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Iran Says It Will Never Scrap Nuke Program
- Thread starter jlmadyson
- Start date
By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KIEV, Ukraine -- A senior lawmaker alleges that Ukraine sold nuclear-capable cruise missiles to Iran and China in violation of international nonproliferation treaties and is demanding the new government launch a full investigation.
The allegations were made in a letter - made available to The Associated Press on Tuesday - by lawmaker Hrihory Omelchenko and addressed to President Viktor Yushchenko, a reformist who took office last week.
Yushchenko, who takes over from Leonid Kuchma, has promised a thorough investigation of corruption and misdeeds that allegedly flourished during his predecessor's 10 years as president. Kuchma allegedly sanctioned the sale of sophisticated radar systems to Iraq in 2002, contravening U.N. sanctions.
In the letter, Omelchenko said an investigation launched last summer "proved that some 20 air-launched Kh-55 and Kh-55M cruise missiles with nuclear capability were exported to third countries" in contravention of international treaties.
"Six missiles destined for Russia ended up in Iran ... six missiles destined for Russia ended up in China" the letter said. It said the exports occurred during 1999 to 2001.
Omelchenko is an ally of Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been nominated as Ukraine's next prime minister.
Vyacheslav Astapov, a spokesman for Ukraine's Prosecutor-General, said the office began an investigation into the alleged sales last summer and "this year we received new information."
Astapov also said a top-ranking Iranian diplomat in Ukraine met with Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun, but he did not elaborate.
Iranian diplomats in Kiev were not available for comment.
Omelchenko also claimed that businessmen from several enterprises - including state-run weapons exporter Ukrspetseksport and its daughter companies - companies in the United States, Cyprus and Iran and individuals from the Ukrainian security service shared hefty profits from several illicit defense deals that included sales of radar equipment to Eritrea.
Officials from the Ukrspetseksport and the Ukrainian Security Service were unavailable for comment.
American diplomats in Kiev were "aware of the reports" on illicit missile sales and took them "very seriously," a U.S. embassy spokesman said.
"Nonproliferation remains a key pillar in the global war on terror in which Ukraine is a close partner," the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
The Kh-55, known in the West as the AS-15, has a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) and is designed to carry a 200-kiloton nuclear warhead. It is designed for use on Russian-made Tupolev long-range bombers.
Iran's air force does not operate such planes, but some military analysts have suggested that its Soviet-built Su-24 strike aircraft could be adapted to use the Kh-55.
China operates about 120 H-6 medium-range bombers.
In the early 1990s, Ukraine renounced the nuclear armaments it inherited in the breakup of the Soviet Union and said it shipped all of its nuclear warheads to Russia for decommissioning under U.S. control. The country remains a sizable producer of weapons, including missiles, aircraft and tanks. Exports are largely to other former Soviet republics, Asia and Africa.
Last year Ukrainian police arrested four men from Greece, Pakistan and Iraq on suspicion of attempted illegal weapons trade worth more than $800 million for an unspecified force fighting in Iraq.
Last March, former Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk warned that several hundred Soviet-built SA-2 surface-to-air missiles are unaccounted for. Defense officials later claimed that these missiles from arsenals in former Warsaw Pact member countries had been brought to Ukraine for decommissioning and were lost due to "accounting problems" and "the absence of records."
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KIEV, Ukraine -- A senior lawmaker alleges that Ukraine sold nuclear-capable cruise missiles to Iran and China in violation of international nonproliferation treaties and is demanding the new government launch a full investigation.
The allegations were made in a letter - made available to The Associated Press on Tuesday - by lawmaker Hrihory Omelchenko and addressed to President Viktor Yushchenko, a reformist who took office last week.
Yushchenko, who takes over from Leonid Kuchma, has promised a thorough investigation of corruption and misdeeds that allegedly flourished during his predecessor's 10 years as president. Kuchma allegedly sanctioned the sale of sophisticated radar systems to Iraq in 2002, contravening U.N. sanctions.
In the letter, Omelchenko said an investigation launched last summer "proved that some 20 air-launched Kh-55 and Kh-55M cruise missiles with nuclear capability were exported to third countries" in contravention of international treaties.
"Six missiles destined for Russia ended up in Iran ... six missiles destined for Russia ended up in China" the letter said. It said the exports occurred during 1999 to 2001.
Omelchenko is an ally of Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been nominated as Ukraine's next prime minister.
Vyacheslav Astapov, a spokesman for Ukraine's Prosecutor-General, said the office began an investigation into the alleged sales last summer and "this year we received new information."
Astapov also said a top-ranking Iranian diplomat in Ukraine met with Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun, but he did not elaborate.
Iranian diplomats in Kiev were not available for comment.
Omelchenko also claimed that businessmen from several enterprises - including state-run weapons exporter Ukrspetseksport and its daughter companies - companies in the United States, Cyprus and Iran and individuals from the Ukrainian security service shared hefty profits from several illicit defense deals that included sales of radar equipment to Eritrea.
Officials from the Ukrspetseksport and the Ukrainian Security Service were unavailable for comment.
American diplomats in Kiev were "aware of the reports" on illicit missile sales and took them "very seriously," a U.S. embassy spokesman said.
"Nonproliferation remains a key pillar in the global war on terror in which Ukraine is a close partner," the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
The Kh-55, known in the West as the AS-15, has a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) and is designed to carry a 200-kiloton nuclear warhead. It is designed for use on Russian-made Tupolev long-range bombers.
Iran's air force does not operate such planes, but some military analysts have suggested that its Soviet-built Su-24 strike aircraft could be adapted to use the Kh-55.
China operates about 120 H-6 medium-range bombers.
In the early 1990s, Ukraine renounced the nuclear armaments it inherited in the breakup of the Soviet Union and said it shipped all of its nuclear warheads to Russia for decommissioning under U.S. control. The country remains a sizable producer of weapons, including missiles, aircraft and tanks. Exports are largely to other former Soviet republics, Asia and Africa.
Last year Ukrainian police arrested four men from Greece, Pakistan and Iraq on suspicion of attempted illegal weapons trade worth more than $800 million for an unspecified force fighting in Iraq.
Last March, former Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk warned that several hundred Soviet-built SA-2 surface-to-air missiles are unaccounted for. Defense officials later claimed that these missiles from arsenals in former Warsaw Pact member countries had been brought to Ukraine for decommissioning and were lost due to "accounting problems" and "the absence of records."
Russia to launch Iran spy satellites: report
(AFP)
2 February 2005
MOSCOW - Russia plans to launch later this year Iran?s first two satellites which were built to gather intelligence from space, the business daily Kommersant reported Wednesday.
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has signed a directive permitting the Russian defense ministry to launch the two satellites, named Mesbah and Sinah-1, from the Plesetsk launch site in the far north of the country, the daily said.
A copy of the government directive obtained by AFP confirmed that Russia planned to launch the two Iranian satellites as well as six others from countries including China, Britain, Norway, Germany, Japan and the European Space Agency.
The three-point directive, dated January 24, also stipulated that ?foreign specialists? would be given access for the launches to the Plesetsk site, traditionally a closed military facility.
Russia has made no secret of its plans for commercial development of the Plesetsk space launch site as an alternative to its Baikonur site which is located in Kazakhstan but which Moscow has retained control over since the breakup of the Soviet Union under a long-term lease agreement.
Kommersant said the two Iranian satellites were due to be launched between April and June of this year and said they were designed for ?distant examination of the earth?s surface,? a term the daily said was the common idiom for intelligence gathering.
A government spokesman contacted by AFP was unable to confirm the purpose of the Iranian satellites and the Fradkov directive described them only as built for ?scientific purposes.?
The satellites were to be launched aboard Russian-built Kosmos-3M rockets and would be placed in a low geo-stationary orbit, Kommersant said.
The news comes amid rising tension between the United States and Iran over the Islamic state?s nuclear program and seemed likely to come under close scrutiny by Washington, which is nervous about Tehran?s development of advanced technologies with dual military and civilian uses.
Iranian media reported Sunday that Tehran and Moscow had signed a 132-million-dollar contract for construction of a new Iranian telecommunications satellite, the Zohreh (Venus).
That satellite would be used to bolster Tehran?s telecommunications infrastructure by handling data, audio and video signals, and is to be operational within two and a half years, the Iranian news agency IRNA said
(AFP)
2 February 2005
MOSCOW - Russia plans to launch later this year Iran?s first two satellites which were built to gather intelligence from space, the business daily Kommersant reported Wednesday.
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has signed a directive permitting the Russian defense ministry to launch the two satellites, named Mesbah and Sinah-1, from the Plesetsk launch site in the far north of the country, the daily said.
A copy of the government directive obtained by AFP confirmed that Russia planned to launch the two Iranian satellites as well as six others from countries including China, Britain, Norway, Germany, Japan and the European Space Agency.
The three-point directive, dated January 24, also stipulated that ?foreign specialists? would be given access for the launches to the Plesetsk site, traditionally a closed military facility.
Russia has made no secret of its plans for commercial development of the Plesetsk space launch site as an alternative to its Baikonur site which is located in Kazakhstan but which Moscow has retained control over since the breakup of the Soviet Union under a long-term lease agreement.
Kommersant said the two Iranian satellites were due to be launched between April and June of this year and said they were designed for ?distant examination of the earth?s surface,? a term the daily said was the common idiom for intelligence gathering.
A government spokesman contacted by AFP was unable to confirm the purpose of the Iranian satellites and the Fradkov directive described them only as built for ?scientific purposes.?
The satellites were to be launched aboard Russian-built Kosmos-3M rockets and would be placed in a low geo-stationary orbit, Kommersant said.
The news comes amid rising tension between the United States and Iran over the Islamic state?s nuclear program and seemed likely to come under close scrutiny by Washington, which is nervous about Tehran?s development of advanced technologies with dual military and civilian uses.
Iranian media reported Sunday that Tehran and Moscow had signed a 132-million-dollar contract for construction of a new Iranian telecommunications satellite, the Zohreh (Venus).
That satellite would be used to bolster Tehran?s telecommunications infrastructure by handling data, audio and video signals, and is to be operational within two and a half years, the Iranian news agency IRNA said
LONDON [MENL] -- Iran was said to have been developing a ballistic missile with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers.
The Iranian opposition has asserted that the Teheran regime was developing a surface-to-surface missile that could strike any European capital. The National Council of Resistance of Iran told a briefing in London that the new Iranian missile would be fitted with weapons of mass destruction payload.
The council identified the intermediate-range missiles as Ghadr 101 and Ghadr 110. The missiles were said to be comparable to the advanced Scud E and was being developed at the Hemmat Missile Industries Complex.
The Ghadr 101 was said to have a range of 2,500 kilometers, the council said. The Ghadr 110 has planned for a range of 3,000 kilometers.
The Iranian opposition has asserted that the Teheran regime was developing a surface-to-surface missile that could strike any European capital. The National Council of Resistance of Iran told a briefing in London that the new Iranian missile would be fitted with weapons of mass destruction payload.
The council identified the intermediate-range missiles as Ghadr 101 and Ghadr 110. The missiles were said to be comparable to the advanced Scud E and was being developed at the Hemmat Missile Industries Complex.
The Ghadr 101 was said to have a range of 2,500 kilometers, the council said. The Ghadr 110 has planned for a range of 3,000 kilometers.
Are you people that naive to believe Iran's intentions are to only have nuclear energy and not actually nuclear weapons? AQ Khan's proliferation network spread from Pakistan to all over the Islamic world and Iran was one of those nations. Iran has several imported missle designs and are in process of getting longer range missles and its safe to assume it wants to possess nuclear stockpiles.
Iran is extremely energy rich, both in terms of gas and oil so therefore spending billions of dollars to get nuclear energy seems very awkward.
Iran is extremely energy rich, both in terms of gas and oil so therefore spending billions of dollars to get nuclear energy seems very awkward.
dmcowen674
No Lifer
Reving up the WMD Engine Part II for Bush eh.
Why does Iran want a nuclear weapon? For offensive use? Seriously doubt it. More like a bargaining chip to exert their influence on the area. And, with Bush and his imperial forces forcing democracy upon those who want and those who don't want it, is it any wonder that Iran would like to exert some pressure back?
kage69
Lifer
As much as the thought of a nuclear-capable theocracy disturbs me, I can't ignore Pres Cheney/Bush making this situation worse. Fighting proliferation isn't acheived by supplying the competition with ample justification to secure said armaments. The situation definetly isn't helped by the US now (again) trying to resume it's nuclear 'bunker busting' ambitions.
How all you YABAs can watch this unfold and approve of it just blows my mind... I much as I hate the leadership in Tehran, I can't blame them for this.
How all you YABAs can watch this unfold and approve of it just blows my mind... I much as I hate the leadership in Tehran, I can't blame them for this.
miketheidiot
Lifer
oil is going to run out eventually. Why waste oil they could be selling for a handsome profit on powering their country? I for one encourage all countries to do whatever they can to reduce dependance on oil. :thumbsup:
miketheidiot
Lifer
I don't see why it should scare you more than any nuclear powered dictatorship (pakistan) or disorganized mess of a country (russia)
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