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Western Officials Concerned About Missile That Iran Used In Recent Attacks: Report

Western intelligence and defense officials are reportedly concerned about the missile that the Islamic Republic of Iran used this week to conduct strikes in neighboring countries in the Middle East and Asia.

Iran launched attacks early this week inside Syria and Iraq, claiming that it targeted militant groups and Israel’s Mossad.

Iran then upped the stakes with their belligerent behavior when they launched attacks against militant groups inside Pakistan. Pakistan, which faces a giant adversary in India on the other side of the country, was forced to respond with its own attacks against groups inside Iran.

The attacks grabbed officials’ attention due to the range and the accuracy that Iran’s missiles had, which far surpassed the capabilities of their old Soviet-era missiles.

The New York Times reported that the West had long believed the only threat that Iran posed was its cyberattacks, which even then were limited compared to Western cyber abilities. (Read more from “Western Officials Concerned About Missile That Iran Used In Recent Attacks: Report” HERE)

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Israel Almost Shot down Russian Jet in Syria

By The Jerusalem Post. The Israel Air Force came close to shooting down a Russian Air Force jet that was headed toward Israeli airspace in 2015, former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon said in an interview on Saturday.

“At the very beginning of the Russian presence [in Syria], there was a case where one Russian pilot almost crossed our border over the Golan Heights. If it was a Syrian plane we would have shot it down,” Ya’alon told RIA Novosti news agency.

According to Ya’alon, Israel identified the plane as it was approaching, and while it had identified it as Russian, the IAF was prepared to take it down if it did not change course. Ya’alon said contact was made with the Russian-operated Khmeimim Air Base in Syria alerting it to the danger the plane was in and following the warnings, the jet changed direction.

“The issue was resolved immediately,” he said.

The incident occurred shortly after Moscow intervened in the Syrian conflict in September 2015. Shortly thereafter, Israel and Russia implemented a deconfliction mechanism in order to avoid accidental clashes in Syrian airspace where both air forces are active. (Read more from “Israel Almost Shot down Russian Jet in Syria” HERE)

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Report: Iran Planning to Launch a Barrage of Missiles Against Israel

By The Jerusalem Post. Iran is preparing a barrage of missiles to launch against Israeli military positions from Syrian territory, Hebrew media reported Sunday, citing defense officials.

Iran plans to avenge alleged Israeli strikes on its bases in Syria, Ma’ariv defense analyst Alon Ben David said, by targeting military targets in northern Israel.

As of now, Israel is not “on the eve of war against Iran,” he said, “but the Iranians do want revenge for their losses.”

Iran plans to use Shiite militias already deployed in Syria along with experts from Hezbollah, according to Channel 2 News military analyst Roni Daniel. The proxies would be overseen by general Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps abroad.

Tensions have risen dramatically between the two arch-enemies following the infiltration of a Iranian drone into northern Israel, which the IDF says was armed and on a sabotage attack mission against the Jewish State. (Read more from “Report: Iran Planning to Launch a Barrage of Missiles Against Israel” HERE)

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Iran: 5,000km-Range Missile Can Hit US Indian Ocean Base

Photo Credit: algemeinerTehran has ballistic missiles able to pound targets over twice as distant as previously thought, and can reach the American mid-ocean strategic base at Diego Garcia, a senior Iranian official has explicitly warned.

“In the event of a mistake on the part of the United States, their bases in Bahrain and (Diego) Garcia will not be safe from Iranian missiles,” said an Iranian Revolutionary Guard adviser to Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Majatba Dhualnuri.

Dhualnuri made the statements in the context of talks with the United States and western powers to curb its believed goal of creating nuclear weapons, Israel’s Channel Two reported Monday.

Iranian political and military leaders have, until now, only publicly admitted to possessing ballistic weapons with about a 2,000 km range. Diego Garcia, situated on a lone lagoon in the Indian Ocean, houses major Air Force, naval and submarine, space and communications, and logistics facilities.

The revelation suggests the validity of statements by Israeli leaders in recent years cautioning that the goal of Iran’s missile program and “ballistic umbrella” was to threaten a far wider circle of countries than Israel alone.

Read more from this story HERE.

North Korea Sending Message to U.S. with Missile Barrage

Photo Credit:  Jung Yeon-Je, AFP/Getty

Photo Credit: Jung Yeon-Je, AFP/Getty

By Donna Leinwand Leger.

A barrage of artillery fire between North and South Korea across disputed maritime borders on Monday marked an annual show of force by North Korea intent on sending a message to the U.S. as it conducts military exercises nearby.

North Korea’s missile launches into the Yellow (West) Sea followed by a threat of live-fire drills along the border “was really aimed at our policymakers, Republic of Korea policymakers and Japan,” said Bruce Bechtol, a Korea specialist and professor of political science at Angelo State University in Texas.

“North Korea is saying, ‘You can do all the exercises you want and we have the ability to hit you at a moment’s notice,'” Bechtol said.

The U.S. and South Korea routinely conduct joint military exercises in the border areas, usually each year in February and March. The most recent exercise began March 27.

The North Koreans said they believe the exercises are meant to intimidate them and often react with some show of force, Bechtol said.

Read more from this story HERE.

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N. Korea fires on South during North’s military drills; South responds

By Euan McKirdy and Stella Kim.

North and South Korean artillery batteries exchanged hundreds of shells across their western sea border Monday, a day after North Korea warned it was preparing to test another nuclear device.

About 100 of the 500 shells North Korea fired into the Yellow Sea strayed across the line separating the two rivals’ territorial waters, the semiofficial South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. Yonhap quoted the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying the South responded by firing about 300 shells into North Korean waters and dispatching fighter jets to the boundary, known as the Northern Limit Line.

North Korean offshore firing appeared to have resumed after a lull, Yonhap reported, citing a resident of Baekryong Island, which is close to the Northern Limit Line.

“Some (North Korean) artillery fire landed in (the) southern part of Northern Limit Line but in the water,” a South Korean Ministry of Defense spokesman said. “We counter-fired over the Northern Limit Line.”

When asked what South Korea fired back at, the defense spokesman said, “We are not shooting at North Korea, just shooting into the sea.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Cruz Calls For Missiles In Eastern Europe

Photo Credit: APSen. Ted Cruz is calling for the Obama administration to place missile installations in Eastern Europe in the wake of Russia’s moves in Ukraine.

The Washington Post reports the Texas Republican made the comments during an interview Monday.

“Beyond sanctions and aid to Ukraine, the most important thing we could be doing right now, with respect to Russia, is installing anti-ballistic missiles in Eastern Europe,” Cruz said.

“Appeasement has not worked. After more than five years of being unwilling to stand up to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and Russian aggression, it is time for the United States to honor our commitments to our friends.”

The proposal is not a new one. President Bush recommended the U.S. have missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic during his time in office, but in 2009 President Obama scratched the plan and instead focused on defending against threats from Iran.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sinai Missiles Fall on Israeli City as Desert Jihadists Wage War on Two Fronts

Photo Credit: APA missile attack on Israel’s popular Red Sea resort of Eilat Tuesday morning prompted deployment of the military’s vaunted Iron Dome defense – and has raised new fears Egypt’s army can’t contain the violence in the increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula.

Although no one was killed and one of the three missiles was intercepted, the attack is viewed as a significant escalation in the activity of Islamist terror groups in Sinai, many of whom are affiliated with Al Qaeda. Under the recently deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, security in Sinai deteriorated, allowing groups such as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis – which claimed responsibility for the Eilat attack – to flourish. They have been targeting the provisional Egyptian government, but now could be taking on Israel, too.

“This was a response to the latest crimes by the Jews, who used a drone to attack and kill four of our fighters in Sinai,” read a statement in Arabic from Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. “The attack sowed fear among the criminal Jews, who were forced into underground bomb shelters.”

The jihadist group’s claim that an Israeli drone strike was responsible for the death of four of their fighters drew no comment from Israel. Ahmed Mohammad Ali, a spokesman for Egypt’s military, which has been trying to root out terror groups in the vast peninsula, denied that Israeli drones had been used for attacks in the area, which lies at Israel’s southern border and across the Suez Canal from the rest of Egypt. But he noted Egypt’s army has been active in the area.

“Since Saturday night, 25 terrorists have been killed or injured by the Egyptian Army, and ammunition supply depots had been destroyed,” Ali said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Was Israel’s Latest ‘Air’ Attack on Syria from a Submarine?

Photo Credit: Weekly StandardAn attack two weeks ago that destroyed an advanced Russian missile shipment delivered to Syria’s Assad regime should also serve as a warning to Iran – and to those complacent Western diplomats who have (dangerously in my view) reconciled themselves to the idea of allowing Iran to go nuclear and then trying to contain it. For it seems that the July 5 attack on an arms depot near the Syrian naval base of Latakia, which has been attributed to Israel, came not from the air (as CNN and the New York Times reported last weekend) but from under the water.

Many Western officials who have apparently concluded that Israel could only destroy Iran’s nuclear program from the air – and that Israel does not have the capability to carry out such long-range air strikes in a decisive way – should take note. In recent years, Israel has greatly advanced its sea-based capabilities, and the geographical range of operations that Israel can mount from the sea, I am reliably told, now spans the entire globe. Israeli submarines are no longer confining themselves to the Mediterranean.

Last Saturday, the United States appeared to confirm that Israel was behind the July 5 attack on 50 Russian Yakhont anti-ship missiles in Latakia. Both the New York Times and CNN quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying the strike was carried out by Israel from the air. The state-of-the-art Yakhont missiles have a range of 300 kilometers and are considered to be among the best of their kind in the world – for example, they can evade radar by flying just above water surface. They were of significant concern to both the U.S. and Israel because their range and sophistication meant they could neutralize the ability of both nations’ navies to patrol the region, and they could also complicate the ability of the U.S. or other states to enforce a future no-fly zone over Syria should they wish to implement one. Israel was also concerned that Syria would allow the missiles to fall into the hands of its arch enemy, the Iranian-controlled Hezbollah militia.

Read more from this story HERE.

Ground Based Interceptor Test Failed, Raises Questions About Effectiveness of Fort Greely, Vandenberg ABM Force

Photo Credit: APAn interceptor missile designed to blast nuclear missiles out of the sky failed to hit its target during a test of the weapon at a Southern California coastal base, officials said.

A ground-based interceptor missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base Friday and was supposed to hit its target — a missile launched 4,000 miles away from the Kwajalein Atoll, according to the Missile Defense Agency.

But the interceptor did not hit its target. Officials will try to determine the cause of any anomalies that may have prevented a successful intercept…

The interceptor is one of about 30 deployed in Alaska and at Vandenberg under a missile defense program begun in 2004. In March, the Pentagon announced it will spend $1 billion to place another 14 interceptors in Alaska. The military said it’s responding to North Korean progress on nuclear weapons.

Read more from this story HERE.

CIA to Arm, Train Syrian Rebels; Hagel Says US Jets, Missiles Brought to Jordan Will Stay (+video)

photo credit: secretary of defense

As the United States prepares to supply Syrian rebels with small arms through a CIA-run program, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Saturday that U.S. troops temporarily in neighboring Jordan will leave behind fighter jets and a cache of Patriot missiles.

So far the White House has committed only to supplying rebel forces with small arms and ammunition, following confirmation that the regime of Syria President Bashar al-Assad’s has been using chemical weapons in the 2-year-long civil war in which at least 90,000 people have been killed.

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and other Capitol Hill military hawks have called for much heavier arms including the Patriot defense missiles and for the United States to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Gov’t Publicizes Super-Secret Israeli Missile Base, Shocking Ally (+video)

Photo Credit: DVIDSHUB

Israel’s military fumed Monday over the discovery that the U.S. government had revealed details of a top-secret Israeli military installation in published bid requests.

The Obama administration had promised to build Israel a state-of-the-art facility to house a new ballistic-missile defense system, the Arrow 3. As with all Defense Department projects, detailed specifications were made public so that contractors could bid on the $25 million project. The specifications included more than 1,000 pages of details on the facility, ranging from the heating and cooling systems to the thickness of the walls.

“If an enemy of Israel wanted to launch an attack against a facility, this would give him an easy how-to guide. This type of information is closely guarded and its release can jeopardize the entire facility,” said an Israeli military official who commented on the publication of the proposal but declined to be named because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the facility. He declined to say whether plans for the facility have been altered as a result of the disclosure.

“This is more than worrying, it is shocking,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.