajectory that results in an explosion at the other end."

Additionally, the Simorgh that was represented in the 2010 mock-up would barely qualify as an intercontinental ballistic missile, which since the Cold War has been identified as a warhead with a 5,500-kilometer range, he said. "The Simorgh probably has less than that, but it certainly would not have the 9,000-kilometer range needed to reach the United States from Iran. It would not even come close."

When it comes to Iran's ballistic missile program "it is often less than advertised," Thielmann said. For years, the United States predicted that the Iranians could test launch an ICBM by 2015, which still hasn't happened, he said.

"2015 has come and gone and you finally had the U.S. military leadership and intelligence community move back, by several years, their date of when Iran could have an intercontinental ballistic missile," he said. "But they haven't quite acted fully on this because we're still aiming to deploy more advanced missile interceptors in Poland by 2018. It's almost as if neither the Iran Nuclear Deal nor the fading ICBM threat has been taken into consideration in U.S. policy."