Iran Begins Construction Of $300 Million Anti-Aircraft Missile Base, Upgrades ‘Conqueror’ Ballistic Missile

By Ron Friedman and AP, The Times of Israel – “Amid increasing talk of a possible Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities, Iran has begun construction of a new, state-of-the-art, anti-aircraft missile base.

The new base, located near the city of Abadeh, in southern Iran, will cost $300 million, be home to 6,000 personnel, and host seven battalions, Iran’s Fars news agency reported Tuesday.

The Deputy Commander of the Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base, Mohammad Hosseini, said the base, the largest of its kind in Iran, will also include one of the most important military training centers in the country.

Last month, a senior Iranian air defense commander asserted that all Iranian air defense units and systems are fully prepared to repel possible enemy air raids.

Also on Tuesday, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled an upgraded version of a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile just weeks after it was test-fired, Iranian state media reported.

At the ceremony unveiling the Fateh-110, or Conqueror, Ahmadinejad told a group of defense officials that Iran wants to advance its defense technology ‘not in an aggressive context, but as a deterrence.’…

The official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday that the new version of Fateh-110 has a quicker launch capability, a longer life and can be used in adverse weather conditions, but gave no other details. The missile has been in service in Iran over the past decade.” Read more.

Top Iran Official: If Israel Attacks, It Will Bring About Its Own ‘Annihilation’ – “An Israeli attack on Iran will lead to Israel’s ‘annihilation,’ a senior Iranian official told the country’s state-run TV station Press TV on Monday, ahead of the Non-Aligned Movement summit due to take place in Tehran later this month. The comment, by former head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Mohsen Rezaei, came after, last week, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s air force said that a possible Israeli airstrike against his country’s nuclear facilities is ‘welcome’ because it would give Iran a reason to retaliate and ‘get rid of’ the Jewish state ‘forever.'” Read more.