Just as well that we find that out with a failed attack on Diego Garcia rather than a successful attack on America.
The position taken by Obama, Democrats, the media and, more recently, Tucker Carlson, is that we should accept Iran’s claims about its military capabilities, whether it comes to its nuclear weapons or its ballistic missiles.
After all, a bunch of Islamic terrorists would never lie to us. Would they?
In the period leading up to Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28, Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed, “We intentionally kept the range of our missiles below 2,000 kilometers so we don’t have that capability. And we don’t want to do that because we do not have hostility against the United States people and all Europeans.”
A regime whose motto is ‘Death to America’ and which has been at war with us for 47 years, certainly isn’t hostile.
The missiles that Iran shot at Diego Garcia however shows they have vastly more range than 2,000 kilometers.
Iran launched ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base in Diego Garcia on Friday, demonstrating a weapons capability that goes beyond what Tehran was known to have possessed.
The base, a strategic airfield that can host B-2 stealth bombers located nearly 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) away from Iran, suffered no damage, according to a person familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity.
The media is now busy pretending that we had no idea that Iran had that kind of capabilities despite repeated warnings, including the Obama Iran Deal, that Iran had missiles capable of hitting European capitals.
“Nobody, and I mean nobody, even guessed” Iran had missiles with that range, said William Alberque, a Europe-based senior fellow at the Pacific Forum. “It means they probably used a modified missile — maybe a prototype.”
Nobody, and I mean nobody! This is former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressing the UN in 2021.
Just two days ago, the head of the IRGC’s airspace division, Amir Hajizadeh, boasted that Iran is capable of building missiles with a range beyond 2,000 kilometers. He said, quote, “We have the ability to build missiles with broader ranges. We don’t have limitations from a technical perspective.”
Back in 2004, Iranian opposition groups warned that Iran was building long range missiles beyond the 2,000 km mark.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which has in the past given accurate information on some of Iran’s nuclear facilities, said Tehran was working on missiles with a range of 2,500 to 3,000 km (1,600 to 1,900 miles), capable of hitting cities such as Berlin.
Iran denies any intention of making long-range ballistic missiles and says its existing medium-range missiles are purely for deterrence.
The exiles also said Tehran had in August tested a Shahab-4 missile with a range of 1,900 to 3,000 km (1,200 to 1,900 miles), depending on the weight of the warhead. Shahab means meteor in Farsi.
Last year, Netanyahu claimed that Iran was developing 8,000 km range missiles. Iran vocally denied it.
Netanyahu said in an interview with right-wing podcaster Ben Shapiro on Monday that Iran is developing intercontinental ballistic missiles with a range of about 8,000 kilometers, warning that Tehran’s expanding weapons program could threaten major American cities.
The Iranian missiles could “put New York City, Boston, Washington or Miami under their atomic guns,” the Israeli prime minister said.
“Israel … finally managed to deceive the US into attacking the Iranian People,” Araghchi said in response on X, referring to Israeli and US attacks on Iran in June. “With the failure of that action, Israel is now trying to make an imaginary threat out of our defense capabilities.”
Iran just demonstrated 4,000 km capabilities. Are they working on 8,000 km capability? I wouldn’t bet against it.
I’d bet a lot more against believing the Iranian politician who claimed that “we intentionally kept the range of our missiles below 2,000 kilometers”. And then went on to demonstrate double that range.
The Iranian missiles didn’t successfully hit Diego Garcia, but as always the threat is a nuclear warhead. And a nuclear warhead doesn’t need pinpoint accuracy. It just needs to be in the general vicinity.
But Iran has assured us that they’re not pursuing a nuclear weapons program in their underground bases. Surely they’re telling the truth about that.
“Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons. President Rouhani has indicated that Iran will never develop nuclear weapons.” Barack Obama
“Iranians have had a religious ruling, a fatwa, against actually developing a nuclear weapon,” Joe Kent to Tucker Carlson
There’s actually no ‘fatwa’ and Iran, like all Islamic terrorists. lies all the time. More importantly those running cover for Iran lie all the time.
Just as well that we find that out with a failed attack on Diego Garcia rather than a successful attack on America.
Wellington says
Won’t matter to the Democrats because hatred of Trump, regardless of what he does (and right now he’s doing his best to save the entire world from the bestiality and barbarism of the Iranian regime), is paramount. Yes, it’s the all-consuming passion of Democrats and one among many reasons (two others are wanting open borders and biological men in women’s sports) no one who claims to be an informed American patriot can defend remaining a registered Democrat. All who do so are either liars or fools.
For America to survive, the Democratic Party must be effectively destroyed (a marginal party on the fringes would be good enough). This should be as crystal clear by now as Islam being the one major religion of the world which is rotten to the core. Doubt me? Well then, what better option does the fading Islamic regime have than trying to wait out Trump until Democrats in America take back control, a horrible prospect to be sure? QED.
Taffy says
In my opinion, Iran has always had enough weapons grade uranium for quite a while to make a uranium fission bomb. The only reason, in my opinion, why they did not use such a weapon on Israel is that the lacked a means to deliver it. The media claims that enrichment of 90% U-235 Is required for a uranium bomb. That is not true! Little Boy, The Hiroshima bomb, had an average of 80% enrichment, and it worked just fine. Also, uranium fission bombs are heavy; although Little Boy used 121 lb. of enriched uranium, its total weight was about 9700 lbs. Even if a modern uranium bomb weighed half that, Iranian missiles were only capable of delivering a payload of about 900 pounds max. to Israel.
Iran was too lying about missile range. Once Iran had a working design that would reach Israel, a scale-up for slightly longer ranges is a relatively easy engineering task. Similarly, scaling up to handle slightly heavier payloads is also easy. But, quadrupling the payload or doubling the range (Without reducing the payload) is a major task. More energetic fuels are generally required. Look up the Breguet Range Equation if you desire to see the factors that influence range.
Westman says
Glad to see someone who realizes 90% enrichment is not required for a low-yield fission bomb. Even if it partally fizzled it would have made a huge area into an uninhabitable contaminated mess. And five of them to major Israeli cities?
You are right Taffy, delivery was the last hurdle for the Iranian Regine. Let’s hope the enriched u235 is also found and secured.
Israel was threatened with an existential crisis and responded to that threat with US help. It should have begun years earlier.
Huapakechi says
You do realize that a nuclear device can be delivered in a ship, and launching a short range missile from a cargo vessel is no strain at all.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
The actual range of their missiles is actually irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant is the importance of bringing down this regime, so that it’s no threat to any other country
I am a tad concerned about the attacks on their energy assets, like South Fars gasfields. As Reza Pahlavi appealed, those should be kept intact since the future Iranian regime will need the proceeds from them for their reconstruction
Wellington says
Agreed. Trump has to be careful in his laudable initiative to terminate once and for all the evil regime that has run Iran since 1979 but that it is not accompanied by such destruction— infrastructure, military wise et al.—that it leaves Iran an enormously weakened state and which in and of itself would clearly be a negative.
Trump must tread the present situation with the skill of a mountain goat negotiating steep cliff heights on a perilous mountain. I think Trump is up to this. Better be.
James Lincoln says
Even UK’s PM Keir Starmer was surprised that Iranian missiles could reach London.
Reality check…
OLD GUY says
Iran lied? And who where the idiots that believed them.. If their lips are moving they are either spewing hate or lying.