Iran tests missiles "able to sink big warships"

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Pastor Dale Morgan

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Feb 8, 2007, 6:56:47 AM2/8/07
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*Perilous Times*

Thursday February 8, 7:42 PM Reuters

*Iran tests missiles "able to sink big warships"*

By Edmund Blair


TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards test-fired missiles on
Thursday that a commander said could sink "big warships" in the Gulf,
the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean, the state broadcaster said.

Iran is at loggerheads with the United States over its disputed nuclear
programme and what Washington calls its meddling in Iraq. The United
States has ordered a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf to step up
pressure on Iran.

"These missiles, with a maximum range of 350 km (220 miles), can hit
different kinds of big warships in all of the Persian Gulf, all of the
Sea of Oman and the north of the Indian Ocean," senior Revolutionary
Guards naval commander Ali Fadavi said.

Fadavi was also quoted by the state broadcaster's Web site as saying
that the 500-kg (1,100-lb) warhead of this missile had the capacity to
sink "all kinds of big warships".

State television said the missile tests, staged on the second day of
war-games by the Guards' naval and air units, were "to show that Iran is
able to confront any possible threats".

The Revolutionary Guards are an ideological wing of the Islamic
Republic's armed forces and have a command structure separate from the
regular military. They regularly hold exercises in the Gulf area that
are widely seen as deliberate demonstrations of military power.

GULF CHOKE POINT

Military experts say Iranian forces are no technological match for the
U.S. military but could still cause havoc in the Gulf and the narrow
Strait of Hormuz, a choke point through which two-fifths of the world's
traded oil passes.

The state broadcaster's Web site identified the missile as an anti-ship
SSN-4, which Web sites and Jane's information group describe as a
ballistic missile that has been around since the 1960s and is fired from
submarines when on the surface.

The Web sites say the SSN-4 has a range of up to 550 km or more. One Web
site, www.navweaps.com, said it had a maximum payload of 1,370 kg, much
bigger than the 500-kg warhead described by Fadavi.

Television showed images of a missile launched from land and hitting the
upper structure of a ship at sea. But the one fired appeared different
from designs and descriptions of an SSN-4 projectile given on the Web sites.

Guards air force commander Hossein Salami suggested on Wednesday that
the two days of training also included equipment related to the
Russian-made TOR-M1 anti-aircraft missile system. But it did not appear
to involve testing those missiles.

Last month, Russia said it had completed delivery of the TOR-M1 system
to Iran. Washington said the sale undermined regional security. Moscow
says the missiles are only short-range and purely defensive.

Washington accuses the Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons, a
charge Iran denies. Tehran also dismisses allegations that it is backing
militants in Iraq.

(Additional reporting by the Editorial Reference Unit in London)

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