Iran warships Suez Canal passage 'back on'

The voyage may be part of a training mission for navy cadets

Iran has asked Egypt for permission to send two warships through the Suez Canal, officials have confirmed, after a day of conflicting reports.

Egypt's defence ministry said it was considering the request, hours after reports quoted canal officials as denying any request had been made.
The move has been condemned by Israel's foreign minister as a provocation.

ran has asked Egypt for permission to send two warships through the Suez Canal, officials have confirmed, after a day of conflicting reports.

Egypt's defence ministry said it was considering the request, hours after reports quoted canal officials as denying any request had been made.
The move has been condemned by Israel's foreign minister as a provocation.
It is believed to be the first time since the 1979 revolution that Iran has requested passage through the canal.
There have been conflicting reports throughout the day as to whether the request had been turned down, withdrawn, or had even been made.
But a naval official confirmed to Iran's state-run Press TV that talks were continuing with Cairo.
And Egyptian defence ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told the Associated Press that the request was being considered.
Canal officials deal with regular shipping requests, but naval requests are decided by the defence ministry.
Analysts say the ministry rarely turns down a request.
Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported in January that Iranian navy cadets were going on a year-long training mission through Suez and into the Mediterranean, according to Reuters.
But no official reason has been given for the voyage.
It is thought that the ships are heading to Syria, the main ally of Tehran in the region - and a major foe of Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned that his country could not "for ever ignore these provocations".
The ships involved are the frigate Alvand and a supply vessel, the Kharg.
Analysts say the plan presents a headache for the new military leadership in Egypt.
Cairo signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and has since had frosty ties with Tehran.

US warns of North Korea 'provocation' within months

Pictures published this week by GlobalSecurity.org suggest the new missile launch site is now complete

North Korea could launch new provocative action within months, a senior US military commander has said, warning of "serious consequences".

Last year Pyongyang was accused of sinking a South Korean warship and shelling a South Korean island.
Satellite images suggest the North may now have completed work on a new launch site for long-range missiles.
But Adm Robert Willard, head of the US Pacific Command, said there were no signs of an imminent launch.
In recent years satellites have captured images showing the slow development of a second, larger launchpad at a base near North Korea's border with China.
Pictures published this week by GlobalSecurity.org, a US defence information group, suggest the process is now complete.
Pyongyang conducted long-range missile tests as recently as 2009, the same year that it detonated a nuclear device underground.
Adm Willard would not comment in detail on the new satellite pictures, except to say that he knew of "no signs" North Korea was preparing for missile tests in the short-term.
Last month the US defence secretary voiced fears that Pyongyang could develop missiles which threatened the US within five years.
The more immediate concern, said Adm Willard, was what he called military provocations - referring to two incidents last year in which a South Korean warship was torpedoed, killing 46 on board, and a South Korean island was shelled, claiming the lives of four people including two civilians.
North Korea denies sinking the ship and says the shelling was provoked by South Korean military exercises.
'Coercive measures' The senior commander said there could be more such attacks within months after preliminary military talks between the two Koreas broke down this month.
Adm Willard warned that "South Korean tolerance for the next provocation appears to be very low".
Analysts suggest North Korea's strategy may be to burnish the military credentials of Kim Jong-il's youngest son, as he prepares to take over the communist state's leadership from his ailing father.
Adm Willard said there was a "compressed timeline" in which Kim Jong-il had to train his son in "coercive measures".
He confirmed that the US and South Korea would hold joint military exercises at the end of the month, which were designed as a "deterrent and a defensive measure to maintain readiness" of their combined forces.
The US has about 30,000 troops stationed in South Korea - a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with a ceasefire rather than a formal peace treaty.

U.S. House Votes To Kill F-35 Alternative Engine

WASHINGTON - In a victory for President Barack Obama, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Feb. 16 to kill funding for a costly alternate engine for the F-35 fighter aircraft that the Pentagon did not want.

The second F-35 engine was to be built by General Electric and Rolls Royce as an alternative in case the primary engine built by Pratt & Whitney failed. (Roslan Rahman / AFP)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said through his spokesman that he was "gratified" by the 223-198 vote against an amendment that would have provided $450 million for the second engine.

"He understands this afternoon's vote is but one step, although a very important one, on the path to ensuring that we stop spending limited dollars on unwanted and unneeded defense programs," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.
The second F-35 engine was to be built by General Electric and Rolls Royce as an alternative in case the primary engine built by Pratt & Whitney failed.
The amendment was one of some 500 attached to a bill to cover U.S. spending needs over the seven remaining months of the 2011 fiscal year.
Republican majority leader Eric Cantor said debate on the spending bill would be wrapped up in the House by the evening of Feb. 17. Debate then moves to the Senate, where Democrats have the majority.
The White House had threatened to veto any bill with funding for the second engine, and Gates made the program an example of wasteful spending that members of Congress indulge in to protect jobs in their districts at the expense of other defense priorities.
The second engine was to be built in Indiana and Ohio, the home state of House speaker John Boehner.
The broader F-35 program already has been beset by cost overruns and delays, which is projected to drive the per unit price of the plane to $92 million.
Pentagon plans to buy 2,443 of the aircraft are now expected to cost 382 billion dollars.
Also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, the fighter was designed to be used by the air force, navy and marine corps as a common platform to achieve economies of scale.
Variants of the aircraft are supposed to replace the air force's F-16 and A-10 fighters, the Navy's F/A-18s and the Marine Corps fleet of Harrier aircraft.
However, the Pentagon has delayed purchases of a Marine Corps variant with a short takeoff, vertical landing capability, and threatened to cancel it altogether if performance, cost and delivery problems are not resolved.

Singapore Military Procures BullsEye

TAIPEI - Singapore's Ministry of Defense will procure the next-generation Super BullsEye II Advanced Weapons Scoring System built by Singapore-based Stratech Systems Limited for $1.14 million. Stratech made the announcement on Feb. 16.
"This contract covers the supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of an integrated bomb and gunnery scoring system," Stratech officials said.

The BullsEye II is an advanced weapons scoring system that fully automates the scoring, recording and management of firing results in weapons training and defense exercises. The system can be used for the army, navy or air force and is configurable for different terrains.
"Stratech has been in the forefront of advanced technologies," said David K.M. Chew, executive chairman. The company is principally engaged in the design, development, integration, implementation, maintenance and project management of information technology and advanced technology systems.
BullsEye is powered by Stratech's proprietary Intelligence Vision technologies, which is a "proven product that has been deployed and currently used by air forces and navies from several countries," according to a company press release. "The automated scoring system is capable of accurately scoring weapons impact day or night for air, sea and land forces and weapons development agencies."
In August 2009, the company sold the BullsEye II system to South Korea.

Taiwan Makes Case, Again, For U.S. Fighter Jets

WASHINGTON - Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou on Feb. 17 renewed his call for the United States to sell fighter jets to the island, arguing its survival was at stake despite his outreach to China.
Taiwan "is a sovereign state; we must have our national defense," Ma, who often plays down suggestions of the island's separate identity, said in an interview with The Washington Post.

"While we negotiate with the mainland, we hope to carry out such talks with sufficient self-defense capabilities and not negotiate out of fear."
Relations between the China and Taiwan have improved markedly since Ma took office in 2008. But Taiwan fears that the military balance is shifting toward a rapidly growing China, which recently rolled out a stealth fighter jet.
"We oppose the use of military force to resolve cross-strait disputes. However, this is not to say that we cannot maintain a military capability necessary for Taiwan's security," Ma said.
The United States last year approved a $46.4 billion weapons package for Taiwan including Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, and equipment for Taiwan's F-16 fighter jets, but no submarines or new fighter jets.
China considers Taiwan, where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949, to be a province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. Ma last year reached a sweeping trade pact with China, seen as a milestone in ties.
Ma, whose Beijing-friendly policies have sometimes been controversial at home, defended his record on human rights which he said were a "core value" for Taiwan.
Ma noted that he has marked China's 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democracy protests and urged Beijing to release Nobel Prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo.
"Naturally, we hope that the mainland as it interacts with us can gradually become free and democratic," Ma said, while acknowledging that "this is not an easy task."
But Ma also pointed to comments by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on political reforms, saying: "They have even on many occasions talked of democracy, saying that democracy is a very good system."
"We are naturally delighted to see this," Ma said.

North Korea Completes Missile Launch Tower

SEOUL - Recent satellite images show that North Korea has completed a launch tower at its new missile base, a key step in efforts to test a missile which could eventually reach the United States, experts say.
An image taken on Jan. 10 of the Tongchang-ri base on the west coast shows a moveable launch pad and swing arms along with the tower.

It was disclosed by VOA News this week and was posted on the website of U.S. defense information group GlobalSecurity.org, prompting a senior U.S. military commander to describe the development as a "major concern."
The new base is seen as a key step in the North's quest for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could possibly strike the United States, GlobalSecurity.org said.
It is bigger and more advanced than the Musudan-ri base on the east coast, which the North used to launch long-range missiles in 1998, 2006 and 2009.
The North has enough nuclear material for an estimated six to eight weapons but it is unclear whether it has the technology to create a nuclear warhead for a missile.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned last month that North Korea could have missiles within five years that would directly threaten the United States.
"This is a major concern of ours," Adm. Robert Willard, head of the 300,000-troop U.S. Pacific Command, said of North Korea's missile program.
"When you package that together with the provocative actions that we saw in 2010, and the complexities of succession that are currently ongoing in North Korea, it should concern us all," Willard said at the Asia Society.
But Willard played down speculation of an imminent missile launch by North Korea. There are "no signs that I'm aware of that they're preparing for near-term missile tests," Willard said.
Work at Tongchang-ri has been monitored for more than two years and South Korean officials said in October 2009 that construction was near completion.
But the latest images were the first to show a launch tower.
Daniel Pinkston, a Seoul-based analyst with the International Crisis Group, said Tongchang-ri clearly had more facilities to support a missile development program than the relatively "primitive" Musudan-ri.
"It demonstrates their commitment to an ICBM program," he told AFP, "considering the cost of the program, the small size of their economy and their technical capabilities.
"If they are going to dedicate such resources, it's a sign they are serious about using the launch base," Pinkston said, adding that a test-launch is possible this year.
The North's first long-range test in 1998 sent a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan but failed to put a satellite in orbit. A Taepodong-2 exploded after 40 seconds after launch in 2006.
In April 2009, another Taepodong-2 travelled some 3,200 km (1,984 miles) to land in the Pacific.
That launch, and a nuclear test a month later, brought fresh UN sanctions including a ban on missile and nuclear-related activity.
Inter-Korean relations are icy after two deadly border incidents last year blamed on Pyongyang. Six-party nuclear disarmament talks have been stalled since December 2008 and Washington is resisting appeals for direct dialogue.
A long-range missile program could be used as a bargaining chip to extract U.S. concessions.
Pinkston said a successful launch would also have huge domestic propaganda value and boost the prestige of Kim Jong-Un, youngest son and heir apparent to leader Kim Jong-Il.
Any nuclear strike capability by the North could also be perceived as undermining the U.S. commitment to come to the aid of its regional allies South Korea and Japan, he added.

Israel Wary Of Iran Naval Power Play: Analysts

JERUSALEM - Israel is warily watching Iranian plans to station two warships in the Mediterranean, fearing the ploy is an attempt by Tehran to raise tensions between the arch foes, analysts said on Feb. 17.
The two ships, from Iran's 12th Flotilla, were expected to have crossed the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean in recent days, but were apparently held up after being denied permission to use the waterway.

Most concede that the Iranian vessels, a frigate and a support vessel, do not pose a direct threat to the Jewish state, but by brazenly sailing into Israel's home waters, they are staking Iran's claim to be a regional power.
In a worst-case scenario, analysts warned, the move could lead to the first-ever direct clash between Iranian and Israel forces, escalating a conflict that has, until now, been fought through Iran's proxies in Lebanon and Gaza.
On Feb. 16, Israel's hardline Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the move a "provocation" and said the Jewish state would not be able to ignore it for long.
Analysts said Iran appeared to be trying to boost its standing as a major force in the region.
"Iran is sending a political message, asserting its presence and power in the eastern Mediterranean, where it has allies in Syria, Lebanon and Hezbollah," said Ephraim Inbar, a professor of political science at Bar Ilan University.
The vessels are supposed to heading for a Syrian port, where they are due to be stationed for up to a year, Iranian officials said.
The Kharg is a 33,000-ton refueling and support vessel, and the Alvand is a 1,500-ton light patrol frigate, and both are British built, Iran's official Fars news agency said, quoting naval commanders.
The Kharg has a crew of 250 and can carry three helicopters, while the Alvand is armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles.
According to Fars, the 12th Flotilla is normally assigned to protect Iranian merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, an area plagued by Somali pirates.
"The Iranians are raising the stakes in the poker game against the West, and this time they are doing it vis-a-vis Israel in the Mediterranean theatre," wrote analyst Alex Fishman in the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper.
Fishman said their presence off the Israeli coast could lead to direct clashes, particularly if they tried to intervene in attempts by activists to breach Israel's naval blockade off the Gaza Strip, or tried to approach Israeli patrols off the Lebanese coast.
"From here on, scenarios could develop that are liable to cause a direct clash between Iran and Israel. This will no longer be with proxies on the Lebanese and Gaza borders, but directly with Iranian forces," he wrote.
Israel sees Tehran as its principal threat after repeated predictions by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Jewish state's demise. Israel also accuses Iran of arming and funding Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and Gaza's Hamas rulers.
Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear program.
Tehran denies that charge and has accused Israel of trying to sabotage its civilian nuclear program and kill its nuclear scientists.
For now, the Iranian ships are still awaiting permission to transit the Suez Canal.
Egyptian and Iranian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the ships had requested permission to enter the canal, but had been denied for technical reasons connected to the chaos caused by the political unrest that brought down President Hosni Mubarak last week.
Under international law, Cairo cannot bar the Iranian vessels unless the two countries are officially at war, but Egypt, which has its own tense past with Iran, is also unlikely to want Iranian war ships patrolling in its sphere of influence.
If the ships were to pass through, it would be the first time Iranian naval vessels have done so since the 1979 Iranian revolution, which led to the severing of full diplomatic ties with Egypt.
Others sought to down play the military significance of the move, but said it was still a bold political statement from Tehran.
"The visit poses as no real threat either to Israel or to the moderate Arab regimes," wrote leading analyst Dan Margalit in the Israel Hayom newspaper, a pro-government free sheet.
Nevertheless, this "should not prompt one to underestimate the long-term strategic objectives of the Iranian regime, which seeks to turn Iran into a regional superpower," he wrote.