Defiant Iran test-fires long-range missiles

Iran yesterday test-fired long-range missiles it says could reach targets inside Israel, as the defiant Revolutionary Guards staged war games amid tension with the West over Tehran's atomic drive.

The White House condemned as "provocative" Iran's decision to test-fire the missiles.

The UN nuclear watchdog rev-ealed on Friday that Tehran was building a second uranium enrichment plant, ratcheting up tensions with the West which suspects the Islamic republic wants to acquire atomic weapons, a charge it denies.

Guards' air force commander Hossein Salami said his men test-fired surface-to-surface Sejil and Shahab-3 long-range missiles on the second day of the manoeuvres.

"An improved version of Shahab-3 and the two-stage Sejil, powered by solid fuel, were fired," Commander Salami was quoted as saying by state-owned Arabic language Al-Alam television.

The Fars news agency said it was the first time the Sejil had been test-fired during a military exercise.

The Revolutionary Guards said the tests were now completed.

"The last stage of the 'Great Prophet' ballistic missile manoeuvres were carried out successfully this morning. Thus the manoeuvres have ended, with all the targets hit," it said on its Sepahnews website.

State-owned English-language Press TV earlier broadcast the first footage of the Sejil, as the light blue missile barrelled skywards trailing thick white smoke.

The channel also showed footage of a Shahab-3 blasting off in a ball of fire from a desert terrain.

Iran says both long-range wea-pons can travel for 2,000 kilometres, which would put arch-foe Israel, most Arab states and parts of Europe, including much of Turkey, within range.

On Sunday, the Guards fired several short- and medium-range missiles, some bearing multiple warheads, state media reported.

The medium-range Shahab-1 and Shahab-2, with a range of between 300 kilometres and 700 kilometres, "precisely hit the targets," the air force commander Salami said.

Earlier, the Guards test-fired three types of short-range missiles - the Tondar-69, Fateh-110 and Zelzal. All three solid-fuel weapons have a range of between 100 and 400 kilometres.

Yesterday, Commander Salami issued a stern warning to Iran's foes.

"Our response will be strong and destructive to those who threaten the existence, independence, freedom and values of our regime. They will regret it," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

The manoeuvres raised concern in London and Paris, while a Russian foreign ministry source told Interfax news agency the world should not "succumb to emotions" in dealing with Iran.

"It is obviously reprehensible as such but it mustn't distract us from the big question of this week, which is how will Iran respond at the meeting with the international community on Thursday?" British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told Sky News television.

He was referring to Thursday's high-profile talks between Iran and six world powers over Tehran's atomic programme.

In Paris, the foreign ministry ur-ged Iran to stop such "deeply destabilising activities" and respond "without delay to the demands of the international community to reach a negotiated settlement on the nuclear question."

Germany too criticised the missile tests.

"Tehran is testing missiles despite the fact that it wants to talk with the (six countries) about regional peace and stability. Ahead of the upcoming talks, this is not a signal that will build trust," German foreign ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said.