Iran says long-range missile tests successful

Sep 28, 2009, 7:37 GMT

   Tehran - Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Monday successfully tested a long-range Shahab-3 missile, state media reported.

   The missile with a reported range of 2,000 kilometres was tested on the second day of an annual manoeuvre, Press TV reported.

   The Shahab-3 is the Western powers' main military concern about Iran because the missile is capable of targeting any part of Israeli territory.

   Iranian military commanders have several times warned that if Israel attacked the country's nuclear sites, they would use the Shahab-3 against the Jewish state.

   Iran had on Sunday and early Monday successfully tested medium-range missiles and launchers, the reports said.

   The tests followed harsh Western reaction toward the establishment of a second uranium-enrichment plant 100 kilometres south of Tehran and renewed suspicion that Iran was working on a secret nuclear programme.

   Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said Monday that the missile tests had nothing to do with the construction of the new nuclear facility.

   Ghashghavi said the tests were part of annual exercises for deterrence and defence purposes, and that it was normal for every country to test its military capabilities each year.

   The spokesman reiterated earlier remarks by Iranian officials that the new plant, located between Tehran and Qom, was no secret, legally registered at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and for civilian purposes only.

   But Ghashghavi criticized the IAEA for disclosing the construction of the new plant after, he said, it had been agreed between the two sides to keep it secret.