Earlier today reports appeared that the Yemeni Missile Forces loyal to the Houthis movement launched a cruise missile on the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The video of the missile launch released by the Hezbollah media wing in Syria allowed to identify the cruise missile as “Soumar”, an Iranian-modified version of the Soviet-made Kh-55 cruise missile. Iran bought at least 12 of these advanced Soviet missiles from Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to several sources.
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The Kh-55 cruise missile has the range of 2500km. It’s guided by an Inertial Navigation System (INS) that’s supported by the radar-based Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) system. These guidance systems allow the Kh-55 to maintain an altitude lower than 110 meters during its flight towards the target avoiding enemy radars. This makes the missile a lethal first strike weapon.
A rocket booster was added to the Iranian modified version of the Kh-55 cruise missile to launch the missile from ground instead of the air. The Iranian rocket booster on the Kh-55 uses grid fins – a similar concept was used by Russia on the ground launched version of the Klub cruise missile.
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The released video showed that the Iranian booster uccessfully separated from the Kh-55 after the launch.
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Local Yemeni sources confirmed that the cruise missile did not hit the target. It crashed in the area of Sin al-Aswad in the northern Yemeni province of al-Jawf. The crash reasons are still unclear, it was likely linked to a technical failure.
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Click to see the full-size image
The launch of the Kh-55 cruise missile contributes to the two main versions:
- Iran is arming the Houthis with various types of missiles as Saudi Arabia has claimed multiple times;
- Iranian spepcial services or organizations linked to them are able to use Yemen as a foothold for its oprations in the region.
This attack will likely increase the political pressure on the Iranian missile program and on the Houthis in Yemen, especially that the missile was supposed to hit a nuclear power plant.
Need to not announce the launch. Just claim where it hits is where it was supposed to hit. Now SA will get the US excited over Iran.
But the houthis want everyone especially their enemies that they have something to shoot with.
way to go congrats to the yemeni houthis may as well fire at the eritrean zionist puppet collaborator snake president afwerki in asmara city while they’re at it .(who waged war and fired rockets at yemen in 1995 and regularly travels thell-aviv israhell to get medical treatment care there for him (under afwerki’s administration which represents zionists and not arabs , evil zionist’s puppet eritrea which allows only one political party there , will never join the arab league, there are tons of eritreans in israhell , just like turkey under zionist puppet collaborator erdogan doesn’t represent europeans and under his administration turkey will never join the european union ) The Syrian Arab Baathist Army and the syrian national defence force will triumpth ! https://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/france-mossad-tried-to-infiltrate-french-intelligence-services/ holywar.org islamicinvitationturkey.com Reporting truths smoloko.com purestream-media.com syriatruths.com informationclearinghouse.info electronicintifada.net http://www.12160.info to fight and resist the evil zionists ZOG ,the evil zionists rothschild’s evil israHell and and the evil house of saud crypto-jews in saudi arabia wahhabia who do nothing but damage ( who’s king in the late 1960’s addressed all the UN and arab countries requested them to recognize and accept israHell as a country) and their allies’s control/occupation of governments and the arab land of palestine and its neighbouring arab countries, to fight and resist those zionists is to fight to remove them from governments and economic power without removing them out of these office from these positions and freezing their USD currency assets monopoly dominanting global markets and trades( the 1 dollar bill has shapes of the stars of david ) wars instigated by zionists bankers on sovereignt independent states and and against their territory’s integrity will continue and the zionists’s scheme to establish a one global government control could be all set .
they must be forcibly removed by force from these office positons (by us who are fighting them and only by us who are forcing them to do so , who are driving them out of anywhere away beyond their reach countering them head on ) in order to get international peace progress prosperity and a good better and more positive dialogue between all countries and their peoples who their own peoples will lead and decide what to do by and for themselves. manage what their internal and foreign affairs to other countries and people’s would be and not led by some private zionists’s monopoly organisation who wages wars on whoever they want and on behalf of whoever they control and whoever bans rothschild influence and rothschild’s-controlled banks into their country!
should such a future international peace progress proccess dialoge between countires is to be then israHell turkey saudi arabia eritrea/ethiopia and pkk-rojava-peshmerga-kurdistan could be excluded because of their evil role of their tyranny and the logic of them even not being officialy recognised as countries (or maybe even by then they would already cease to exist before that) but rather occupiers of stolen lands by wars of aggression who occupy arab Palestine land and other neighbouring arab countries’s lands and their natural resources assets illegally from wars of aggression like e.g. Yemen and Somalia afghanistan with daesh and AQAP muslim-brotherhood-extremists and taliban and other plots of the the mossadistic so called “alliance of periphery” with their puppet collaborators alCIAda and MI6 .
all of Western Sahara and its people will be freed from the corrupt dynasty government of morocco’s illegal occupation which has a long history of collaborating with the zionists’s mossad and will be a recognised country by all nations ( hassan II and the mossad were behind Mehdi Ben Barka’s dissapperance / kidnap / assassination ! the jewish autonomous oblast isn’t enough for the evil zionists’s obssesion of world domination conquest . . History wasn’t written in ink , history was written in blood
Make that a modified North Korean missile, purchased earlier, which is a copy of a Soviet Scud. UAE did invade Yemen.
This is a bit revealing & expository on the IRANIANS…Obviously the Houthis haven’t the tech knowledge to effectively pull of these missile attacks…the Iranians DO HAVE the knowledge…This crash amplifies the reality that children have been given a DEADLY weapon that they’re incapable of properly using…OBVIOUSLY Iran is up to it’s perverse TAKYYIA as usual…as is Hezbollah, which will inspire the new Saudi King MBS[sp?] to up the anti on the Houthis AND in Lebanon! BAD, BAD JUJU for the future of oil distribution!!! BEWARE! 75$ a barrel??? Hmmmmmmmm…….
Your statements on the abilities of the Yemeni government not being able to modify these missiles is wrong. Yemen has had these missiles since the 90s. They also have the technology to modify them for extended flight, which is a relatively simple modification. That you have swallowed the MSM line concerning the Iranians is proof of NOTHING. All these conflicts are due to the efforts of KSA, not Iran. Fortunately, what is obvious to you is not obvious to those of us that think for ourselves. Maybe if you provided PROOF of Iranian collusion, which no one, even KSA, Israel and the US, are unable to do. The western terrorists would give you a reward.
Interesting dialogue ZMAN, but unfortunately FACT is FAR EASIER to reveal…BOTH of the missiles the HOUTHIS have fired into the peninsula either missed, or crashed…so much for Yemani perfection…I don’t adhere to the MSM, but rather to sites such as SOUTHFRONT (which I’m FULLY AWARE has an agenda of it’s own)…But this “two down out of two” isn’t indicative of expert capabilities…But I appreciate your commentary…I’m really more concerned with the “proxy” factors that involve Saudi A. & Iran…
These minor glitches with the Missiles aren’t THAT significant, BUT!
The MINDS behind those events ARE…(KSA=King Of Saudis?)…If that’s what that means, I agree to a point, but I do NOT see Iran just simply being beneficial to Syria, & Yemen, & Lebanon, & simply “sort’a friendly” with Russia…Iran has a long range plan, and Israel’s existence is NOT PART of it…So I see no reason to doubt that Iran’s circle around BOTH Saudi A. & Isra’el, (thru PROXY’S), is a MAJOR PART of they’re intentions to fulfill the MULLAHS’ “DESTROY Ysra’el!” hard line doctrine. AND! …
It therefore makes perfect sense that the KSA will be moving to check mate Iran’s moves…What say you?
Do not parrot what you don’t understand. Taqiyyah. I bet you think it means a lie permitted by religion? Why would Iran supply (that is, IF they can pass the blockade which squeezes the life out of Yemenis) a missile which Yemenis don’t have? Why they didn’t use a Burkan?
No, absolutely wrong. All these US and Saudi based claims about an Iranian presence in Yemen completely fail to acknowledge the reality that Yemen has its own domestic elite military formation, the Yemeni Republican Guard, who are in political and military coalition with the irregular Houthi’s. It is not the Houthi’s, but their allies the Yemeni Republican Guard who both possess and are competently trained to operate the stockpiles of Yemeni army missiles and launcher systems – that were previously purchased in 1980-90’s – and it is well documented that the Republican Guard forces operated these systems in the previous 1994 Yemeni civil war.
Wow! I’ll bet that YRG aren’t too pleased with their “expert Missile handlers”…Also, I wonder WHY this just happened, (note the URL below). Is it possible that Ysra’el DOES have concerned about Iran’s intentions???
SEEMS like an AWFUL LOT of Iran support here…But there’s MUCH MORE to your comments than you might realize…talking about “swallowing MSM propaganda”.
And, (as for the EXPERTISE of that R.G. element; where exactly WERE THEY, the night SEALs zapped their little get together? (MAJOR cache of intel, & only one SEAL dead)…hmmmm…R.G.’s don’t have much in the way of PROOF of they’re HIGHLY, (touted here), capabilities….
https://secured.dailymail.co.uk/registration/login.html?usr=1&targetUrl=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5140939/Israeli-jets-kill-12-Irans-Revolutionary-Guard.html&geolocation=us#newcomment
If you 3 are going to attempt to run your (evidence lacking B.S.), I’ll let you go then…I prefer dealing with the EVIDENCE not the DOCTRINE…Again: 2 missiles down out of 2 launched…Iran establishing their presence in Syria, Lebanon, & Yemen, (thru Hezbullah & Houthi Proxies); AND, Iran’s SWORN OATH to destroy BOTH Ysra’el AD the U.S.; leaves me with the EVIDENCE and YOU with nothing but “sound bite” doctrine …Chou!
1. Iranian missile bases in Lebanon make perfect sense for both Hezbollah and Iran. They each gain from the relationship. Hezbollah gains the means to deter Israeli invasion and Iran gets an extra gun to the head of Israel just in case Israel decides to bomb Iran (either nuclear or conventional).
Now my question is this, what would Iran gain strategically by having missiles in Yemen? Saudi assets are already within Iranian short / medium range missiles. Yemen is actually farther away from Israel than Iran, so there is no gain there.
2. Regarding Yemeni missile technology, what do you want to know. Yemen has had a large supply of Russian SCUD and anti-aircraft missiles since the 1990’s. The Yemeni’s know how to operate them, they are trying to modify them but there is no evidence that they can manufacture anything other than short range rockets. So what is suspicious about their missile program? Over the course of 3yrs they have fired about 50 medium range missiles into Saudi Arabia – ooh that’s suspicious, these caveman couldn’t possibly do that without outside help, seriously? What is odd about the nature of their missile program.
A simple “who benefits” destroys all these accusations and claims, which is why they never discuss it.
Your entire original unsubstantiated allegation about Iranian military activity in Yemen is based on an incredibly patronizing assumption, that the Yemeni army is neither competent, nor trained to operate the modern weapons systems they purchased themselves in late 1980-90’s – a range of Soviet era designed missiles and launchers. Yemen is a poor country, but it has its seasoned and professional military formations, the Republican Guard Brigades, who both received the relevant training for the purchased systems and fought with these in the previous 1990’s civil war. You both incorrectly, and incredibly patronizingly, make the arrogant assumption that it doesn’t.
Yemeni Republican Brigades:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/02e305a0e366f6d111b70f006a35e95af13c2ce68907d03bb8bb9dcfc601097e.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/280576b7da1efb47c4104dd1a223bc2f6b593c2281ba57c720b84fc49ed8d5f4.jpg
So let me get this straight, their lack of success in hitting long range targets proves that the Houthi/Royal Guards are getting outside help. If they were getting expert Hezbollah/IRGC assistance, they would have worked out the kinks after 2yrs. BTW they do quite well in the short range category against military targets which is is consistent with their expertise.
Don’t worry about Iran surrounding Israel with missile bases, it requires a missile range of 1,300 miles from Sanaa to cover Israeli territory but less than a 1,000 miles from Iran. Yemen is a terrible location to threaten Israel.
I see several problems with this report. 1) These missiles are NK clones of Soviet missiles, bought by the Yemeni government in large amounts in the 90s. That they have been modified does not prove they are Iranian supplied. 2) It is also strange that this is claimed to be from Houthi-supported missile brigades and not a (Saleh)Yemeni gov unit, who are the ones with the missile stocks. 3) It is also strange that this is laid at the feet of the Houthis, after they had a falling out with Saleh regime due to Saleh talking with KSA. Saleh’s recent agreement with KSA has also resulted in KSA targeting Houthi forces in support of Salehs forces. 4) The best is the so-called Shia slogans on the missile. Houthis are not Shia. Would Iranians write Shia slogans on this missile? I think not. As another commenter stated, I’m just surprised there were no Iranian passports found in the area. 5) How would the Iranians be able to smuggle in missiles? If indeed they magically are supplying missiles through a blockade which prevents food and medicinal supplies from entry, KSA needs to provide proof…or at least some sort of viable excuse, which so far has not been forthcoming.
To me, this looks like the previous rift between Houthi and Saleh forces has re-emerged, as shown by the Houthi takeover yesterday of Yemen Today tv run by the Saleh faction. Saleh may now be encouraging KSA to help them do away with the Houthis, which would lend legality to KSA intervention. There are way too many things wrong with this to take at face value.
There are no ‘Houthi’ missile brigades. They are all Yemeni military apparently still allied with the Houthis.
That would be my point. At this point, they are probably no longer supporting the Houthis. https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/pictures-houthis-shut-salehs-yemen-today-tv-channel/
But the opposition Yemeni military can’t be supporting Saleh either if they just launched a missle at the UAE. Saleh would never allow an attack on KSA/UAE now – he’s trying to end hostilities (or he doesn’t get the other half of his Saudi bribe).
If the ‘Houthi’ attacks on Sanaa military posts are true, then they are specifically attacking Saleh’s presidential guard or whatever they were called. That’s only a fraction of the Yemeni military that joined the opposition. And Prince isn’t going to sit on the sidelines during a money-making opportunity like this. The Saudi ‘deal’ probably came with plenty of R2 mercs dressed as Saleh’s presidential guard to protect him from the opposition he claims to represent.
Is it quite possible that Saleh did launch the missile with a ‘claimed’ target in the UAE BUT the missile was programmed to fail ?
This would then give the KSA and US the Casus Belli that they seek ?
Could be if the Yemeni Army missile forces were still loyal to him and trying to undermine the Houthis. But then why the obviously cheap, fake video and why say Hezbollah released it? The missile forces could have taken a real video proving the launch if they were manufacturing either a casus belli or perpetuating the Iranian influence lie.
Its a conundrum :)
This is also my take on this. Since, supposedly, UAE has US missile defense, why was it not shot down? This missile was also a dud. Both together make me suspicious. When you add in the ‘Iranian’ religious markings, which would have been destroyed had it exploded…well, it becomes too much.
Yes, its all too childish and has US hallmarks.
I agree that this story sounds strange. Most of all it appears as a story that has to prove that Iran is arming Yemeni with cruise missiles against SA. Also everyone knows supposed target (which wasn’t hit mind you) and it’s a nuclear station so all of the world should get very worried. If we look at qui bono of this case than it does look that anti Iranian forces are clear beneficiary of this case and they didn’t take any damage but may gain support against Iran… Let’s see how it unfolds
Houthis are Shia. They are Zaidiyyah which is a Shia sect.
Yemeni military (including the missile units) in the opposition were supposedly Saleh loyalists at the start of the war. If the opposition Yemeni military is still aligned with and supporting their Houthi movement allies (since Houthis obviously don’t have any missilies) then who the hell is left to support Saleh? The launch is being reported by Colonel Aziz Rashid, a spokesman for the entire Yemeni military in the opposition. He’s not a spokesman for just the missile units.
Houthis and Yemen military pretty much ARE the opposition that was fighting the now-gone Saudi Puppet Hadi. If Saleh rolled over for the Saudis, then I can see why the Houthis and the Yemeni military are trying to crush the traitor. And I can see why Saudi aircraft are bombing opposition sites in Sanaa in support of Saleh.
This reminds me of reports in the fall about ‘Iranian-backed Houthi’ threats to take out the Israeli military base in Eritrea with missiles. I doubt the opposition would waste the missile, but this set off the expected screeching by Israel about Iran, Iran, Iran. Makes this current attack all the more suspicious – it looks like another desperate attempt from Israel to prove to the world the threat that Iran poses.
“Look! The evil Iranians can use their Shia Houthi proxy forces to take out an uncompleted nuke plant. [Screech!] Iran and the Shia are an existential threat to ALL mankind (just like North Korea). [Screeeech!] For the love of mankind, the US must destroy Iran (for Israel) and commence rounding up and gassing all Shia NOW (for Israel) to save the planet.”
Preemptive genocide to prevent genocide.
Judging by Twitter (for what that’s worth) it was just Saleh and his most loyal troops in Sanaa (a thousand or so) that rolled, along with a few local oligarchs. He was totally in the Saudi’s pockets and sold out the opposition.
I just can’t imagine what people can’t seem to understand about pissing off the Houthis – Nobody has a chance against the flip-flop army. The Houthis have now put out orders in Sanaa to shoot Saleh on sight, and are in the process of mopping up the remnants of his Republican Guards and SF bodyguards. All this while under intense aerial bombardment in Sanaa by the Saudi Caliphate at the direction of Saleh loyalists. The Yemeni military opposition outside of Sanaa are not really involved and are still fighting the Caliphate. In other words, no division of the opposition – just an intense delousing operation in Sanaa directed at the traitor Saleh.
somehow the russian missile was easily intercepted :-o
Mmmmmmm yes Solomenachem, sounds like the Israeli’s didn’t have the balls to send it all the way to the UAE……………..after all the UAE is Israel’s friend now isn’t it ?
By what? Everything the UAE has is pointed towards the imaginary Iranian threat from across the Persian Gulf. Their expensive AN/TPY-2 radar is deployed in forward mode to catch Iranian launches. It can’t see a cruise missile behind it coming from Yemen. At best, the UAE was able to fire a million dollar salvo of PAC-3 missiles based on detection from a shorter-range point defense radar.
but … jesus alwys write, russian missiles are undefeateble :(
actually it was ukrainian.
oh, yeah! what is wrong, is ukrainian, what is good, is russian. i forgot! :)
wonder how cheaper you can get.
Are you blind or just retarded? It wasn’t intercepted at all, 30 y.old missile, sold by Ukies, and launched by some primitive, illiterate tribesmen (like you lol)
This is and Israeli, USSA Saudi false false flag disnifo psyop
if its true and nt fake news by the usual suspect of global misinformation…..the Houthis are playing dirty. Hitting a nuclear power plant will mean global scale pollution…..that means the end of their fight….they will be wiped out of this planet……so that makes me believe its fake
The power plant is still being built. Hitting a nuclear plant building site is what the Israelis did as well in Iraq and Syria in the past.
very important detail……and yew israel did the same thing. All attacks were on non operational plants. In a different case its suicidal for everyone
“…The video of the missile launch released by the Hezbollah media wing in Syria…”
Hezbollah never had and do not have anything to do with Yemeni opposition missile launches. Hezbollah would be pretty damn unlikely to publicize a Houthi cruise missile launch for obvious operational security issues whether or not they even had this video. And they don’t:
The video is a combination of several launches at different times. The clouds are completely different, as well as the sun angles and atmospheric dust. Some of this footage was from Iran back when they announced their version of a ground-launched, boosted cruise missile – the Soumar – in 2015. At 0:27 in the video, you can clearly see the rotor of a helicopter. Except the Yemeni opposition has no helicopters. Propaganda: FAIL.
I believe the video is fake and I can’t believe Hezbollah would ever release such cheap trash for a number of good reasons. I could believe Israel would produce such a forgery. Why? Well, read the Wikipedia entry for Soumar – you can see they have edited in their objections by the third sentence. Iran has a right to defend itself from Israel and the US – just not with aircraft, ships, ballistic missiles, satellites, cruise missiles, harshly-worded tweets, etc.
i got serious doubts too. this stinks of mossad / saudi intel.
What is strange is that SF seems to have no dubts who lauched the missile, what was the target and who supplyed it. Article fails to mention any meaningful reason for such launch but…
didn’t see anything particular on msm today abt this news. so far i don’t have a clear opinion, it seems unlikely that there will be any follow on. Paveway made some valid observations though.
Good detective work, thanks!
More ukrainian weaponry ending up in Syria…. just waiting for their bloody nucclear power stations to collapse. ThankEU and NATO for screwing the world
Firing the missile doesn’t provide evidence of its aim.
God damn it I was really hoping it hit :(((
It is not a nuclear power plant. Fact #1 No nuclear fuel is present. Fact #2 The construction site is not powering anything at all. Thus it is not a power plant. Logic clearly shows it is simply building materials being shaped into a structure that hypothetically will one day receive fuel rods to deliver power. None of this is currently so today. So nothing at all was launched at any ‘nuclear power plant’ at all.
According to this Reuters article from May, the first reactor is essentially done and the fuel rods have been manufactured and delivered. They’re somewhere on the site, but haven’t been loaded into the reactor yet. The plant’s other three reactors are scheduled for completion in the next few years.
Startup of the first reactor at Barakah is already running late because the operators are not trained/licensed yet – this had to do with KEPCO (reactor designer) delays in getting the first of this design up and running in Korea. The most expensive thing on earth to own is a completed, but idled NPP reactor, so a cruise missile certainly could have made the plant even more financially painful for the Emirates. Not that they’re worried that much about money.
The fresh fuel rods are not particularly dangerous until they become irradiated during the reactor’s start-up. In any case, you wouldn’t want highly-enriched uranium dust covering you new $20 billion nuke plant – a cruise missile strike would be undesirable. Americans might be interested to know the uranium was supplied by Uranium One.
Highly unlikely that Iran would be involved in the bombing of a nuclear power plant. Fishy!
Yup, one person summarized the entire scam into one sentence, why didnt it pop up Iranian passports, huh, hehe, I missed them to, “rock solid prof”. yup, works on idiots and Americans.
This is another massive inflated already, Double Nothing Burger, yeah, no wounder why we are so full of air this days, its an stinking fog of manure hanging in the air this days, and instead of reading kilometers of “explanations”, we all know why this ridiculous Iran bashing poops up on piles whenever Yemen is mentioned, yeah despite embargoes by the west, etc, etc, and then Hezb, to spice it up a bit, mostly meant to be used inside the open free range asylum UssA. Because nobody else believes it, get an grip.
peace
I STILL SUSPECT THE VIDEO IS FAKE
What was the aim of the attack? Destroy the nuclear power plant? No. It would only cause minor damage to the unfinished plant. The aim was to disrupt the construction and force foreign contractors to leave because of safety concerns.
For this aim it is not necessary for the missile to hit the target. The intended effect can be achieved even if the missile fails half-way. Even possessing a missile and threatening a strike might be enough. Or publishing fake videos of a fake strike with a non-existing Iranian missile.
(I have collected sources here.)
Please correct this sentence ”The released video showed that the Iranian booster uccessfully separated from the Kh-55 after the launch.”