New Cyber Defense Model Developed
Head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization said Iran has developed a new defense model different from passive defense and specific to the country’s defense requirements in countering any potential cyber attacks.
Brigadier General Gholam-Reza Jalali pointed to the establishment of a cyber command center and said that Iran plans to produce domestic security and defense hardware and software.
Jalali rejected media reports that computer viruses Stuxnet and Doku have affected Iranian nuclear facilities and said Iran has established a specialized laboratory for diligent analysis of these kinds of viruses.
He added that the Stuxnet virus has been analyzed in the laboratory, and findings indicated that the virus could harm the computer system initiating the software attack.
Previously, Ali Hakim Javadi, Iran’s deputy minister for communications and information technology, said Iran had moved more than 90 percent of its governmental internet websites from overseas hosting companies to new locations within the country to protect governmental data on internet networks.
According to the official, more than 30,000 Iranian websites of key organizations had been hosted by foreign-based companies, mainly in North America, the data of which could have been exposed to danger at any moment.
In early October 2010, Iran announced that it had detected and thwarted a cyber attack by the Stuxnet worm, which was reportedly created to infect Iranian industrial and nuclear computer systems.
Big Powers Suppressing Nations
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The president stressed that world nations are now fully aware that the democratic systems are not capable of meeting their needs and fall short of providing them happiness. Thus they seek new systems and persons to replace the present ones, he declared.
He said the manners of the holy household of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) were the only solutions to current world problems.
Cement Factory Inaugurated
Ahmadinejad also inaugurated a cement factory in Iran’s central province of Qom with an annual production capacity of one million tons.
Neizar cement factory, which was commissioned in a ceremony attended by President Ahmadinejad and Minister of Road and Urban Development Ali Nikzad on Monday, has been established at a cost of $145 million.
The factory is expected to create more than 200 direct and 3,000 indirect job opportunities.
Meanwhile, the president also launched 5,830 residential units in Qom province.
Earlier in August, Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari said Iran’s annual cement production capacity will exceed 80 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (in March 2012) with the launching of new cement factories in the country.
Ghazanfari put the country’s annual cement production at 74 million tons.
MPs Urge UN Action on Bahrain Abuses
Political Desk
Iranian lawmakers urged the United Nations to stop ignoring the persistent violence committed against peaceful Bahraini protesters by the Saudi-backed Al Khalifa regime.
In a statement released on Sunday, members of the Majlis Human Rights Commission called on the UN to break its silence on the atrocities in Bahrain, condemning the gross human rights abuses being committed by the Al Khalifa regime’s security forces against mass anti-regime protesters, Presstv reported.
They added that Iran expects a stronger reaction from the world body to halt the serious violations of human rights in Bahrain.
Such violations, the lawmakers said, include the arrest and unfair trial of doctors and nurses, torture, the beating and abuse of detainees, inhumane or degrading conduct by Bahraini security forces during interrogations, extrajudicial executions, harassment, intimidation, and dismissal of pro-democracy demonstrators, as well as the lethal use of electric shock by Bahraini security forces against prisoners.
The legislators argued that certain western countries that portray themselves as advocates of human rights have either kept silent on the ongoing human rights violations in Bahrain or have shipped ammunition and anti-riot gear to the US-backed Persian Gulf state in an attempt to assist the ruling Al Khalifa regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.
Since the beginning of Bahrain’s revolution in February, large numbers of anti-government protesters have poured into the streets across the oil-rich state, demanding more rights, freedom and wide-ranging political reforms in the authoritative political system of their country.
Dozens of people have been killed and thousands more have been arrested or expelled from their jobs in Bahrain since the start of the revolution.
The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry issued a report on November 23, saying that the Manama regime had used ‘excessive force, including the extraction of forced confessions against detainees’, in efforts to defuse the popular protest rallies in the country.
The commission also charged security forces with other abuses, such as torture against protesters.
It urged the Bahraini government to revise the verdicts handed down to protesters in military courts, and to set up a compensation fund for the victims.
Ongoing Crackdown
Meanwhile, reports coming out of Bahrain said the regime’s forces launched fresh attacks on anti-government protesters in several towns and villages across the country.
On Sunday, demonstrations were held in the eastern town of Sitra, the northern village of Dair, located on the northern coast of Muharraq Island, and several other areas.
Protesters chanted slogans against the Al Khalifa family and called for ‘freedom and regime change’ in the country.
Saudi-backed regime forces used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Bahraini protesters continue to call for an end to the Al Khalifa regime despite the government’s severe suppression on peaceful demonstrations in the country.
Latest Equipment Tested In Velayat 90 War-Games
Political Desk
Spokesman for the Velayat 90 war-games of the Navy said the latest naval equipment is being tested in the exercises.
Rear Admiral Seyyed Mahmoud Mousavi said the missiles and subsurface systems produced by the country’s marine and missile industries, had recently been delivered to the Navy, IRNA reported.
Different classes of frigates and submarines, sophisticated and technologically advanced ground-to-sea missile systems, advanced equipment used for communication and the exchange of intelligence have been successfully tested and used along with modern electro-optical systems during the drill.
He said the Velayat 90 maneuvers are being held in international waters with the aim of reinforcing the Navy’s deterrence capability.
He explained that in the wake of the policies of the global hegemony to create rifts among regional countries, the Velayat 90 war-games have been planned and are executed over an area of 265,000 square kilometers in the Strait of Hormuz, northern Indian Ocean, and the Gulf of Aden.
The objectives of the drills include ‘demonstrating Iranian Navy’s defense and deterrence capabilities and the ability of the regional countries to ensure security without any need for ultra-regional forces’, he said.
“We seek to send a message of peace and friendship to the countries of the region and make our friends happy by showing the capabilities of the Iranian Navy,” Rear Admiral Mousavi reiterated, adding that these capabilities could worry the enemies and those who might have ill-intentions about the sensitive and strategic region.
Commenting on the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, the spokesman stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Navy places great importance on the security of transit lines in the area.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he said during the exercises, the Navy warned off a helicopter belonging to an ultra-regional country, which had entered the area where the maneuvers are being conducted.
He explained that based on international marine regulations, when a military unit is carrying out war-exercises in the sea, any aircraft or marine vessel should maintain a secure distance.
He said on Sunday, a chopper belonging to an ultra-regional country was seen nearing the drills zone. “It was forced to leave the area after receiving several warnings from the Navy.”
The Navy launched 10-day Velayat 90 naval drills on Saturday.
The war-games cover a large area stretching from east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.
Over the past years, Iran has made important breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in the production of important military equipment and systems.
Iran has repeatedly stated that its military might is merely based on the nation’s defense doctrine of deterrence, posing no threats to other countries.
Talks on Aircraft Purchase From Russia Soon
Minister of Road and Urban Development Ali Nikzad said that Iranian officials will soon hold final negotiations with Moscow to purchase new passenger aircraft for the country.
“Negotiations are underway for the purchase of planes from Russia,” Nikzad said on Monday, adding that new Russian airplanes will join the country’s air fleet if their compatibility with Iran’s geographical and weather conditions are confirmed by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO).
“If we reach a final agreement (with the Russians), we will buy a number of them,” Fars News Agency quoted him as saying.
The minister did not provide any further detail and did not say if Tehran has entered into talks with any specific Russian company. However, he said a new type of small, narrow-body Tupolev and Sukhoi passenger planes are desirable for Iran’s domestic flights.
Iran recently embarked on a plan to renovate its air fleet not only by purchasing foreign planes, but also by launching domestic production to improve its aviation industry.
A senior Iranian civil aviation official had announced in February that 54 new planes had joined the country’s passenger air fleet.
The president of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, Reza Nakhjavani, said at the time that 31 planes had been added to the country’s aircraft fleet in the first ten months of the last Iranian year (ended March 20).
Iran withdrew its entire fleet of Tupolev aircraft earlier this year after a series of fatal accidents involving the planes.
The ban affected 17 Tupolev TU 154 planes which were in service with four Iranian airlines, Nakhjavani said in February.
Libya Seeks Help In Landmine Clearing
Political Desk
The defense minister in Libya’s transitional government Osama Al-Juwali said Iran can help Libya in clearing mine fields and defusing ammunitions from the civil war.
Speaking to IRNA in Tripoli, he said Iran has good capabilities in defusing ammunitions.
He said Iran has made good progress in defense fields, thanks to its experience from the eight-year war with Iraq.
Osama Al-Juwali described Libya’s defense ties with the countries of the world as good, adding that ties with Islamic countries, including Iran, are far deeper and better.
He also thanked Iranian officials for providing aid and medical care to Libyans injured during the recent civil war that led to the ouster and death of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Intelligence services of Israel and the United States collaborated in developing the Stuxnet computer worm aimed at disrupting Iran’s nuclear program.