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Iran missile program takes a long stride |
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Monday, 06 September 2004 |
Iran Focus
 Tehran, Aug 25 – A senior Iranian Defense Ministry official confirmed that contrary to the official announcement, the missile tested last week was a Shahab-4 and not simply an improved version of Shahab-3 missile, Iran Focus has learnt.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Defense Ministry experts described last week’s test as “an unprecedented success in Iran’s missile program.” He said the new missile had made a “100 percent improvement” compared with Shahab-3, with its range being extended from 1,300 km to 2,500 km.
The official noted that the accuracy of the new missile had also undergone a marked improvement.
Last week, Iran’s Defense Ministry, in a brief statement carried on the official news agency IRNA, said the test of the new Shahab-3 "was carried out successfully ... The pre-determined targets were hit in the testing," it said.
Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said in anticipation of the test that Iran was working to improve the range and accuracy of the Shahab-3 in response to Israel's moves to boost its anti-missile capability.
"The Israelis have recently tried to increase their missile capability and we will also try to upgrade our Shahab-3 missile in every respect," the ISNA students news agency quoted Shamkhani as saying last week.
He said the improvements to the Shahab-3 "will not be limited to the missile's range and will include all its specifications."
The reason why the official announcement described the newly-tested missile as an improved version of Shahab-3 and made no mention of its real designation, the Shahab-4, was that Tehran wants to avoid the strong international reactions that the testing of a new mark of missiles would entail.
Last week, the U.S. State Department said Iran's attempts to improve its missile capability were a threat to the region and U.S. interests. "We will continue to take steps to address Iran's missile efforts, and to work closely with other like-minded countries in doing so," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
The Shahab-3 is based on the North Korean Nodong-1 and modified with Russian technology, having a range of 1,300 km.
The new Shahab-4 missile’s design included improved guidance components and a range of 2,500-2,900 kilometers with a warhead weight on the order of 1,000-760 kilograms. The Shahab-4 would be capable of hitting targets as far away as Germany and Western China.
Defense Minister Shamkhani was quoted as saying in the February 8, 1998, issue of Florida Today, that the "Shahab-4 missile now in development would be used to carry satellites into space--- not for military purposes."
Shamkhani told a press conference on February 7, 1999, "that the engine tests of the longer-range Shahab-4 will begin soon.”
Iran’s missile program has aroused grave concern around the world, particularly in light of the international community’s failure to end Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. The threat to regional and global peace and security becomes more pronounced as top Iranian officials raise the stakes with defiant vows. Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani has hinted that some Iranian generals believe that if they sense an imminent US threat, they should strike first against US troops in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan.
Shamkhani said in a recent interview with Al-Jazeera Arab television: "Some commanders believe pre-emptive operations were not created by the Americans and are not exclusive for their use. Any nation, if it feels threatened, may resort to that." |
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Iran's nuclear standoff |
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AP: Iran's official news agency says Tehran has proposed building joint light-water nuclear power plants with neighboring Arab countries.
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Reuters: Iran is showing "utter disrespect" for the U.N. nuclear watchdog by ignoring unanswered questions about its atomic programme, European powers said on Thursday.
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Reuters: The British ambassador was summoned to Iran's Foreign Ministry this week over British comments about Tehran's disputed nuclear work, state media said.
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AFP: Allegations of illicit nuclear programmes by Syria and Iran came under the spotlight Thursday at a crunch meeting of the UN's atomic watchdog.
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Reuters: Russia will complete Iran's first nuclear power plant in 2009, Itar-Tass news agency quoted the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation as saying on Thursday.
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New York Times: Iran said Wednesday its main uranium-enrichment plant was now equipped with 5,000 centrifuges — a sharp increase from the 4,000 it announced in August. machines that spin incredibly fast to enrich the element into nuclear fuel.
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Daily Telegraph: Iran has claimed that its nuclear programme now has 5,000 centrifuges to produce enriched uranium.
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Reuters: Iran now has 5,000 working uranium enrichment centrifuges, a senior official was quoted as saying on Wednesday, signalling an expansion of work the West fears is aimed at making nuclear bombs.
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AFP: Iran now has more than 5,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges in operation, as it pushes ahead with its controversial nuclear programme, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation chief said on Wednesday.
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Reuters: Iran has successfully launched a rocket called "Kavosh 2," Iran's state media reported on Wednesday, displaying the Islamic state's advances in ballistics at a time when the West is worried about its nuclear ambitions.
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