PrintApril 11, 2008
Spy Photos Reveal Secret Iran Missile Site
There are those on the left who wish to downplay the danger posed by the Iranian regime largely because agreeing with President Bush about anything is tantamount to sacrilege.
But for the rest of us, news like this is extremely worrisome:
The secret site where Iran is suspected of developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching targets in Europe has been uncovered by new satellite photographs.At the moment, Iran appears years away from the development of such a missile. And it would be even more time before they could fit a nuclear warhead on top of one of those missiles.
The imagery has pinpointed the facility from where the Iranians launched their Kavoshgar 1 “research rocket” on February 4, claiming that it was in connection with their space programme. Analysis of the photographs taken by the Digital Globe QuickBird satellite four days after the launch has revealed a number of intriguing features that indicate to experts that it is the same site where Iran is focusing its efforts on developing a ballistic missile with a range of about 6,000km (4,000 miles).
A previously unknown missile location, the site, about 230km southeast of Tehran, and the link with Iran's long-range programme, was revealed by Jane's Intelligence Review after a study of the imagery by a former Iraq weapons inspector.
A close examination of the photographs has indicated that the Iranians are following the same path as North Korea, pursuing a space programme that enables Tehran to acquire expertise in long-range missile technology.
But intent counts for a lot when talking about the potential threat of Iranian ICBM. With the capability to hit Europe with a nuclear device, Iran would join a select few countries who could accomplish such a feat.
And no one knows what they would do with such technology.
Iran is masking the program as part of its "space research." But uncertainty over the real goals of the Iranian program means that western intelligence will be watching developments very closely at this site for years to come.
