BBC: North Korean weapons are killing Ukrainians. The implications are far bigger

6 hours ago

By Jean Mackenzie,Seoul correspondent

BBCAn unusual-looking wreckage that hold many clues

On 2 January, a young Ukrainian weapons inspector, Krystyna Kimachuk, got word that an unusual-looking missile had crashed into a building in the city of Kharkiv. She began calling her contacts in the Ukrainian military, desperate to get her hands on it. Within a week, she had the mangled debris splayed out in front of her at a secure location in the capital Kyiv.

She began taking it apart and photographing every piece, including the screws and computer chips smaller than her fingernails. She could tell almost immediately this was not a Russian missile, but her challenge was to prove it.

Buried amidst the mess of metal and spouting wires, Ms Kimachuk spotted a tiny character from the Korean alphabet. Then she came across a more telling detail. The number 112 had been stamped onto parts of the shell. This corresponds to the year 2023 in the North Korean calendar. She realised she was looking at the first piece of hard evidence that North Korean weapons were being used to attack her country.

“We’d heard they had delivered some weapons to Russia, but I could see it, touch it, investigate it, in a way no-one had been able to do before. This was very exciting”, she told me over the phone from Kyiv.

Since then, the Ukrainian military says dozens of North Korean missiles have been fired by Russia into its territory. They have killed at least 24 people and injured more than 70.

For all the recent talk of Kim Jong Un preparing to start a nuclear war, the more immediate threat is now North Korea’s ability to fuel existing wars and feed global instability.

Ms Kimachuk works for Conflict Armament Research (CAR), an organisation that retrieves weapons used in war, to work out how they were made. But it wasn’t until after she had finished photographing the wreckage of the missile and her team analysed its hundreds of components, that the most jaw-dropping revelation came.

It was bursting with the latest foreign technology. Most of the electronic parts had been manufactured in the US and Europe over the past few years. There was even a US computer chip made as recently as March 2023. This meant that North Korea had illicitly procured vital weapons components, snuck them into the country, assembled the missile, and shipped it to Russia in secret, where it had then been transported to the frontline and fired – all in a matter of months.

“This was the biggest surprise, that despite being under severe sanctions for almost two decades, North Korea is still managing to get its hands on all it needs to make its weapons, and with extraordinary speed,” said Damien Spleeters, the deputy director at CAR.

Over in London, Joseph Byrne, a North Korea expert at the defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), was equally stunned.

“I never thought I would see North Korean ballistic missiles being used to kill people on European soil,” he said. He and his team at RUSI have been tracking the shipment of North Korean weapons to Russia ever since Mr Kim met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia in September of last year to strike a suspected arms deal.

Using satellite imagery, they have been able to observe four Russian cargo ships shuttling back and forth between North Korea and a Russian military port, loaded with hundreds of containers at a time.

In total RUSI estimates 7,000 containers have been sent, filled with more than a million ammunition shells and grad rockets – the sort that can be fired out of trucks in large volleys. Their assessments are backed up by intelligence from the US, UK and South Korea, though Russia and North Korea have denied the trade.

“These shells and rockets are some of the most sought-after things in the world today and are allowing Russia to keep pounding Ukrainian cities at a time when the US and Europe have been faltering over what weapons to contribute,” Mr Byrne said.

Buying and firing

But it is the arrival of ballistic missiles on the battlefield that has concerned Mr Byrne and his colleagues the most, because of what they reveal about North Korea’s weapons programme.

Since the 1980s North Korea has sold its weapons abroad, largely to countries in the North Africa and the Middle East, including Libya, Syria and Iran. They have tended to be old, Soviet-style missiles with a poor reputation. There is evidence that Hamas fighters likely used some of Pyongyang’s old rocket-propelled grenades in their attack last 7 October.

• Putin and Kim: Friends in need (of ammunition)
• What weapons are being supplied to Ukraine?
• What missiles has North Korea been testing?

But the missile fired on 2 January, that Ms Kimachuk took apart, was seemingly Pyongyang’s most sophisticated short-range missile – the Hwasong 11 – capable of travelling up to 700km (435 miles).

Although the Ukrainians have downplayed their accuracy, Dr Jeffrey Lewis, an expert in North Korean weapons and non-proliferation at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, says they appear to be not much worse than the Russian missiles.

The advantage of these missiles is that they are extremely cheap, explained Dr Lewis. This means you can buy more and fire more, in the hope of overwhelming air defences, which is exactly what the Russians appear to be doing.

This then raises the question of how many of these missiles the North Koreans can produce. The South Korean government recently observed North Korea has sent 6,700 containers of munitions to Russia, it says that Pyongyang’s weapons factories were operating at full-tilt, and Dr Lewis, who has been studying these factories through satellites, reckons they can churn out a few hundred a year.

Still reeling from their discovery, Mr Spleeters and his team are now trying to work out how this is possible, given that companies are banned from selling parts to North Korea.

Many of the computer chips that are integral to modern weapons, that guide them through the air to their intended targets, are the same chips that are used to power our phones, washing machines and cars, says Mr Spleeters.

These are being sold all over the world in staggering numbers. Manufacturers sell to distributors in their billions, who sell them on in their millions, meaning they often have no idea where their products end up.

Even so, Mr Byrne was frustrated to learn how many components in the missile had come from the West. It proved that North Korea’s procurement networks were more robust and effective than even he, who investigates these networks, had realised.

From his experience, North Koreans based overseas set up fake companies in Hong Kong or other central Asian countries to buy the items using predominantly stolen cash. They then send the products onto North Korea, usually over its border with China. If a fake company is discovered and sanctioned, another will quickly pop up in its place.

Sanctions have long been considered an imperfect tool to combat these networks, but to have any hope of working they need to be regularly updated and enforced. Both Russia and China have refused to impose new sanctions on North Korea since 2017.

By buying Pyongyang’s weapons, Moscow is now violating the very sanctions it once voted for as a member of the UN Security Council. Then earlier this year it effectively disbanded a UN panel that monitored sanctions breaches, likely to avoid scrutiny.

“We are witnessing the real-time crumbling of UN sanctions against North Korea, which buys Pyongyang a lot of breathing space”, Mr Byrne said.

All this has implications that reach far beyond the war in Ukraine.

“The real winners here are the North Koreans”, said Mr Byrne. “They have helped the Russians in a significant way, and this has bought them a tonne of leverage”.

In March, RUSI documented large amounts of oil being shipped from Russia to North Korea, while railcars filled with what are thought to be rice and flour have been spotted crossing the countries’ land border. This deal, thought to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, will boost not only Pyongyang’s economy, but its military.

Russia could supply the North with the raw materials to continue making its missiles, or even military equipment such a fighter jets, and – at the most extreme end – the technical assistance to improve its nuclear weapons.

Additionally, the North is getting the chance to test its latest missiles in a real-war scenario for the first time. With this valuable data, it will be able to make them better.

Pyongyang: A major missile supplier?

More troubling still is that the war is providing North Korea with a shop window to the rest of the world.

Now that Pyongyang is mass producing these weapons, it will want to sell them to more countries, and if the missiles are good enough for Russia, they will be good enough for others, said Dr Lewis – especially as the Russians are setting the example that it is okay to violate sanctions.

He predicts going forward that North Korea will become a big supplier of missiles to countries in the China-Russia-Iran bloc. In the wake of Iran’s assault on Israel this month, the US said it was “incredibly concerned” that North Korea could be working with Iran on its nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes.

“I see a lot of gloomy faces when we talk about this problem,” said Mr Spleeters. “But the good news is that now we know how reliant they are on foreign technology, we can do something about it”.

Mr Spleeters is optimistic that by working with manufacturers they can cut off North Korea’s supply chains. His team has already succeeded in identifying and shutting down an illicit network before it was able to complete a critical sale.

But Dr Lewis is not exactly convinced.

“We can make it harder, more inconvenient, maybe raise the cost, but none of this is going to prevent North Korea from making these weapons,” he said, adding that the West had ultimately failed in its attempt to contain the rogue state.

Now not only are its missiles a source of prestige and political power, but they are also generating it vast amounts of money, explains Dr Lewis. So why would Kim Jong Un ever give them up now?

D/C: https://mark3ds.wordpress.com/?s=korea

CNN: Russia and North Korea ‘actively advancing’ in arms negotiations, says US.

North Korea warns to expect more nuclear weapons in 2024

G&M: MPs from all parties urge government to set up foreign agent registry

Robert Fife Ottawa Bureau Chief

Seven Chase Senior parliamentary reporter

Dominic LeBlanc, the Public Safety Minister, says foreign agent registry legislation is ‘coming soon,’ along with other measures to combat foreign interference from hostile states.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

MPs from all parties in the House of Commons have joined a coalition of diaspora community groups in calling on the federal government to immediately table legislation setting up a foreign agent influence registry.

Coalition spokesperson Gloria Fung told a news conference Tuesday on Parliament Hill that diaspora groups have been waiting since 2021 for Ottawa to act.

“We are tired of empty promises. We need action now,” Ms. Fung said.

MPs from the Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Bloc Québécois and Green parties joined the community groups to voice their support for a registry for anyone working to influence governments, elections or citizens on behalf of a foreign power.

Failure to register could result in fines or jail sentences for foreign agents.

“There has to be a cost associated for any country that interferes with our democratic processes or our elections,” Liberal MP Ali Ehsassi said. Conservative MP Tom Kmiec added: “If you take money from a foreign government, you should have to register in Canada. It’s time to do it.”

The government has been working since last year on a package of reforms to deal with foreign interference. It includes a foreign agent registry and changes to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act, the Security of Information Act and the Criminal Code to make foreign interference an offence.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters Tuesday that foreign agent registry legislation is “coming soon,” as are other measures to combat foreign interference from hostile states.

“This is part of our ongoing effort to strengthen legislation with respect to foreign interference,” he said. “So I’m confident that the foreign influence registry will be part of a broader effort to strengthen legislation with respect to countering foreign interference.”

Bloc MP René Villemure said his party will table its own foreign agent legislation before June if the government does not get its act together.

The United States and Australia have already set up foreign agent registries, and Britain has a law on the books that will come into force later this year.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation used the 86-year-old Foreign Agents Registration Act last year to arrest Chinese agents suspected of trying to intimidate Chinese citizens in the U.S. – an activity that also appears to be taking place in Canada in so-called “police stations” operated by Beijing.

Previously, the FBI used the FARA law to pursue investigations into Russian agents suspected of involvement in election meddling and influence peddling in Washington after the 2016 U.S. election.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan, who has been targeted by Beijing for her criticism of China’s human-rights abuses, said the government needs to get the foreign agent registry up and running before the election expected next year.

The proposed registry has been opposed by some within the Chinese-Canadian community. Independent Senator Yuen Pau Woo, appointed to the upper house by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016, has argued that a foreign-influence registry could do more harm than good and could infringe on Canadians’ Charter rights.

Ms. Kwan accused Mr. Woo of promoting disinformation.

“This registry will protect everyone. It doesn’t matter what community you come from,” Ms. Kwan said. “We want every single Canadian to be protected. Without this registry that means those vulnerable communities could be targeted.”

Marcus Kolga, president of the Central and Eastern European Council in Canada, said we already have laws requiring lobbyists to register when they try to influence the government, so “shouldn’t we demand transparency from those who advance the aims of foreign regimes, specifically those like Russia, China, Iran and others.”

The registry will shine a light in the shadows where former diplomats, politicians, government officials and academics are paid to work on behalf of authoritarian regimes, Mr. Kolga said.

D/C: About time.!! WHY NOT!

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-csis-director-says-chinas-concerted-effort-to-steal-canadian

CSIS director says China’s concerted effort to steal Canadian technology is ‘mind-boggling’

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-chinese-ambassador-abruptly-ends-his-posting-in-canada

Foreign Affairs: China’s Alternative Order

And What America Should Learn From It

By Elizabeth Economy

May/June 2024 Published on April 23, 2

By now, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambition to remake the world is undeniable. He wants to dissolve Washington’s network of alliances and purge what he dismisses as “Western” values from international bodies. He wants to knock the U.S. dollar off its pedestal and eliminate Washington’s chokehold over critical technology. In his new multipolar order, global institutions and norms will be underpinned by Chinese notions of common security and economic development, Chinese values of state-determined political rights, and Chinese technology. China will no longer have to fight for leadership. Its centrality will be guaranteed.

To hear Xi tell it, this world is within reach. At the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs last December, he boasted that Beijing was (in the words of a government press release) a “confident, self-reliant, open and inclusive major country,” one that had created the world’s “largest platform for international cooperation” and led the way in “reforming the international system.” He asserted that his conception for the global order—a “community with a shared future for mankind”—had evolved from a “Chinese initiative” to an “international consensus,” to be realized through the implementation of four Chinese programs: the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative.

Outside China, such brash, self-congratulatory proclamations are generally disregarded or dismissed—including by American officials, who have tended to discount the appeal of Beijing’s strategy. It is easy to see why: a large number of China’s plans appear to be failing or backfiring. Many of China’s neighbors are drawing closer to Washington, and its economy is faltering. The country’s confrontational “Wolf Warrior” style of diplomacy may have pleased Xi, but it won China few friends overseas. And polls indicate that Beijing is broadly unpopular worldwide: A 2023 Pew Research Center study, for example, surveyed attitudes toward China and the United States in 24 countries on six continents. It found that only 28 percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of Beijing, and just 23 percent said China contributes to global peace. Nearly 60 percent of respondents, by contrast, had a positive view of the United States, and 61 percent said Washington contributes to peace and stability.

But Xi’s vision is far more formidable than it seems. China’s proposals would give power to the many countries that have been frustrated and sidelined by the present order, but it would still afford the states Washington currently favors with valuable international roles. Beijing’s initiatives are backed by a comprehensive, well-resourced, and disciplined operational strategy—one that features outreach to governments and people in seemingly every country. These techniques have gained Beijing newfound support, particularly in some multilateral organizations and from nondemocracies. China is succeeding in making itself an agent of welcome change while portraying the United States as the defender of a status quo that few particularly like.

Rather than dismissing Beijing’s playbook, U.S. policymakers should learn from it. To win what will be a long-term competition, the United States must seize the mantle of change that China has claimed. Washington needs to articulate and push forward its own vision for a transformed international system and the U.S. role within that system—one that is inclusive of countries at different economic levels and with different political systems. Like China, the United States needs to invest deeply in the technological, military, and diplomatic foundations that enable both security at home and leadership abroad. Yet as the country commits to that competition, U.S. policymakers must understand that near-term stabilization of the bilateral relationship advances rather than hinders ultimate U.S. objectives. They should build on last year’s summit between President Joe Biden and Xi, curtailing inflammatory anti-Chinese rhetoric and creating a more functional diplomatic relationship. That way, the United States can focus on the more important task: winning the long-term game.

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW

Beijing’s playbook begins with a well-defined vision of a transformed world order. The Chinese government wants a system built not just on multipolarity but also on absolute sovereignty; security rooted in international consensus and the UN Charter; state-determined human rights based on each country’s circumstances; development as the “master key” to all solutions; the end of U.S. dollar dominance; and a pledge to leave no country and no one behind.

This vision, in Beijing’s telling, stands in stark contrast to the system the United States supports. In a 2023 report, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed Washington was “clinging to the Cold War mentality” and “piecing together small blocs through its alliance system” to “create division in the region, stoke confrontation and undermine peace.” The United States, the report continued, interferes “in the internal affairs of other countries,” uses the dollar’s status as the international reserve currency to coerce “other countries into serving America’s political and economic strategy,” and seeks to “deter other countries’ scientific, technological and economic development.”

Finally, the ministry argued, the United States advances “cultural hegemony.” The “real weapons in U.S. cultural expansion,” it declared, were the “production lines of Mattel Company and Coca-Cola.”

Beijing claims that its vision, by contrast, advances the interests of the majority of the world’s people. China is center stage, but every country, including the United States, has a role to play. At the 2024 Munich Security Conference in February, for example, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China and the United States are responsible for global strategic stability. China and Russia, meanwhile, represent the exploration of a new model for major-country relations.

China and the European Union are the world’s two major markets and civilizations and should resist establishing blocs based on ideology. And China, as what Wang called the “largest developing country,” promotes solidarity and cooperation with the global South to increase its representation in global affairs.

China’s vision is designed to be compelling for nearly all countries. Those that are not democracies will have their choices validated. Those that are democracies but not major powers will gain a greater voice in the international system and a bigger share of the benefits of globalization. Even the major democratic powers can reflect on whether the current system is adequate for meeting today’s challenges or whether China has something better to offer. Observers in the United States and elsewhere may roll their eyes at the grandiose phrasing, but they do so at their peril: dissatisfaction with the current international order has created a global audience more amenable to China’s proposals than might have existed not long ago.

D/C: Certainly China has been buying huge amounts of gold to get off their dependency on the dollar, But also they need to get American’s a little on side to aid their exports, as their economy is a problem right now!

CNN: Choose between stability and ‘downward spiral,’ China tells Blinken during Beijing trip

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/25/world/stability-spiral-china-blinken-intl-hnk/index.html

US long-range missiles to Ukraine reignites German debate

Dmytro Hubenko1 hour ago

The US has said it secretly delivered long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. This has opened new discussion in Germany over providing Taurus cruise missiles, a move the German chancellor continues to oppose.

The announcement by the US on Wednesday that it had already provided Ukraine with long-range missiles reopened an ongoing debate in Germany over the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces. 

The US weapons system, called Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), has a range of up to 300 kilometers (180 miles).

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, along with the majority of German lawmakers, have repeatedly refused to send Ukraine long-range Taurus weapons system, arguing that doing so would bring Germany into direct conflict with Russia. 

On Wednesday at a press conference alongside UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Scholz reiterated his opposition to providing Taurus missiles. 

“My decision will not change,” Scholz said, hours before the US disclosed it had quietly delivered ATACMS as part of an assistance package in March.

An unnamed senior US defense official on Thursday told reporters that delivering Taurus was up to Germany, but that given the US decision on supplying ATACMS, and similar decisions in London and Paris to provide long-range cruise missiles, “we would certainly hope that this could be a factor,” on persuading Germany to change its mind. 

‘It’s time’ to send Taurus to Ukraine, says CDU opposition

Chancellor Scholz’s position has drawn harsh criticism from the conservative opposition CDU/CSU bloc. Others in his ruling coalition, namely the environmentalist Greens and the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), are also in favor of sending the weapons.

“From my point of view, this is a very long-range weapon,” Scholz told lawmakers in March. “Given the significance of not losing control over targets, this weapon could not be used without the deployment of German soldiers.” 

Scholz again rules out sending Taurus missiles

04:27

Johann Wadephul, CDU deputy chairman in the German parliament responsible for foreign affairs and defense, said his party had been campaigning for months for the delivery of Taurus to Ukraine, but has so far failed to convince Scholz.

“It’s now really the time to send Taurus because they are comparable to the ATACMS systems sent from the US, and they are very much needed in Ukraine,” Wadephul told DW.

The Taurus missiles can make a difference, the politician said. “They have a little bit longer range than the American systems, and they are able to reach their their aims in a very sophisticated way,” he said.

The Taurus missile can hit targets at a range of 500 kilometers (300 miles)Image: Leonhard Simon/Getty Images

The Taurus KEPD-350 missile is considered one of the Bundeswehr’s most modern weapon systems.

The missile, fired from the air by fighter jets, travels at almost the speed of sound and can strike targets as far as 500 kilometers (310 miles) away.

“It’s not a silver bullet but Ukraine needs to really go deeper, strike deeper into the Russian head ground,” Wadephul said.

Asked about Scholz’s refusal to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine, Wadephul criticized the chancellor’s “stubborn position.”

“To stop a person like [Russian President Vladimir Putin], you need strengths, you need clearness and you need the will to win,” he said.

How important are ATACMS missiles to Ukraine?

Yesterday, a US official said that the long-range ATACMS missiles were used for the first time on April 17 in a strike on a Russian airfield in occupied Crimea, about 65 kilometers (103 miles) from the Ukrainian front lines.

While the precision strikes behind Russian lines can make some Russian positions more vulnerable, the overall strategic value is limited, as Ukraine needs air defense systems to defend against Russian strikes on critical infrastructure, according to Marina Miron, from the Department of War Studies at London’s King’s College.

Miron told DW that ATACMS is an offensive weapon that is well-suited for destroying specific hard targets, such as command posts.

“But given small number of missiles that Ukraine has, they will have to choose the targets very carefully,” Miron added.

She cautioned that ATACMS is only one part of a “very long equation” and Ukrainians continue to lack other essential equipment like artillery shells and air defense systems.

“While Ukraine will try to orchestrate those surgical attacks using the small number of ATACAMS they have at their disposal, the Russians will be pounding critical Ukrainian infrastructure with impunity because Ukraine does not have the necessary air defenses,” she said.

“I don’t think these ATACAMS will change the battlefield dynamics dramatically,” she added

Bundestag votes against Taurus missiles for Kyiv

Written with material from AFP news agency

D/C: I know that most journalists are not mathematicians but

” in a strike on a Russian airfield in occupied Crimea, about 65 kilometers (103 miles) from the Ukrainian front lines.”

But 65K is only about 43 miles .. however 103k is about 65 miles .. press really needs to get this right!!!!

However and more importantly the Russian RT press is almost going ballistic about the American missiles to the point that it is very worrisome. More chess?

SCMP: Satellite photos suggest apparent Israeli attack on Iran hit radar for Russian-made air defence battery

• Strike on a S-300 radar would send message about Israeli ability to strike sensitive targets
• Iran has played down last Friday’s attack, describing it as just a series of small drones

Associated Press

Published: 1:17pm, 23 Apr 2024

Satellite photos suggest an apparent Israeli retaliatory strike targeting Iran’s central city of Isfahan hit a radar system for a Russian-made air defence battery, contradicting repeated denials by officials in Tehran of any damage in the assault.

The strike on an S-300 radar in what appears to have been a very limited strike by the Israelis would represent far more damage done than in the massive drone-and-missile attack Iran unleashed against Israel on April 13.

That may be why Iranian officials up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have been trying to dismiss discussing what the attack actually did on Iranian soil.

Analysts believe both Iran and Israel, regional arch-rivals locked in a shadow war for years, now are trying to dial back tensions following a series of escalatory attacks between them as the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip still rages and inflames the wider region.

Burn marks surround what analysts identify as a radar system in Isfahan, Iran. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP

But a strike on the most advanced air defence system Iran possesses and uses to protect its nuclear sites sends a message, experts say.

“This strike shows Israel has the ability to penetrate Iran’s air defence systems,” said Nicole Grajewski, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment’s nuclear policy programme who wrote a forthcoming book on Russia and Iran. “The precision of it was quite remarkable.”

The satellite images by Planet Labs PBC taken Monday morning near Isfahan’s dual-use airport and air base, some 320km (200 miles) south of Tehran, showed an area nearby that served as a deployment point for the air defence system.

Burn marks sit around what analysts including Chris Biggers, a consultant former government imagery analyst, previously had identified as a “flap-lid” radar system used for the S-300.

Less-detailed satellite images taken after Friday showed similar burn marks around the area, though it wasn’t clear what was at the site.

Biggers said other components of the missile system appeared to have been removed from the site – even though they provide defensive cover for Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.

“That’s a powerful statement, given the system, the location, and how they use it,” Biggers wrote.

On Friday, air defences opened fire and Iran grounded commercial flights across much of the country. Officials in the aftermath sought to play down the attack, trying to describe it as just a series of small drones flying through the sky.

A Russian-made S-300 air defence system. File photo: AP

“What happened … was not a strike,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian claimed in an interview with NBC News. “They were more like toys that our children play with – not drones.”

In the attack’s aftermath, however, Iraqis found what appeared to be remnants of surface-to-air missiles south of Baghdad.

That, coupled with a suspected Israeli strike on a radar station in Syria the same day, suggests Israeli fighter jets flew over Syria into Iraq, then fired so-called “stand-off missiles” into Iran for the Isfahan attack.

Small, shorter-range drones may have been launched as well – Israel has been able to launch sabotage attacks and other missions inside of Iran.

Still, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani repeated Tehran’s denial Monday.

“Relevant authorities have announced that this harassment attack has caused no damage whatsoever and Iran’s defensive system have carried out their duties,” Kanaani told journalists at a briefing. “Therefore in our opinion this issue is not worthy of addressing.”

The remains a ballistic missile fired by Iran on April 13 and intercepted by Israel, landing on the shore of the Dead Sea. Photo: AP

The S-300 and their years-delayed delivery to Iran show the challenge Tehran faces in getting any foreign-made advance weapon systems into the country. Russia and Iran initially struck a US$800 million deal in 2007, but Moscow suspended their delivery three years later because of strong objections from the United States and Israel.

After Iran reached its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Russia unfroze the deal and is believed to have given Iran four sets of an export variant of the S-300.

The relationship between Iran and Russia has deepened in recent years. Moscow relies heavily on Iran’s bomb-carrying Shahed drones to target sites across Ukraine as part of its war on the country. Those same drones featured in the Islamic Republic’s attack on Israel.

Tehran meanwhile has made repeated comments over recent years about trying to obtain Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia to improve its decades-old fighter fleet.

In September, a Russian-made YAK-130 combat trainer aircraft entered service in Iran. That model can be used to train pilots for the Su-35.

Russia now has the S-400, but the S-300 which has a range of up to 200km and the capability to track down and strike multiple targets simultaneously, remains one of the most-potent air defence weapons in the world. The batteries can be used to shoot down missiles as well as aircraft.

Iran likely needs Russian assistance to repair the damaged radar – and will seek newer weapons as well as time goes on, Grajewski said.

“Iran wants new weapons from Russia all the time – to try to show that it’s not so isolated,” she said.

D/C: My gosh Russia will be so busy in Ukraine, Africa, Middle East, plus all it’s spying in Northern Europe, Baltics , Balkans, election interference everywhere etc. !!!

DW: Iran’s president woos Pakistani premier amid Israel tensions

S. Khan in Islamabad14 hours ago

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s trip to Pakistan gains significance against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the Middle East as Iran and Israel continue to exchange blows

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (l) and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (r) had a “vibrant discussion” on advancing bilateral relations, said IslamabadImage: Uncredited/Prime Minister Office/AP/dpa/picture allianc

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Pakistan‘s capital Islamabad on Monday for a three-day official visit, as the two Muslim-majority neighbors seek to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes earlier this year. 

“The Iranian president is accompanied by his spouse and a high-level delegation,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, adding that the group also included the foreign minister, other cabinet members and senior officials.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said both leaders had a “vibrant discussion” on advancing bilateral relations.

They also “agreed on the necessity for joint efforts by both countries to combat terrorism,” it added.

Before leaving Tehran, Raisi had said the “discussions with the government of Pakistan will be on the border issues between the two countries.”Pakistan strikes alleged militant hideouts in Iran

A challenging border security situation

Pakistan, a Sunni-majority country, and Iran , predominantly Shiite, have a history of rocky relations.

Tensions between the two countries heightened at the start of this year following deadly cross-border strikes.

Iran launched airstrikes against suspected insurgents in Pakistani territory in January. Tehran said it targeted the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, which it holds responsible for several attacks on civilians and soldiers in Iran.

Pakistan retaliated with an attack on an Iranian village near the city of Saravan, saying that it was targeting fighters of the separatist Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).

Both Jaish al-Adl and the BLF are militant separatist groups fighting for the independence of Balochistan, a mineral-rich region that spans the Iran-Pakistan border. The BLF does not have religious inclinations.

The Pakistani province of Balochistan forms the largest part of the region, followed by the provinces of Sistan and Balochistan on the Iranian side.

The region is sparsely populated by some 9 million Balochs, who are organized into tribes rather than feeling that they belong to a state.

Efforts for autonomy or independence have been violently suppressed on both sides of the border for decades.

In recent years, Balochs have become increasingly vocal, accusing both governments of systematic discrimination and plundering their region.

Several groups of militant insurgents have carried out attacks on both sides of the border, afterwards retreating into the neighboring country across the 900-kilometer-long (559-mile-long) border, which is difficult to navigate and control.

Iran, Pakistan seek to cool tensions

Following the cross-border strikes, Iran and Pakistan agreed to cool tensions and improve security ties. 

As part of the rapprochement, they agreed to fight terrorism within their respective territories and establish a system of consultations at the level of the foreign ministers to oversee progress across sectors.

Ahsan Raza, a Lahore-based political analyst, believes that Raisi’s trip is meant to repair bilateral relations. The visit also gains significance, he said, against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the Middle East after Tehran recently launched a retaliatory strike against Israel which involved over 300 drones and missiles. 

Even though Raisi’s trip to Pakistan had been planned before the recent escalation of tension between Iran and Israel, observers in Pakistan say Iran is now under increased pressure to bolster ties with countries in the region as the West tightens sanctions on Tehran.

Muhammad Akram, a former Pakistani senator, said Tehran is seeking Islamabad’s moral and diplomatic backing amid the tense geopolitical landscape.

Iran has good ties with China, Russia and some Central Asian states, Akram pointed out, noting that Tehran also wants Pakistan to join this list of friendly nations.

Talat A. Wizarat, an international relations expert in Karachi, echoes this view.

“Iran would definitely want Pakistan to support Tehran politically and diplomatically. If that is not possible, then the Iranians would want Pakistan to avoid being part of any anti-Iranian move or plan,” he told DW.

Pakistan reliant on US, Saudi help

Islamabad, however, has historically been closer to Tehran’s rivals, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Pakistan has also been in a state of grave economic turmoil.

Sharif’s government is currently seeking another bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to tackle the country’s acute balance-of-payments crisis.

In the current situation, it will be tough for Islamabad to extend any support to Iran, said Naeem Khalid Lodhi, a former defense secretary.

Pakistan is heavily reliant on US-dominated international financial institutions for assistance, Lodhi told DW.

“That’s why Pakistan won’t be able to support Iran in the current tense Middle Eastern situation, for fear of infuriating Washington, which has helped Pakistan secure loans from the institutions.”

Can Pakistan build the Iran gas pipeline?

Raisi has said the visit is also aimed at boosting overall trade between Iran and Pakistan, which currently stands at around $2.5 billion (€2.35 billion) a year.

One of the countries’ high-profile joint projects is a stalled gas supply deal , signed in 2010, in which the neighbors agreed to build a pipeline from Iran’s South Fars gas field to Pakistan’s southern provinces of Balochistan and Sindh.

Despite Pakistan’s need for gas, Islamabad has yet to begin construction of its part of the pipeline, citing fears over US sanctions.

Iran is now threatening Pakistan with legal action if it fails to build the Pakistani section of the pipeline.

Faced with the possibility of contract breach penalties running into the billions of dollars, Islamabad recently gave the go-ahead for construction of an 80-kilometer (50-mile) stretch of the pipeline.

But following the Pakistani announcement, the US said it did not support the project. Washington also warned about the risk of sanctions when doing business with Tehran.

Pakistan’s Air Force says it has hypersonic-capable missiles

BBC: Iran admits carrying out deadly strike on Pakistan territory

ARAB NEWS: Pakistan launches retaliatory airstrikes in Iran after attack by Tehran

D/C: Hmm? Just peace talks? Do not forget China and India in the Pakistani equation.

https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-protests-erroneous-us-sanctions-on-chinese-firms-over-missile-program-allegations/7578280.html

DW: Iran’s activities ‘raising eyebrows,’ IAEA’s Grossi tells DW

1 hour ago

Grossi has maintained that the IAEA seeks dialogue with Iran

Tehran’s enrichment of uranium and a lack of access to international monitors fuel suspicions about its nuclear activities. But the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says he remains committed to dialog.

Iran is “weeks rather than months” away from having enough enriched uranium to develop a nuclear bomb, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi told DW.

“But that does not mean that Iran has or would have a nuclear weapon in that space of time,” he added.

He said while enrichment at near-military levels is a cause for alarm, one cannot draw the direct conclusion that Iran now has a nuclear weapon. 

“A functional nuclear warhead requires many other things independently from the production of the fissile material, in this case, the uranium, including perhaps being tested,” Grossi said.

He also said Iran’s objectives are “a matter of speculation.” 

The Iranian public line is that this material is needed for medical or civilian purposes. 

08:54

IAEA still seeking more access in Iran

Grossi said the IAEA was not getting the level of access he believes it needs in Iran, which he said added more to the speculation around its nuclear activity. 

“I have been telling my Iranian counterparts time and again… this activity raises eyebrows, and compounded with the fact that we are not getting the necessary degree of access and visibility that I believe should be necessary,” he said. 

“So when you put all of that together, then of course you end up with lots of question marks.”

Grossi highlighted unresolved IAEA findings, including traces of enriched uranium in unexpected locations, exacerbating doubts about Iran’s transparency.

“This has been at the center of this dialogue that I have been and I am still trying to conduct with Iran.” 

D/C: Good luck on the dialogue. These talks have been going on for how many years??!! Do not forget North Korea’s co-operation with Iran since before 2015.

RT: (Russia): NATO ‘one step away’ from sending troops to Ukraine – Orban

The conflict could drag Europe “into its depths,” the Hungarian prime minister has warned

FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban ©  Global Look Press / Meng Dingbo

The leaders of the EU and NATO are potentially ready to deploy forces to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed on Friday. Brussels sees the conflict between Moscow and Kiev as its “own” and is failing to consider the risks arising from its ever-deeper involvement, he warned.

The mood of EU leaders is “one of war,” Orban told a gathering of his Fidesz Party ahead of the EU Parliament elections. “There is a pro-war majority in Brussels today,” he said, adding that the bloc’s politics “are dominated by the logic of war.” EU politicians are already so invested in the conflict that they fail to see the flaws in their strategy, the prime minister argued.

Despite all the “money and weapons, the situation is not improving [for Kiev], in fact, it is getting worse… We are one step away from the West sending troops to Ukraine,” Orban warned. “This is a vortex of war that can drag Europe into its depths. Brussels is playing with fire.”

Budapest will not let itself be dragged into the hostilities, and “will not enter… the war on either side,” the prime minister pledged, adding that his country “must stand for peace” everywhere, including in “Brussels, Washington, the UN and NATO.”

“We don’t want war, and we don’t want Hungary to become a toy of great powers again,” Orban stated.

The idea of sending NATO troops to Ukraine has been repeatedly floated by Western leaders. French President Emmanuel Macron first raised it in February, saying “all options are possible.”

Macron has since doubled down, stating that there are “no limits” to support for Kiev. His words initially alarmed some NATO allies, who quickly denied having such plans. However, the French leader did receive backing from certain members of the US-led military bloc.

In March, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Russia’s military operation in Ukraine requires an “asymmetric escalation” on the part of the West. Warsaw’s top diplomat also called the idea of a NATO presence in Ukraine “not unthinkable.”

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said earlier in April that every NATO member already has military personnel in Ukraine operating as advisers or instructors. Last week, former British minister of state for the armed forces James Heappey told Sky News that sending NATO forces to Ukraine did “deserve consideration.”

Moscow has repeatedly warned that deploying NATO troops in Ukraine would bring the US-led bloc to the brink of a full-blown conflict with Russia. President Vladimir Putin stated in March that it would be “one step shy of a full-scale World War III..

D/C: Russia doubling up on it’s threats. Boy does Putin like to play chess!!

https://mark3ds.wordpress.com/?s=hungary

POLITIC0; Germany’s Baerbock chides Orbán and Serbia in fiery remarks

https://mark3ds.wordpress.com/2021/04/30/the-blob-is-back-and-youre-going-to-be-in-trouble/

Arab News: Israeli missiles hit site in Iran in apparent retaliatory attack

Breaking News

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A handout picture provided by the Iranian Army media office on October 28, 2023 shows missiles being launched during a military drill in the Isfahan province in central Iran. Iranian media have reported huge explosions in Isfahan, presumably from an Israeli missile attack. (AFP/File photo)

Breaking News

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Israel’s military displays on April 14, 2024, an Iranian ballistic missile retrieved from the Dead Sea after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel the night before. (REUTERS/File Photo)

Breaking News

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A ballistic missile lies on the shore of the Dead Sea after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel late on April 13, 2024. (REUTERS/File Photo)

https://arab.news/5k8nh

• Drones shot down over Isfahan: Iranian state television
• Israel military refuses to comment on incident 

Updated 8 sec ago

April 19, 2024 05:00

DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Israeli missiles have hit a site in Iran, ABC News reported late on Thursday, citing a US official, while Iranian state media reported an explosion in the center of the country, days after Iran launched a retaliatory drone strike on Israel.

Commercial flights began diverting their routes early Friday morning over western Iran without explanation as one semiofficial news agency in the Islamic Republic claimed there had been “explosions” heard over the city of Isfahan.

Some Emirates and Flydubai flights that were flying over Iran early on Friday made sudden sharp turns away from the airspace, according to flight paths shown on tracking website Flightradar24.

“Flights over Isfahan, Shiraz and Tehran cities have been suspended,” state media reported.

Israel had said it would retaliate against Iran’s weekend attack, which involved hundreds of drones and missiles in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria. Most of the Iranian drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory.

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported on the sound of explosions over Isfahan near its international airport. It offered no explanation for the blast.

Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Isfahan, Isome 350 kilometers (215 miles) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran, is also home to a major air base for the Iranian military.

An Iranian official later told Reuters that the explosions heard in Isfahan were a result of the activation of Iran’s air defence systems, adding that no missile attack was carried out against Iran.

Iran’s local media also reported that nuclear facilities in Isfahan were “completely secure” after explosions were heard near the area.

“Nuclear facilities in Isfahan province are completely secure,” Tasnim news agency reports, quoting “reliable sources.”

Unconfirmed posts on social media were saying at least seven Iranian cities were hit by strikes.

Iran’s government offered no immediate comment. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The state-run IRNA news agency reported that Iran fired air defense batteries early Friday morning across several provinces after reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan.

It did not elaborate on what caused the batteries to fire, though people across the area reported hearing the sounds.
The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported the sound of blasts, without giving a cause. State television acknowledged “loud noise” in the area.

Hossein Dalirian, a spokesman for Iran’s civilian space program, said on the X social media platform that several small “quadcopter” drones had been shot down. It wasn’t immediately clear where that happened or if it was part of the ongoing incident in Iran.

Meanwhile in Iraq where a number of Iranian-backed militias are based, residents in Baghdad reported hearing sounds of explosions, but the source of the noise was not immediately clear.

In Syria, a local activist group said strikes hit an army position in the south of the country Friday. 

“There were strikes on a Syrian army radar position,” said Rayan Maarouf, who runs the Suwayda24 anti-government website that covers news from Sweida province in the south.

Iranian military positions in Syria had been frequently targetted by Israeli air strikes over the past years. Early this month, an Israeli strike demolished a consular building annex of the Iranian Embassy in Sydia’s capital Damascus, killing 13 people, including two generals of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, triggering the Iranian missiles and drones attack on Israel on April 13.

At the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, Iran urged member nations that Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests” as the UN secretary-general warned that the Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.”

Israel had said it was going to retaliate against Iran’s April 13 missile and drone attack.

Analysts and observers have been raising concerns about the risks of the Israel-Gaza war spreading into the rest of the region.

Oil prices and jumped on the reports of the Israeli strike. Brent crude futures rose 2 percent to $88.86 a barrel, the dollar gained broadly, gold rose 1 percent and S&P 500 futures dropped 1 percent.

Israel’s assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s military offensive has killed over 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local health ministry.
Iran-backed groups have declared support for Palestinians, launching attacks from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.

D/C: Hope this does not spiral out of control

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-middle-east-68830092?src_origin=BBCS_BBC

https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-04-18-24/index.html

New Norwegian Long Term Plan on Defence: ‘A historic plan’

https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/et-historisk-forsvarsloft-for-a-trygge-norge/id3032878

Press release | Date: 05/04/2024

The Norwegian Government is proposing to parliament a historic increase in defence spending with 600 billion kroner over the next 12 years, from this year to 2036 (approx. 60 billion USD). It is a historic boost for the Armed Forces. All services of the Norwegian Armed Forces will be strengthened, with more personnel and new capabilities.

‘Providing security for the people of Norway is the Government’s most fundamental task. We need a defence that is fit for purpose in the emerging security environment. This plan represents a historic boost in defence spending, and involves a significant strengthening of all branches of the Armed Forces’, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

The Norwegian Government is proposing to parliament a historic increase in defence spending with 600 billion kroner over the next 12 years, from this year to 2036 (approx. 60 billion USD). Credit: Torbjørn Kjosvold / Ministry of Defence.

The Norwegian Government propose to spend a total of NOK 1624 billion on Norway’s defence over the next twelve years, until 2036. By then, the defence budget will be almost twice as large as it is today, measured in real value.

‘Norway is a maritime nation with a strong maritime legacy. The Government commits to strengthening the Navy, with new frigates, submarines and other vessels. The plan also involves a robust air defence package, including Norway’s first long-range air defence system. We will also strengthen the land forces by expanding the Army from one to three brigades and increasing the Home Guard to a total of 45,000 soldiers’, Støre says.

‘As our security environment is deteriorating, we need to spend more on and pay more attention to defence and preparedness. Norway is in a unique position to take action. Our model of securing income for society from our natural resources, enable us to increase national security spending, without a cut in people’s public services’, says Minister of Finance, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum. He adds: ‘Our proposed defence investments will benefit the whole country in several ways. When we spend so much on defence, it must be in a way which creates Norwegian jobs and investments.’

The Government will prioritise the following main areas:

• Improve the current defence structure: Improve current and critical deficiencies, including an increase in stocks of munitions and materiel, maintain buildings and important infrastructure, increase reception capacity for allied reinforcements and employ more people.
• Invest in the people of the Armed Forces: Before 2036, the Government plans for around 4,600 more conscripts, 13,700 more reservists and 4,600 more employees, and a major boost in competence.
• A strong maritime package: The Navy will get a minimum of five new frigates with anti-submarine helicopters, at least five new submarines, and a standardised vessel class of up to ten large and eighteen smaller vessels. In terms of money, the strengthening of the Navy is the largest investment in this long-term plan.
• More and improved air defence: The Government will purchase long-range air defence systems to protect against short-range ballistic missiles. In addition, the quantity of the existing NASAMS air defence will be doubled, which will be upgraded to improve protection against drones and missiles. Both the Air Force and the Army will receive more systems, and the current air defence systems will be updated.
• Stronger Army and Home Guard: The Army is being developed from one to three brigades, one in the northernmost county Finnmark, one in Troms, and a new Brigade South. Investments will follow on long-range precision firepower, additional combat vehicles, air defence, and helicopters for the Army and special forces. The Home Guard will increase to a total of 45,000 soldiers and with improved capabilities.
• Improve situational awareness: Increase the ability to create situational awareness with more surveillance, presence, and control in our surrounding areas, through the use of new vessels and the expansion of satellite and drone capabilities.

‘Norway is no threat to anyone, nor is NATO. But we must have the capability to defend ourselves if crisis and war occur. A stronger national defence will contribute to deter those who might wish to threaten our sovereignty,’ says Støre.

‘We must have a military focused on active conflict prevention every day and yet prepared to handle conflict. Increased activity requires more personnel. Our Armed Forces will be strengthened with over 20,000 conscripted soldiers, employees, and reservists in total,’ says Minister of Defence Bjørn Arild Gram.

The Government will implement a historic strengthening of the Armed Forces. To succeed, multiple efforts must be implemented simultaneously. Addressing critical deficiencies in today’s defence is a prerequisite for further growth.

‘We need to invest in infrastructure, not just for today’s defence but also for a defence set for growth. We need to increase educational capacity to meet the need for more personnel, and we must allocate enough funds to replenish the emergency stockpiles. This is essential to avoid ending up with an imbalanced force structure, where vessels are docked, and aircraft are parked,’ says Gram.

The long-term plan will require significant resources, more employees, and large investments. Therefore, the Government is presenting a plan for the next twelve years.

‘The plan commits this Government, future governments, and the Parliament over time. It provides predictability and long-term stability for people and investments in the Armed Forces, and this commitment sends an important signal to our allies and others,’ says Prime Minister Støre.

The Nordics in NATO

Norwegian security is dependent on NATO and our close allies. Strengthened capability to receive allied reinforcements throughout the Nordic region, and the ability to operate together with allied forces, including Sweden and Finland, is crucial. Through the initiatives in the long-term plan, the Government aims to meet key NATO capability targets.

’75 years in the world’s strongest military and political alliance has secured the peace and provided Norway’s security guarantee. Finnish and Swedish NATO membership is a strength to security in our region, but also a new obligation to Norway. We must rapidly transform from not just a receiving country of allied reinforcements but also a transit and contributing ally to the defence and security of the entire Nordic and Baltic region,’ says Defence Minister Gram.

A call for a political settlement

In recent months, the Government has had close contact and meetings with the parliamentary leaders of the parties in Parliament and with the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.

‘The Government thanks for the constructive dialogue with all parties, and invites the Parliament to a broad political settlement on this historic plan. It is of great importance that we stand together in safeguarding Norway,’ says Støre.

D/C: The war is on their doorstep. We need to do much more and spend much more to help!! Way to go Norway.