IRAN  - Fantasies of a Delusional Leadership

Sanctions vain; victories ahead: Leader

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Western sanctions against the country have proven futile, adding there are more victories on the horizon for the Iranian nation.

Western officials have repeatedly announced that the objective of anti-Iran sanctions is to wear out the Iranian nation and force the authorities of the Islamic Republic to reconsider their political calculations, Ayatollah Khamenei said on Monday.

“But they are mistaken and will never achieve this goal.”

“The Iranian nation has chosen this victorious path with insight and has made great sacrifices and forfeited the blood of its loved ones to tread this path,” the Leader added.

Referring to the upcoming parliamentary elections, Ayatollah Khamenei said the vote is a manifestation of people's presence in the political decision making process.

Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran's parliamentary election is also important for other Islamic Nations and that is why the US and its allies are trying to disappoint the Muslim world by disrupting the vote.

The Leader said hegemonic powers and their pawns have been making efforts to reduce the participation of Iranians in the elections, but the mass turnout of the nation will disappoint the enemy.

Ayatollah Khamenei also warned of the scourge threatening the elections.

 Iran to use new hardware in next drills

Commander of Iran's Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan has announced the country's plans to deploy the most advanced military equipment in the country's upcoming maneuvers.

Pourdastan said on Tuesday that the major drills will be launched in eastern Iran in the second half of February.

“In this maneuver, the latest combat equipment and systems of the Ground Forces as well as the modern tactics in ground operations will be evaluated,” the commander added.

The development comes after the Ground Forces of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully concluded their military drills codenamed Shohaday-e Vahdat (Martyrs of Unity) in eastern Iran on Monday.

Among the major objectives of the maneuver were bolstering security along Iran's eastern border areas, promoting the defense and combat capabilities of the IRGC's Ground Forces as well as transferring to young officers the experiences gained during the eight-year war imposed by Iraq on Iran.

The first phase of the exercises started in the vicinity of Khaf city in Khorasan Razavi Province on Saturday, days after Iranian naval forces staged the 10-day massive Velayat 90 exercise near the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

The Velayat 90 naval drill, launched on December 24, 2011, included four stages, namely the preparedness, the expansion of forces, the tactical, and the power phase, which were carried out successfully with the surface and subsurface vessel units and aviation units penetrating to the targeted depths.

Iran maintains that the maneuvers are defensive in nature and intend to convey a message of peace and friendship to regional countries. It has also extended a public invitation to regional states to conduct joint naval drills with Iranian forces.

  

 Iran urges Turkey to scrap NATO system

Russia and Iran have expressed their opposition to the US-led NATO missile plan in Turkey.

A member of Iran's Assembly of Experts Hassan Rohani has censured Turkey for harboring a NATO missile system on its soil, calling on the Ankara government to scrap the planned system.

In a meeting with Turkey's Ambassador to Tehran Umit Yardim on Tuesday Rohani said because the US Secretary of State has stated Iran is the target of the missile system we did not expect the Turkish government and officials, who are among our good friends, to accept the deployment of the NATO missiles on their soil.

Rohani, who is also the Director of Iran's Expediency Council's Center for Strategic Research, called on Turkey to prepare the grounds for restoring complete confidence in the existing all-out ties between Ankara and Tehran.

The Turkish ambassador, for his part, said the system would pose no threat to any country, including neighboring states.

Yardim asserted that although the system has been deployed by NATO, it is under the surveillance and control of Turkey.

On September 2, 2011, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal announced the country's decision to host a missile shield developed by the United States for NATO, on its territory.

A military facility in the village of Kurecik, 700 kilometers from the Iranian border, has been picked as the site for the missile system.

Both Russia and Iran have expressed their opposition to the US-led missile plan.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that the missile system is not against any country; however, commentators believe Turkey faces no missile threat from its neighbors, and did not need to accept the system.

 'US, Israel losing Mideast backyards'

A senior Iranian commander says Washington seeks to evade the growing challenges it faces in the Middle East, as the US and the Israeli regime continue to lose their puppets in the region.

“In their failure to avert developments in the strategic Middle East region as well as the downfall of dictators in countries that served as the backyard of the White House and the Zionist regime (Israel), the Americans have sought to find ways for forward escaping,” said Deputy Head of Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri on Tuesday.

The Iranian commander argued that the wave of awakening in the Arab world as well as the expansion of anti-capitalism movements across the US have compelled Washington to portray an exaggerated image of an external enemy, specifically the Muslim world and the Iranian nation, and invest in propaganda projects such as the promotion of Iranophobia and Islamophobia in efforts to divert the world attention away from issues gripping the US.

He referred to the campaign by the US and the Israeli lobby to garner the support of their European allies to mount pressures on Iran by imposing sanctions, especially ahead of Iran's parliamentary elections on March 2, 2012, reiterating that enemy objectives against Iran will never materialize.

The United States, the Israeli regime and some of their allies have accused Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used the pretext to push the UN Security Council to impose four rounds of sanctions against Tehran.

Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union have also adopted unilateral measures against the Islamic Republic in an attempt to prevent Western investments in Iran's energy sector.

On December 31, President Obama signed into law fresh economic sanctions against Iran's Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.

Jazayeri also pointed to the West's psychological projections to derail the world public opinion from the fact that the Western powers and their liberal democratic systems are on the brink of collapse.

The commander argued that such publicity campaigns come as the West itself is facing disintegration, and as Iran and other Islamic movements are establishing the future discourse in the contemporary world.

IRGC to repel even idea of bullying Iran

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Mohammad-Ali Jafari says the IRGC is ready to counter even the thought of threatening Iran that crosses the enemy's mind.

During the opening of the IRGC military drill, codenamed Shohaday-e Vahdat (Martyrs of Unity), in eastern Iran on Monday, Jafari stressed the readiness of Iranian forces “to counter any act of aggression and threat.”

He added that the drills will help prepare for an unbalanced war and aims to prevent the enemy from advancing in the country.

The commander said the maneuvers also seek to counter the technological superiority the enemy relies on through IRGC tactics and new ideas.

The first phase of the drill began in the vicinity of Khaf city in Khorasan Razavi Province on Saturday, days after Iranian naval forces staged the massive 10-day Velayat 90 maneuvers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

Spokesman of the Shohaday-e Vahdat drill General Hamid Sarkheili said on Monday that bolstering security along Iran's eastern border areas, promoting defensive and combat capabilities of the IRGC Ground Forces and passing on the experiences gained during the eight-year war imposed by Iraq on Iran to young officers are among the main objectives of the maneuver.

He added that the capabilities and innovations of the Ground Forces in tactical aspects will be displayed during the main phase of the drill.

'Iran, influential naval power'

Deputy Commander of the Iranian Army Brigadier General Abdul-Rahim Mousavi says the Islamic Republic has developed into a regional and global naval power in view of its major breakthroughs.

The senior Iranian military commander on Monday praised the massive 10-day Velayat-90 naval drill, conducted in an area stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden, as a demonstration of Iran's naval might and capability in the international waters.

He stated that Iran's naval forces are closely monitoring all moves by extra-regional powers in the region as they spotted a helicopter and a US aircraft carrier during Velayat-90 naval exercises.

He said the Iranian Navy's surveillance of foreign military moves during the massive ten-day naval drill was in compliance with international conventions relating to high seas and in line with the country's doctrine of national defense.

Brigadier General Mousavi emphasized that outsiders and foreign forces deployed to the Middle East follow their evil policies in the region and exploit any available opportunity to reach their goals.

He also condemned attempts to incite Iranophobia in regional states, stressing that Iran is interested in the promotion of global peace and tranquility as well as friendship among all world nations.

The top Iranian commander reiterated that the country only resists against expansionist policies of a few bullying powers.

On January 2, Iran wrapped up Velayat-90 naval drill, which was launched on December 24, 2011.

The defensive drill had four stages, namely the preparedness, the expansion of forces, the

tactical, and the power phase, which were carried out successfully with the surface and subsurface vessel units and aviation units penetrating to the targeted depths.

The naval drill took place in line with a recent directive by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, instructing Iranian armed forces to maintain total readiness to defend the nation against any potential threats.

Iran maintains that the maneuvers were defensive in nature and intended to convey a message of peace and friendship to the countries of the region. The Islamic Republic has also extended a public invitation to regional states to conduct joint naval drills with Iranian forces.

 'Iran has upper hand over US in Hormuz'

A researcher says the highly propagated US naval supremacy counts for little in the Strait of Hormuz as the geography of the Persian Gulf region and Iran's naval might will jeopardize American interests there.

“Primacy does not mean invincibility. US naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf are nonetheless vulnerable,” Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya wrote in an article on Global Research.

He explained the narrow geography of the Persian Gulf, and Iran's advanced missile and torpedo arsenal “would make short work of US naval assets in the waters of the Persian Gulf where US vessels are constricted.”

The sociologist and award-winning author added that even Iran's small patrol boats are capable of inflicting mortal damage on the US warships. “These Iranian patrol boats can easily launch a barrage of missiles that could significantly damage and effectively sink large US warships. Iranian small patrol boats are also hardly detectable and hard to target.”

Iran's Navy successfully test-fired a new long-range coast-to-sea missile called Qader (Capable) and a state of the art surface-to-surface Nour (Light) missile on the last day of its recent naval maneuvers in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

With its range of 200 kilometers, the Qader missile has highly destructive power and can destroy targets, including frigates, warships as well as enemy coastal targets.

Nour, a 120 kilometer anti-ship cruise missile, is designed to sink a target of 10,000 tons and above.

Nazemroaya further reasoned even Pentagon's own war simulations have shown that a war in the Persian Gulf with Iran “would spell disaster for the United States and its military.”

He cited the example the Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC02) US drill in the Persian Gulf, which was conducted from July 24 to August 15, 2002 and took almost two years to prepare.

The political analyst argued that although the drill was “officially” presented as a simulation of a war against Iraq under the rule of President Saddam Hussein, “in actuality these war games pertained to Iran.”

“In Millennium Challenge 2002's war scenario, Iran would react to US aggression by launching a massive barrage of missiles that would overwhelm the US and destroy sixteen US naval vessels - an aircraft carrier, ten cruisers, and five amphibious ships. It is estimated that if this had happened in real war theater context, more than 20,000 US servicemen would have been killed in the first day following the attack.”

Nazemroaya said Iran's patrol boats would then overwhelm the remainder of the Pentagon's naval forces in the Persian Gulf, “which would result in the damaging and sinking of most of the US Fifth Fleet and the defeat of the United States.”

“The entire world knows the importance of the Strait of Hormuz and Washington and its allies are very well aware that the Iranians can militarily close it for a significant period of time,” he asserted.

Last week, Iran wrapped up a massive 10-day Velayat 90 naval exercise, covering an area stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.

Some of the objectives of the Velayat 90 maneuvers were to expand the presence of Iranian armed forces in international waters and prepare against piracy, terrorism or induced disruption to regional trade.

During the maneuvers Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the country's naval forces can readily block the strategic Strait of Hormuz if need be.

“Closing the Strait of Hormuz is very easy for Iranian naval forces,” Sayyari said, adding that, “Iran enjoys full control over the strategic water way.”

Sayyari's comment came one day after Iran's Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned that not a drop of oil would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions are placed against Iran's oil exports.

“Amongst other things, Velayat 90 should be understood as a signal that Tehran is ready to operate outside of the Persian Gulf and can even strike or block the pipelines trying to bypass the Strait of Hormuz,” Nazemroaya concluded.