Published: Aug. 25, 2009 at 11:42 AM by United Press International
TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 25 (UPI) " Uzi Rubin, former head of Israel's ballistic missile defense program, says Iran has made a "technological and strategic breakthrough with its Sajjil-2 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which will be able to hit a swathe of European states in three to four years.
That assertion, initially made to Jane's Defense Weekly and reiterated at a U.S. Army-sponsored missile defense conference in Huntsville, Ala., on Aug. 20, intensified concerns that Iran has stepped up its drive to acquire ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Israeli leaders have been pressing the United States to take firmer action to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons and have suggested unilateral preemptive strikes if something is not done soon to curb Tehran.
He said that the two-stage Sajjil-2 has an estimated range of 1,560 miles, not 1,250 miles as previously thought, and that the successful testing of a solid-fueled missile on May 20 was a major breakthrough for Iran. MUCH MORE
Contrary to popular belief, Iran's defense spending was initially caused by its War with Iraq, and while I'm sure Israel and the United States figure into the equation - neither was the primary reason for aggressively expanding their defenses:
Iran: Unemployment Becoming A ˜National Threat'
March 12, 2004
By Golnaz EsfandiariAccording to official estimates, some 3.5 million working-age Iranians are currently unemployed. The jobless rate is particularly high among the women and youth of the Islamic Republic. Authorities are calling unemployment a national threat and one of the country's most pressing priorities.
Iran's official unemployment rate is about 13 percent. But economists estimate the real figure is more than 20 percent.
Ali Rashidi is a leading economist based in Tehran. He says the roots of Iran's unemployment crisis date back to the early 1980s and the country's policies following the start of the Iran-Iraq War.
"[Iran] wanted to have an army of 20 million. And as a result, they encouraged pregnancy and the rate of population increased from something like 1.7 to 4, 4.5. As a result, the population of Iran has doubled during the last 25 years. So this increasing population is far from what the economy can absorb, and at the same time the policies that have been followed since the end of the war have nothing to propose in terms of absorbing this extra population, Rashidi said. MORE
As if the disclosure of another enrichment site that could have been used to carry-out nuclear weapons research and the eventual manufacture of nuclear weapons wasn't bad enough, Iran threw more fuel on the fire by carrying out extremely visible ballistic missile tests, further alarming Israel and the European Community:
Iran tests short-range missiles amid nuclear tension(CNN) " Iran tested a missile-launching system and two types of missiles Sunday, the state-run Press TV said. The missile tests come amid tension over the Islamic republic's nuclear program.
The missiles, fired at targets around the country Sunday, included the Fateh-110, a short-range ground-to-ground missile, and Tondar-69, a short-range naval missile, the station said. Iran plans to test the long-range Shahab missile on Monday.
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