Iran fires hi-tech missile

2006-03-31 17:52

Teheran - Iran has successfully test-fired a missile with the ability to avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously.

General Hossein Salami, the air force chief of the elite revolutionary guards, said: "A remarkable goal of Iran's defence forces has been realised with the successful test-firing of a new missile with greater technical and tactical capabilities than those previously produced."

Salami said the Iranian-made missile was test-fired as large military manoeuvres began in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian sea.

"This missile can simultaneously hit several targets, has near stealth capabilities with a high manoeuverability, pin-point accuracy and radar avoidance features.

The general said the range of the missile would depend on the weight of its warhead.

Capable of carrying nuclear warhead

The local television station, however, described it as a "ballistic" missile, suggesting it was of comparable range to Iran's existing ballistic rocket, the Shahab-3, which can travel 2 :000km and reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East.

The Shahab-3 is also capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Former defence minister Ali Shamkhani said last year that Iran had successfully tested a solid fuel motor for the Shahab-3, a technological breakthrough in Iran's military industries.

Iran launched an arms development programme during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a US weapons embargo. The country has produced its own tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane since 1992.

The military manoeuvres are scheduled to last a week and will involve 17 000 members of the revolutionary guards, as well as boats, fighter jets and helicopter gunships.

As Iran is a major oil producer, the war games have contributed to the anxiety on world oil markets over the confrontation between the UN security council and Iran over its nuclear programme.

- AP