Iran Test Fires Long-Range Missile: Did Obama Lie on Iran's Missile Capabilities for Political Gain With Russia?

As written on this site, Iran will be Obama's political armageddon.

Now keep in mind, the reason Obama stated he did not think Eastern Europe should have the missile defense system was; because Iran did not have long range missiles and wouldn't have them for years.

How truthful has Obama been with the American public?

First to a map that shows distances in relation to the geography surrounding Iran.

Link to map

Eastern Europe is within 2250km of Iran.

In March, Fox News reported the launch of the Shahab-3 missile.

The Shahab-3 has a distance of of up to 2000km which puts the Shahab-3 in a category of missiles that can reach parts of south-eastern Europe and the Black Sea corridor.

However, as reported in the BBC article it was stated:

The Eastern Europe-based system, however, could not defend south-eastern Europe, Turkey and Israel from the threats posed by Iran's current ballistic missile arsenal.

The distance it could defend would depend on if the missle defense system was a 2stage or 3 stage missile defense system.

But how does this play into Obama's decision to shelve the defense system?

First Turkey is purchasing their own missile defense system.

That leaves other areas vulnerable and it was assumed the mobile defense system would compliment the land based defense system in Eastern Europe.

Instead, Obama is choosing to use the mobile platform that can't be in two places at one time. Which still leaves Eastern Europe vulnerable.

As for the intelligence that Obama used on making his decision, that was never divulged.

However, you can find data and news articles that go back to 1997 where Iran was working with China on their missile program to include the launching of satellites.



It was evident that Iran was getting missile technology from China and their missile program is further along than what is being alleged by Obama.

In an article written by Heritage it is stated:

The Path to Space

The Safir-2 rocket is a two-stage rocket. According to analysis by outside technicians, if it were reconfigured as a ballistic missile with a light warhead, the Safir-2 would have a range of roughly 1,500 miles.[1] This range is sufficient to reach most parts of the greater Middle East, including Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Yet, the Safir-2 is not the most powerful rocket in the Iranian inventory: the Shahab-3 is more powerful. Therefore, the critical lesson from yesterday's launch, and one the Obama Administration and Congress should bear in mind, is that Iran is beginning to master the science of staging rockets to deliver larger payloads to longer distances.

Using a Safir-2 to launch a satellite into orbit marks an important milestone in Iran's quest to develop an ICBM capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to all of Europe and at least portions of the U.S. It also represents a significant step forward in Iranian efforts to use space for purposes hostile to the U.S. and its allies while placing some U.S. satellites at potential risk.[2]

In an article written in Capitalism Magazine, it is stated:

The Safir-2 space launch vehicle used to launch Omid is even more alarming. Uzi Rubin, a senior Israeli defense expert and former head of Israel's Missile Defense Organization, suggests that Iran's satellite launch demonstrates Tehran's mastery of ballistic missile technologies. There is a "strong synergy between ballistic missiles and space launchers," he wrote in The Wall Street Journal.

Rubin warned that the security community must take the satellite launch very seriously. His assessment can be found at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123517621950437485.html.

When you examine the facts, it seems Obama did lie about Iran's capabilities when you consider this from the New York Times:

Iran Test-Fires Long-Range Missile, Report Says

Press TV estimated the range of the Shahab 3, which was last tested in mid-2008, at between 1,300 km and 2,000 km (800-1,250 miles), without making clear the range of the actual missile tested on Monday.