Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UN. Show all posts

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Americans take China at Word Over North Korea's Sanctions--------------Defense News

A missile is transported on a vehicle during a military pararade April 15 commemorating the 100th birth anniversary of former North Korean President Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang.

WASHINGTON — The United States said April 19 that it believed China’s assurances that it is abiding by sanctions on North Korea after charges that Beijing supplied technology for a missile launcher.
IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly said that U.N. officials are investigating allegations that China violated sanctions imposed by the Security Council after North Korea unveiled the 16-wheel launcher at a military parade.
“China has provided repeated assurances that it’s complying fully with both Resolution 1718 as well 1874. We’re not presently aware of any U.N. probe into this matter,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
“I think we take them at their word,” Toner said, adding that he was not aware of specific conversations between the United States and China about the launcher.
North Korea showed off the launcher, carrying an apparently new medium-range missile, as part of national celebrations on April 15 for the centennial of the birth of the regime’s founder Kim Il-Sung.
Quoting an unidentified official, IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly said China could be in breach of the two resolutions approved after North Korea’s 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests if it passed along the vehicle since then.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, who heads a panel of the House Armed Services Committee, asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and intelligence chief James Clapper to investigate whether China supplied the launcher’s technology.
In a letter, Turner quoted military specialist Richard Fisher as telling him that the launcher was “very likely based on a Chinese design” and that the technology transfer would have required a green light from Beijing.
“I am sure you agree that the United States cannot permit a state such as the People’s Republic of China to support — either intentionally or by a convenient lack of attention — the ambitions of a state like North Korea to threaten the security of the American people,” the Ohio Republican wrote.
“Indeed, the possibility of such cooperation undermines the administration’s entire policy of investing China with the responsibility of getting tough on North Korea.”
China, which holds a veto on the Security Council, is the main supporter of North Korea, although it voiced misgivings over Pyongyang’s defiant rocket launch last week.
North Korea described the launch as an unsuccessful bid to put a satellite into orbit, but the United States said it was a disguised missile test.
Separately, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported April 18 that China has stopped sending back fleeing North Koreans in retaliation for its ally’s failure to consult Beijing over its rocket launch.
China’s repatriations have triggered wide criticism overseas, with human rights groups saying that North Koreans face imprisonment, forced abortions and even sometimes execution if returned home.
“We obviously hope that the media reports are true,” Toner said.
But the spokesman said the United States could not confirm a change in China’s policy.
“We consistently urge China to adhere to its international obligations as part of the U.N. Convention on Refugees,” he said.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Syria Inks deal for Russian Fighter Jets


MOSCOW — Syria has signed a $550 million (425 million-euro) contract to purchase 36 Yak-130 advanced training fighter planes from Russia, the Kommersant business daily reported Jan. 23.
The deal was signed in December with Russia's Rosoboronexport state defense corporation, Kommersant cited a source close to the agency as saying, adding that production of the jets would begin once the advance payment was made.
The two-seater entered serial production in 2009, with the defense ministry placing an order for 55 of the combat trainers from the Irkut defense corporation, according to Russian press.
The jets destined for Syria will be built separately from the ones commissioned by the Russian air force, Kommersant said.
"As soon as Syria transfers the advance to Russia, the factory will immediately assume the assembly of the second set for Syria," the unnamed source told the paper.
A Rosoboronexport spokesman declined to comment.
The U.S. has expressed repeated concerns over Russia's military trade ties with Syria, which have continued despite the violent crackdown on protests pursued by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia, which, along with China recently blocked U.N. Security Council action against Assad, has defended the ties as legal under international law.
"We are only trading items with Syria that are not banned by international law," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

"Attack on Iran would be catastrophe " says Russia


MOSCOW — Russia on Jan. 18 said a military strike on Iran would be a “catastrophe” with the severest consequences that risked inflaming existing tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also accused the West of trying to suffocate the Iranian economy and incite popular discontent with new sanctions such as a proposed oil embargo.
“As for the chances of this catastrophe happening, you would have to ask those constantly mentioning it as an option that remains on the table,” Lavrov said when asked about the chances of military action.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak had earlier said his country was not even close to deciding to attack Iran over its nuclear weapons program and still believed that a military option remained “very far away.”
Lavrov told an annual foreign policy briefing that the chances of war were too dire too contemplate because they would incite intercommunal tensions in the region and flood neighboring countries with Iranian refugees.
“I have no doubt in the fact that it will only add fuel to the fire of the still-simmering Sunni-Shiite conflict. And I do not know where the subsequent chain reaction will end, Lavrov said.
“There will be large flows of refugees from Iran, including to Azerbaijan, and from Azerbaijan to Russia. ... This will not be a walk in the park,” he said of possible military involvement.
Lavrov added that punitive sanctions aimed at winning more transparency from Iran had “exhausted” themselves and only hurt the chances of peace.
“Additional unilateral sanctions against Iran have nothing to do with a desire to ensure the regime’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation,” Lavrov said. “It is seriously aimed at suffocating the Iranian economy and the well being of its people, probably in the hope of inciting discontent.”
His comments came as European Union diplomats closed in on a July date for a full oil embargo that would suit nations such as Italy with a strong reliance on Iranian supplies.
Lavrov said Russia had evidence that Iran was ready to cooperate closely with inspectors from the United Nations IAEA nuclear watchdog and was preparing for “serious talks” with the West.
He also hinted that Europe and the United States were imposing the measures with the specific purpose of torpedoing new rounds of talks.
Russia has been one of the few world powers to enjoy open access to senior Iranian leaders and on Jan. 18 hosted its Supreme National Security Council deputy chief Ali Bagheri.
The Iranian embassy said Bagheri would hold talks with Lavrov and discuss the option of resuming nuclear negotiations with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.
Moscow was also due to receive Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar on Jan. 22 for talks focusing on domestic security issues and drug trafficking.
Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow for his part said he expected Russia’s support to continue because it too was being threatened by the West.
“We expect Russia not to agree to a deal with the West,” Iranian Ambassador Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi told the Interfax news agency.
“If there are (non-Western) countries that want to see Iran become a victim of the West, they must understand that the West will get to them too,” said Sajjadi. “We hope that the Russian government and the Russian people will take note of this.”







Sunday, January 15, 2012

U.S., Israel Postpone Joint Missile Exercises


JERUSALEM - Israel and the United States have agreed to postpone a major military defence exercise scheduled for spring, a senior security official Jan. 15 Sunday, amid rising regional tension over Iran's nuclear programme.
"Israel and the United States have agreed to postpone the maneuver planned for spring," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"The exercises will take place between now and the end of 2012," the official added, without elaborating.
Earlier, public radio said the "Austere Challenge 12" exercise would be pushed back to the end of 2012 over unspecified budgetary concerns, citing military sources.
Israeli Army radio, citing a defense official, said it was being postponed to avoid "unnecessary headlines in such a tense period."
The joint maneuver was to have been the biggest yet between the two allies and was seen as an opportunity to display their joint military strength at a time of growing concern about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Israel, the United States and much of the international community accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to mask a weapons drive, a charge Tehran denies.
The postponement appeared to suggest fears the exercise could dangerously ramp up regional tensions, at a time when Iran has already threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz - a chokepoint for one fifth of the world's traded oil - in the event of a military strike or severe tightening of international sanctions over its nuclear program.
Meanwhile, the United States sent Iran a letter over its threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said Jan. 15, without revealing the letter's contents.
"The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, sent a letter to Mohammad Khazaie, Iran's U.N. representative, which was conveyed by the Swiss ambassador, and finally Iraqi President Jalal Talabani delivered its contents to officials" in Iran, the official IRNA news agency quoted Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.
"We are in the process of studying the letter and if necessary we will respond."
Last month, the Israelis insisted the joint maneuvers were planned in advance and denied they were related to Iran.
"The exercise scenario involves notional, simulated events as well as some field training and is not in response to any real-world event," the military said.
The postponement was not expected to affect a visit to Israel by top U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, who is scheduled to arrive this week and meet with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.
But the delay was announced as reports suggested unease in U.S.-Israeli relations over the best response to Iran's nuclear program, and after an Israeli official voiced "disappointment" at Washington's approach.
Washington has spearheaded a push for international sanctions against Iran, including on its oil exports and financial institutions.
But Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon told public radio he thought U.S. President Barack Obama's administration should be tougher.
"France and Britain understand that the sanctions must be strengthened, in particular against the Iranian Central Bank," Yaalon said. "The U.S. Senate is also in favor, but the U.S. government is hesitating, fearing higher oil prices in an election year. It's disappointing."
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, speaking Jan. 15 ahead of a trip to Britain, also accused the international community of dragging its feet.
"It is regrettable that the international community has not yet used all the means at its disposal to stop the Iranian nuclear program," he told public radio.
Israel has made no secret of its desire to see crippling sanctions imposed on Iran in a bid to slow its nuclear development, and reports suggest it has also taken other actions to delay the program.
The Jewish state is suspected of involvement both in a computer worm that reportedly set back Iran's nuclear efforts, as well as a campaign of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.
Media reports have pointed the finger at Israel's intelligence agency Mossad.
Foreign Policy magazine reported that Israel's actions had created friction with Washington, and The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 13 that U.S. officials had warned Israel against unilateral military action against Iran.
Yaalon said Jan. 15 that a military strike remained a last resort for Israel.
"Israel must defend itself. I hope that we will not arrive at that point," he said.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

'Dangerous Cargo' Ship Arrives in Syria: Source


MOSCOW - A Russian ship suspected of carrying munitions for Damascus arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on "Jan. 11 or 12," shipping expert Mikhail Voitenko said.
The ship Chariot arrived at Tartus on January 11 or 12," Voitenko said Jan. 14, basing his conclusions on an examination of data from the vessel's automatic identification system transponder.
"After leaving Limassol, the ship set sail for Tartus. After travelling two-thirds of the way, the team unplugged the AIS transponder," he added.
He believed that the vessel has docked at the Syrian port, he said. It was Voitenko who in 2009 revealed the mysterious disappearance of an Arctic Sea ship, an incident that sparked international concern.
A source from the ship's operator Westberg said Jan. 13 that the ship transporting "dangerous" cargo was bound for Syria.
According to Russian media, the vessel may be transporting up to 60 tons of ammunition supplied by Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport through freight company Balchart.
Chariot stopped over in Cyprus for refueling and was allowed to set sail from the port of Limassol after its Russian owners agreed to change the destination to Turkey rather than Syria.
But the crew decided to revert to its original itinerary after leaving the Cypriot port, according to a Westberg source.
Westberg Ltd., which is headquartered in St Petersburg, could not be reached by AFP.
The United States on Jan. 13 raised concerns with Russia and Cyprus over the ship.
For 10 months now Syria has been in the grips of an uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. According to U.N. estimates made last month, the government crackdown has cost more than 5,000 lives.
Western leaders have called for the embattled strongman to step down but Moscow has steadfastly stuck by its ally.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

North Korea: U.S. Offered Food for Nuke Shutdown


SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Jan. 11 that the United States had offered food aid and a suspension of sanctions if it halted its uranium enrichment program.
The comments by a foreign ministry spokesman to Pyongyang's official news agency were the first by the North on the issue.
Before the sudden death of the North's leader Kim Jong-Il on Dec. 17, there were several media reports that such an agreement was imminent.
At talks in July last year, Washington "proposed to take confidence-building steps such as suspension of sanctions, as well as food aid" in return for a "temporary suspension" of uranium enrichment, the North's spokesman said.
Experts say the uranium program disclosed in November 2010 could give the communist state a second way to make nuclear weapons. The disclosure spurred efforts to revive stalled six-party nuclear disarmament negotiations.
The U.S. and North Korea last year held two rounds of bilateral talks aimed at restarting the negotiations last held in December 2008.
A third round was reportedly scheduled in Beijing before the announcement of Kim's death put the process on hold.
The spokesman's statement suggested that a deal was still on the cards if the U.S. raised the amount of food it is willing to offer. "We will watch if the U.S. truly wants to build confidence," it said.
Washington says any decision to offer humanitarian food aid would not be linked to other issues, but the spokesman accused the United States of politicizing the issue.
Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, met senior North Korean foreign ministry official Ri Gun in Beijing in December to discuss a possible resumption of U.S. food aid.
South Korean media reports at the time said the North had agreed to suspend its uranium program while the U.S. would provide up to 240,000 tons of food.
The U.S. pledged 500,000 tons of rice in 2008. Shipments stopped the following year amid questions over transparency of the distribution, and Pyongyang told the Americans to leave.
The North's spokesman said Jan. 11 the U.S. had failed to provide 330,000 tons of the amount promised three years ago.
In recent talks it "has drastically changed the amount and items of provision contrary to the originally promised food aid", the spokesman said, adding this raised doubts about Washington's willingness to build confidence.
The U.S. is offering high-energy biscuits and similar nutritional supplements in its latest package, rather than rice which could be diverted to the military or the elite.
UN agencies that visited in February 2011 said six million North Koreans - a quarter of the population - need urgent aid in a nation where hundreds of thousands died in a famine in the 1990s.

Friday, January 6, 2012

White House Permits Defense Exports to South Sudan


U.S. President Barack Obama has given his approval for the sale of weapons and defense services to South Sudan, possibly paving the way for purchases of air defense systems, equipment the South has been asking for since before its independence.
SOUTH SUDANESE SOLDIERS march with their national flag during a military parade marking South Sudan's independence in July. (Phil Moore / Getty via AFP)
In a Jan. 6 memo sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama said that the "furnishing of defense articles and defense services to the Republic of South Sudan will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace."
The Republic of South Sudan, which officially declared its independence from Sudan in July, faces a number of internal and external security challenges.
Inside the country, violent tribal clashes in the state of Jonglei have resulted in the death and displacement of thousands of people. In response, the United Nations has launched major emergency and food distribution operations.
Meanwhile, tensions continue to rise between South Sudan and Sudan, which is accused of attacking the southern country using aerial bombardments.
Sudan ended a decades-long civil war in 2005, at which point the southern region was granted autonomy but not independence.
Last January, South Sudan overwhelmingly voted for its independence from Sudan, news welcomed by the Obama Administration, which, along with the U.S. Congress, has been a strong supporter of the independent state.
However, over the last year, attacks and border incursions by the north have continued and some believe the two countries are lurching toward war.
"It is becoming more likely almost by the day," Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College and a Sudan researcher and analyst, said.
Reeves said he hoped Obama's executive order would allow South Sudan to buy the defensive military capabilities it needs to protect itself.
E.J. Hogendoorn, Horn of Africa project director at the International Crisis Group, called the order "quite significant given the fact that there has been a very significant ramp of tensions between Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan."
"I have to imagine that part of the discussion within the administration was: 'What kind of signal does this send?'" Hogendoorn said.
Sudan's military capabilities far surpass those of South Sudan.
Sudan's air force includes MiG-29 Russian fighter jets, Soviet-built Hind helicopter gunships and troop transport aircraft.
The approval from the White House could open the door for South Sudan to acquire air defense systems, which some advocates of South Sudan have argued are long overdue.
"This determination is not a surprise, and indeed many feel as I do that it has been much too long in coming, especially given the enormous security challenges facing South Sudan," Reeves said.
In addition to air defense, South Sudan needs transport helicopters, communications gear and training to convert the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) from a guerilla force into a modern army, Reeves said. "One of the reasons that violence in Jonglei got out of hand was that both the U.N. and the SPLA had a tremendous amount of difficulty getting people into Pibor," the town under attack.
However, whether the White House's decision on weapons exports changes things on the ground, Reeves said it is too early to tell.
"Let's see what this thing actually translates into," he said. "It's an enabling action, but it does nothing on its own."

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Iran's Boasts Over Drone Reveal Inconsistencies


TEHRAN - Iran's boast it downed a highly sophisticated U.S. drone has handed the Islamic republic a propaganda coup while revealing numerous inconsistencies in both Iranian and U.S. accounts of the incident.
A STILL IMAGE taken from the Iranian state-run Press TV shows what Iranian officials claim is the U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel drone that crashed in Iran on Dec. 4. (Ho / Press TV via AFP)
Leading Iranian newspapers on Dec. 10 gave front-page prominence to the story, displaying photos of what was said to be the remarkably intact RQ-170 Sentinel drone in Iran's possession.
One daily, Vatanemrooz, bragged that "Satan's eye has been gouged out," repeating the characterisation of the United States as the "Great Satan."
The ebullient media coverage, which began on Dec. 8 with state television images of the alleged drone, eclipsed other reports, including on the threat of more sanctions on Iran and the fallout from last month's storming of the British embassy in Tehran.
The deputy chief of Iran's armed forces, Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as warning that "the U.S. government will have to pay a high price for its unacceptable actions."
He added: "Our defensive actions will not be limited to our geographical borders."
Iran has sent a letter of protest to the United Nations, saying the drone's flight was part of months of "covert actions by the American government" against it.
It also summoned the Swiss ambassador, who handles U.S. interests in Iran in the absence of U.S.-Iran diplomatic relations, and the Afghan ambassador to lodge formal protests and demand explanations.
A letter given to the Afghan ambassador said that Iran's airspace had been violated from his country and stressed "Afghanistan's responsibilities as a good neighbor," IRNA reported.
Information given by Iranian and U.S. officials in their respective countries' media since Tehran announced Dec. 4 it had captured the drone has raised several inconsistencies over the affair.
The Iranian military's joint chiefs of staff initially said its air defenses managed to "shoot down" the drone as it "briefly violated" Iran's eastern airspace.
Yet Mohammad Khazaee, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, said in his letter of protest that the drone flew "deep inside" Iran, close to the eastern desert town of Tabas, according to Iranian media.
"After reaching the northern part of Tabas area - 150 miles deep inside Iranian territory - the aircraft was confronted by the timely response of the Islamic republic's armed forces," his letter read.
And Iranian military officials were now saying the drone - displaying little damage in state media images - had not been shot down as first asserted, but rather had its controls hacked by a Revolutionary Guards cyber warfare unit.
U.S. officials have also added to some of the mystery surrounding the incident.
Although none has spoken on the record, several told U.S. media anonymously the drone had been on a CIA mission over Iran - and not on a U.S. military flight over western Afghanistan, as the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force initially tried to suggest.
The officials were skeptical of Iran's claims that it had broken through encryption technology to seize control of the aircraft, hypothesizing that the drone suffered a malfunction.
But none was able to explain how the drone - programmed to either automatically return to its base in Afghanistan or possibly even self-destruct - was recovered by the Iranians.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Afghanistan Needs Continuous Support After 2014: Karzai


BONN, Germany - According to President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan will remain dependent on international assistance for the foreseeable future.
At the opening of the conference on Afghanistan here on Dec. 5, titled "From Transition to Transformation," he asked for further help from the international community for at least 10 years after 2014, when most foreign troops will leave.
More than 1,000 delegates, including U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, met in the former German capital to discuss Afghanistan's future.
"Three key issues will be on the agenda for Bonn: the civilian aspects of transition until 2014, the political process in Afghanistan as well as a long-term commitment to Afghanistan beyond 2014," a German foreign office spokesperson said.
According to Ban, progress has already been made since the invasion in 2001.
"Together, we have supported the return of 4.6 million Afghan refugees," Ban said: "We have enrolled 7.3 million more children in school and helped deliver better health care.
"As Afghanistan assumes full responsibility for its security, the government and its international partners must shift and intensify their focus on the non-military aspects of transition - on development, on governance and on extending effective civilian authority throughout Afghanistan," Ban said.
In addition to delegates from other states and organizations, Ban and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ensured their support. However, both asked the Afghan president and his government to more aggressively fight corruption and drug-trafficking, and demanded greater efforts to promote women rights and national reconciliation.
"We will tackle corruption more effectively," Karzai had promised the delegates earlier. He also announced reforms to government institutions and the civil service. Afghanistan does not want to be a burden on the international community any longer than necessary, he said.
During the conference, many nations and organizations, including the U.S., the European Union and the United Nations, vowed to continue supporting Afghanistan after the troop withdrawal.
"A stable and peaceful Afghanistan which does not pose a threat to the world is in the interest of all of us," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said during his opening remarks.
Among the conference participants were about 60 foreign ministers, but there were no representatives of the Taliban or Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan. The latter boycotted the meeting because of a U.S. airstrike near the Afghan border on Nov. 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi used the meeting to demand the closure of all international military bases in Afghanistan and criticized the International Security Assistance Force.
Jo Nakano, Japanese vice minister of foreign affairs, announced that his country would host a ministerial conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo in July 2012.
"The conference will address, in addition to the coordination of international economic assistance through the transition period, Afghanistan's strategy for sustainable development including regional economic cooperation," he said.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Iran Missile Projects Unaffected By Blast: General


TEHRAN - A deadly explosion at a missile development plant last month has not affected Iran's ballistic missile program, its top general said in comments published Dec. 3.
Armed forces chief of staff Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi said the death of Iranian military experts at the Bid Ganeh base outside Tehran on Nov. 12 "had no effect on the self-sufficiency unit" of the elite Revolutionary Guards- responsible for weapons research, the Resalat newspaper reported.
"The forces and military weapons of the Islamic republic, including ballistic missiles, are more than ready to confront the enemy," he said.
The blast killed at least 36 members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, including a key figure in Iran's ballistic missile program, Maj. Gen. Hassan Moqaddam.
Firouzabadi reiterated repeated assertions by Iran that the blast was accidental, suggesting that safety measures may have been neglected.
Iranian commanders "who have experienced dangerous situations (during the 1980-88 war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq) ... do not take safety measures seriously," he said.
Following the blast, Firouzabadi had said that work at the plant had been delayed by only two weeks as a result. But commercial satellite photographs of the facility released by a private Washington institute suggested the explosion had caused serious destruction, with some buildings completely razed.
"The entire facility was essentially destroyed," said Paul Brannan, a senior analyst at the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), which posted the images this week.
"It looks like almost half of the buildings are gone and what's left are the skeletons of the buildings. I would call that a complete destruction of the facility," Brannan, who wrote an analysis of the pictures, told AFP on Wednesday.
The plant appears to have been used for the development of a new long-range ballistic missile, according to fragmentary reports published by Iranian media.
Following the blast, Firouzabadi said the base was being used for the production of an unspecified "experimental product" that could be used against the United States or Israel.
Moqaddam's brother, Mohammad, himself a Guards commander, spoke of a "project related to intercontinental ballistic missiles," which "was in its final phase" and was "completely hi-tech and secret" - in remarks he later retracted.
The Islamic republic already possesses several types of medium-range missile, some capable of reaching Israel or U.S. bases in the Middle East -both stated targets for retaliation in the event that Iranian facilities are attacked.
Iran's ballistic program, which along with its nuclear activities is subject to U.N. sanctions, has created worries in the international community that Tehran could succeed in producing missiles capable of delivering anatomic warhead.
Tehran denies any such ambition and says its nuclear program is for civil energy and medical purposes only.

U.N. to Join Hunt for Rogue Weapons in Libya


UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council added the hunt for rogue surface-to-air missiles and other weapons in Libya to the duties of the U.N. mission in the country on Dec. 2.
The 15-member council unanimously passed a resolution extending the mandate of the mission, which has mainly been giving political support to Libya's transitional government.
Growing concern over the weapons caches - particularly thousands of shoulder-fired rocket launchers - left by late dictator Moammar Gadhafi led to the extension of the mission's duties.
Libya's neighbors have expressed fears that the weapons and ammunition could get into the hands of radical groups. The U.N. envoy to Libya, Ian Martin, said this week that a "reliable picture" of all the weapons sites and numbers is still lacking.
The resolution said the mission will now assist "Libyan national efforts to address the threats of proliferation of all arms and related material of all types, in particular man-portable surface to air missiles."
The Libya mission was provisionally extended until March 16 to give the U.N. leadership time to set out its needs for a long-term operation.