Iran says all missile tests successful (2nd Roundup)

Sep 28, 2009, 14:17 GMT

Tehran - Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Monday that all missile tests conducted during two days of military exercises were successful, state media reported.

Revolutionary Guards spokesman General Hossein Salami told state television that the tests of the short- and longer-range missiles were successfully conducted during the exercises.

One of the tested missiles was Shahab-3, the longest-range one in Iran's missile arsenal with a reported range of 2,000 kilometres, 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's Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi on Monday reiterated the threat and warned Israel of any plans to attack Iran's nuclear sites.

Vahidi told state TV that although Iran did not consider it as likely, but an attack would expedite the collapse of the Israeli state.

The military on Sunday and early Monday had 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 not secret, and was legally registered at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 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.

General Salami told state TV that another missile tested in the manoeuvre was the Sejil-2, a surface-to-surface missile that, like Shahab-3, also has a range of about 2,000 kilometres but is propelled by a solid-fuel system and is more accurate.

On Sunday and early Monday, also the short-range Shahab-1 missile with a range of 300 kilometres, Shahab-2 with 700, Tondar with 150, Fateh with 193 and Zelzal with 200 kilometres were successfully tested, the spokesman said.

The military exercises and missile tests were conducted without the presence of neutral observers, and the claims by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards could not be independently verified.