Iran has started production of two missile boats, at one of which will be deployed in the Caspian Sea, Iran's defense minister has announced.
IRAN kicked off mass production of two classes of high-speed missile-launching assault boats today, warning its enemies not to "play with fire" as it boosts security along its coastline...
State news agency IRNA reported that Seraj (Lamp) and Zolfaqar (named after Shi'ite Imam Ali's sword) speedboats would be manufactured at the marine industries complex of the ministry of defence.
Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi opened the assembly lines, saying the vessels would help strengthen Iran's defence forces, IRNA said.
"Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is relying on a great defence industry and the powerful forces of Sepah (Revolutionary Guards) and the army, with their utmost strength, can provide security to the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and Strait of Hormuz," Mr Vahidi said.
The Seraj would be deployed in the Caspian, but there aren't too many details available about what the boat actually is, and Iran is wont to exaggerate its military capabilities.
"Seraj is a fast moving assault rocket launcher using sophisticated and modern technology," Mr Vahidi was cited as saying by IRNA.
Vahidi says, as one does in these situations, that deploying this ship in the Caspian is purely defensive, but warns that "extraregional powers" (which could he be talking about?) are militarizing it:
All of a sudden, sophisticated Russian air defense systems are popping up all over the Caucasus. First it was (maybe) Azerbaijan, now it's Abkhazia. Via Civil.ge:
Russia has deployed long range S-300 air defense missile system in Abkhazia to protect its airspace and Russian military bases deployed there, Colonel General Alexander Zelin, commander of the Russian air forces, said on August 11.
"We have deployed S-300 system on the territory of Abkhazia, which in coordination with the air defense systems of the land forces is tasked with air defense of the territory," Zelin was quoted by the Itar-Tass, Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies.
He said that S-300 missile system "will cover only facilities located on the territory of Abkhazia". Air defense of South Ossetia is provided with other systems, Zelin said.
The task of these air defense systems, he said, "is also to prevent violation of Abkhaz and South Ossetian airspace and to destroy any aircraft intruding into thier airspace no matter what their purpose might be."
Georgia responded quickly and, unsurprisingly, tried to involve NATO:
It is NATO, which should be first and for most concerned about Russia's decision to deploy long-range S-300 air-defense system in breakaway Abkhazia, Temur Iakobashvili, the Georgian state minister for reintegration, said on August 11.
"Obviously, such action is one more violation of Sarkozy-Mediated [six-point ceasefire] agreement. If we take into consideration the specifics of this weapon, of course, it is inappropriate against Georgia in view of even theoretical threats because S-300 is a long range missile. It makes us suppose that this step has been taken to change the balance of forces in the region," he said.
Central Asia already has the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization -- does it need another collective security organization? Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad thinks so:
Iran's president told the leaders of Afghanistan and Tajikistan on Thursday that the three neighbours could provide a counterweight to NATO in Asia once foreign troops quit the region....
Ahmadinejad said the three countries had all thrown off foreign domination in recent decades and should strengthen economic and security ties and be independent of big powers.
"Many don't find this desirable -- three independent countries forming a powerful friendship in the region, and changing the current situation. None of them is happy about this," he said in part of the meeting which was televised...
"Those who came in from Europe representing NATO, they want to put pressure on China, Russia and India, and if they are confronted by three independent, empowered countries here, then that is an obstacle," he said.
Of course, this is something that the SCO has tried to do for the last ten years. However, they recently decided not to allow Iran to join. That wouldn't have anything to do with the idea behind a new organization, would it?
An international peacekeeping force in Nagorno Karabakh seems like it would be a long way away, but Iran has already weighed in on who they don't want participating: the U.S. Reports RFE/RL:
An Iranian diplomat says Tehran is strongly opposed to U.S. involvement in a multinational peacekeeping force that would be deployed around the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in the event of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace accord, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.
Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Seyed Ali Saghaeyan issued the warning at a news conference in Yerevan on June 23....
According to Saghaeyan, the United States is keen to have troops in Azerbaijan's Fizuli district, which borders Iran and was mostly occupied by Karabakh Armenian forces in 1993. He claimed such a move would pose a serious threat to Iran given its tense relations with Washington.
"Iran is the only country adjacent to the conflicting parties, and in terms if ensuring its own security, it will not allow the deployment of American forces," Saghayean said.
This opposition seems a little premature. It's not clear what organization would oversee this potential peacekeeping force -- the UN? OSCE? -- but the U.S. participation in non-NATO peacekeeping forces is pretty minimal, and it's hard to imagine NATO providing the peacekeepers here.
Russian approval of sanctions against Iran may have chilled relations between the two countries, but there is still enough room left for diplomacy to swing a cat. Iran plans to send a pair of Caucasus leopards to Russia to help efforts to repopulate the big cats in the Caucasus area.
Hunting and poaching have brought the Caucasus leopard to the brink of extinction; environmentalists rejoice at every occasional sighting of the animal in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Some claim that the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh has also got in the way of the leopards’ migration routes.
The Iranian gift will be placed in the Russian city of Sochi's zoo. Russia plans to start dispersing the cats on the northern flanks of the Caucasus ridge, hoping that the leopards will spread throughout the Caucasus area. Russia, in turn, is helping Iran restore the population of tigers in its northern province of Mazandaran.
Are Iran and Turkey planning to gang up against Armenia in Nagorno Karabakh? That's what an Armenian analyst says, according to ArmInfo:
The Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem and Iran have arrived at a certain arrangement regarding deployment of international forces in Nagorny Karabakh, the political expert Hmayak Hovhanissyan told media on Tuesday.
"Iran's stance has sharply changed and now Tehran comes out for change of the status-quo in Nagorny Karabakh and even offers its assistance in the process. Azerbaijan has already accepted that offer whereas Armenia has not responded to that yet. As regards my concern about possible resumption of military actions in Nagorny Karabakh, it is not exaggerated, otherwise President of Armenia Serzh Sargayan would not touched upon this topic during his visit to Brussels," he said.
This seems alarmist, but it is worth noting that Iran and Turkey have been cooperating more lately (most notably on the Iranian nuclear deal), and Iran seems to be moving a little bit away from Armenia, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference just came out with a statement declaring Armenia the aggressor in Karabakh. On the other hand, things are a little rocky between Turkey and Azerbaijan because of the Turkey-Armenia rapprochement. All this is to say that this is a pretty fluid situation, and so it seems possible that, for better or worse, there could be some movement soon on Karabakh.
And if Iran and Turkey fail to resolve the situation, it may fall to Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore to set things right. Today.az reports:
Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher, reportedly, wishes to visit Baku, and support Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute...
Iran will not be joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization when the group holds its summit next week in Tashkent. That's according to Itar-Tass, according to an unnamed Russian source:
Iran applied in 2008 to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a security and defense bloc led by Beijing and Moscow and seen as a counterweight to NATO.
The SCO has not officially given a verdict on the Iranian application but Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency quoted the source, speaking during a meeting of SCO foreign ministers in Uzbekistan, as saying that sanctions were an obstacle.
""A country which wants to become a member of the SCO cannot be subject to UN Security Council sanctions,"" the Russian source said.
The group formally agreed to a means of admitting new members during the foreign minister's meeting last month. Pakistan wants in, and Uzbekistan has lobbied for them, and although that story above says India has shown little interest in joining despite Russia's prodding, that may be changing. According to The Hindu:
After being unenthusiastic to the idea of joining the six-country Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in its first term of governance, the United Progressive Alliance government now in its second term is now keen on joining the grouping. “We are interested in SCO membership. It is a very important organisation concerning the region,” sources in the government said.
The government had asked the missions in four central Asian countries, Russia and China to explore the nature of rule changes for joining the SCO that are under way. India would take a view on joining the SCO after the criteria are adopted, the sources said....
Of all of the accusations that have recently been flying in Baku about the U.S.'s alleged pro-Armenian bias, this is perhaps the silliest:
According to MP Eldar Ibrahimov, the United States is planning to use Armenia for offensive against Iran.
“The United States intends to dislocate its military bases in Armenia”, Public TV channel reports that the due statement was made by chairman of the committee on agrarian policy of Milli Medjlis Eldar Ibrahimov at a meeting with representatives of the Iranian parliament on April 27.
Ibrahimov went on to say that the U.S. approached Azerbaijan for help in launching an attack on Iran, but was rebuffed, and thus turned to Armenia.
It's worth noting that, while his allegations have been widely reported in Azerbaijan, the English-language Iranian media -- which are usually not shy at all about speculating about American aggression against Iran -- seem not to have mentioned this in their reports about the meetings.
Iran has announced that it is launching its first destroyer in the Caspian Sea. Although the reports have thus far not been very detailed, this would presumably be the newly developed Jamaran class of ship, which Iran first launched in the Persian Gulf earlier this year. That Iran would be deploying its new, advanced destroyer in the Caspian would seem to contradict Tehran's earlier pledges to not militarize the Caspian. For example, the commander of Iran's navy said this in 2007:
The commander further voiced opposition to the expansion of military capabilities in the Caspian Sea, saying, "We view the Caspian as a sea of peace and friendship and we believe upgrading and expanding military equipment in this sea is incorrect. Yet, we are always prepared to defend the country's interests."
What might Iran see as a threat in the Caspian? The U.S. is helping (to varying degrees) Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan build up their respective Caspian navies. And Russia's is still the most formidable navy in the sea. People who like to speculate on possible Caspian military conflicts usually point to Iran, specifically an incident in 2001 when an Iranian warship threatened an Azerbaijani oil research vessel.
This is especially interesting in light of a report by Jamestown from last week that suggests that Russia is moving in the other direction -- from opposing full demilitarization of the Caspian to supporting it:
