Iran test-fires long- and medium-range missiles

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles Wednesday during war games that officials said were intended to show the country can retaliate against any U.S. or Israeli attack, state television reported.

The test-firings were widely condemned in the United States, notably by the White House and the two main presidential candidates.

The exercise was being conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.

Oil prices jumped on news of the missile tests, rising $1.80 to $137.84 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Europe.

Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, said the exercise would "demonstrate our resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language," the TV report said.

Gates says Tehran is a threat
Footage showed at least six missiles firing simultaneously and said the barrage included a new version of the Shahab-3 missile, which officials have said has a range of 1,250 miles and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead.

That would put Israel, Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan and Pakistan within striking distance.

"Our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch," the official IRNA news agency quoted Salami as saying Wednesday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the missile test bolsters the U.S. argument that Tehran is a threat. He also said it counters Russia's case against the need for a missile defense system in Europe.

The U.S. has argued for some time that there is a real threat Iran could develop long-range missiles to use against Europe, Gates said, and Tehran's launch of several missiles Wednesday helps make that point.

'Funny joke'
The report of the missile test came less than a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed fears that Israel and the United States could be preparing to attack his country, calling the possibility a "funny joke."

"I assure you that there won't be any war in the future," Ahmadinejad told a news conference Tuesday during a visit to Malaysia for a summit of developing Muslim nations.

But even as Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have dismissed the possibility of attack, Tehran has stepped up its warnings of retaliation if the Americans — or Israelis — do launch military action, including threats to hit Israel and U.S. Gulf bases with missiles and stop oil traffic through the vital Gulf region.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Wednesday's tests "evidence that the missile threat is not an imaginary one."

"Those who say that there is no Iranian missile threat against which we should build a missile defense system perhaps ought to talk to the Iranians about their claims," Rice said while traveling in Sofia, Bulgaria.


The Pentagon is studying Iran's latest missile test to figure out exactly what was launched and what it shows about Tehran's missile capabilities.


DOD to study the tests
An early assessment showed that U.S. tracking systems detected seven missile launches, said two defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the event.

Pentagon intelligence indicated the launches were part of what it calls "troop training." Officials noted that the test came during Iran's "Noble Prophet" exercise — training also held twice in 2006, each time including multiple missile launches.

One defense official said it appeared to be the latest volley in recent escalating threats and counterthreats between Israel and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program. The Israeli military last month held a military exercise that some officials suggested was practice for the possibility of bombing Iranian nuclear facilities; the U.S. and allies on Tuesday ended a five-day exercise on protecting oil infrastructure in the Persian Gulf.

On Capitol Hill, Undersecretary of State William Burns said Iran is trying to foster the perception that its nuclear program is advancing.

But Iran's "real progress has been more modest," Burns said in testimony prepared for a House committee. Iran has not yet perfected enrichment and U.N. sanctions have hurt its ability to obtain technology for missile programs, he said.

Burns told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the administration is pursuing a longtime goal of persuading Iran to change its course, using economic sanctions to "clarify the price of defiance."

Stopping nuclear threat is challenge
Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., said that "stopping Iran's nuclear threat is our most urgent strategic challenge."

"No one knows precisely when Iran will produce a nuclear bomb," Berman said in his opening statement. "But it will be soon."

Berman said the U.S., along with Russia, China and European allies, needs to make "an unconditional effort" to engage Iran diplomatically.

"I reject those who believe that talking is tantamount to surrender," he said.

A White House spokesman called Wednesday's tests "completely inconsistent with Iran's obligations to the world."

"The Iranian regime only furthers the isolation of the Iranian people from the international community when it engages in this sort of activity," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council.

"They should also refrain from further missile tests if they truly seek to gain the trust of the world," he added, speaking from Japan, where President Bush is attending the Group of Eight summit.

On Tuesday, Rice and Czech counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg signed a deal allowing the U.S. to base a missile defense shield in the Czech Republic.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that Iran "has an active missile program as is evidenced by these launches today and it underscores the importance of pursuing a number of different tracks to deal with various threats emanating from Iran."

He said a missile defense system is one way and diplomatic efforts at ending Tehran's nuclear program is another.


Candidates weigh in
The U.S. presidential candidates also weighed in. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, said that the tests underscored the threat posed by Iran to the region.

"Working with our European and regional allies is the best way to meet the threat posed by Iran, not unilateral concessions that undermine multilateral diplomacy," he said in a statement.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama said Tehran's move highlighted the need for tougher economic sanctions as well as strong incentives to persuade Iran to change its behavior.

Appearing on the TODAY show, Obama said the United States must pursue the kind of aggressive diplomacy that he said has been absent under the Bush administration. "If we don't, then we're going to continue to see rising tensions that could lead into real problems."