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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US officials reportedly claim Iran’s latest missile test a fake
2017-09-26
[IsraelTimes] Tehran hailed Saturday's launch of 1,250-mile range Khoramshahr that could reach Israel, but sources now say video was recycled footage.

US officials have reportedly said that Iran’s claim it tested a ballistic missile over the weekend that could reach Israel was a lie, and a video of the launch was in fact recycled footage of a previous missile test.

Iran said on Saturday that it had successfully tested a new medium-range missile, in defiance of warnings from Washington that it is ready to ditch a landmark nuclear deal over the issue.

State television carried footage of the launch of the Khoramshahr missile, which was first displayed at a high-profile military parade in Tehran on Friday. It also carried in-flight video from the nose cone.

But according to a Fox News report, two US officials claim that the video was more than seven months old and dated back to a failed launch in late January, which resulted in the missile exploding shortly after lift off.

The Iranian broadcaster gave no date for Saturday’s apparent test, although Tehran officials had said on Friday that it would be tested "soon."

Previous Iranian missile launches have triggered US sanctions and accusations that they violate the spirit of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers.
The Mad Mullahs are clearly not bound by the letter of the agreement. It seems a bit silly, therefore, to expect them to pay any attention to the spirit of the thing.
Trump has threatened to scrap and/or amend the agreement over the issue, saying that Iran’s missile program could give it the technical know-how for a delivery system for a nuclear warhead when a sunset clause in the deal expires in 2025.

He is due to report to Congress on October 15 on whether or not he believes Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal. If he decides that it is not, it could open the way for renewed US sanctions and perhaps the collapse of the agreement. Trump said on Wednesday he had made his decision, but was not yet ready to reveal it.

Iran says Trump’s claims it works with N. Korea on missiles are ‘nonsense’

[IsraelTimes] Newly tested Khoramshahr rocket, capable of reaching Israel, is entirely homegrown, officials insist.

There has been speculation, particularly from Iran critics in Washington, that the Khoramshahr was based on North Korea’s intermediate-range Musudan missile.

In 2010, a diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks showed that US intelligence officers believed North Korea had shipped Musudan missiles to Iran.

But some analysts say the differing ranges cast doubt on those concerns.

A detailed report earlier this year by the US-Korea Institute at John Hopkins University in the United States found: “The available evidence cannot verify speculation that the Iranian missile is similar to North Korea’s Musudan.”

Iran and North Korea have cooperated on military technology in the past.

During Iran’s war with Iraq in the 1980s, it turned to North Korea as one of the only sources of military assistance, importing a stockpile of Nodong missiles.

Iran used the Nodong to develop its own medium-range Shahab-3 missile, first tested in 1998, and it has continued to improve on the design since.

But there has been scant evidence of direct cooperation between the two countries in recent years, with Iran seemingly keen to distance itself from the East Asian pariah state.

Instead, Iran has emphasized its home-grown missile program, and denied that this breaches any international laws, though it has drawn repeated UN resolutions demanding an end to missile development by Tehran.

“Since the criticism of American officials, the speed of missile development has increased several times,” said General Amir Ali Hadjizadeh, head of aerospace forces for Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, according to state television on Monday.

“All the materiel and pieces for our missiles are manufactured locally and do not come from abroad,” he said.

He said the Khoramshahr missile was 13 meters (43 feet) long and could carry an 1,800 kilogram (almost 4,000-pound) payload.
Posted by:trailing wife

#7  Either way, it signals intent and softens an otherwise more harsh reaction.
Posted by: gorb   2017-09-26 12:43  

#6  Photobombs.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2017-09-26 10:36  

#5  A fake?!?! The masters of photoshop!?!?! Say it ain't so!
Posted by: DarthVader   2017-09-26 06:52  

#4  So, who lies: Iranians or Klingons?

Yes to both.
Posted by: Besoeker   2017-09-26 01:57  

#3  Might be why Mattis is going to India.
To get another version of 'truth'.
Posted by: Skidmark   2017-09-26 01:49  

#2  So, who lies: Iranians or Klingons?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2017-09-26 01:26  

#1  Redo!
Posted by: Skidmark   2017-09-26 01:13  

00:00