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A senior member of Iran's Majlis says the nation's military intends to carry out reverse engineering on the American RQ-170 Sentinel reconnaissance drone that was brought down by Iran's air defense personnel last week. Deputy Chairman of the Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Hossein Ebrahimi told Fars News Agency on Sunday that given the scientific capabilities of Iranian military, it will replicate the captured US-built stealth aircraft in the near future. He added that enemies cannot simply confront the Islamic Republic of Iran, since the country enjoys a variety of devices and advanced technologies that they are not aware of. Iranian military's electronic warfare units brought down the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft on December 4 with minimal damage. The spy drone was flying over the eastern city of Kashmar, some 225km (140 miles) from the Afghan border. Iran earlier announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the captured RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, which is also known as the Beast of Kandahar, and is similar in design to a US Air Force B-2 stealth bomber. On December 6, two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the drone was part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the US intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan. They claimed the reconnaissance capability of the RQ-170 Sentinel drone enabled it to gather information from inside Iran by flying along Afghanistan's border with the Islamic Republic. The RQ-170 is an unmanned stealth aircraft designed and developed by the American company, Lockheed Martin. Iran has said that the US drone spy mission was a “hostile act”, adding that it will complain to the United Nations over the violation of its air sovereignty by the intelligence gathering aircraft. Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi also said earlier that Tehran would complain to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) about the recent violation of Iranian airspace by the American reconnaissance drone.

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Head of Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee says the presence of foreign troops in neighboring Afghanistan is a serious threat to regional security and stability. “Contemporary experiences in countries like Germany and Japan have shown that the presence of foreign forces in any country will violate that country's sovereignty,” Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Wednesday. Speaking in a meeting with the visiting Afghan Deputy Defense Minister Mohammad Homayoun Fawzi, he went on to say that undermining the brotherly relations between regional countries is the main political and security approach adopted by the US and the UK. “We must not allow foreign powers to sabotage the friendly relations between neighboring countries through their interventionist measures,” Majlis official news agency, ICANA, quoted him as saying. The lawmaker further stated that the Islamic Republic will spare no effort to help with the development, progress and establishment of calm in Afghanistan. Boroujerdi also voiced Iran's protest to the recent violation of the country's airspace by a US spy drone which took off from Afghanistan, saying that the incident was against the international obligations of Afghanistan and in violation of international law. “The government of Afghanistan must account for such incidents and prevent their repetition in the future,” he added. A US RQ-170 spy drone crossed Afghanistan's border with Iran on December 4, but was successfully brought down with minimal damage by the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit. The aircraft was flying over the northeastern Iran city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) away from the Afghan border. The Afghan minister, for his part, praised the Iranian government and nation for helping in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. “The Afghan nation will never forget the Iranian nation's support under difficult conditions,” he added. While Afghanistan's defense ministry has announced that the Afghan army is ready to take responsibility for the country's security, after the invading US-led troops leave, senior American and NATO officials have signaled that foreign troops will remain in the country beyond 2014. The US-led invasion of Afghanistan was waged in 2001 under the pretext of 'war on terror' and with the declared aim of toppling the Taliban regime and establishing security in the war-torn country. However, insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan despite the presence of nearly 150,000 US-led forces in the country. SS/PKH/HGH

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Seyyid Əli Xamenei - Orta Şərq deyil, Qərbi Asiya Ayatollah Khamenei Vilayat-fagih \\\"Yaxın Şərq\\\", \\\"Uzaq Şərq\\\" və \\\"Orta Şərq\\\" kəlimələri doğru deyildir. Uzaq deyərkən haradan uzaq? Avropadan. Haraya yaxın? Avropaya. Bu Avropanın dünyanın mərkəzi olması anlamını verir. Hər hansı bir yer Avropadan uzaqdırsa, \\\"Uzaq Şərq\\\" deyə adlandırılır. Hər hansı bir yer Avropaya yaxındırsa \\\"Yaxın Şərq\\\" deyə adlandırılır. Əgər ikisinin arasında olarsa \\\" Orta Şərq\\\" deyilir. Bu avropalıların öz baxışlarına görə belə təqdim edilir. Ancaq bu bizim üçün qəbul edilə bilməz. Asiya bir qitədir. Bir şərq, bir qərb və orta hissəsi var. Biz həmin hissənin qərb tərəfində yerləşirik. Bu səbəbdən də ölkəmizə \\\"Orta Şərq\\\" deyil, \\\"Qərbi Asiya\\\" deməliyk. Mən bu bölgəyə \\\"Orta Şərq\\\" deyil, \\\"Qərbi Asiya\\\" deyilməsi mövzusunda israr edirəm. Seyyid Əli Xamenei

Description:

A senior member of Iran's Majlis says the nation's military intends to carry out reverse engineering on the American RQ-170 Sentinel reconnaissance drone that was brought down by Iran's air defense personnel last week. Deputy Chairman of the Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Hossein Ebrahimi told Fars News Agency on Sunday that given the scientific capabilities of Iranian military, it will replicate the captured US-built stealth aircraft in the near future. He added that enemies cannot simply confront the Islamic Republic of Iran, since the country enjoys a variety of devices and advanced technologies that they are not aware of. Iranian military's electronic warfare units brought down the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft on December 4 with minimal damage. The spy drone was flying over the eastern city of Kashmar, some 225km (140 miles) from the Afghan border. Iran earlier announced that it intends to carry out reverse engineering on the captured RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft, which is also known as the Beast of Kandahar, and is similar in design to a US Air Force B-2 stealth bomber. On December 6, two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the drone was part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the US intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan. They claimed the reconnaissance capability of the RQ-170 Sentinel drone enabled it to gather information from inside Iran by flying along Afghanistan's border with the Islamic Republic. The RQ-170 is an unmanned stealth aircraft designed and developed by the American company, Lockheed Martin. Iran has said that the US drone spy mission was a “hostile act”, adding that it will complain to the United Nations over the violation of its air sovereignty by the intelligence gathering aircraft. Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi also said earlier that Tehran would complain to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) about the recent violation of Iranian airspace by the American reconnaissance drone. MP/MB/HJL

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RT’s ongoing investigation of American drone aircraft being downed as a possible result of a cyber attack has been accentuated by recent confirmations by way of a documentary out of Mexico. The Spanish-language television network Univision has aired a program in which undercover footage allegedly shows Iranian officials discussing ways to go about an attack on America’s infrastructure, specifically attempting to recruit Mexican computer hackers to target the Department of Defense and the CIA’s computer systems. According to the Washington Times, US officials are now investigating reports that authorities from Iran and Venezuela plotted cyber attacks against America’s military, in what comes as the latest revelation in a quickly unraveling story of cyber war escalating between Tehran and Washington. In the most recent news break, however, a front to the south of the United States could be opening up as Iran tries to take down the American military with the aid of hackers living only next door. The Times’ report alleges that hackers were discussing potential attacks on the DoD and Central Intelligence Agency. This news comes days after the United States managed to lose contact with two high-tech drone aircraft belonging to the CIA, one two weeks ago over Iran and one this Tuesday over the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles. In the case of the RQ170 Sentinel craft captured by Tehran, that drone was dispatched from Creech Air Force Base in the state of Nevada. Earlier this year, RT reported that a key-logger virus infiltrated the cockpits of crafts in the base, with Air Force personnel left in the dark until days after the infection took hold. Military personnel later shrugged the incident off as a nuisance and nothing more, but with two drones in two weeks now mysteriously going off the radar, American eyes are now looking towards Tehran — and perhaps a partnership with international hackers — as the threat of an all-out cyber war escalates. In the report published this week by the Washington Times, it is alleged that the Mexican hackers instructed by Iranian officials were told to crack passwords that would allow for access into protected American computer systems. Univision says that among the targets intended in the attack against America were nuclear facilities. Coincidently, the nuclear infrastructure of Iran was threatened in 2010 by a computer worm named Stuxnet, believed by many to be the brainchild of American programmers. Earlier in 2011, researcher Ralph Langner told an audience at a TED talk that he thought Stuxnet was of Israeli origin, but added, "The leading force behind Stuxnet is the cyber superpower – there is only one; and that's the United States." If a cyber war is being waged against America, US officials are remaining relatively mum on the matter. In the case of the Sentinel lost over Iran, the US first denied a crash, only to later confirm that a craft was lost over Afghanistan and was believed to be obliterated. Within days, however, Iran provided footage of the craft in pristine condition much to the chagrin of Washington. American authorities went on to dismiss the craft as a fake before US President Barack Obama asked Tehran to return what was in fact the drone in question. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded by shooting down Obama’s plea, telling Venezuelan state television this week, “The Americans have perhaps decided to give us this spy plane. We now have control of this plane.” Iranian authorities now claim that the gift from America is almost done being decoded and its technology will be adapted into its own arsenal. On Tuesday of this week, an MQ-9 Reaper drone was downed in Seychelles and crash-landed at an air base there that has been under American occupation since 2009. The US uses the island nation to dispatch drones for surveillance over Somalia and to counter piracy in the Indian Ocean. Once again, in this case American authorities are insisting that the craft has been charred beyond repair and are working in conjunction with overseas officials to return the craft to the US. An investigation over that crash is pending, but officials are for now saying that the “failure was due to mechanical reasons.” At a price tag of around $30 million per craft, it is suspicious that a minor malfunction under the hood of what is the Cadillac of unmanned spy planes can cause the craft to come to a crashing, fiery halt. The Washington Times adds in their report that State Department spokesman William Ostick believes federal authorities to be investigating the allegation brought forth against Iran by Univision, but formally has declared that officials lack information that corroborates on the allegation. Senator Robert Menendez (NJ-Dem) is now also calling for a congressional hearing to investigate Iranian action in Latin America. Menendez also sits as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. “If Iran is using regional actors to facilitate and direct activities against the United States, this would represent a substantial increase in the level of the Iranian threat and would necessitate an immediate response,” Menendez says. Earlier in 2011, American authorities alleged that Iran had recruited members from a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States on American soil. While the plot was foiled by US intelligence, the latest revelations add a new piece to a puzzle that shows an increasingly tense standoff between Tehran and Washington.

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Tehran's interim Friday Prayers Leader Hojjatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi has described the downing of an US reconnaissance drone as a source of pride for the Iranian nation. Referring to the successful capture of a hard-to-detect US RQ-170 Sentinel aircraft by the Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit on Sunday, Seddiqi said, “This unmanned US aircraft was radar-evading and on a spying mission and it was fully equipped [with the latest technology.]” He went on to add that Iranians had in fact hunted down a US “hunter falcon”, which “is one of the most advanced US espionage and military weapons.” Pointing to the terrorist attacks and bombings in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan on Ashura and Tasua, which left scores of mourners injured and countless others dead, Hojjatoleslam Seddiqi Said, “The blood of these innocents is on the hands of and such atrocities are the work of the advocates of human rights who are responsible for all assassinations and massacres.” He also commended the measure taken by Iran's Majlis to downgrade ties with Britain as a “brave and wise” decision, and said that this was a gift to the Iranian nation from their representatives in parliament. “The UK has never left fond memories in the minds of the Muslims and especially the Iranian nation,” he added HMV/HGH