Iran conducts new missile tests defying US sanctions - By Arthur MacMillan -
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-conducts-fresh-ballistic-missile-tests-state-media-085935504.html
Iran conducted multiple ballistic missile tests Tuesday in what it said was a display of "deterrent power," defying US sanctions imposed earlier this year aimed at disrupting its missile program.
State media announced that short-, medium- and long-range precision guided missiles were fired from several sites to show the country's "all-out readiness to confront threats" against its territorial integrity.
Pictures of the launches were broadcast and reports said the armaments used had ranges of 300 kilometers (190 miles), 500 km, 800 km and 2,000 km.
The United States hit Iran with fresh sanctions on its missile program in January, 24 hours after separate sanctions related to Tehran's nuclear activities had been lifted under a landmark deal with world powers.
The latest tests, during an exercise named "The Power of Velayat", a reference to the religious doctrine of the Islamic republic's leadership, were undertaken by the Revolutionary Guards and its Aerospace wing.
Sepah News, the Guards' official media service, carried a statement confirming the tests, which come less than two weeks after elections in Iran delivered gains to politicians aligned with Hassan Rouhani, the country's moderate president.
The Revolutionary Guards report to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not Rouhani, and their influence dwarfs that of the army and other armed forces.
Ballistic missile tests have been seen as a means for Iran's military to demonstrate that the nuclear deal will have no impact on its plans, which is says are for domestic defense only.
Major General Ali Jafari, the Guards' top commander, and Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, spoke about the tests on television, with the latter downplaying the effect of US efforts to disrupt its activities.
"Our main enemies, the Americans, who mutter about plans, have activated new missile sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and are seeking to weaken the country's missile capability," Hajizadeh said.
"The Guards and other armed forces are defenders of the revolution and the country will not pay a toll to anyone... and will stand against their excessive demands."
Iran's ballistic missile program has been contentious since the nuclear deal with the United States and five other powers was struck in Vienna on July 14 last year.
- 'Destabilizing activities' -
On October 11, Tehran conducted the first of two ballistic missile tests which angered Washington. State television weeks later aired unprecedented footage of underground missile storage bunkers.
A UN panel said in December that the tests breached previous resolutions aimed at stopping Tehran from developing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Iran has always denied seeking an atomic weapon and argues that its missiles would never be designed to, nor ever carry, the bomb.
The nuclear deal was heralded by moderates such as Rouhani, who staked his reputation on the negotiations, but hardliners in Tehran said it damaged national interests.
Announcing the new missile sanctions on January 17, one day after the nuclear deal was implemented, US President Barack Obama said "profound differences" with Tehran remained over its "destabilizing activities".
Five Iranians and a network of companies based in the United Arab Emirates and China were added to an American blacklist.
The White House had first threatened to impose the measures in December but withdrew them after Rouhani hit out at both their timing and intent. Missiles were not part of the nuclear agreement.
Asked before the missile sanctions were announced how Iran would react to fresh measures against it, Rouhani said: "Any action will be met by a reaction."
Those measures came after four Iranian-Americans, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, left Tehran following their release in a prisoner swap with the United States. The exchange took place on the same day the nuclear deal came into force.
Iran's secret Christian movement grows, with help from abroad - http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/03/07/irans-secret-christian-movement-grows-with-help-from-abroad.html#
The number of Muslim converts who are risking prison or death by secretly worshipping as Christians in Iran's house church movement has grown to as many as 1 million people, according to watchdog groups.
The London-based Pars Theological Center is training at least 200 Iranian Christians to become the next generation of Iran's church leaders, the Christian Post reported.
The persecution of Christians has persisted in Iran since the 1979 rise of the country's theocratic Shiite Muslim government -- with Christians facing the threat of death, lashing and torture. About 100 Christians currently remain imprisoned under Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's rule.
In 2010, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country's underground house churches "threaten the Islamic faith and deceive young Muslims."
If they want to sing, they have to sing very quietly or not sing at all."
- Observer of Iranian "house" churches
Despite the crackdown, there is now a growing movement of Christians in the Islamic Republic. Groups like Open Doors USA estimate around 450,000 practicing Christians in the country, while other estimates record more than 1 million Christians in Iran.
"Pars sees this as a real chance to train agents of change who would transform the Iranian society from the bottom up by fostering a grassroots development of the values of Jesus in an Iranian style," a source close to the center told the Christian Post.
"It is not anti-Iranian," the source said. "It's an Iranian movement. It's a great, great number of Muslims turning to Christ."
The source also said that Iranian house churches consist only of about four to five members -- due to the threat of detection -- and that they are forced to their place of gathering every time they meet.
"If they want to sing, they have to sing very quietly or not sing at all," the source told the Post.
While Iran has released high-profile Christian pastors from captivity -- most notably Iranian American Saeed Abedini -- other Christian ministers still languish in the country's prisons.
Pastor Farshid Fathi has been locked up in Iran's notorious Evin prison since December 2010 for what the American Center for Law and Justice describes as practicing his Christian faith.
After bowing to international pressure, Iranian authorities are starting to avoid charges that appear to be based on a person's faith, according to the ACLJ. In Fathi's case, his Christian activity was framed as being "criminal political offenses" by the court.
The regime in Iran equated his activities as "actions against national security," based on evidence the pastor unlawfully distributed Bibles printed in Farsi, Iranians' language.
Another Christian minister, Pastor Behnam Irani, is serving six years in Ghezal Hezar prison for alleged "actions against the state," after he preached to a group of converted Christians in a house church as well as sharing his faith with Muslims.
But the widespread persecution hasn't stopped groups like Pars from expanding the Christian movement within the Islamic Republic.
The center, which was founded by Rev. Mehrdad Fatehi in 2010, works closely with several Iranian house church networks. About 70 percent of Pars' students live in Iran and are trained within the country, according to the Christian Post.
Iran's Tested Ballistic Missiles Adorned with Hebrew Message: Destroy Israel - http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/63312/irans-tested-ballistic-missiles-adorned-with-hebrew-message-destroy-israel-middle-east/#Kgw1xVt40DE8EFXX.97
"Thy tongue deviseth destruction; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully." Psalms 52:4 (The Israel Bible�)
The last time an Iranian official used Hebrew to communicate with Jews was Rosh Hashanah 5776, when President Hassan Rouhani wished a happy new year for the Jewish community all over the world. "May our shared Abrahamic roots deepen respect & bring peace & mutual understanding," Rouhani tweeted, ending his message with the Hebrew phrase "L'Shanah Tovah," meaning "May it be a good year."
This week, though, the Iranians used Hebrew in a radically different context: The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday fired 2 Iranian-made "Qadr H" ballistic missiles from the Eastern Alborz Mountains, as part of ongoing IRGC drills in Central Iran and elsewhere around the country. According to Fars, "One missile had a message written on it that said in Hebrew: 'Israel should be wiped off the Earth.'"
According to Israel Radio, the Hebrew message actually read: "Khayavim l'hashmid et Israel" - "Must destroy Israel," not wiping "off the Earth."
Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the IRGC said the missile firings are a firm response to the embargoes against Iran's missile defense program. "Our enemies have realized that broader sanctions and security pressures have had little impact on our capabilities. That's why they now seek to confine us in the missile field through economic sanctions," Jafari said.
He insisted that Iran's defense power and national security are non-negotiable, adding that the ballistic missile firings proved the IRGC's silos are operational. He further noted that "the security of Iran is the security of the region, and we will do our utmost to ensure our country's security."
Jafari then added, "It is the enemies of the Islamic Revolution and regional security that should be afraid of the IRGC missiles."
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