Missile tests nothing to do with new nuke plant, Iran officials say

Sep 29, 2009, 10:10 GMT

   Tehran - Iran's missile tests this week had nothing to do with revelations that Tehran is constructing a second uranium-enrichment plant, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards said Tuesday.

   'The West tries to connect the missile tests to the second uranium-enrichment plant in order to link our military activities to the nuclear ones,' General Mohammad-Ali Jafari told the Fars news agency.

   'But this claim is totally false,' he said.

   Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said Monday that the missile tests were part of an annual defence manoeuvre and were not connected with the plant.

   Iran conducted the tests right after officials admitted to building a second enrichment plant in the village of Fordo, 180 kilometres south of the capital on the road between Tehran and the city of Qom.

   The missile tests were also made a few days before the resumption of nuclear talks between Iran and the five permanent United Nations Security Council member states and Germany, scheduled for Thursday in Geneva.

   The guards commander termed the missile tests as 'very good' and said the technical achievements in recent years have improved the country's defensive capabilities.

   The West is especially concerned about two of the tested missiles - the Shahab-3 and Sejil-2 - which have a reported range of 2,000 kilometres and, therefore, are capable of reaching Israel.

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

   Iran rejected Western concerns about the new Fordo plant, saying they informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) well ahead of a 180-day deadline.

   Tehran maintains it needs to provide technical information only six months before introducing nuclear material into the facility. The plant would reportedly not start operations before the end of 2010.

   However, Iran accepted in 2003 a new provision in its inspection agreement that says the country is obliged to provide technical information to the IAEA 'as soon as the decision to construct or to authorize construction has been taken, whichever is earlier.'

   The head of Iran's Atomic Organization, Ali-Akbar Salehi, however said that Iran has respected all IAEA regulations with regards to the Fordo plant.

   Salehi, a former envoy at the international nuclear watchdog, also said the IAEA would in due time be allowed to inspect the new plant but gave no details on the date.