Latest Equipment Tested In Velayat 90 War-Games

Spokesman for the Velayat 90 war-games of the Navy said the latest naval equipment was 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 were successfully tested and used along with modern electro-optical systems during the drill.
He said the Velayat 90 maneuvers were 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 were planned and 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 included ‘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.

Moscow Insists on Nuclear Talks

Political Desk

Russia emphasizes the need to resume talks between Tehran and Group 5+1 on its nuclear issue.
In an article published in Russia’s Diplomatic Annual publication in Moscow on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voiced his country’s opposition to imposition of sanctions against Iran and underlined the need to continue negotiations with Iran as a solution for settling Iran’s nuclear issue.
“We are assured that finding an acceptable way for resolving Iran’s nuclear issue can only be achievable through dialogue and respecting the commitments of the member-states of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),” Lavrov said, according to IRNA.
Iran and the G5+1--China, Russia, Britain, France and the US--plus Germany--held two rounds of multifaceted talks in Geneva in December 2010 and in the Turkish city of Istanbul last January. Tehran says it is ready to continue the talks based on common grounds, adding, however, that it has no intention of backing down on its rights. A new round of bilateral sanctions were imposed against Iran in November by the United States, Britain and Canada, following a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that claimed concerns over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.
Russia has criticized the report as ‘unprofessional and biased’ and called for further dialogue to resolve the Iran issue. “Experience shows that the methods of exerting pressure and imposing unilateral sanctions cannot resolve anything and it only deteriorates the situation,” Lavrov added.

Russia: Arab Mission Statements on Syria ‘Reassuring’

International Desk

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Friday praised Arab League observers in Syria who were sent to check whether government forces have halted violence against protesters and said their comments were ‘reassuring’.
“Judging by the public statements made by the chief of the mission M. Al-Dabi, who in the first of his visits went to the city of Homs...the situation seems to be reassuring,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.
In an initial tour of the protest hotbed city of Homs, Sudanese general Mustafa Al-Dabi raised international concern over the mission’s credibility with a comment that he had seen “nothing frightening.” He said more time was needed to make a final judgment.
Moscow remains one of the last allies of Damascus following nine months of violence.
Russia, which has supported the Arab League monitoring mission from the start, called on the Syrian leadership to continue working constructively with the mission.
“We are counting on the professionalism and objectivity of the participants in the mission of Arab observers,” said the Russian statement.
“We consider it very important to ensure consolidated support for the realization of the assignments that stand before the Arab League observers on international and regional levels.”

No Yielding to Western Pressures

Political Desk

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reaffirmed that the Iranian nation will not back off from its path in the face of pressures from the Western countries.
“The Iranian nation is a nation of tolerance and resistance and will not retreat an iota [from its path] under pressure from enemies,” President Ahmadinejad said in a Thursday address to the people of Abdanan in the western province of Ilam, Presstv reported.
He said that enemies seek to break the will of the Iranian nation through political pressures and slanders.
Iran’s chief executive also pointed out that the hegemonic powers seek to depict the Iranian nation as ‘a terrorist and aggressive one’, but such traits, he added, best befits these hegemonic powers.
President Ahmadinejad declared that enemies need to change their rhetoric on Iran and learn that enmity towards Iranians is not in their interest.
He further said that the hegemonic powers have made up false excuses and resorted to deceit in order to impede Iran’s progress.
The president called on Iranians to join hands in building the country.

Vigilant Public Presence
Addressing a cabinet session in the western Ilam city on Thursday, Ahmadinejad said that past experiences have proved that presence of people on the scene would foil the plots of enemies and ill-wishers.

IMOD Undergoing Trial

IMOD is awaiting the authorization of Medical Care and Medicine Committee for use as a treatment for AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).

Stem Cell Treatment To Prevent Hearing Loss

Stem cells, which could help combat hearing loss associated with old age, are being developed by British scientists, in the first study of its kind.

N. Korea: Expect No Change

North Korea sounded a bellicose note in its first communication with the outside world since the death of leader Kim Jong-il, saying its confrontational stance against South Korea would not change and labeling its opponents ‘foolish’.
Since Kim Jong-il died on December 17, the outside world has been watching to see whether his son Kim Jong-un, aged in his 20s, would stick to its hardline “military first” policies that have seen the isolated nation move closer to nuclear weapons capacity, Reuters reported.
“On this occasion, we solemnly declare with confidence that foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet forces in South Korea, should not expect any changes from us,” a broadcaster on state television said on Friday.
She was reading a statement from the National Defense Commission, the top body in the militarized and impoverished state under Kim Jong-il.
In a break from the black mourning clothing worn since Kim Jong-il’s death, the broadcaster wore dark red clothes and almost shouted her defiant message.
North Korea has a long history of using bellicose phrases against the South, especially since the conservative government of Lee Myung-bak took office in 2008 and ended a policy of engagement with the North. It has threatened to turn the South’s capital Seoul into a “sea of fire” on numerous occasions and repeated that rhetoric again on Friday.

Euro Hits 10-Year Low

The euro fell to a 10-year low against the yen and its lowest in nearly a year versus the dollar on Thursday on worries about the eurozone debt crisis as borrowing costs at a sale of Italian bonds stayed very high.
Italy sold €7.02 billion of three to 10-year bonds. Yields were lower than at previous sales but cautious investors still demanded a near 7-percent yield to buy 10-year paper, a level seen unsustainable.
Yields fell for 2014 and 2022 debt, news reports said, Market Watch wrote.

Italy Bond Sale
Italy raised a total of around €7 billion ($9 billion) of various bonds.
The government had planned to raise between 5 billion and 8.5 billion euros. It paid a yield of 5.62 percent to sell new three-year debt, down sharply from 7.89 percent in an auction last month, Reuters reported.
This is while 10-year bonds were sold at a yield of 6.98 percent, down from 7.56 percent in a late November auction.
The euro was at $1.2881 against the dollar, its weakest since Jan. 10, when the euro hit its 2011 low of $1.2860.
Trading was thin, however, with individual orders exaggerating moves.
Analysts said that with the euro having broken decisively below $1.30, this level would act as technical resistance, with many expecting a move towards $1.25 in the coming months.

The naval forces also performed special heliborne operations during the exercises. On the seventh day of the ‘Velayat 90’ drills, marine commandos also conducted free-fall parachute jumps from SH helicopters.

The spokesman for the maneuvers said that the exercises included attacks on predetermined targets at sea as well as tactical shooting at mock enemy targets, using different classes of speed boats.

The naval forces also rehearsed coast-to-sea shooting plus targeting of mock enemy drones. The forces previously practiced electronic warfare simulation, during which the navy used surveillance equipment and radar systems to patrol the international waters.
Air Force bombers also successfully hit and destroyed mock enemy targets on land and sea during the drills.
The bombing operation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) was aimed at providing a backup for the naval forces and defending shore facilities.
Surprise mock attacks were also conducted during the drill to assess the readiness of the participating units. The Navy’s aircrafts and helicopters also conducted surveillance and reconnaissance operations during the maneuvers to monitor activities of all units in the area of the military exercises.

The Navy also fired various long and short-range land-to-sea missiles, built by its experts, in the power phase of the drills.
The spokesman said that naval units also fired various surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles during the power phase of ‘Velayat 90’ exercises. He added that Iran’s submarines hit pre-determined targets, using domestically-manufactured torpedoes.

Mousavi, who is also the deputy commander of the Navy, noted that naval forces also fired shoulder-launched missiles and hit mock enemy targets.
The tactical phase of the naval maneuver commenced after the first stage of the exercise ended successfully. The initial phase of the exercise, which focused on the deployment and expansion of naval units in targeted areas, ended successfully as the participating units conducted the planned exercises over the first three days of the exercises.

Mousavi stated that in the opening stage of the tactical phase, forces of the hypothetical enemy and the naval forces performed targeted tactics during the operations.

In this phase, the hypothetical enemy attempted to infiltrate specific positions of the naval forces while the resisting forces performed defensive tactics to foil the invasion, he added.
According to the spokesman, the naval forces dispatched reconnaissance units, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and sub-surface units to detect and gain access to data on the tactics of the mock enemy.

Earlier, Mousavi said the ‘Velayat 90’ drills improved the naval forces’ capabilities to respond to any possible chemical and biological warfare.
He noted that the war games were designed to prepare naval troops against any possible chemical warfare by using the latest domestically-produced equipment.
Admiral Mousavi also said the ten-day maneuvers helped the navy to keep a greater part of the Gulf of Aden under its radar surveillance for dispatching rescue missions or launching surface to sea missiles.
Meanwhile, Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said Iran’s Navy exercises had complete control over the Persian Gulf and constantly monitored the activities of trans-regional forces.
“The naval and air forces of the Navy tracked a trans-regional aircraft carrier that left the Persian Gulf area and entered the Sea of Oman,” he added.
Earlier, the Navy identified and recorded footage and images of a US aircraft carrier in the area where Iran was holding its navy military exercises.
Sayyari added that the identification of the US aircraft carrier proved Iran’s ability to control the region and monitor every movement.
Sayyari described monitoring the activities of trans-regional forces in the area of the ‘Velayat 90’ drill as one of the greatest achievements of navy commanders.

The Navy launched the 10-day Velayat 90 naval drills in late December and early January.
The war-games covered 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.