Iran today conducted a test-launch of a new two-stage, surface-to-surface missile, Reuters reported (see GSN, Aug. 20).
Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar identified the weapon as a Sajjil missile with a range of about 1,200 miles (Zahra Hosseinian, Reuters, Nov. 12).
The missile is solid-fueled, giving it increased accuracy compared to liquid-fuel weapons in the Iranian arsenal, the Associated Press reported.
Najjar emphasized that the test was not timed to address international threats: "This missile test was conducted within the framework of a defensive, deterrent strategy … and specifically with defensive objectives."
Tehran has warned Israel and the United States against carrying out military strikes against its nuclear facilities (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Google News, Nov. 12).
Tim Ripley, an analyst with Jane's Defense Weekly, said such tests are routine for Iran, Reuters reported.
"They do it all the time. It's Iranian machismo," he said, adding that a second stage could lengthen a missile’s range. Tehran has benefited from North Korean missile expertise in the past, but Ripley said he could not confirm whether the Stalinist state’s technology was incorporated in the new weapon.
In a live television address, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cautioned potential antagonists.
"The Iranian nation defends its honor and whichever power that wants to stand against the movement of the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation will crush it under its foot and slap it on the mouth," Ahmadinejad told an audience in northern Iran (Hosseinian, Reuters, Nov. 12).
The United States slammed Tehran for carrying out the test, Agence France-Presse reported.
“Iran's development of ballistic missiles is contrary to United Nations Security Council resolutions and completely inconsistent with Iran's obligations to the world," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
“Iran should … refrain from further missile tests if they truly seek to gain the trust of the world. The Iranian regime should stop the development of ballistic missiles, which could be used as a delivery vehicle for a potential nuclear weapon, immediately," he added.
Western nations worry that Iran’s nuclear program masks a weapons development effort, while Tehran says its ambitions are purely peaceful (see related GSN story, today; Agence France-Presse/Google News, Nov. 12).