KUWAIT CITY, Aug 22, (AFP): Kuwait is closely monitoring “sleeping terror cells” that would resort to violence if Iran came under a military strike, a newspaper quoted a security source as saying on Sunday.
“The security agencies have been monitoring those cells for a long time and are aware of their moves and sources of funding,” the unnamed Kuwaiti source told Al-Qabas newspaper.
They are “closely monitoring these sleeping terror cells through various methods and means,” the source said without elaborating.

Al-Qabas reported on Saturday that Bahrain’s intelligence service warned other Gulf states that large numbers of “armed terrorists” were preparing for acts of sabotage if Iran was attacked over its nuclear file.

The warning was based on confessions of members of a “terror cell” arrested a few days ago who reportedly claimed membership in the military agency of a neighbouring country, Al-Qabas said citing informed sources.

The suspects reportedly said that they had been coordinating with similar cells in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, according to Al-Qabas. The Kuwaiti security source confirmed the Bahraini warning to Al-Qabas on Sunday.

Bahrain’s National Security Agency said last week that four men suspected of forming “an organised network aiming to shake the security and stability of the country” had been arrested.
International human rights groups however said the number of arrests rose to eight.
Meanwhile, Iranian leaders on Sunday unveiled a bomber drone with a range of up to 1,000 kilometres, touting the Islamic republic’s home-grown capacity to resist attack, state media reported.
Television footage showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad applauding as a blue cloth covering the drone — called Karar (“Assailant”) — was removed to reveal a short aircraft marked “bomber jet” in military-green.

“This jet, before it heralds death for enemies, is the messenger of salvation and dignity for humanity,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the unveiling in a hall at Tehran’s Malek Ashtar university.
The broadcast showed the high-speed unmanned aircraft in flight, while Fars news agency quoted Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi as saying the drone had a range of up to 1,000 kms (620 miles).
State television said the drone was built to “carry and fire four stealth cruise missiles... and, depending on the mission, it can carry two bombs of 250 pounds (115 kilos) each or a precision missile of 500 pounds (230 kilos).”

Ahmadinejad said Iran’s defence abilities “should reach a point where we can cut off the aggressor’s arm before he acts, and if we miss, we should destroy him before he hits the target.” He added Iran was keeping all options open.

“The main message of the Karar bomber is to prevent any kind of aggression and conflict” against Iran, which is embroiled in a standoff with the West over its nuclear programme, he added.
The drone was unveiled on Iran’s annual Defence Industry Day, and two days after it test-fired a surface-to-surface missile also built domestically, called the Qiam (“Rising”).
Iran is expected to follow up with series of military announcements during the nation’s “government week,” a period when Tehran boasts of its latest technological achievements.
The country is also expected to test-fire a third generation Fateh (“Conqueror”) 110 missile, after having already paraded a version with a range of 150 to 200 kms (90 to 125 miles).
The production lines for two missile-carrying speedboats, Seraj and Zolfaqar, are also due to be inaugurated.

Karar’s unveiling came days after Iran took delivery of four domestically built Ghadi mini-submarines, a “stealth” vessel designed to operate in shallow waters such as the Gulf.
The moves coincide with Iranian warnings against any attack. Its arch-foes, the United States and Israel, have not ruled out taking military action over Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme.
On Saturday, Iran began loading nuclear fuel in its first nuclear power plant. The Russian-built reactor in the southern port of Bushehr, which is not targeted by UN sanctions, aims to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

On the military front, General Ali Fadavi, a naval commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, said earlier this month that the country is to mass-produce replicas of the Bladerunner 51, often termed the world’s fastest boat.

“The Bladerunner is a British ship that holds the world speed record. We got a copy (on which) we made some changes so it can launch missiles and torpedoes,” he said.
Iran will make the strategic, oil-rich Gulf region unsafe if it comes under attack over it nuclear programme, Yadollah Javani, deputy chief of the Guards, said at the start of August.
The Guards were established after the 1979 Islamic revolution to defend the regime from internal and external threats.

Attack
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ruled out an Israeli or US attack against the Islamic republic, in an interview broadcast on Sunday by the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television channel.
“I reject the possibility of an attack by Israel. Israel is too weak to face up to Iran militarily,” said Ahmadinejad, who spoke in Farsi and whose comments were translated into Arabic.
“Israel doesn’t have the courage to do it... and I do not think its threat is serious,” he said.
Both Israel and the United States suspect Iran’s controversial programme of uranium enrichment has a covert military aim — to produce a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies the charge, stating its atomic ambitions are entirely peaceful.
However, neither the Jewish state nor its key ally has ruled out taking military action against Iran’s nuclear programme. Israel itself is widely believed to be the sole, if undeclared, nuclear-armed power in the Middle East.

In his interview, Ahmadinejad also said the Arab states of the Gulf “will not allow the US bases in the region to be used to launch an attack against Iran.”
Asked if Arab nations might permit Washington to use its bases in the region to attack Iran, the hardline president replied: “They are more intelligent than that.”
“America is not interested in sparking a military confrontation” with Iran, he said, but pledged a “decisive response” if his country was attacked.