THE NEW VILLAGE RADIO  

Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 9/28/2009 4:09 AM UTC

  iran says it has carried out successful short-range missile tests
  

  , Sunday 27 September 2009 11.55 BST

  

  A missile in front of a poster of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photograph: Hasan Sarbakhshian/AP

  Iran today claimed to have successfully tested short-range missiles and said it would repeat the process with longer range weapons tomorrow.

  The English-language Press TV channel reported that solid-fuel Fateh-110, Tondar-69 and Zelzal missiles had been tested during drills by the country's elite Revolutionary Guard, but did not specify further details.

  The weapons are short-range surface-to-surface missiles.

  General Hossein Salami, the head of the Revolutionary Guard air force, said Iran had also tested a multiple missile launcher for the first time. Press TV showed pictures of at least two missiles being fired simultaneously.

  Salami said the missile tests and military drills were intended to demonstrate Tehran's resolve to defend its national values.

  A long-range missile, the surface to surface Shahab-3 – believed to be capable of hitting Israel and US bases in the Gulf – will be tested tomorrow, state radio said.

  Last week, Iran said it was building a second uranium enrichment plant despite UN demands that it stops its development plans.

  Tensions will increase this week when Iran's chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, flies to Geneva for meetings with diplomats from the six countries that handle talks on the Iranian nuclear programme – the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

  At the meeting, being held on Thursday, the US will demand access to the enrichment plant, near the holy city of Qom, within the next few days and to all other sites within three months, the New York Times reported.

  The US president, Barack Obama, speaking at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, warned that Iran would be on "a path that is going to lead to confrontation" if it did not stick to international rules.

  Iran rejected western criticism over the construction of the plant, saying it was legal and open to inspections from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iranian state radio said the country's ambassador to the UN's nuclear agency watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, had criticised "fabricated western clamour" about the facility and warned it would have a negative impact on the talks.

  Although western defence experts believe the Shabab-3 missile, first tested in July 2008, can only strike targets up to 1,300km away, Iran's claim that it can reach up to 2,000km may mean it has developed a newer model with a range of up to 2,500km.

  Iran has had the solid-fuel Fateh missile, with a range of 170km, for several years. It also has the solid-fuel, Chinese-made CSS-8, also called the Tondar-69, which has a range of about 150km.

  • Tags:
  • IRAN ALSO TESTED SHA
  • Permalink