Iran: Revolutionary Guard Claims ‘Capture’ Of Another U.S. Drone

A U.S. Navy spokesman says no American drones are missing in the Middle East following Iranian claims it had captured an unmanned American surveillance aircraft.

Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, says all U.S. drones in the region are “fully accounted for.” He also cast doubt on Iranian claims Tuesday that the U.S. ScanEagle drone entered Iranian airspace, saying U.S. operations in the Persian Gulf are “confined to internationally recognized water and airspace.”

He says that U.S. ScanEagles have been lost into the sea in the past, but none have gone down recently.

Other nations in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates, have ScanEagle drones in service.

The 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

Iran’s state TV said Tuesday that the country’s Revolutionary Guard has captured a U.S. drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf.

The report quoted the Guard’s navy chief, Gen. Ali Fadavi, as saying that the Iranian forces caught the “intruding” drone, which had apparently taken off from a U.S. aircraft carrier.

Fadavi said the unmanned ScanEagle aircraft was now in Iran’s possession.

“The U.S. drone, which was conducting a reconnaissance flight and gathering data over the Persian Gulf in the past few days, was captured by the Guard’s navy air defense unit as soon as it entered Iranian airspace,” Fadavi said. “Such drones usually take off from large warships.”

He didn’t provide any further details nor said when the incident happened. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it was “looking into” the Iranian claims but had no immediate comment beyond that.

But Al-Alam, the Iranian state TV’s Arabic-language channel, showed two Guard commanders examining what appeared to be an intact ScanEagle drone. It was not immediately clear if that was the same drone Iran claimed to have captured.

In the footage, the two men then point to a huge map of the Persian Gulf in the background, showing the drone’s alleged path of entry into Iranian airspace.

“We shall trample on the U.S,” was printed over the map, next to the Guard’s coat-of-arms.

If true, the seizure of the drone would be the third reported incident involving Iran and U.S. drones in the past two years.

Last month, Iran claimed that a U.S. drone had violated its airspace. Pentagon said the unmanned aircraft came under fire – at least twice but was not hit – and that the Predator was over international waters.

In 2011, Iran claimed it brought down a CIA spy drone after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which is equipped with stealth technology, was captured almost intact. Tehran later said it recovered data from the top-secret drone.

In the case of the Sentinel, after initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed it had been monitoring Iran’s military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused, and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft.

The U.S and its allies believe Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes only, such as power generation and cancer treatment.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Iran set to unveil new missile-launching warship

Iranian navy fires a Mehrab missile during the “Velayat-90” naval wargames in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran on January 1, 2012.(AFP Photo / Ebrahim Noroozi)

Iran will unveil a domestically manufactured missile-launching warship in the coming days, the country’s navy chief said. It comes days after Tehran accused the US Navy of conducting “illegal and provocative acts” in the Persian Gulf.

“One of the new achievements of the Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the Sinai 7 missile-launching warship… which will be unveiled on Wednesday,” Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Two new Ghadir-class submarines will also become operational by November 27. Subs of this type are made primarily for shallow-depth performance and can conduct extended coastal missions.

The Islamic Republic will hold a major naval drill, dubbed Velayat 91, between December 21 of 2012 and January 20 of 2013 in the country’s southeastern waters. Last December, Iran conducted naval drills in an area stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.

Sayyari also said that the navy had plans to send a fleet of warships to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

The Iranian Navy is considered to be the most powerful and efficient in the Persian Gulf, having at its disposal five corvettes, 20 missile and 20 torpedo boats, 13 amphibious ships, 28 auxiliary ships, three submarines, 22 aircraft and 15 helicopters.

Recently Iran unveiled its new, fifth navy base in the Strait of Hormuz, located near a major oil transit corridor, through which one fifth of the world’s oil passes from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. The Strait has recently become the focus of tensions, with Tehran threatening to block the route in retaliation for international sanctions over its alleged nuclear weapons program. The US has pledged to keep the strategic oil lane open.

Iran is constantly upgrading its military capabilities. In recent years, Iran declared it had made great achievements in the defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in essential military equipment and systems. The country produces its own tanks, self-propelled guns and multiple rocket launchers. One of its latest achievements is Jamaran, its first domestically-built destroyer, which was launched in the Persian Gulf in February 2010.

Iran is also actively engaged in missile development. Its Shahab-3 long-range ballistic rocket has range of 5,000 kilometers – meaning it could reach Israel and all US military bases in the Persian Gulf.

Tensions have been simmering in the region for several months, with Israel declaring that it is ready to strike Iran in order to prevent it from building an atomic weapon. Recently Israel said a decision over a military strike on Iran will have to be made in “eight to ten months.”

Washington has also said no options are off the table in regards to Iran, though it indicated that it would not support a unilateral Israeli attack on the country.

In the latest chapter of the standoff on Saturday, Iran accused the US Navy of “illegal and provocative acts” near its coastline, including violations of its airspace. Iran’s Envoy to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaee filed formal accusations of these charges with both UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council.

Israeli intelligence believe that Iran is accelerating the development of nuclear weapons, though experts around the world, including in the US, dispute the claim.

Iran has repeatedly assured other nations, especially its neighbors, that its nuclear program is for strictly civil purposes.

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Iranian jets fire on U.S. drone

(CNN) – Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf last week.

The incident raises fresh concerns within the Obama administration about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes.

The drone was in international airspace east of Kuwait, U.S. officials said, adding it was engaged in routine maritime surveillance.

Although the drone was not hit, the Pentagon is concerned.

Two U.S. officials explained the jets were part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps force, which has been more confrontational than regular Iranian military forces.

The Obama administration did not disclose the incident, which occurred just days before the presidential election on November 1, but three senior officials confirmed the details to CNN.

The officials declined to be identified because of sensitive intelligence matters surrounding the matter.

The drone’s still and video cameras captured the incident showing two SU-25s approaching the Predator and firing its onboard guns.

The Iranian pilots continued to fire shots that went beneath the Predator but were never successful in hitting it, according to the officials.

Read more: CNN  (By Barbara Starr)

30-Nation War Games Begin Minesweeping In Persian Gulf Ahead Of Iran Strike

Operation IMCMEX-12 has begun

British and US warships have joined a major naval exercise in the Persian Gulf as tensions between Israel and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear power programme increase. British forces are taking part in a joint operation conducted by the navies of more than 30 countries to sweep the area – a major transit point  of maritime trade – clean of mines.

“The UK is committed to a standing presence in the Gulf to ensure freedom of navigation in international waters such as the Straits of Hormuz,” said defence secretary Philip Hammond.

“Disruption to sailing in the strait would threaten regional and economic growth. Any attempt by Iran to do this would be illegal and unsuccessful.” The show of strength in exercises that include naval deployment by Saudi Arabia, the US and France was designed to warn off Tehran from contemplating disrupting trade routes in the ongoing diplomatic poker game over its nuclear ambitions and Israel’s threat of a strike. The Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman is one of the most heavily used trade waterways in the world. Some 35 percent of the world’s oil shipments – about 18 million barrels a day – pass through the 21-mile-wide channel.

Eglin Air Force Base In Florida Moves Out All AC-103 Gunships

English: An AC-130A Hercules gunship aircraft performs a pylon turn near Hurlburt Field, Florida during a training mission. The aircraft is from the 919th Special Operations Group, Eglin Air Force Base Auxiliary Field 3 (Duke Field), Florida. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ready for war?

NTEB’s military sources have told us late this evening that at the Eglin Air Force Base, in the Florida panhandle, all Lockheed AC-130 aircraft have been moved out “somewhere”. We have not be able to confirm this yet and will keep you posted as the situation develops. Eglin AFB is home to the 33rd Fighter Wing, 919th Special Operations Wing, 7th Special Forces Group, and 53rd Wing to name a few.

But this would make perfect sense when consider that a 30-nation team is, at this very moment, sweep the entire Persian Gulf for mines in preparation of containing Iran after the strike on their nuclear facilities is carried out. NTEB believes we are only days away from that strike. “British and US warships have joined a major naval exercise in the Persian Gulf as tensions between Israel and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear power program  increase. British forces are taking part in a joint operation conducted by the navies of more than 30 countries to sweep the area – a major transit point  of maritime trade – clean of mines.”

Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike

(Sept 15, 2012) An armada of US and British Naval Power is massing in the Persian Gulf in the belief that Israel is considering a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s covert nuclear weapons programme. Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war. Western leaders are convinced that Iran will retaliate to any attack by attempting to mine or blockade the shipping lane through which passes around 18 million barrels of oil every day, approximately 35 per cent of the world’s petroleum traded by sea. A blockade would have a catastrophic effect on the fragile economies of Britain, Europe the United States and Japan, all of which rely heavily on oil and gas supplies from the Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most congested international waterways. It is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point and is bordered by the Iranian coast to the north and the United Arab Emirates to the south. In preparation for any pre-emptive or retaliatory action by Iran, warships from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will today begin an annual 12-day exercise.

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• Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike – Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk)
• Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike – Telegraph (warsclerotic.wordpress.com)
• Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike (servehiminthewaiting.wordpress.com)