Errant U.S. Missile Might Have Struck Iran-Official
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is investigating indications that a ship-launched American Tomahawk cruise missile fired against a target in Iraq (news - web sites) went off course and perhaps landed in southwestern Iran, a defense official said on Saturday.
The official spoke with Reuters shortly after Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that three missiles fired by U.S. jets taking part in attacks in Iraq landed over the border in southwestern Iran.
"A lot of these things have been used since the air war started. While they are precisely guided, nothing is perfect," the official, who asked not to be identified, said. The official said the incident was being investigated.
Tomahawks, unlike U.S. Air-Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCMs), are fired by ships and submarines. Both of the precision weapons are guided to targets by satellites.
Citing an unnamed military commander, IRNA also said that U.S. and British warplanes violated the Islamic Republic's airspace several times on Friday and Saturday during operations against targets in southern Iraq.
Tehran has not publicly accused U.S.-led forces of deliberately targeting Iran, suggesting that it considers the missiles were strays. -
Errant US Cruise Missile ?
I will not be surprised if that Cruise Missile was targetted at the Nuclear Facility that the Iranians have now been exposed to be building in secret. -
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA3QC4LLDD.html
Iran Complains of Airspace Violations by Coalition Warplanes
The Associated Press
Published: Mar 22, 2003
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran complained Saturday about repeated violations of its airspace by U.S. and British warplanes flying over Iraq and said a stray rocket had hit one of its petrochemical facilities.
U.S. and British warplanes entered Iran's southern airspace several times on Friday and Saturday near the southern port of Basra, Iraq's second biggest city, Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency said.
It quoted Col. Rahim Qanavati as saying that during air combat between Iraqi and U.S. warplanes, a stray rocket landed on a facility of the Abadan Petrochemical Co.
In London, British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said he could not confirm reports of stray missiles landing in Iran.
"I have seen these suggestions and obviously they are being investigated and we are continuing our contact with the government there," he said.
The Pentagon also is looking into reports that a stray Tomahawk missile landed in Iran, a spokesman in Washington said.
Iran says its airspace is closed both to coalition and Iraqi warplanes.
Qanavati did not mention casualties, but Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Kianoush Rad, who represents Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province in parliament, said Friday that two people had been injured.
AP-ES-03-22-03 0752EST -
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAGI7ZNLDD.html
Pentagon Says Misguided Missiles May Have Hit Iran
By Thelma LeBrecht Associated Press Writer
Published: Mar 22, 2003
WASHINGTON (AP) - As many as three U.S. missiles aimed at targets in Iraq may have landed in Iran, two officials at the Pentagon said Saturday.
The official Iranian news agency reported that four rockets have landed in Iran over the past two days.
U.S. and Iranian officials are discussing the matter and Iran realizes that any strike was unintentional, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
At least three people were injured, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
Iran also complained that coalition aircraft have violated its airspace near the southern Iraqi port of Basra. Iran has closed its airspace to coalition and Iraqi warplanes.
British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said he could not confirm reports of stray missiles landing in Iran. "I have seen these suggestions and obviously they are being investigated and we are continuing our contact with the government there," he said.
In Tehran, an Iranian lawmaker said a missile hit a government building in western Iran near the Iraqi border on Friday, injuring two people.
The Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of Britain and Switzerland - which represents U.S. interests in Iran - to protest, the Iranian news agency said, without giving details on the violations.
The missile struck an Oil Ministry building in Abadan, said Mohammad Kianoush Rad, a legislator for the southwest Iranian province of Khuzestan, where the city is located. Two people were injured, he said.
"This is unacceptable," he told The Associated Press. "We hope this was only a stray missile."
He said it was not clear where the missile had come from. Abadan is about 30 miles east of Basra, which was under attack by U.S.-led forces.
The news agency also reported that two rockets hit the village of Manyuhi near the border with Faw on Saturday.
An Iranian government spokesman, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, confirmed that a missile had landed somewhere in Iranian territory near the Iraqi border, but he would not give details.
He said that Iran had demanded explanations from the Swiss and British embassies in Tehran. The United States has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
AP-ES-03-22-03 0909EST -
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/middleeast/view/35499/1/.html
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US tells Iran probe underway on strayed missiles
The United States informed Iran that an investigation was underway into reports that two Tomahawk cruise missiles aimed at Iraq had veered off course and landed in its territory.
The State Department said the message had been passed to Tehran after it received a complaint about the alleged incident from Iran on Friday.
An Iranian commander said two rockets landed in Iran, and British and US warplanes had again violated Iranian air space in the Abadan area.
He said the missiles hit the Meniouhi region, on the shores of the Shatt al-Arab, the waterway which separates Iraq from Iran.
Abadan city governor Jamal Alemi also confirmed that three people were hurt when a bomb or missile fell on a petrochemical depot in Abadan on Friday.
Iran said it had lodged a diplomatic protest at the violation of its airspace by US and British planes. -
now they wan to push blame to iraq.....
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/middleeast/view/35531/1/.html
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23 March 2003 1816 hrs (SST) 1016 hrs (GMT)
Last modified :
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Iran, UK say Iraq probably to blame for stray missiles
Iran and Britain have blamed Iraq for stray missiles which landed on Iranian soil during the weekend.
A missile which landed in the northwest of the country was probably fired by Iraqi forces, the official IRNA news agency reported.
It said Iraq's top envoy in Tehran had been summoned to the foreign ministry.
"Investigations show that probably the missile which hit Sar Dasht was Iraqi-made," IRNA quoted Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari as saying.
Sar Dasht is located close to Iran's northwestern border with Iraqi Kurdistan.
But Interior Ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani said: "The missiles which hit southern Iran were American which had gone off course."
The comments came shortly after a British Defence Ministry spokeswoman in London said that missiles which landed in southwestern Iran on Friday and Saturday were most likely fired by Iraqi forces.
Iran initially said three rockets which fell in its southwest Khuzestan province had been fired by US jets and warned British and US military forces attacking Iraq to respect its air space.