By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Iran is now capable of manufacturing its own copies of an advanced CIA spy drone captured last year, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Wednesday.
Iran's military is to test a new air defense system modeled after the U.S. Hawk system as tensions with the West escalate over the country's suspect nuclear program, the Iranian state TV reported Monday.
TEHRAN | Iran's military is to test a new air defense system modeled after the U.S. Hawk system as tensions with the West escalate over the country's suspect nuclear program, the Iranian state TV reported Monday.
While Iran's military loudly trumpets every new project or purported advance in hopes of rattling the United States and its Gulf Arab allies, Washington is quietly answering with an array of proposed arms sales across the region as part of a wider effort to counter Tehran.
Iran claimed Sunday that it had recovered data from an American spy drone that went down in Iran last year, including information that the aircraft was used to spy on Osama bin Laden weeks before he was killed. Iran also said it was building a copy of the drone.
Iranian patrol boats and aircraft shadowed a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, ending a Gulf mission amid heightened tensions with Tehran that include threats to choke off vital oil shipping lanes.
In military maneuvers and air shows, Iran has been proudly touting advances in its air forces and defenses, including radar systems, anti-aircraft batteries and new attack and reconnaissance drones.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Sunday that Iran's government is becoming a military dictatorship, with religious leaders being sidelined and, as a result, new sanctions could pressure Tehran into curbing its illegal nuclear program.
