The chief of the NATO military alliance has announced a plan to launch a new “virtual network” comprising national and commercial satellites as the war in Ukraine approaches one year.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking to reporters on Monday ahead of the bloc's defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, said the move is designed to bolster the alliance's "intelligence and surveillance" as well as support its "missions and operations."
“This will improve our intelligence and surveillance. And support NATO missions and operations,” Stoltenberg said, adding that it would allow for “better navigation, communication, and early warning of missile launches.”
It comes after Moscow warned that Western commercial satellites being used in the Ukraine war could be "legitimate military targets".
In October last year, a senior Russian foreign ministry official was quoted as saying that commercial satellites from the United States and its allies could become legitimate targets for Russia if they were involved in the war in Ukraine.
"Quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike," Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Russian foreign ministry's department for non-proliferation and arms control, told the United Nations, calling it "provocative".
Stoltenberg said the new network would require increased military spending from those nations, adding that the discussions during the NATO defense ministers meeting will seek to “maintain and step up defense spending across the alliance."
The NATO chief also reaffirmed the alliance's support for Ukraine in the war against Russia "for as long as it takes."
Russia launched what it calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022, with NATO's eastward expansion blamed for the war. Next week, the simmering war will complete one year.
Russia views the alliance’s efforts to make Ukraine a member and to deploy missiles close to its borders as a direct threat to Russian territory.
Stoltenberg also hinted at the expansion of NATO’s efforts in Eastern European countries, and bolstering its "practical support" for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova, whom he described as “valued partners which face Russian threats.”
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/02/14/698199/US-led-NATO-launch-new-surveillance-network
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Unit says Iran will consider the Israeli regime’s shelters “legitimate targets” if residential areas in the country come under attack.
In a post published on social media platform X on Tuesday, the IRGC said that any strikes on residential areas in Iran would give Iran’s armed forces the right to attack Israeli shelters in the occupied lands.
The IRGC stated that it has intelligence on the blueprints and the exact locations of these shelters.
Iran began its Operation True Promise 4 after the US and Israel launched their joint military aggression against the Islamic Republic in late February by assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and several senior Iranian officials.
In its latest wave of attacks, the IRGC said it rained down missiles on the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
Iranian armed forces have also pounded American military bases and ...
In a fresh wave of retaliatory strikes, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
The IRGC’s Public Relations Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it had carried out the 79th wave of its ongoing retaliatory Operation True Promise 4 against the Israeli and American targets.
Deploying powerful Kheybar Shekan, Emad, and Sejjil missiles alongside IRGC Aerospace Force kamikaze drones, the operation successfully breached the regime's multi-layered air defense systems, the statement said.
The missiles, it stated, targeted Israel’s intelligence facilities in northern and central Tel Aviv, as well as military commercial and support centers in Ramat Gan and the Negev.
The missiles also hit Israel’s southern military logistics and command headquarters in Beersheba.
The missile strikes triggered widespread panic across Israel and forced the suspension of a Knesset (parliament) session on Tuesday.
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announces staging the 78th wave of its underway retaliatory Operation True Promise 4, targeting such highly sensitive Israeli targets as Dimona, Tel Aviv, and Eilat as well as several US military bases in the region.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC described the latest phase of the operation as a significant development featuring missiles raining down on enemy targets as the nation was leveling momentous support behind the Islamic Republic by attending millions-strong rallies with "clenched fists."
'A distinct record'
The latest phase, it noted, "has set a distinct record in the timeline of the war."
According to the statement, targets in the occupied port of Eilat, Dimona, a heavily fortified city that hosts the Israeli regime's notorious nuclear reactor in its vicinity, and northern Tel Aviv were struck using Emad and multi-warhead Qadr missile systems along with attack drones.
This was the second time the Corps was hitting Dimona, ...
