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Iran playing new war games
22/01/2007 23:45 - (SA)
Tehran - Iran launched a series of war games on Monday and vowed to block UN nuclear inspectors from entering the country in a fresh show of defiance over its controversial nuclear aims.
Short-range missiles were to be tested in the four-day exercise southeast of Tehran, which came as the US military was sending a second warship to Gulf waters amid growing international tension over Iran's atomic programme.
"Ground forces of Iran's elite revolutionary guards are completely ready to tackle any kind of foreign threats," said artillery commander Majid Ayeneh.
The missile tests were announced just days after Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said the armed forces were ready to face any threat to its nuclear installations amid speculation Washington may be planning a military strike.
The UN security council passed Resolution 1737 in December, imposing sanctions on Iran after it repeatedly had refused to fully co-operate with the UN nuclear watchdog or suspend uranium enrichment. Inspectors blocked
In reprisal for the resolution, the head of parliament's national security commission, Alaeddin Borujerdi, announced Iran was blocking from the country 38 inspectors from the IAEA.
"This is the first step in implementing the parliament legislation" on limiting co-operation with the IAEA, Borujerdi told the ISNA news agency.
IAEA inspectors regularly visit Iranian nuclear sites under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran is a signatory.
Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki defended the move as "completely legal" and said that "IAEA member states have the right to oppose the trip of any inspector they wish".
Iran, OPEC's second largest oil exporter, insists its nuclear programme is solely aimed at meeting peaceful energy needs. However, the West fears that it could be diverted towards building a bomb.
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