By NASSER KARIMI in Tehran
Iran yesterday announced new short-range missile tests, and hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed criticism that new United Nations Security Council sanctions were hurting the economy.
The missile tests come days after the United States said it would deploy a second aircraft carrier to the volatile Gulf, the USS John C Stennis.
US military officials have said the carrier, which is set to arrive in Middle East waters in a matter of weeks, was meant as a plain warning to Iran.
The deployment appeared to alarm some in Iran's hardline leadership, including a member of a powerful cleric-run body who last week warned that Washington plans to attack Iran in the coming months, possibly by striking its nuclear facilities. US officials have long refused to rule out any options against Iran but said military action would be a last resort.
Iranian state-run television reported the elite Revolutionary Guards planned to begin three days of missile tests near Garmsar city, located in northern Iran about 62 miles southeast of Tehran. The military manoeuvre, which would test the short-range Zalzal and Fajr-5 missiles, was set to begin yesterday, the broadcast said. It could not immediately be confirmed if the missile tests began.
"The manoeuvre is aimed at evaluating defensive and fighting capabilities of the missiles," state-run television quoted an unnamed commander of the guards as saying.
Last year, Iran held three large-scale military exercises, testing what it called an "ultra-horizon" missile and the Fajr-3 missile, which reportedly can evade radar and use multiple warheads to hit several targets simultaneously.
While the Zalzal is a solid fuel missile, the Fajr-5 missile, from the Persian word meaning dawn, is an artillery rocket developed by Iran in early 2006. It includes a mobile platform and its primary role is to engage land targets, with a range of 50 miles.
Though US officials have suggested that Iran has exaggerated the capabilities of its newly developed weapons, Washington and its allies have been watching the country's progress in missile technology with concern.
The US - which led manoeuvres of its own in the Gulf in October - accuses Iran of backing militants fuelling Iraq's sectarian violence and has tried to rally its Arab allies in isolating Tehran.
Iran's latest military manoeuvres also are the first since the Security Council imposed sanctions last month on it over its refusal to suspend nuclear uranium enrichment. The sanctions ban selling materials and technology that could be used in Iran's nuclear and missile programmes and freezing assets abroad of 10 Iranian prominent companies and individuals.
The US and its allies accuse Iran of secretly developing atomic weapons - a charge Tehran repeatedly denies, saying its programme is solely for peaceful purposes. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns urged Iran yesterday to resume negotiations on curbing its nuclear programme.-AP
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