Iran's new satellite venture shows that they can threaten Europe, Israel..or the US

Something that has barely scraped the surface of the dinosaur media is the inside story of Iran's planned space satellite. And more importantly, the full implication of what a successful satellite launch means.

The Mullahs have proclaimed that Iran is close to the planned launch of a spy satellite by a BM25 ballistic missile, 18 of which were purchased from North Korea. By the way, please note that these missiles are only obtainable to Iran via Russia - which collects a healthy commission on the sale for allowing the merchandise to pass through its territory.

Allaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, said last week that Iran had finished building a reconnaissance satellite and converted a ballistic missile into a space launcher. If this claim is correct, then Iran has a launch capacity able to put over 660 lbs.(the approximate estimated weight of a reconnaissance satellite) into earth orbit.

Iran's new Shehab 3ER can strike any part of the Middle East as far west as Turkey. But the new adapted BM25s with a range of up to 2,500 miles can reach targets in Europe. And if converted into a space launcher, that would give Iran an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of dropping a 660 lb. payload an anywhere in the world..including Washington DC.

This far outweighs any threat from a recon satellite, which would probably burn out of orbit in a couple of months.

Iran has, according to the most reliable sources, the Iranian dissidents recently upgraded its Shehab missiles to run on solid fuel. They have also reportedly purchased a dozen Kh 55 nuclear-capable cruise missiles from the Ukraine's nuclear arsenal. While these were reportedly sold minus their 200-kiloton warheads, Iran is rapidly approaching being able to replace the warheads.

The `open ' plant at Natanz, as the Iranians revealed, is activating 3,000 new centrifuges, while Iran's hidden nuclear facility at Neyshabour that I first wrote about on these pages back in April of last year is due to come online by the end of 2007. That plant, also being built by the Russians is designed to run 155,000 advanced p2 centrifuges, enough to enrich uranium for 3-5 nuclear bombs a year.

This was the reason, in my opinion, why Washington quickly cut deals to get elements of its anti-ballistic missile system based in Poland and the Czech Republic, prepared to intercept any prospective Iranian missiles headed towards Europe.

The Russians are extremely opposed to the US having missiles based in two former Warsaw Pact countries. Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov claims that there's no threat from either Iran or North Korea, and that the American missiles, as he implied, are pointed at Moscow - even though these are defensive rather than offensive systems.

Determined to protect their nuclear stake in Iran , the Russians have sped up construction on both the Bushehr and Neyshabour plants, as well as accelerating delivery of advanced Tor-M1 anti-missile missile systems for guarding Iranian nuclear installations. Putin also promised Iran that the fuel that could be used for the manufacture of nuclear weapons would be released to Iran no later than March. Until now the Russians have been going slow on the reactor they had contracted to build at Bushehr on the Gulf coast of southwestern Iran and were delaying the release of the fuel for that reactor.

The Russians are not even bothering to make a pretense of obeying even the toothless `sanctions' passed by the UN on Iran.

The hour grows late. What will the `decider' do?