Iran Expands Arms Production
By Michael D. EvansU. S. technology is making it possible for Russia to design and sell billions in war materiel to Iran. Russia announced in 2001 that it would sell billions in new weapons to Iran; it made good on that weapons deal in September 2006 by delivering $700 billion in missiles and jets to Iran through the efforts of a private sector company, Avionika. Russian engineers were able to equip top fighter jets with new U.S. radar due to a Clinton move that eliminated Cold War export controls on the Soviet Union.
However, Iran is apparently no longer dependent on its northern neighbor to supply the weapons needed to threaten other Gulf States countries, and indeed, parts of Europe. According to its state television, Iran now has a new one-ton “smart” bomb with which to target its enemies. This new acquisition can be launched using Iran’s pre-1979 U.S.-supplied F-4 and F-5 fighters.
Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar vowed, “We will use these (bombs) against our enemies when the time comes. We will use this weapon where we want to ... hit enemy's strategic and defense targets," said Najjar. "This will be used against our enemies, against those who violate our land and air space."
U. S. sources are convinced that while Iran has made advances in their capability to manufacture weapons, the latest announcement is filled with hyperbole. Even so, the Iranian television announcement was accompanied by footage showing a fighter dispatching one of the bombs and hitting a target below. Mr. Najjar continued his diatribe over footage of him unveiling the production facility for the new “smart” bomb.
Emanuel Wilson of the Freeman Center for Strategic Studies in Houston, admitted some plausibility for the claim to the new “smart” bomb, but stated that a program to develop long-range missiles was an even greater threat as Iran’s aging aircraft has a limited range. Wilson surmises that it is not without reason to assume that Iran does, indeed, have a program to develop more modernized arms.
Following the launch of an arms program during the war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iran has successfully built tanks, APCs (armored personnel carriers) and some missiles. Tehran recently announced the production of a new jet fighter, the Azarakhsh (Lightning), and a year ago tested a series of missiles, torpedoes and a multi-warhead Fajr-e Darya missile during Persian Gulf maneuvers.
Iran’s claims serve only to emphasize Israel’s concerns about the latest arms acquisitions. A spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Mark Regey, was quick to point out that his country was not the only one that should be concerned by Iran’s blatant arms buildup: "All countries of the Middle East, Israel included, are concerned about expansionist Iranian policies, and about their aggressive military arms buildup. There is no doubt that the regime in Tehran poses a very real threat to the peace and security of the region as a whole." Following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s assertion that Israel should be “wiped from the map, Iran has moved up the ladder to the #1 spot as Israel’s foremost enemy.
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