Turkey’s foreign minister has conveyed Ankara’s concerns about an Iranian commander’s recent remarks that Tehran will hit NATO’s missile shield in Turkey if threatened, a ministry official said Dec. 1.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu “verbally conveyed our concerns to his Iranian counterpart,” the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Davutoglu met Nov. 30 with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on the sidelines of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Jeddah.

The commander of the aerospace division of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards recently said Tehran will target NATO’s missile shield in neighboring Turkey if it is threatened by military action.

“We are prepared to first target the NATO defense missile shield in Turkey if we are threatened. And then we’ll move on to other targets,” Amir-Ali Hajizadeh was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

Although Iranian officials have said several times they could retaliate with ballistic missiles against Israel if attacked, Hajizadeh’s remark was the first time the Revolutionary Guards spoke of targeting Turkey.

Turkey has agreed to host an early warning radar system in its southeast as part of NATO’s shield which the United States says is aimed at thwarting missile threats from the Middle East, particularly Iran.

Turkish officials insist that the shield targets no specific country.  [Defense News]

The war of words between Iran and Turkey over the latter’s decision to host NATO’s early-warning radar system may hint at a new crisis looming on the horizon between the two neighbors, with the Kurdish terrorist organization, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in play as a possible trump card by Iran against Turkey.

Iran may resort to a terror threat using the outlawed PKK against its neighbor Turkey because of the latter’s decision to host NATO’s early-warning radar system, experts warned, adding that the move may boomerang on Iran. Hasan Köni, professor of international law at ?stanbul-based Kültür University, said Iran might use the PKK as leverage in the short run against Turkey. “I do not believe that they will go to a great length in doing so because of the boomerang effect of the terror that might hit back at Iran in the future,” he told Today’s Zaman.

There has been a wave of threatening statements from top Iranian civilian and military leaders in recent weeks, all blaming Turkey for agreeing to host NATO’s early-warning radar system on its soil, warning of unspecified consequences.

On September, Turkey agreed to go ahead with a NATO plan to set up an early-warning radar system in Malatya’s Kürecik town, which is in the east of the country.  [Today's Zaman]

You can read a lot more at the link.

A contract on the delivery of advanced S-300 air defense systems to Iran has been stagnated by technical reasons, the Iranian ambassador to Russia said on Thursday, according to RIA Novosti.

Russia signed a contract with Iran on the supply of at least five S-300 air defense systems to Tehran in December 2005. However, there have been no official reports on the start of the contract’s implementation.

“Iran is ready to receive these systems and our Russian colleagues have assured us that they will meet their obligations,” Seyyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi said at a news conference at RIA Novosti in Moscow.

“Several technical issues [in the contract's implementation] have emerged, and we hope they will be resolved soon,” the diplomat said without specifying the problems.

Many experts believe Moscow has refused so far to honor the S-300 contract due to pressure from Washington and Tel Aviv.  [Defence Pros]

The Russians this past year have also denied claims of selling the S-300 to Syria as well.

The Russian S-300 missile also known by the NATO designation of a SA-10 has a range of 150 kilometers and can destroy an aircraft at a maximum altitude of 30 kilometers.  It also has the ability to shoot down not only aircraft but ballistic missiles as well.  Its radar has the ability to simultaneously track 100 targets while being engage 12 of them at the same time.  The radars maximum range is that it can detect ballistic missiles out to 1000 kilometers and cruise missiles and aircraft up to 300 kilometers.

The United States has begun beefing up its approach to defending its Persian Gulf allies against potential Iranian missile strikes, officials say. The defenses are being stepped up in advance of possible increased sanctions against Iran.

The Obama administration has quietly increased the capability of land-based Patriot defensive missiles in several Gulf Arab nations, and one military official said the Navy is increasing the presence of ships capable of knocking out hostile missiles in flight.

The officials discussed aspects of the defensive strategy Saturday on condition of anonymity because some elements are classified.

The moves, part of a broader adjustment in the U.S. approach to missile defense, including in Europe and Asia have been in the works for months. Details have not been publicly announced, in part because of diplomatic sensitivities in Gulf countries which worry about Iranian military capabilities but are cautious about acknowledging U.S. protection.

The White House will send a review of ballistic missile strategy to Congress on Monday that frames the larger shifts. Attention to defense of the Persian Gulf region, a focus on diffuse networks of sensors and weapons and cooperation with Russia are major elements of the study, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Russia opposed Bush administration plans for a land-based missile defense site in Eastern Europe, and President Barack Obama‘s decision to walk away from that plan last year was partly in pursuit of new capabilities that might hold greater promise and partly in deference to Russia.

One military official said the adjustments in the Gulf should be seen as prudent defensive measures designed to deter Iran from taking aggressive action in the region, more than as a signal that Washington expects Iran to retaliate for any additional sanctions.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton consulted with numerous allies during a visit to London this week. She told reporters that the evident failure of U.S. offers to engage Iran in negotiations over its nuclear program means the U.S. will now press for additional sanctions against the Iranian government.

Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. Central Command chief who is responsible for U.S. military operations across the Middle East, mentioned in several recent public speeches one element of the defensive strategy in the Gulf: upgrading Patriot missile systems, which originally were deployed in the region to shoot down aircraft but now can hit missiles in flight.

In remarks at Georgetown Law School on Jan. 21, Petraeus said the U.S. now has eight Patriot missile batteries stationed in the Gulf region — two each in four countries. He did not name the countries, but Kuwait has long been known to have Patriots on its territory.

A military official said Saturday that the three other countries are the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain — which also hosts the U.S. Navy‘s 5th Fleet headquarters — and Qatar, home to a modernized U.S. air operations center that has played a key role in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  [Associated Press]

Even though the Iranians probably know exactly where our PATRIOT batteries are in these four countries, it still concerns me that we have people in the US military leaking classified information to the media.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell today expressed concern over Iran’s reported test-fire yesterday of a medium-range missile, saying it undermines Tehran’s claim of peaceful intentions regarding its nuclear program.

Morrell said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has seen the intelligence on the launch, which reportedly involved a Sajjil-2 rocket that has the range to hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf.

“This is just the latest in a series of provocative actions by Iran, all seemingly oblivious to the scrutiny of the international community, or perhaps more likely, in spite of it,” Morrell told Pentagon reporters today.

The test-fire comes after President Barack Obama last month underscored that the government in Tehran must provide assurances to the international community that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and transparent.  [Def Pros]

For those wondering the Sajjil-2 is a solid fuel missile with a range of approximately 1,200 miles (1,930 km).  Solid fuel missiles are important to note because they can be more easily moved around and launched because you don’t have to worry about fueling the missile before launch.  This was the third test of the Sajjil-2 since this past May.  So it is pretty clear that the Iranians are committed to getting this missile developed as quickly as possible no matter what international criticism they may receive.

This image gives a pretty good indication of how far this missile can reach:

As you can see this missile can easily range Israel.

Iran said it successfully test-fired the longest-range missiles in its arsenal on Monday, weapons capable of carrying a warhead and striking Israel, U.S. military bases in the Middle East, and parts of Europe.

State television said the powerful Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran’s missile program, successfully tested the medium-range Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles with can fly up to 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers). It was the third round of missile tests in two days of drills by the Guard.

The Sajjil-2 missile is Iran’s most advanced two-stage surface-to-surface missile and is powered entirely by solid-fuel while the older Shahab-3 uses a combination of solid and liquid fuel in its most advanced form.

Solid fuel is seen as a technological breakthrough for any missile program as solid fuel increases the accuracy of missiles in reaching targets.

The war games come at a time when Iran is under intense international pressure to fully disclose its nuclear activities. They began Sunday, two days after the U.S. and its allies disclosed that Iran had been secretly developing an underground uranium enrichment facility and warned the country it must open the site to international inspection or face harsher international sanctions.

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, said Sunday the drills were meant to show Tehran is prepared to crush any military threat from another country.  [Associated Press]

Here are the missiles Iran tested earlier this week:

Iran also is developing ballistic missiles that could carry a nuclear warhead, but the administration said last week that it believes that effort has been slowed. That assessment paved the way for Obama’s decision to shelve the Bush administration’s plan for a missile shield in Europe, which was aimed at defending against Iranian ballistic missiles.

State media reported tests overnight of the Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 missiles, with ranges of 185 miles (300 kilometers) and 435 miles (700 kilometers) respectively.

That followed tests early Sunday of the short range Fateh and Tondar missiles, which have a range of 120 miles (193 kilometers) and 93 miles (150 kilometers) respectively.

Iran’s last known missile tests were in May when it fired its longest-range solid-fuel missile, Sajjil-2. Tehran said the two-stage surface-to-surface missile has a range of about 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) — capable of striking Israel, U.S. Mideast bases and southeastern Europe.

Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday blasted U.S. plans to overhaul the setup for a missile defense shield in Europe, calling the Obama administration’s intentions “anti-Iranian,” state-run media reported.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also called Western concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions — which Tehran says are only for energy purposes — “purely a fabrication by the United States,” according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

“This is something that is in the doctrine of anti-Iranianism, since the policy and the 30-year-old history of the Islamic Republic has proven that Iran wants to live in peace and under the spirit of equality and fraternity, with its Muslim neighbors and the rest of the world,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.  [CNN]

The UAE (United Arab Emirates) has become the third largest importer of weapons in the world, and the largest in the Middle East. The other two bigger spenders worldwide are India and China. In the Middle East, the UAE imports 50 percent more weapons than Israel. The UAE is a confederation of small Arab states at the southern end of the Persian Gulf. With a population of only 5.5 million, and large oil and gas deposits, the emirates have a per-capita income of $43,000. Thus the UAE has a lot to defend, and an increasingly belligerent neighbor just across the Gulf. The UAE controls one side the entrance to the Gulf (the Straits of Hormuz). Iran is on the other end, and both nations dispute ownership of some islands in the middle.

The UAE wants to defend itself from potential Iranian aggression. To that end, they are spending $7 billion on American THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) anti-missile systems to protect itself against the growing arsenal of Iranian ballistic missiles. The UAE is also buying lots of aircraft, including 75 U.S. F-16s and 50 French Mirage 2000-9 fighters. There are also ten U.S. C-103J and four C-17 transports on order. Then there are munitions, 1,300 American laser and GPS guided bombs. Several warships are also on the way.  [Strategy Page]

I’m reading the tea leaves here, but it makes you wonder with both the UAE and Israel trying to build up their missile defenses if they are expecting some kind of military action against Iran’s nuclear program in the near future?

Iran test-fired a new generation surface-to-surface missile on Wednesday, state media said, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated once again that the Islamic Republic would crush any power acting against it.

Iran’s latest missile test followed persistent speculation in recent months of possible U.S. or Israeli strikes against its nuclear facilities, which the West suspects form part of a covert weapons program. Tehran denies the charge.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, like outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush, has not ruled out military action although he has criticized the Bush administration for not pushing for more diplomacy and engagement with Tehran.

Iran’s Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said the Iranian-made missile named Sejil had “extremely high capabilities”, had a range of close to 2,000 km (1,200 miles), and was only intended for defensive purposes.

“This missile test is in the framework of Iran’s deterrent doctrine,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying, adding it had no connection with recent international events.

Iran’s English-language Press TV said the Sejil missile had two stages, was of a type that used combined solid fuel and showed the Islamic state’s capability to “defend its soil”.

A missile was shown soaring from a platform in desert-like terrain, leaving a long vapour trail.

It came a day after media said the Revolutionary Guards had test-fired another missile called Samen near the Iraqi border.

“They do it (such tests) all the time. It’s Iranian machismo,” said Tim Ripley, an analyst at Jane’s Defense Weekly.  [Reuters]