Archive for the ‘News’ Category
-
Air crash near Bushehr, drones slam into reactor dome
- August 17, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
Two mysterious incidents are reported by debkafile in the run-up to the fueling-up of Iran's first nuclear reactor Saturday, Aug. 21. Tuesday, an Iranian F4 Phantom fighter jet was claimed by Tehran to have crashed 6 kilometers north of the Bushehr nuclear reactor in southern Iran. debkafile's military sources report it was shot down by Russian-made TOR-M1 air-missile defense batteries guarding the reactor. Aug.1, three unidentified drones slammed into its dome killing five people.
-
Putin pushes ahead with fueling up Iran's reactor Saturday
- August 16, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin decided it was safe to go ahead and load Iran's first nuclear reactor with fuel on Aug. 21 – effectively making it active – after the US and Israel did not seem troubled by the prospect of the reactor going on stream, debkafile reports. Either the two governments had been caught flatfooted, he figured, or come to terms with Iran's capacity to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Iran is to build 10 more uranium enrichment plants in fortified mountain caves. -
Bomb kills head of Iran's military drone program
- August 16, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
On Aug. 1, Reza Baruni, the father of Iran's military UAV program, died in a mighty explosion that destroyed his closely secured villa, debkafile reports exclusively. He lived in the high-scale neighborhood secluded for high Iranian officials in the southern town of Ahwaz in oil-rich Khuzestan.
Very few people in the country outside the top leaders and air force knew about his job and so his death was not generally appreciated as fatally stalling Iran's military drone program for many years.
-
Flap in Jerusalem over Aug. 21 activation of Iran's first reactor
- August 14, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
Sudden word from Moscow and Tehran on Aug. 11 that Russia will activate Iran's first nuclear power reactor on Aug. 21 by loading the fuel has caused a major flap in Israel in view of its military aspects.DEBKA reports: Only last week, Russian leaders assured Washington that it would not go on line this year.
Former Bush adviser John Bolton commented that once the rods are in, Israel can no longer attack this reactor because of spreading radiation.
-
Azerbaijan releases to Iran Israeli embassy-radar station bomb plotters
- August 14, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
Israel was taken by surprise by the Azerbaijan government's release of two Lebanese Hizballah terrorists and an Iranian citizen from prison sentences for plotting attacks in Feb. 2009 on the Israeli embassy in Baku and on a key early warning radar station guarding against Iranian missile fire.
debkafile reports that Israel, which has extensive and strategically important ties with Azerbaijan, is dealing discreetly with a setback as potentially damaging as the breach with Turkey. -
Russian S-300s in Abkhazia block possible Israeli air route to Iran
- August 12, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
US and Israeli military sources told debkafile Thursday, Aug. 12, that a threat from Georgia was not the reason why Russian posted advanced S-300 interceptor batteries Russia in Abkhazia and air defense weapons in South Ossetia -as Moscow officially maintained, but rather possible moves by the US and/or Israel against Iran and its nuclear facilities. By deploying these interceptors in the Black Sea republics, Moscow has put paid to possible Israeli plans to use this northern route for attacking Iran.
-
His Kinsman and Chief of Staff Will Keep the Presidential Seat Warm
- August 12, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
A major power struggle is splitting the Revolutionary regime in Tehran with the Revolutionary Guards and Ahmadinejad challenging the conservative ayatollahs and vying for the top spot.
-
Gaza Strip in Chaotic Grip of Summary Executions, Reciprocal Hostage-taking
- August 12, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
While humanitarian aid for Hamas is an overriding international concern, the movement itself is torn by vicious and bloody infighting.
-
A Taliban Victory in One of Three War Arenas Will Cut Kabul off
- August 12, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
The war has resolved itself into three main arenas. A Taliban victory in any one will cut Kabul from the rest of the country.
-
A Digest of DEBKAfile Round-the-Clock Exclusives in the Week Ending August 12, 2010
- August 12, 2010
- News
- Comments Off
A Digest of debkafile Round-the-Clock Exclusives in the Week Ending August 12, 2010