Iran's Revolutionary Guards fire a Shahab 3 missile
during a war game southeast of Tehran, yesterday. -Xinhua/Reuters
Iran yesterday launched several types of missiles at the start of a
large-scale military maneuvers, including the Shahab-3 ballistic missiles with a
range of more than 2,000 km, the state television reported.
"The Shahab missiles carrying cluster warheads have a range of 2,000 km, they
were fired from the desert of Qom," a city 120 km south of Tehran, the
television reported.
"Besides Shahab-3, the Shahab-2 whose warhead can send 1,400 bomb lets at the
same time, as well as some other short-range missiles, such as Zolfaghar-73,
Scud B, Fath-110 and Zelzal were also launched in the presence of General Seyed
Yahya Rahim Safavi, and other high-ranking commanders, said the report.
It was the first time for Iran to test Shahab-3 in military exercises and top
officers have said they would employ other "new equipment" during the drills.
Earlier on Wednesday, Major General Safavi, Commander-in-Chief of Iran's
Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said the 10-day maneuvers dubbed "The
Great Prophet 2" would be carried out in theGulf waters, the Sea of Oman and 14
of the country's provinces. But he didn't disclose how many Iranian troops
participated in the drills.
"The foremost goal of the maneuvers is to show Iran's firm determination to
defend the country against any possible threats," Safavi said, adding the war
games are not a threat to neighboring countries.
He made the remarks after the U.S.-led warships staged a two-day maneuvers in
the Gulf waters aimed at blocking smuggling of nuclear weapons material and arms
proliferation.
Commenting on the U.S.-led maneuvers, Safavi said, "It is a propaganda and
political maneuver without military value."
"If forces from out of the region want to endanger Iran's security and
interests, the Revolution Guards and the Basij (volunteer militia) will use all
their capabilities to strike their enemies and their interests," he added.
Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham also said on Monday that
foreign military forces should not damage Gulf peace, saying durable peace and
security would be restored through collective cooperation of all countries of
the region.
This is the third large-scale military exercises held in Iran this year. The
Islamic Republic in August launched a large-scale military maneuver named
"Zolfaghar Blow", and in April also staged "The Great Prophet 1" drills, during
which Iran said it tested advanced weapons including missiles and
torpedoes.