Iran's Revolutionary Guards test-fired nine long and medium ranged missiles on Wednesday, including an upgraded Shahab-3 missile with a range of 2000km, enough to strike at targets in Israel or at US bases in the Persian gulf. Brigadier General Hoseyn Salami, a commander in the Revolutionary Guard, described the test as being intended to "demonstrate Iran's resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language." The US administration has condemned the tests, describing them as "inconsistent with Iran's obligations to the world."
The toD verdict: Iran has conducted missile tests like this many times in the past and, in any case, Israel is Keep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.
Sign up to receive toD's daily security briefings via email by clicking hereconfident that its anti-ballistic missile systems would shoot down the Shahab-3 with relative ease. But these tests come at a time when tensions between Iran and the west are high, and analysts are seriously considering the possibility that Israel may carry out a strike against nuclear facilities in Iran, similar to the strike carried out against Iraq in 1981.
Senior American commanders have admitted they feel that Iran is dangerously unpredictable. Admiral James Winnefeld has warned that an attack from Iran could be provoked by "an isolated, and seemingly unimportant, event." Already this year there have been a series of naval stand-offs involving Iranian speedboats and US warships that threatened to escalate into conflict.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed the idea of a US/Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. He considers the danger of economic and political fallout to be too great for the U.S. Yet missile-tests such as this one continue, and president Bush has stated publicly that all options remain on the table.
Writing this week in the Financial Times, openDemocracy author Anatol Lieven warned that any attack on Iran would effectively doom efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq to failure. Lieven argues that, if attacked, Iran would immediately begin sending material support to anti-western organisations, such as the Taliban, which it has up until now only offered tentative support.
Gunmen attack US consulate in Turkey
Three policemen were killed and two injured in an attack on the US consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday. Four attackers, armed with pump-action shotguns and handguns, pulled up in a white Renault and opened fire on the consulate. The police returned fire and killed three of the attackers. The fourth gunman escaped the scene. In an apparently unrelated incident, three German tourists in eastern Turkey have been kidnapped by members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Report shows growing influence of extremist groups in Indonesia
The International Crisis Group (ICG) has released a report highlighting the growing political influence of hard-line religious groups in Indonesia. Whilst the report concludes that "extremist groups have little support among the [Indonesian] public," it notes that radical Islamic organisations have been better at exploiting civil society tools, such as political networking and lobbying, than other Indonesian advocacy groups. In June, the Indonesian government bowed to pressure from hard-liners and partially banned a sect of Islam considered heretical by some Muslims.
Indonesia is bracing itself for the possibility of more terror attacks in response to the upcoming executions of the men accused of plotting the 2002 Bali bombing. Last week, Indonesian police raided a bomb-factory in Sumatra and seized ten completed bombs and six that had been partially assembled. The bombs were apparently intended for use against tourists in West Sumatra.
Fresh fighting threatens peace in Lebanon
At least four people were killed and more than 50 injured on Wednesday in heavy fighting between pro and anti-government factions in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city. The fighting is believed to have been provoked by an attack on Tuesday night involving hand-grenades thrown in a street separating Sunni and Shia Alawite neighbourhoods. The fighting is the worst since last month, when nine people were killed and 44 injured in the same neighbourhoods. In May, Lebanon came close to civil war when fighting broke out between armed factions, but talks mediated by Qatar managed to achieve a fragile peace.
UN/AU peacekeepers killed in Darfur
A convoy of peacekeepers from the joint United Nations and African Union mission to Sudan's Darfur region was ambushed by rebels on Wednesday, killing at least five and injuring eighteen. Seventeen peacekeepers were also reported missing after the attack, which occurred whilst the convoy of armoured vehicles was out on patrol. The UN-AU mission in Darfur is currently seriously overstretched, with only 9000 of the promised 26,000 troops having been deployed.
Russia threatens "military-technical" response to US missile shield
Russia's Foreign Ministry has issued a statement saying it will respond with unspecified "military-technical" methods if the US and Czech Republic ratify a controversial missile-defence deal which was signed on Tuesday. The deal permits the construction of a US radar tracking station in Czech territory, which Washington says will be necessary to detect incoming missiles from "rogue" states, such as Iran. The Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, has said he wants to continue talks to find a peaceful solution to the impasse.
