Russia: Threat from U.S. still 'relevant'
MOSCOW, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Russia's chief military officer said U.S. interceptor missiles deployed in Central Europe may trigger Russia's automated missile warning systems if launched.
Gen. Yury Baluyevsky said the flight patterns and shape of interceptor missiles are similar to intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The United States said it would like to deploy a interceptor missile battery in Central Europe as a strategic bulwark against Iran and other U.S. adversaries.
"If we suppose that Iran wants to strike the United States, then interceptor missiles, which would be launched from Poland, will fly towards Russia," Baluyevsky said, RIA Novosti reported Saturday.
Baluyevsky said Russia still regards the United States as a strategic antagonist and sees the U.S. interceptor missiles as an attempt to pacify Europe.
"The issue of, to put it mildly, confrontation with Russia, including a direct confrontation, is unfortunately still regarded by my counterparts from the Pentagon as relevant," he said.
Meanwhile, the Russian space agency Roskosmos told Itar-Tass Saturday it launched a Russian Soyuz-FG booster into orbit Friday carrying the observational Canadian satellite Radarsat-2.
Russia: U.N. controls Iran's nuclear cycle
MOSCOW, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Russia's deputy foreign minister said the International Atomic Energy Agency is in full control of Iran's contentious nuclear program.
"IAEA controls all nuclear activities in Iran," Sergei Kislyak said, RIA Novosti reported Saturday. "Iran will never obtain high enriched uranium … while IAEA is there."
Tehran agreed to full compliance with the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency in late August.
The United States suspects Iran of developing a nuclear weapons program, but Iran contends the program is solely for civilian energy production.
Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA, said in an October report that Iran's nuclear program was transparent, but noted the Islamic Republic continued to develop its uranium enrichment technology.
Report: Stable Iraq means stable currency
BAGHDAD, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A weak U.S. dollar and increased stability in Iraq point to a rise in the value of the national currency as Iraqis return to their native dinar, a report says.
The recent surge in the use of the dinar prompted an increased usage of the currency for people flocking to purchase homes and other goods ahead of an anticipated period of inflation, The Times of London reported Saturday.
A professor at Baghdad Economic College, Mohamed al-Maliki, said the climate in Iraq bode well for a strengthened dinar.
"If the Government can keep the situation stable and support the dinar, then people will trust it and prefer to use it," Maliki said in The Times. "This is the correct attitude. We must use our currency. This will mean we have a strong economy again."
The exchange rate for the dinar rose 17 percent against the dollar since September 2006, but has not impacted its purchasing power as merchants use the exchange rate in their favor to generate more profit, the report said.
Crowds mark 20 years of Hamas
GAZA, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- About 150,000 people turned out at a rally in Gaza to mark the 20-year anniversary of Hamas.
Crowds of Palestinians waved green flags and celebrated the group, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in June from its Fatah rivals, BBC reported Saturday.
Khaled Mashaal, Hamas' exiled leader, said in a statement on the group's Web site that the organization would not renounce violence.
Palestinians were capable of mounting a new uprising against Israeli occupation, like the intifadas of 1987 and 2000, he said from Syria.
"Whoever thinks that Hamas has reached a dead end is wrong," he wrote.
He also said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas lacks a mandate to negotiate with Israel, the British network reported.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told the crowd the "choice of resistance and jihad" was "the shortest path" to a Palestinian state.
"This will not be achieved by way of negotiations and concessions and certainly not through ... sitting at round tables or exchanging smiles with the killers and executioners of the sons of the Palestinian people," Haniyeh said.
