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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Iran runs secret arms plants in Venezuela which also buys it weapons |
| 2009-09-19 |
| From Geostrategy-Direct, subscription. LONDON — Venezuela has been serving as an intermediary providing arms to Iran since 2006, according to intelligence assessments. Western intelligence agencies have concluded that Venezuela was helping Iran acquire material and components for strategic and conventional weapons programs. They said Caracas has imported a range of weapons that were later delivered to Iran. "Today, we must see every Venezuelan arms deal as linked to Iran," a Western intelligence source said. Iran was also said to be establishing weapons factories in remote areas of Venezuela for the production of advanced and strategic systems. "The mysterious manufacturing plants, controlled by Iran, deep in the interior of Venezuela, give even greater concern," Robert Morgenthau, a U.S. district attorney who has been investigating the Iranian-Venezuelan connection, said. Wonder if Morgenthau will get fired by the Big O for exposing O's buddy Chavez' goings on. On Sept. 13, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Russia has opened a $2.2 billion line of credit for Caracas. Chavez said Venezuela would purchase air defense systems, main battle tanks and other weapons. Which they will eventually have to pay for, or not, depending on if Venezuela utilizes the Nasser Model of Repayment. "The Russian government approved financing for $2.2 billion," Chavez said. "For what? For weapons, and we must thank them. We've decided to install a powerful anti-air defense system." To protect against which enemy, pray tell? The intelligence agencies were said to have assessed that Iran began using Venezuela as a front for the procurement of weapons since at least 2006. Intelligence sources have also warned that part of the latest Venezuelan weapons order from Russia would be diverted to Iran. Moscow, under pressure to cancel weapon deals with Teheran, has agreed to sell nearly 100 advanced T-90 MBTs to Caracas. "It is likely that many of these tanks or technology would be relayed to Iran and then appear as indigenous weapons produced by Teheran," the intelligence source said. From 2005 and 2007 Russia signed 12 defense contracts with Venezuela said to have been worth about $4.5 billion. The contracts provided Venezuela with fighter-jets, attack helicopters and light weapons. At the same time, Iran and Venezuela have signed a series of cooperation agreements, including those in the areas of defense, energy, finance and joint technology development. In April 2008, Venezuela and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding that stipulated full military support and cooperation. Since at least 2006, Iranian military advisers have been embedded with Venezuelan Army. Two years later, Turkey detained an Iranian ship bound for Venezuela that contained laboratory equipment capable of producing explosives. "We have concerns in general about Venezuela's stated desire to increase its arms buildup, which we think poses a serious challenge to stability in the Western Hemisphere," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said on Sept. 14. "We also want them to put in place very clear procedures and safeguards that these arms are not diverted to any irregular or illegal organizations in the region." Nice little softball statement there, Ian. Typical State Dept lingo. Iran source: Obama offered to sell aircraft, spare parts to Iran NICOSIA — Iranian sources said President Barack Obama has proposed the sale of up to $2.5 billion worth of U.S. aircraft and spare parts to Iran. The sources said the proposed sale would rescue Iran's civilian aerospace industry and ensure passenger safety. Jeeze Louise!!!! Who is the enemy here? The Big O or Iran? Is the Big O a sucker or one actively working against US interests? "Obama's messages for delivering these airplanes to Iran were sent after the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's president [in June 2009]," an Iranian source said. The source, deemed informed, told the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars that Obama has offered to sell 20 passenger jets and spare parts to Iran. The aircraft would be sold by the U.S. firm Boeing, which sold aircraft and infrastructure to Iran in the 1970s. "The minimum price of these airplanes stands at $75 million and their maximum price is $120 million and their number is estimated at 20," the source said. Fars quoted the source as saying that several of the Boeing passenger jets have been delivered to Iran. The source said the shipments arrived in Venezuela, which relayed the aircraft to Teheran. Venezuela has been Iran's leading ally. "The money needed for purchasing the planes was supplied from Iran's blocked assets in the United States," the source said. Fars said the aircraft were manufactured in 2009. The agency did not say how many aircraft arrived in Iran. This marked the first Iranian report of U.S. aircraft deliveries to Teheran. The Obama administration has not confirmed this, although U.S. officials acknowledged that aircraft sales were envisioned as part of a reconciliation effort with Iran. One way reconciliation. One side buys hope and change. The other side gets tangible assets with no strings attached. On Sept. 11, the administration said it would accept an Iranian offer to discuss security issues, including Teheran's nuclear program. The Iranian offer did not include discussions of the U.S. demand for an end to Teheran's uranium enrichment program. "There's language in the letter that simply says the government of Iran is willing to enter into dialogue," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "We are going to test that proposition, okay? And if Iran is willing to enter into serious negotiations, then they will find a willing participant in the United States and the other [partner] countries. If Iran dissembles in the future, as it has in the past, then we will draw conclusions from that." Serious negotions, yeah. Just like the 3 year |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |
| #10 But if you want a more recent take, consider the September 9th comments of the Attorney General of NYC The Iranians have also opened International Development Bank in Caracas under the Spanish name Banco Internacional de Desarrollo C.A., an independent subsidiary of Export Development Bank of Iran. Last October the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed economic sanctions against both of these Iranian banks for providing or attempting to provide financial services to Iran's Ministry of Defense and its Armed Forces Logistics—the two Iranian military entities tasked with advancing Iran's nuclear ambitions. My office has been told that that over the past three years a number of Iranian-owned and controlled factories have sprung up in remote and undeveloped parts of Venezuela—ideal locations for the illicit production of weapons. Evidence of the type of activity conducted inside the factories is limited. But we should be concerned, especially in light of an incident in December 2008. Turkish authorities detained an Iranian vessel bound for Venezuela after discovering lab equipment capable of producing explosives packed inside 22 containers marked "tractor parts." The containers also allegedly contained barrels labeled with "danger" signs. ... In the past several years Iranian entities have employed a pervasive system of deceitful and fraudulent practices to move money all over the world without detection. The regime has done this, I believe, to pay for materials necessary to develop nuclear weapons, long-range missiles, and road-side bombs. The Attorney General is not on drugs nor is he delusional and paranoid about the threat. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-09-19 22:29 |
| #9 That was in 2003. In 2006 Robert Mueller, then Director of the FBI, testified before a Congressional committee that in the Spring of that year agents had intercepted two Hezb'allah cells attempting to enter the US across the southern border. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-09-19 22:17 |
| #8 Training camps are old news in the region. From a 2003 Library of Congress review of open source information: Hizballah clearly derives a quite substantial amount of income from its various illicit activities in the TBA, in addition to financial support from the government of Iran and income derived from narcotics trafficking in Lebanon’s Al Beqa’a Valley. Reports of Iranian intelligence agents being implicated in Hizballah-linked activities in the TBA (ed: the triborder area where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet) since the early 1990s suggest direct Iranian government support of Hizballah activities in the region The report also notes that as many as 11,000 Muslims may have left the tri-border area and moved to areas of latin america which were less scrutinized after 9/11 From the conclusion:. �� Hizballah has reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from narcotics and arms trafficking, product piracy, and other illicit activities in the TBA; �� a substantial number of members of the Islamic terrorist groups in the TBA have probably moved out of the region since late 2001 to other areas of South America, such as Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela, where they may be under less pressure by security forces than in the TBA |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-09-19 22:12 |
| #7 Iran was also said to be establishing weapons factories in remote areas of Venezuela for the production of advanced and strategic systems. GS-D must be on drugs to think this. If these camps exist, their purpose isn't to produce advanced and strategic systems. Training and indoctrination is far more likely. Perhaps Chavez plans his own Revolutionary Guards. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2009-09-19 21:04 |
| #6 Geostrategy-Direct, Rantburg, and internal intelligence agency reports are not exactly the front page of the New York Times or CNN. Those who know have done nothing visible about it, and those who pay attention to the likes of the NYT/CNN would say the same thing .5MT did, unless their comment was, "But I thought Venezuela was near Mexico, not Iran... isn't Iran near China or Russia or something?" But the real bottom line is that Presidente Chavez need only provide the land to Iran or whomever, who are thoroughly capable of doing whatever it is without Chavista fuckers underfoot. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-09-19 20:52 |
| #5 So basically they're a bunch of guys who can't pour piss out of a boot but still manage to get leftist governments back in power in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and almost got one in Honduras, and even have our government's backing in their campaign to get Mr. Pre-Counted Referendum back into power? For incompetents they're doing pretty damn slick. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2009-09-19 20:23 |
| #4 Early in 2005 the interior minister under Chavez admitted that they'd 'misplaced' about 12,000 officially stamped but otherwise blank Venezuelan passports. At about the same time we began to hear about Hezb'allah camps in several remote places in South America. Now they are believed to have set up at least one training camp in Venezuela, filling (among other things) the role of a now-weakened FARC as Chavez' proxies ... but also filling their main role as Iran's shock troops. I've heard unofficial account to this effect from people in uniform who know the area well. It's been a few years since reports that the revolutionary leader Commando Marcos in Chiapas Mexico converted to Islam, along with most of his followers after wealthy arabs handed out significant money to Chiapans who became Muslims. This isn't the only such report. About three years ago MS-13 began arming with .50 caliber weapons and started smuggling a lot more in the way of groups of spanish-speaking young men across the border. Spanish speaking, but not latino. Here's a FrontPage article with a fair amount of detail, co-authored by the Senior Army Advisor to the Air Command and Staff College. Venezuela doesn't need money to pay for arms. They are providing a much more valuable capability to Iran. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-09-19 19:58 |
| #3 Yes I know that, Snowy, but... to what end? Does the Bolivarian Government owe you money? Fucker's couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. 0// LABJ |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-09-19 19:15 |
| #2 They don't have to keep it secret as long as the useful (to them) retarded idiots are willing to laugh it off up here with "Venezuela couldn't run a secret whisper machine." We know they supply FARC, we know they have made the children of Hezbollah officials part of their government... And now we know about all this junk, which is no longer secret, and shouldn't be dismissed via "Venezuela can't keep secrets." |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2009-09-19 18:27 |
| #1 It's all BS. Vz couldn't run a secret whisper machine. A little money laundery likely, but a collusion of any serious proportion between Persia and Gran Columbia is purdy much the marching powder talking. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-09-19 17:53 |