Back to Brief on Iran
Iran is building a new long-range missile that is expected to carry nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, according to a report by the Air Force’s National Air Intelligence Center.
In a section on new missiles with ranges between 1,800 miles and 3,400 miles, the report said Iran is building two medium-range systems and one that could have a 3,400-mile range.
"Iran is working on the development of at least two medium-range ballistic missile, the Shahab-3 and Shahab-4," the report said. "The Iranian defense minister has also stated that a Shahab–5 missile is in development. The Shahab-5 will have a longer range than the Shahab-4 and may be an intermediate-range missile."
It was the first official U.S. acknowledgement of the new longer-range Iranian missile.
The report said that new medium and intermediate-range missiles being built by Iran – as well as China, North Korean, India, and Pakistan – are "strategic systems."
"And most will be armed with non-conventional warheads," the 22-page report said, nothing that such warheads are equipped with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
Other officials said U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran’s long-range missile program will be disguised as a space program….
A senior U.S. intelligence official said in a briefing last week that Iran appears to be developing longer-range missiles "in a step-by-step approach to get to the ICBMs."…
The U.S. national intelligence
estimate on ballistic missile threats states that after North Korea, "Iran
is the next hostile country most capable of testing an ICBM capable of
delivering a weapon to the United States during the next 15 years."…
Iran Publicly Hangs Two Men, Reuters, September 22
TEHRAN - Iran Wednesday publicly hanged two leaders of an armed gang convicted of a bloody robbery in the holy city of Qom and other murders, state radio reported.
The evening daily Kayhan
said the two received 100 lashes each before being executed in the presence
of the victims' family.
Press Law to Be Tightened Further, Reuters, September 22
TEHRAN - A parliamentary committee has proposed new restrictions on Iran's press, a main battleground between reformers around President Mohammad Khatami and hard-line rivals, newspapers reported Wednesday.
The daily Arya said that the commission had amended an already restrictive draft bill to strengthen the powers of the Press Court judge, allowing him to overrule the jury.
The amendments are yet to be approved by the conservative-dominated parliament. Other provisions would give conservative bodies a greater say in the jury's selection. They would also effectively block the moderate jurors' tactic of blocking press hearings by failing to show up.
Finally, the draft provisions explicitly give the press judge, appointed by the conservative judiciary, the right to close newspapers and imprison editors without a prior hearing.
They also provide for special Revolutionary tribunals to hear media cases involving alleged threats to national security.
Conservatives say greater
restrictions on press freedom are needed to safeguard Islamic and revolutionary
values.
Hard-Line Hamas Leaders Arrested on Return from Tehran, Agence France Presse, September 22
AMMAN - Three leaders of the hard-line Palestinian movement Hamas who returned to Jordan from Iran Wednesday, were immediately arrested at the airport and referred to the courts, officials and their lawyer said. "Political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal, Jordan representative Ibrahim Ghosheh and political bureau member Musa Abu Marzuq were arrested as they entered the arrivals terminal building," a top official told AFP.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II said earlier this month that weapons were found in the Hamas offices. Government officials accused Hamas of seeking to undermine Jordan’s relations with the Palestinian leadership.
A statement from Hamas faxed to AFP early Wednesday announced the leaders’ return from Iran and pleaded with the government not to harm them.
The three leaders flew into Queen Alia International Airport aboard an Emirates flight from Tehran and Dubai at 9:00 a.m.