WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- In an effort to counter any U.S. attack on its nuclear facilities, last month Iran's intelligence services reportedly sent significant financial support to eight fundamentalist Islamist organizations across the Middle East.
The plan included providing funding for suicide operations against regional U.S. and British interests and their Arab and Muslim allies if Iran is attacked,London's Arabic-language Asharq Al-Awsat reported Friday.
The newspaper said Iranian experts in guerilla warfare developed the plan, codenamed al Qiyamah, or "Judgment Day." A senior source in the Iranian armed forces' joint chief of staff leaked the plan to Asharq Al-Awsat.
According to the informant, the Revolutionary Guards' al Quds, or Jerusalem, Brigades, under Brig. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, were responsible for coordinating and providing logistical support for the groups participating in the operation.
The source said, "Most of Iran's visitors in the last four months, including the leaders of revolutionary groups in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the heads of Hezbollah cells in the Persian Gulf and Europe and North America were asked when they met with the Iranian Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni Ezhei and his aides: are you ready to defend the Islamic revolution and the Rule of the Jurists [The Iranian theological system]? If you agree to take part in the great jihad, what would you need to be ready for the great fight?"
According to the source, an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would be followed by Iranian missile strikes on U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf and Iraq, and by suicide operations in Muslim countries against U.S. embassies, missions, military bases and economic and oil installations related to U.S. and British companies.
Iranian Basij and Revolutionary Guards allied with Iraqi fighters loyal to Iran would also attack U.S. and British forces in Iraq, the report said.
According to the source, if U.S. military intervention continued, then the al Quds Brigades would activate more than 50 terrorist cells in Canada, the United States and Europe to attack civil and industrial targets. The source ended by noting that the "final stage" of the plan might involve extremists attempting to maximize civilian casualties by using chemical and biological weapons as well as nuclear "dirty bombs" against western and Arab cities.
Azerbaijani Minister of Industry and Energy Natig Aliyev has said his country is unconcerned by Iranian threats that it might target U.S. regional energy projects in the event of a U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Aliyev said any assault on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, or BTC, main export oil pipeline would be ineffective. "The pipeline is 1,093 miles long. In the event of an attack, a small section of the pipe may be damaged and can be repaired," he told journalists
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov also dismissed Iranian threats against the $3.6 billion pipeline, saying, "I don't believe things will reach a point when military forces and missiles will have to be used. I am sure the whole world is against a new war. Everything will be done to resolve the crisis diplomatically."
President George W. Bush met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the White House Friday. After the meeting, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told a press briefing that the two nations would deepen their bilateral relations on the basis of democracy, security and diversification of energy sources.
The filling of the BTC pipeline has now reached the final pump station, PT4 in Turkey, which required an additional 1.6 million barrels of oil. Azerbaijani and Turkish government officials hope to load the first tanker with Azerbaijani oil in Ceyhan by the end of spring.
China's indigenous fighter program has taken a significant step forward with the test flight of its Xiaolong/FC-4 fighter.
The China Post Saturday quoted the China News Agency as saying that on Friday, four single-seat, single-engine Xiaolong/FC-4 fighters successfully completed their first maiden test flight in southwestern Sichuan province.
The Xiaolong/FC-4 fighter is equipped with Chinese-designed advanced avionics. According to Chinese specialists, the fighter's electronics array and weapon systems all functioned successfully.
The China Aviation Industry Corporation I, the Chengdu Aircraft Group Corp. and China Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation all jointly participated in the fighter's development. The successful test flight is the precursor to mass production of the aircraft. Unconfirmed reports state that that China's People Liberation Army Air Force has ordered 200 Xiaolong/FC-4s.
The Xiaolong series is a multi-purpose light fighter plane developed by the China Aviation Industry Corporation I, the Chengdu Aircraft Group Corp. and China Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation.
The Xiaolong/FC-4, or "Valiant Dragon," has been designed as a multipurpose light jet fighter with both air-to-air and ground attack capabilities and is based on previous models, the Xiaolong/FC-1 and. The plane's top speed is Mach 1.6 and the plane has a range of 750 miles.
Specialists believe that like many of China's advanced weapons systems, the Xiaolong/FC-4 is based on a Russian design. The Xiaolong/FC-4 is described by China as a "third generation" fighter jet, one generation behind the world's most advanced fighters.
According to experts, the Xiaolong/FC-4's advanced design, low cost and suitability for modern warfare make it highly suitable for export. A version of the Xiaolong/FC-4 known as the Joint Fighter-17 Thunder is being jointly manufactured with Pakistan's Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and about 150 are to be exported there later this year.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said China may participate in Russia's development of a new-generation fighter, but added that Chinese participation was a "long-term" prospect that had to surmount economic and legal obstacles.
In an apparent attempt to head off political unrest, the Kyrgyz government has established a new special forces unit.
Ferghana.Ru news agency reported on April 28 that the new unit consists of 50 special forces personnel. Kyrgyz government officials refused to confirm or deny the report.
Kyrgyz sources say the new unit is the brainchild of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's son Marat, who is currently serving in the National Security Service.
The new unit's personnel are drawn from the existing special forces of various security structures and include career officers and policemen from special assignment units with experience of combating terrorists. There are reports that the new force ran its first drill Saturday, using smoothbore light weapons with resin bullets and stun grenades.
