On Tuesday, Tehran demonstrated its “deterrent” capabilities by launching several mid-range ballistic missiles.
In a show of force dubbed “The Power of Velayat” (a nod to the Republic’s religious doctrine), Iran tested what looked like several medium-range Qiam-1s, missiles based on the Shahab of which Iran has hundreds stashed in underground storage facilities.
Back in October, when Iran test-fired a next-generation, surface-to-surface ballistic missile dubbed “Emad,” Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said the following about the future of Iran’s vaunted missile program: “We don’t ask anyone’s permission to enhance our defense power or missile capability and will firmly pursue our defense plans, particularly in the field of missiles.”
Iran test fired several long range ballistic missiles in an ongoing military drill in different parts of the country on Tuesday. The test was intended “to show Iran’s deterrent power and also the Islamic Republic’s ability to confront any threat against the Revolution, the state and the sovereignty of the country,” according to a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. The US has imposed missile-related sanctions against Tehran over the testing of the new intermediate-range Emad ballistic missile.
Two months back, in a series of lengthy exposes (see here and here), we profiled the ins and outs of the “petrogold” trade that allowed Iran to skirt international sanctions that froze Tehran out of the banking system by way of conduits and shady go-betweens in Turkey and Dubai.
The tale is long and winding and should probably be adapted for the silver screen, but really, the mechanics were pretty simple. Couriers simply carried briefcases full of bullion through Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport and flew to Dubai where the gold was then carted off to Iran.
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee is calling for an international tribunal on Syria having passed a resolution accusing the Syrian government, Russia and Iran of war crimes in Syria. The move on Wednesday comes despite a breakthrough agreement between the US and Russia on a Syrian ceasefire.