Reuters – January 22, 2007
Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched war-games in central Iran and said they would test two models of home-made missiles, state radio reported.
The war-games come at a time of rising tension between the West and Iran. Western capitals say Tehran's nuclear programme is aimed at producing nuclear weapons but Tehran adamantly denies this charge.
'In the four-day long missile war-games in Garmsar area, the Zelzal-1 and Fajr-5 missiles will be tested,' state radio quoted a Guards spokesman saying.
Garmsar is a small city located 100 km southeast of Tehran, adjacent to the unpopulated Garmsar desert.
The Guards have in the past demonstrated and
test fired many Iranian-made missiles.
The report said Zelzal-1 had a range of more than 350 km and Fajr-5 could hit targets more than 70 km away but some military experts say the Zelzal-1 has a shorter range.
State radio said the Revolutionary Guards ground force units would start arming and firing the missiles later today.
Iran has staged several war-games in the past year, including firing some of its long-range Shahab-3 missiles, which Iran says have a range of 2,000 km, putting Israel or US bases in the Gulf in range.
The war-games have been seen by military experts as muscle flexing, aimed at showing off Iran's capabilities in the face of pressure from the US.
The US said it wants a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff, but refused to rule out military action if diplomacy fails
www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snDEF_article117905.html
Iranian war games last November when more Iranian manufactured missiles were fired.
Last updated 23/01/2007
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