Missiles can reach UK say Iran

[Spinningnewbie]

Just heard this in live interview with Defence Secretary.
Apparently they can reach us in 4 hours.
Are they lying??

Also ICBM don't take 4 hours to reach their target. An Iranian missile would have to fly over lots of airspace.

Correct, and rather than being concentrated on missile defense, the savings from decades of defense spending cuts have gone to non-defense spending.

Probably for clarity it's worth pointing out the amount of territory overflown isn't really relevant for a ballistic missile of significant range.

That's because for most of the arc of flight it's well above the reach of any ground based missile systems....something on a 4000 km trip will be multiple hundred if not > 1000 km up at mid point of flight...(haven't checked the exact numbers so open to correction).

That's why most SAM systems that can engage these things tend to intercept them in the final stages of flight when they are heading back down..which means the SAM systems have to be based relatively near potential targets....Or in other words it would be tough to impossible for, say, a NATO Patriot system in Poland to intercept an Iranian ballistic missile heading for, say, Paris or London...

It's just as well there's no ICBMs to shoot down then.

However, even if I'm wrong and there are, as others have pointed out, they're unlikely to be able to carry a significant payload. They're not likely to be any use to harm any strategic military sites in the UK, so at most they could be used as a weapon of terror.

I don't want to shit anyone up, but if the Iranian regime wants to harm or frighten UK civilians, common-or-garden acts of terrorism (i'm sure I don't need to descrive the means) would be many times more impactful and cost-effective. it would also have plausible deniability. Were it to target eg. London with a limited arsenal of long-range missiles, the UK (and US and Israeli) military would make short work of flattening Tehran. Iran knows this.

This is Israeli propaganda designed to sway public opinion to support their “war”.

Was thinking more land based cruise missile. Easier for these countries to develop nerve agents. Think of Salisbury. A small bottle could shut down a large city and is deniable.

This is Israeli propaganda designed to sway public opinion to support their “war”.

If the UK participated we would become a target. By hosting US murderplanes we already are participating and I would urge the government to shut that down immediately.

By "flattening Tehran", do you mean using a nuclear weapon? Short of that, I'm not clear on how the UK military would accomplish that mission.

The USN, USAF, and IAF have been bombing Tehran for three weeks without flattening it. The RAF phased out heavy or strategic bombers in the 1980s to save money and has nothing comparable to the B1, B2 or B52 aircraft.

Edited to add that if Iran or anyone else wanted to cause maximum damage to the UK's military infrastructure and capabilities with conventional missiles, they'd target GCHQ, MoD headquarters, and air bases. Lots of civilian targets like natural gas terminals, communications nodes, and power plants are also highly vulnerable to conventional missile attacks.

I wouldn't disagree with some of that...

I do have a major problem with some MPs and at least one junior minister who were making very missleading statements at the weekend about how well the UK is defended from a missile threat, Iranian or not...

You are beautifully emphasising my point - thank you.

Aren't they just defending their country from an unprovoked attack? Oh they have WMDs is it?

Also, if they want to obliterate Israel it has fuck all to do with the UK. Why should we be bothered about anyone else's wars, as if we don't have anything to worry about here.

Yeah, I'm sure Lindsay and Craig Foreman were really mossad spies.

Unprovoked? Apart from using their proxies in Hezbollah and the Houthis to fire missiles and attack Israel. And funding Hamas too. This is literally their stated aim with the 'axis of resistance'.

Fine you don't care about Iran wanting to annihilate Israel, that's ok. But israel cares a lot and takes them at their word. Casus beli.

So Iran is allowed to fund and direct hezbollah and the houthis to fire missiles and attack Israel? And apparently israel cannot respond to Iran?

And Iran is allowed to openly state it wishes to wipe israel off the map and israel should just sit back and allow it do so? If there's one thing Jewish history has taught us, if someone says they want to destroy you - believe them.

I think everyone is aware of the Hamas stuff etc, but there does seem to be a be a lack of clarity and agreement on why Iran.

For example, just the other day the IDF were still doing airstrikes in Gaza. They have troops in Lebanon, and are doing strikes all over southern Lebanon, with some of their latest being against petrol station chains that the IDF claim are Hezbollah run. And yup, it can be argued that is all justified.

So after over 2 years of war in Gaza, a tiny enclave, Hamas are still not defeated. And the same really can be said about Hezbollah. And now that front is being raised to the same level as Gaza, where razing seems to be the method preferred.

But what Israel has not explained is how Iran funds and supplies Hamas and Hezbollah from 1000 miles away. Especially Hamas, which is totally locked in. It's not as if Iran can ship in containers of rockets. And it's not as if Hamas can pop out to an arms fair to buy arms with a wad of cash from Iran. And if Hezbollah are funding from petrol stations in Lebanon as Israel claim, do they need Iranian money ?

And now a new front in Iran, 1k miles from Israel, with the same method of bombing and destruction that has so far not been demonstrated to work in tiny Gaza.

So if their method has not been shown to work in Gaza, how on earth do they expect it to work with Iran, a nation the size of western Europe, and with a population of 90 million.

And of course, Israel and the US appear to have different aims re Iran. Trump has claimed victory several times. Israel are stepping up their campaign with non stop mission creep.

And on top of all this, Israel have not explained why Iran would attack London.

Israel do an awful lot of handwaving away of how they think bombing Iran will work. Or Lebanon. And they never seem to explain how Iran manage to do what they claim Iran does. Just vague statements with no detail at all.

They really should try to answer some of the questions put to them.

What question would you like answered?
Hamas is not an iranian proxy the way hezbollah is but is certainly funded by Iran. And it was armed via smuggling and tunnels. And funded through many different channels, not least via Hamas leaders living happily in Qatar.

To even question that Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran is risible. It's like questioning if the pope is Catholic. Why did Lebanon expel the Iranian ambassador? Because they're sick of Iran using Lebanon to fight their wars via Hezbollah.

Why was Hezbollah even firing missiles at Israel? Israel had withdrawn from every last inch of Lebanon 20 years ago as certified by the UN

And BTW why did Iran arrest lindsay and Craig forman if they love the UK?

And there have already been iranian funded attacks - thankfully mostly foiled thanks to good intelligence - in the UK. Dont fool yourself- the IRGC see you as the enemy. Perhaps useful fools but still enemies.

What question would I like to see answers to ? How about the one you avoided ?

I asked : "But what Israel has not explained is how Iran funds and supplies Hamas and Hezbollah from 1000 miles away. Especially Hamas, which is totally locked in. It's not as if Iran can ship in containers of rockets. And it's not as if Hamas can pop out to an arms fair to buy arms with a wad of cash from Iran. And if Hezbollah are funding from petrol stations in Lebanon as Israel claim, do they need Iranian money ?"

You said "tunnels" and "Qatar".

The tunnels are gone. And what good does money in Qatar do to help Hamas ? How does the money get there, and what do Hamas spend it on ?

'And what good does money in Qatar do to help Hamas ? How does the money get there, and what do Hamas spend it on ?'

You must've heard of bank transfers surely? I agree it would be a bit impractical for Qatar hamas terrorists to pop on a plane with caseloads of money. Surely you've also heard of illegal arms deals? I'd bet a tenner that's what hamas spend their money on. Obviously.

And ?

So Hamas are sitting there with a bank statement saying they have 50 mil in the bank. What now ?

They won’t spend it on stuff for the people obviously, but why not weapons? The usual, stuff to fight with.

How do they do that then ? Pop down to the local gun shop ?

How on earth have you no ideal about illegal arms deals, smuggling etc?

You think all terrorists world wide pop to Tesco for their weapons?

Well. They contact bad people who sell them weapons.

I’m surprised anyone is asking how terrorists are armed but @Gloriiahas the answer.