Iran test fires new long-range, mid-range missiles: Shahab, Fat'h and Zelzal

Iran test-fires long range missile

Tehran, July 9, IRNA

The promoted long range Shahab-3 missile was successfully test-fired on Wednesday during a naval wargame in the Persian Gulf waters.

The 1,000-kg missile was test-fired on the third day of a naval wargame launched by navy forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) dubbed 'Payambar-e A'zam' (the Great Messenger).

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IRGC missiles ready to target enemies

Tehran, July 9, IRNA

Commander of IRGC Airforce Brigadier General Hossain Salami said on Wednesday that the IRGC missiles have been loaded on launching pads and are ready to target enemies at any time.

He strongly warned the enemies trying to launch a psychological war through provocative statements in the region.

According to IRGC's Public Relations Office, the commander made the remarks during military war games code-named 'Great Prophet (PBUH)' on Wednesday where a number of long-range and middle-range missiles were test-fired at hypothetical enemies positions.

"Our reactions to probable threats will be swift, decisive and destructive," he said.

"The defensive war games have a message of deterrence which forces enemies to be more careful in their political and military calculations," he underlined.

During the military maneuver, the IRGC test fired various ground to ground, middle and long range missiles named Shahab, Fat'h and Zelzal.

Military experts say that the missiles can be used under various climatic conditions.

Iran Test-Fires Long-Range Missile Successfully

TEHRAN (FNA)-

July 9, 2008

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles in war games Wednesday in a move perceived as a response to threats coming from the US and Israel.

The missiles, tested during on the second day of military exercises dubbed 'The Great Prophet III', included a new Shahab 3 missile, which officials have said could reach targets 2000km (1,240 mile) away and has a conventional warhead weighing one ton.

Nine highly advanced missiles with improved accuracy were simultaneously tested, including the Zelzal and Fat'h missiles with ranges of 400km and 170km respectively.

"The aim of these war games is to show we are ready to defend the integrity of the Iranian nation," IRGC Air Force commander Hossain Salami said.

"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.

IRGC Naval Commander Morteza Saffari said various missile, rocket and torpedo launchers as well as military vessels and land-to-sea missiles were tested during the exercise.

"The IRGC Navy is carrying out this maneuver to show it is fully prepared to counter any possible enemy aggression or adventurism," said Saffari.

"The maneuver also sends out a reassuring message to regional countries that together we can secure the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz without the presence of foreign forces," he added.

The maneuver by the IRGC followed intensified threats by Tel Aviv against Tehran.

Israeli military conducted a Mediterranean maneuver last month - an apparent rehearsal for a potential attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

Yesterday, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader said the Islamic Republic would hit Tel Aviv, US shipping in the Persian Gulf and US interests around the world if it was attacked over its nuclear activities.

The renewed threats by the US and Israel intensified a war of words that has raised fears of military confrontation and helped boost world oil prices to record highs in the past few weeks.

Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Iran has also insisted that it would continue enriching uranium because it needs to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it is building in the southwestern town of Darkhoveyn as well as its first nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr.

Tel Aviv and Washington have recently intensified their threats to launch military action against Iran to make Tehran drop what they allege to be a non-peaceful nuclear program, while a recent report by 16 US intelligence bodies endorsed the civilian nature of Iran's nuclear plans and activities.

Following the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and similar reports by the IAEA head - one in November and the other one in February - which praised Iran's truthfulness about key aspects of its past nuclear activities and announced settlement of outstanding issues with Tehran, any effort to impose further sanctions or launch military attack on Iran seems to be completely irrational.

The February report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, praised Iran's cooperation in clearing up all of the past questions over its nuclear program, vindicating Iran's nuclear program and leaving no justification for any new UN sanctions.

Following a summit meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized countries in Hokkaido, northern Japan on Tuesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said major world powers had decided to send European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to Iran for talks on an incentives package they offered last month to induce Tehran to change its nuclear policy.

Sarkozy did not say when Solana would travel to Tehran. Iran formally replied on Friday to the offer by the US, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany.

France said Iran's response had ignored the world powers' demand for giving up its right of uranium enrichment before talks on implementing the package - a condition rejected on Monday as "illegitimate" by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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