Missile War Games launched By Iran
September 27, 2009 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
TEHRAN : Iran test-fired three short-range missiles on Sunday as the Islamic republic began war games two days after the UN nuclear watchdog disclosed it was building a second uranium enrichment plant.
Hossein Salami, air force commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, said that on Monday there would also be a test-firing of the long-range Shahab 3 missile which Iran says has a range of 1,300-2,000 kilometres (800-1,240 miles) and could hit arch-foe Israel.
“Tomorrow we will test the long-range Shahab missile,” he told the English-language television channel Press TV, referring to the Shahab 3.
He also said, without elaborating, that the Guards tested a “multiple missile launcher for the first time” on Sunday and that later in the day Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 medium-range missiles would be test-fired.
Salami called the missile war games an “indication” of Iran’s “strong will to defend our values and interests.”
“We have increased the precision of our missiles… hopefully, these missile tests will contribute to our deterrent and defensive capabilities.”
Salami said the Guards will not launch any new type of missile during the exercise which is expected to last several days, but he added that Iran “has boosted the number of missiles and can contain long-term missile conflicts.”
Earlier, the state-owned Al-Alam and Press TV channels reported that the three short-range missiles fired were of the Tondar-69, Fateh-110 and Zelzal type.
All three weapons, powered by solid fuel, have a range of between 150 and 200 kilometres (90 and 125 miles).
Press TV broadcast footage of a sand-coloured missile being fired in desert terrain.
The missile manoeuvres come after US President Barack Obama decided earlier this month to scrap a defence shield in Europe promoted by his predecessor George W. Bush.
Obama ended Bush’s plan to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and a powerful tracking radar in the neighbouring Czech Republic by 2013.
He said he had decided to replace the shield with a more mobile system using mainly sea-based missile interceptors.
In taking the decision, Obama emphasised the threat of Iran’s short-range and medium-range missiles instead of the potential danger of its longer-range weapons.
The White House said the intelligence community now believed Iran was developing shorter-range missiles “more rapidly than previously projected” while progressing more slowly than expected with intercontinental missiles.
US ally Israel, most Arab states and parts of Europe — including much of Turkey — are within range of the Shahab-3.
Missile War Games launched By Iran was first posted on September 27, 2009 at 3:31 pm.
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