More missiles have been test-fired by Iran’s military in the Gulf, on the third day of its war games, reported state TV on its website.
Tensions between Iran and the West have grown with Thursday’s tests, that included the firing of shore-to-sea, surface-to-surface and sea-to-air missiles. Warnings have been issued on both sides to the other.
The country would “set on fire” Israel and the US navy in the Gulf as its first response to any American attack over its nuclear programme, said an aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, on Tuesday, the first day of war games.
Also included in the war games according to state TV, the firing of a torpedo that Iran unveiled in 2006, and had described as a super-fast weapon capable of hitting enemy submarines.
More “longer and medium range missiles were fired” in night-time exercises, it said.
‘Get on the right side’
A day before the latest tests, Tehran test-fired nine missiles, including a new version of the long range Shahab-3 missile, that put Israel within Iranian striking range.
Wednesday’s tests have been condemned by the US and held Tehran responsible for rising tensions in the region.
The US has enhanced its security presence in the Gulf and would not hesitate to defend itself or allies in the region, said Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, on Thursday.
It is time for Iran to “get on the right side of the international community. It ought to be talking about that, not about threats against America or threats against America’s allies because frankly it’s not going to do them any good”, she added.
Though Iran vehemently denies it by saying that its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes, the country has been accused by the US of covertly seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
The problem with the Bush administration is that you can’t trust them. As former Nixon aide John W. Dean wrote, “George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have created the most secretive presidency of my lifetime. Their secrecy is far worse than during Watergate” (quoted in Wittkopf and Jones, 2008, 329).
The administration secretly planned and prepared for war with Iraq without disclosing it to the general public. Planning began in November of 2001 and included upgrading airfields in various Gulf countries, moving supplies to the region and the construction of necessary facilities. By April 2002, the planning and preparation for war was also being hidden from Congress. Bush had instructed General Tommy Franks not to make financial requests through Washington. “Anything you need, you’ll have.” The money would no longer be appropriated through congress. By the end of July 2002, Bush had approved more than thirty projects totaling over $700 million. Congress had no knowledge or involvement (Woodward, 2004, 122).
In December of 2002, Bush and Rumsfeld agreed to start secretly deploying troops into the theatre so as not to attract the attention of the press or the rest of the world. The first deployment order went out on December 6, 2002 and deployments continued every two weeks or so thereafter. Troops were given less than a week’s notice at times. In January 2003, the Bush administration arranged for much of its humanitarian relief to be disguised as general contributions to conceal its war planning from the NGO recipients. Yet, when asked about Iraq, Bush’s favorite response was “I have no war plans on my desk.” At one point or another after the planning began, nearly every member of the administration publicly denied any plans to go to war with Iraq (Woodward, 2004, 129).