Defiant Iran test-fires long-range missiles

September 29, 2009 09:09:26 AM

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A defiant Iran on Monday test-fired missiles it says can reach targets inside Israel, which it dismissed as a "paper tiger," as tension with the West escalated over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The air force commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, said his men test-fired surface-to-surface Sejil and Shahab-3 missiles on the second and final day of the manoeuvres.

"An improved version of Shahab-3 and the two-stage Sejil, powered by solid fuel, were fired," Salami was quoted as saying by state-owned Arabic language Al-Alam television.

The Revolutionary Guards said the tests were now completed.

"The last stage of the 'Great Prophet' ballistic missile manoeuvres were carried out successfully this morning. Thus the manoeuvres have ended, with all the targets hit," it said on its Sepahnews website.

State-owned English-language Press TV earlier broadcast the first footage of the Sejil, as the light blue missile barrelled skywards trailing thick white smoke.

The channel also showed footage of a Shahab-3 blasting off in a ball of fire from a desert terrain.

Iran says both weapons can travel for 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles), which would put arch-foe Israel, most Arab states and parts of Europe, including much of Turkey, within range.

On Sunday, the Guards fired several missiles, some bearing multiple warheads, state media reported.

Salami issued a stern warning to Iran's foes after the tests.

"Our response will be strong and destructive to those who threaten the existence, independence, freedom and values of our regime. They will regret it," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

Armed forces chief of staff General Hassan Firouzabadi, meanwhile, dismissed Israeli threats against Iran, saying the Jewish state was a "paper tiger", Mehr news agency reported.

"Israel is a paper tiger and when they say that Israel is going to attack Iran it is a bluff," Firouzabadi said, quoted by Mehr.

The United States and its regional ally Israel have not ruled out a military option to stop Tehran's nuclear drive, which the West says is aimed at making nuclear weapons while Iran says it is solely for peaceful ends.

The UN nuclear watchdog revealed on Friday that Tehran was building a second uranium enrichment plant, ratcheting up tensions with the West. And the manoeuvres have further alarmed Washington, London and Paris.

Russia on Monday also expressed concern over the missile tests and called for "restraint" from the Islamic republic.

"It is not prohibited by any international agreement, but of course when missile launches occur on top of the unresolved situation surrounding Iran's nuclear programme, it's worrying," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"I am sure that restraint must be shown," he told reporters in New York after meeting his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, Russian news agency reports said.

China is also coming around on the need for tougher action on stopping Iran's nuclear programme, the top US diplomat handling Asia said on Monday.

Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for Asia, said that US and Chinese officials discussed Iran among a range of issues during last week's Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.

"For the first time, really, the Chinese supported elements of our tough approach," Campbell told reporters in Washington.

The United States has said the missile tests were "provocative" and urged the Islamic republic to agree to "unfettered access" to its newly revealed enrichment plant.

Asked what Iran could do when it meets with six world powers on Thursday in Geneva for talks on its nuclear programme, Gibbs said: "They can... agree to immediate, unfettered access."

British Foreign Secretary Miliband also expressed concern.

"It is obviously reprehensible as such but it mustn't distract us from the big question of this week, which is how will Iran respond at the meeting with the international community on Thursday?" he told Sky News television.

The French foreign ministry urged Iran to stop such "deeply destabilising activities" and respond "without delay to the demands of the international community to reach a negotiated settlement on the nuclear question."