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Air Crash Near Bushehr, Drones Slam Into Reactor Dome

Debkafiles ^ | August 17, 2010, 6:08 PM

Posted on by dselig

Two mysterious incidents are reported in the run-up to the fueling up of Iran's first nuclear reactor Saturday, Aug. 21

Tuesday, Aug. 17, an Iranian F4 Phantom fighter jet was claimed by Tehran to have crashed 6 kilometers north of the Bushehr nuclear reactor in southern Iran. Military sources report it was shot down by Russian-made TOR-M1 air-missile defense batteries guarding the reactor. A local government official Gholam Reza Keshtkar said the pilot and co-pilot ejected from the plane before it crashed and were rushed to hospital.

The TOR-M1 is designed to intercept planes or missiles coming in at medium or very low altitudes in case of American or Israeli attack.

Our sources ask: How did the Phantom penetrate to a distance of 6 kilometers from the reactor when its skies up to a 20-kilometer radius are a no-fly zone?

Perhaps the Bushehr's air defense system is slow to pick up intruders - although it is known to have been on high alert since a previous incident on Aug. 1. Or else it may been activated when inquiries to Iranian Air Force command about the jet's identity and mission failed to elicit a satisfactory reply.

Our Iranian sources report extreme edginess in Tehran ahead of August 21 when the Russian-built Bushehr reactor enters its first operational phase in the presence of high-ranking officials from Moscow. Tuesday afternoon, after the fighter jet crashed, the foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast warned "any aggression against the Bushehr nuclear plant can provoke serious reactions. Based on international rules, a facility with nuclear fuel cannot be damaged" All the Bushehr defensive systems have been on the highest alert since a previous incident first revealed on Aug. 6.

On Aug. 1, three unidentified UAVs slammed into the reactor buildings, scaring the townspeople who were sure the plant was under American or Israeli attack.

After the heads of government in Tehran put their heads together to try and identify the drones, without success, the defense ministry emerged with a communiqué reporting that a single drone had crashed on the nuclear reactor's dome, but insisted it was launched by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to test the alertness of the air defense personnel guarding it and the effectiveness of its anti-air radar system.

AccordinG to Iranian and intelligence sources, Bushehr citizens were sure they heard three mighty explosions - not one. So the deputy district governor for security affairs, Mohammad Hossein Shenidi, who is responsible for safeguarding Bushehr and its reactors against air or missile attacks, pitched in with a lighter version of the communiqué: A single drone had indeed been fired, he admitted, but it carried no explosives because its only purpose was to simulate a loud bang to check the level of local alertness.

According to our sources, the townspeople were correct: Three drones hit the reactor killing at least five of its staff members.

Tuesday afternoon, another Iranian high-up, defense minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, talked to reporters. He declared that the "long range UAV called Karrar would be unveiled on this day" - an apparent reference to the debkafile report of Monday, Aug. 16, that the death of Iran's drone program head Reza Baruni had buried the program for years go come.

Regarding the delay in Moscow's delivery of S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, Vahidi declared: "We build whatever we want inside the country and the production of long-range air defense system in Iran is already on the agenda of the defense ministry."

Former US envoy to the UN John Bolton Tuesday Aug. 17 repeated his warning that Israel has "eight days" to launch a military strike against Bushehr and stop Tehran from acquiring a functioning atomic plant. Once Russian loads it with fuel on Saturday, it will be too late because any attack would spread radiation and affect Iranian citizens, he said.

In the absence of an Israeli strike, said Bolton, "Iran will achieve something that no other opponent of Israel, no other opponent of the US in the Middle East really has and that is a functioning nuclear reactor."



TOPICS:

Front Page News

Israel

War on Terror

KEYWORDS:

bushehr

crash

nuclear





To: dselig

I think the normal “this is Debka” warning is required.



To: dselig

Iran is a loony bin.



by 3 posted onby MarineBrat (Better dead than red!)

To: dselig

So the Iranian Russian missile battery downed an Iranian Jet that was presumably protecting the reactor, yeah.



To: Scott from the Left Coast

Candygram?



To: dselig

Was the Phantom off course or something? Where did the drones come from?



by 6 posted onby smokingfrog (freerepublic.com - Now 100% flag free.)

To: dselig

BUMP!



by 7 posted onby Spunky (You are free to make choices, but not free from the consequences)

To: dselig

I don’t see Israel letting this reactor light.



by 8 posted onby Mariner (USS Tarawa, VQ3, USS Benjamin Stoddert, NAVCAMS WestPac, 7th Fleet, Navcommsta Puget Sound)

To: dselig

This was probably a staged crash and/or shootdown of the Iranian jet....to give the impression they have suitable technology to protect their nuclear assets.



by 9 posted onby DCPatriot ("It aint what you don't know that kills you. It's what you know that aint so" Theodore Sturgeon))

To: dselig

Crashing their own stuff into that fresh coat of paint on that big dome??? What a waste... Suggestion to the Iranians... Pack up a big truck with explosives and test the barriers around the site, I suggest doing this for real, because it appears no one is taking the defense of that “nuclear weapons development site” seriously... hint hint Tel Aviv...T-minus 3 days...And counting... For the record...Israel isn’t going to do anything because no one will back their play at this time...



To: smokingfrog

Was the Phantom off course or something?

Where did the drones come from?



If this is real, and is is Debka after all, the question would be was the Phantom a drone? We turned a bunch of old F-4s and F-106s into high speed targets. And Israel has a lot of old F-4s laying around. Just put in a guidance system, paint in Iran's colors to hopefully get a few seconds hesitation from the gunners, and send it off to the reactor. Even better buy an old F-4 from some other country so when they trace the serial numbers nobody is sure who sent it.



by 11 posted onby GonzoGOP (There are millions of paranoid people in the world and they are all out to get me.)

To: Spunky

To: dselig

it sounds like global warming will be soon coming to Iran...



To: dselig







by 14 posted onby Chode (American Hedonist *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)

To: Chode

Moscow says;

“Eet was Moose and Squirrel!”



To: dselig

Let's hope that this was meant as a subtle message to the 9th Century pig fornicators....



To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

BAA HA HA HA...



BAA HA HA HA...

by 17 posted onby Chode (American Hedonist *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)

To: dselig

See if they can shoot down one of these.



To: GonzoGOP

If this is true, the Israelis have already tested the Iranian defence system. I hope they blast this reactor to perdition,along with everyone in it, hopefully the scientists and engineers who built it. Alla FUBAR!



To: dselig

Bets the F4 pilot was flying on instructions so the military could judge the air defense response at the site. The pilot was probably not made aware of the ramifications of his flight and was probably not expected to survive it.



by 20 posted onby arthurus (Read Hazlitt's "Economics In One Lesson.")

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