{"id":7205,"date":"2017-03-18T12:31:09","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T17:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/?p=7205"},"modified":"2017-03-18T12:31:09","modified_gmt":"2017-03-18T17:31:09","slug":"irans-missile-production-program-in-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/7205\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s Missile Production Program in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Iran missile program must be stopped<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Heshmat Alavi<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

American Thinker, March 17, 2017<\/strong> – Looking for means to continue spreading havoc across the Middle East and maintain a grip on its dwindling influence across the region, new alarming reports indicate Iran is now digging dangerously deep to establish a long-term strategic foothold in Lebanon.
\nA senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) general has recently informed a Kuwaiti newspaper of the launching of rocket and missile factories for the Lebanese Hizb\u2019allah. To further raise eyebrows, these factories are reported to be over 50 meters underground, protected by layers of armored concrete in the face any possible Israeli airstrike.
\nThe al-Jarida daily ran a report on Monday quoting an IRGC deputy explaining how Iran in recent months has placed the final touches on manufacturing sites making Hizb\u2019allah capable of manufacturing missiles, rockets, and firearms. Mohammad Ali Jafari is the chief commander of the IRGC and yet the al-Jarida report did not specify which of his deputies exactly made the comments.
\nJust recently, Iranian Defense Ministher Hossein Dehghan <\/a>, himself a former IRGC brigadier general, boasted of Hizb\u2019allah currently establishing itself as an entity capable of producing missiles and rockets with a variety of ranges, including over 500 kilometers, and able to target any and all parts of Israel. Dehghan\u2019s comments did not go as far as to provide any specific details on Hizb\u2019allah\u2019s new capabilities.
\nReports indicate these new missiles include surface-to-surface, land-based anti-ship missiles that maybe replicas of China\u2019s C-802s, and torpedoes fired from light high-speed craft.
\nHowever, there are speculations about how the Lebanese Hizb\u2019allah is actually obtaining necessary materials, and going forward with the production of components described as sophisticated, and yet very necessary for the output of advanced weaponry. The truth is Iran itself is facing difficulties in ballistic and anti-ship missiles.
\nThe factories have reportedly been active for the past three months, with IRGC advisers and Lebanese experts trained in Tehran\u2019s Imam Hossein University stationed amongst its staff. The Imam Hossein University is used as a key training institution to prepare IRGC personnel for its most sensitive missions, including Iran\u2019s nuclear program, ballistic missile drive, and exporting terrorism abroad. Reports indicate hundreds of IRGC personnel and foreign elements have received training at the facility, especially on how to master techniques of rocket and missile manufacturing.
\nThese clandestine sites are said to be constructed deep underground, as Hizb\u2019allah continues to fear potential airstrikes. The multiple layers of defensive measures also reveal the distance Iran will go and the budget it is willing to allocate in its disastrous support for terrorism. No single facility in this network spread across Lebanon produces complete rockets or missiles. In fact, each site is designed for separate aspects of the ordinance needed which are then sent to a specific assembling facility to finalize the effort.
\nThis new initiative to establish indigenous rocket\/missile factories came after Israeli attacks against a weapons factory based in Sudan and various supply routes from Syria used by Iranian elements to transfer Iran-made rockets to Hizb\u2019allah.
\nAccording to Long War Journal, \u201c\u2026the Revolutionary Guard began building the factories in Lebanon \u2018after Israel destroyed an Iranian weapons factory in Sudan years ago which provided arms to Hezbollah\u2019 \u2013 likely referring to an Oct. 2012 air strike attributed to the Israelis on the Yarmouk weapons factory in Khartoum\u00a0 \u2013 \u2018and targeted weapons shipments to Hezbollah from Syria.\u2019\u201d
\nThe new underground facilities signal a significant advance in the capability enjoyed by Hizb\u2019allah to obtain more sophisticated rockets\/missiles and increase its dangerous stockpile like never before. The report indicate Hizb\u2019allah has been test-firing these rockets\/missiles and using such weapons in large numbers in its Syria campaign. The production of armor-piercing rounds and anti-tank missiles are amongst the most sensitive concerns.
\nThis trend has been an ongoing process for over a decade. Hizb\u2019allah\u2019s deputy chief Naim Qasem in late 2014 claimed the group had already acquired the capability to produce some of the components of rockets used in the 2006 war. Months later, Iran\u2019s export of missile production technology was confirmed by IRGC Air Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Hizb\u2019allah, Iran\u2019s proxy in Iraq, Syria, and Palestine, were the recipients of this technology. The latest developments add to the signs of Iran\u2019s widespread effort of making its proxies capable of practicing autonomous and domestic fighting tactics.
\nThis new development underscores the dangerous nature and depth of Iran\u2019s involvement in Syria, Lebanon and across the region. This further proves the correctness of CENTCOM chief General Joseph Votel\u2019s recent remarks at a Senate hearing describing how \u201cIran poses the great long-term threat to stability for this part of the world.\u201d
\nConsidering the fact that Iran also uses Syria as a ground link to provide arms and other logistics for Hizb\u2019allah, there is a need to fully implement measures stated by Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., on bring an end to Syria being a \u201csafe haven for terrorists\u201d and the necessity \u201cwe get Iran and their proxies out.\u201d
\nAlarming is also the fact how the nuclear deal sealed between six world powers and Iran has provided a windfall of billions of dollars for Tehran, money that should be used to benefit the Iranian people\u2019s interests.
\nThese latest reports of Iran launching underground rocket\/missile factories for Hizb\u2019allah in Lebanon highlight how Iran has taken advantage of a weak international position to this day to spread its support for terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, and how urgent measures are needed to bring an end to such lethal meddling across the Middle East. The first necessary step in this path is to designate Iran\u2019s IRGC according to its true identity: a foreign terrorist organization.
\nHeshmat Alavi is a political and rights activist. His writing focuses on Iran, ranging from human rights violations, social crackdown, the regime\u2019s support for terrorism and meddling in foreign countries, and the controversial nuclear program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Heshmat Alavi American Thinker, March 17, 2017 – Looking for means to continue spreading havoc across the Middle East and maintain a grip on […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-terrorism-fundamentalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7207,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7205\/revisions\/7207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}