Great game: Iran tests longer range missiles

by rahul | July 9, 2008 at 06:59 am

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Adding to the already tense situation in the middle east and soaring oil prices, Iran tested longer range Shahab -3 missile that can reach Israel. Such move is a response to previous Israeli military exercises that suggested an imminent attack on Iran.

Iran tests missiles amid tension
Iranian officials say missiles are in place to
respond to any kind of attack [AFP]

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards has test fired a longer range Shahab-3 missile, whose range is sufficient to put Israel within reach, Arabic language state channel Al-Alam reported.

The channel said on Wednesday that the missile test fired was a "Shahab-3 with a conventional warhead weighing one tonne and a 2,000km range".

The test firing, which also included the firing of several other missiles, comes at a time of growing tensions over the Iranian nuclear programme, which the West fears could be aimed at making an atomic bomb.

The US condemned the tests and said Tehran should refrain from such exercises.

"The aim of these war games is to show we are ready to defend the integrity of the Iranian nation," Al-Alam quoted Hossein Salami, the Revolutionary Guards air force commander, as saying.

"Our missiles are ready for shooting at any place and any time, quickly and with accuracy.

"The enemy must not repeat its mistakes. The enemy targets are under surveillance," he added.

Military might

In total nine missiles were tested, state-run English language channel Press-TV reported.

Along with the Shahab-3, the missiles tested were the Zelzal, which has a range of up to 400km, and the Fateh, which has a range of around 170km.

Press-TV showed pictures of the Shahab-3 being launched at an undisclosed desert location inside Iran.

"This a show of Iran's military muscle in the region in the face of threats from countries who said they would target Iran's nuclear facilities," the Press-TV announcer said.

The United States and its top regional ally Israel have never ruled out attacking Iran over its nuclear drive.

The firing comes a day after an aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Iran would "set fire" to Israel and the US navy in the Gulf as its first response to any American attack over its nuclear programme.

"The first US shot on Iran would set the United States' vital interests in the world on fire," Ali Shirazi, a mid-ranking cleric who is Khamenei's representative to the naval forces of the Revolutionary Guards, said.