Iran changes missile strategy in bow to Gulf neighbors
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By Steve Rodan, Middle East Newsline
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, August 2, 2001
Iran has changed course in its missile development program.
Middle Eastern and Western defense sources said the Iranian Defense
Ministry appears to have slowed down development of its intermediate- and
long-range ballistic missiles amid delays by Russia to transfer required
components and technology. The sources said the Iranian focus has turned to
the development of short- and medium-range missiles with Chinese and North
Korean help.
"Iran's regime wants to lower tension, particularly in the Gulf," an
Arab diplomatic source, who confirmed the suspension of the Shihab-4
program, said. "The Iranians are confident and feel that if they wait they
will control the entire Persian Gulf without a fight. So, they want to
assuage such countries as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the most important
players in the Gulf Cooperation Council."
The new policy has been confirmed by Iranian defense sources. They told
the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily that the Iranian Defense Ministry
has been ordered to redraw its priorities regarding missile development and
production.
The orders to the ministry were to reduce the intermediate- and
medium-range missile programs such as the Shihab-3 and Shihab-4 and focus on
shorter-range missiles. The directives were attributed to foreign and
domestic considerations, particularly the fears the Shihab-class programs
have sparked in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
Western defense sources said the cutback in the Shihab missiles began
earlier this year when Russia reduced its help to several programs. The move
hurt the Shihab-4, a missile planned for a range of 2,400 kilometers and
based on the Russian SS-4.
The sources said Russia came under heavy U.S. pressure by both the
outgoing Clinton administration and the incoming Bush administration to end
the flow of technology to Shihab-4. Even in Israel, which had expressed
alarm over Russian help to Iranian missile programs, leading officials
acknowledged a change in policy by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"There are some steps being done by Russia to establish central
control," Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky said. "But it is far
from satisfactory."
The result, the sources said, has been a freeze in the Shihab-4, which
was planned for completion in 2002. Money allocated to the Shihab-4 was
redirected to shorter-range missiles, particularly the solid-fuel Fateh-110
rocket.
The future of the Shihab-3, however, is less clear. A U.S. defense
source said the missile, based on North Korea's No-Dong, continues to be
plagued by engine problems.
But Iranian sources told A-Sharq Al Awsat that a Shihab-3 test last
September was successful in proving that the missile can achieve its range
of at least 1,200 kilometers.
Iran, however, continues to develop missiles with increased help from
China and North Korea, the Western sources said. They said Iran has obtained
Chinese
help to produce the C-802 missile, with a range of 90 kilometers. The
missile is meant to protect Iran's coast and deter enemy ships in the
Straits of Hormuz.
Last week, the Bush administration acknowledged that China, despite a
pledge issued last year, continues to sell missile components and technology
to Iran. The issue was discussed by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in
his visit to Beijing last week.
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