Iran successfully launched long range missile; United States imposed fresh sanctions on Iran; Iranian Foreign Minister visits Egypt
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    • According to reports, in the last phase of ‘Velayat 91’ Naval drills, the Iran’s Army Navy has launched its super-advanced surface-to-surface missile. ‘Noor’ has been improved on anti-radar system, tracking the target and control, and anti-forking (electronic war) compared to previous generations of the missile. In January 1, ‘Qader’ long-range ground-to-sea missile was fired and hit the target successfully. ‘Nasr’ and ‘Ra’ad’ had been also fired December 31, 2012 in final days of ‘Velayat 91’ naval drills. The main features of tested missiles are the product of national expert knowledge of Iran’s Army Naval Force and research and development centres of the defence industries. 1

    In another development, according to reports, the United States has imposed fresh sanctions on Iran that include bans on the country’s media. The new bans are included in the $633-billion military bill for 2013 which US President Barack Obama signed into law on January 2, 2013. The recent sanctions portion of the bill, among other economic features, blacklists the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and its president Ezzatollah Zarghami. The sanctions will also block all the IRIB assets and prevent others from doing business with it. Iran media said the sanction against IRIB is an attempt by the West to silence Iranian media. It is on top of another flagrant violation of freedom of speech by satellite providers Eutelsat SA and Intelsat SA which stopped the broadcast of several Iranian satellite channels in October. The new sanctions comes as US lawmakers say the fresh anti-Iran sanctions portion of the bill is part of measures aimed at pressuring Iran to halt its nuclear energy program. 2

    In other developments, according to Egyptian sources, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Akbar Salehi visited Cairo on on January 10, 2013. Salehi had meeting with Mohammad Morsi, and has delivered Ahmadinejad’s message to Egyptian President. Egyptian sources added that Mohammad Kamel Amr, Egyptian Foreign Minister also attended the meeting, where two sides discussed regional developments including Syrian crisis. Reports noted that in Cairo, before visiting Morsi, Salehi had a meeting with Nabil Elaraby, an Egyptian diplomat, the Secretary-General of the Arab League and Lakhdar Brahimi, UN-Arab League Envoy to Syrian crisis. 3

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