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  Date / Time: 5/20/2009 6:45 PM UTC

  Iran Says It Test Fired Missile That Could Hit Israel, U.S. Bases in Mideast
  

  Iran Says It Test Fired Missile That Could Hit Israel, U.S. Bases in Mideast

  Wednesday, May 20, 2009

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   Iran Presidency Office

  
  

  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inspects the Natanz nuclear plant in central Iran.

  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inspects the Natanz nuclear plant in central Iran.

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  TEHRAN, Iran —  Iran test-fired a new missile it claimed had a range capable of reaching Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East, sending a provocative message days after President Barack Obama pressured Tehran to accept his offer for dialogue.

  The announcement by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comes less than a month before Iran's presidential election. The vote could determine how Tehran responds to Washington's threat of further international sanctions if Iran does not respond positively by year-end to U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program.

  Analysts said the launch was likely intended for domestic consumption ahead of the June 12 elections and not as a message to the U.S., which has criticized past missile launches as stoking instability in the Middle East.

  "But I don't think the Obama administration and other nations will look at this as a constructive sign," said Patrick Clawson, deputy director for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

  Two U.S. officials confirmed the missile launch, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

  "It appears the test was a success," one official said. "It appears they launched a medium-range missile."

  Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would not confirm the launch but said the U.S. is aware of Iran's pursuit of ballistic missiles.

  "Our concerns are obviously based on nuclear ambitions and the implications that long- and medium-range missiles have with respect to that," Whitman told reporters at the Pentagon. "Iran is at a bit of a crossroads. They have a choice to make. They can either continue on this path of continued destabilization in the region or they can decide that they want to pursue relationships with the counties in the region and the United States that are more normalized."

  After the missile test, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned that if Iran manages to produce nuclear weapons, it would "spark an arms race" in the Middle East.

  Iran said the solid-fuel Sajjil-2 surface-to-surface missile has a range of about 1,200 miles. It is a new version of the Sajjil missile, which the country said it successfully tested late last year and has a similar range. Many analysts said the launch of the solid-fuel Sajjil was significant because such missiles are more accurate than liquid fuel missiles of similar range, such as Iran's Shahab-3.

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  • ISRAEL WAR IS CLOSER
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