Published: November 07, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Crossfire War - Hydropower Stations in Russia Under Serious Terror Threat
By Willard Payne
Crossfire War - TEHRAN WATCH - Eurasia Theatre: Tehran/Makhachkala - Saratov - Ryazan - Moscow; Russian Hydropower Facilities in Ryazan - Saratov - Daghestan Regions Under Serious Terror Threat
Night Watch: SARATOV - "The threat is real." That is the assessment of Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) speaking at the Fifth Anti-Terrorist Committee meeting when discussing, that according to their intelligence information, terrorists are planning attacks on Russia's hydropower infrastructure in southern Russia. Patrushev stated, "The anti-terrorist committee has information about terrorist leaders planning to launch attacks on hydropower facilities in the Ryazan and Saratov regions and Daghestan." [
RIA}
RIA reported that an inspection of the hydropower stations uncovered a lapse in security which makes them easy targets for disruption. Any successful attack would be catastrophic and paralyze the regions, potentially bringing industrial production to a standstill. An attack in Saratov would be especially devasting since it is on the Volga river, one of Russia's most important inland waterways and just 410 miles southeast of Moscow. Ryazan is only 100 miles southeast of the capital while Daghestan is in the northern Caucasus, east of Chechnya and borders the oil rich Caspian Sea.
Tehran had Islamic fighters invade Daghestan in August 1999, causing the war to resume in the northern Caucasus after three years. Though Moscow has largely suppressed the fighting in the past year the region is not entirely secure. Russia could soon be occupied when fighting begins further south against Georgia, who Iran supports in a continued attempt to weaken Russia's hold and control of the Caucasus and its crossroads of energy pipelines. This theatre is the main objective of Tehran's economic priorities for the Jihad to accomplish and they know Moscow is the main Allied capital they have to confront. So the last thing Moscow needs is a disruption of its industry in the center of the country. That could mean a serious setback to industrial production for the military.
Tehran is very much aware that Moscow is preparing for (f)allout war with Iran and that as soon as Russia is ready the diplomatic stances of both countries will be directly affected by the latest war news. Tehran is causing this current and expanded threat as an expression of its displeasure with Moscow deliberately postponing the completion of Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, which was supposed to have begun operations three years ago. That delay is the equivalent to imposing sanctions.
Night Watch Information Service
http://www.crossfirewar.com
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