Iran fires 14 missiles in 2nd day of war games | Reuters
Iran fires 14 missiles in 2nd day of war games | Reuters.
(Reuters) – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards tested 14 missiles on Tuesday, the second day of war games intended a show of strength to the Islamic Republic’s enemies in Israel and Washington.
The Iranian-made surface-to-surface missiles, with a maximum range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles), were fired simultaneously at a single target, the official IRNA news agency reported
The head of the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace division emphasised Iran’s preparedness to strike Israel and U.S. interests in the event of any attack on Iran.
“The range of our missiles has been designed based on American bases in the region as well as the Zionist regime,” Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh told the semi-official Fars news agency.
Washington and Israel have said they do not rule out military strikes on Iran if diplomatic means fail to stop it developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies its nuclear programme is aimed at building bombs.
IRNA said the Guards fired nine Zelzal missiles, two Shahab-1s, two Shahab-2s and one upgraded Shahab-3 missile. Iranian officials have previously announced that the Shahab 3 can reach targets up to 2,000 km away, putting Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf within reach.
A long-time enemy of the United States, Iran has been emboldened by what it sees as U.S. military defeats in neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan. Both countries are still home to large troop numbers and Washington has other bases in the Gulf that Iran could choose to target.
“The Americans have reduced our labours,” Hajizadeh told Fars. “Their military bases in the region are in a range of 130, 250 and maximum 700 km in Afghanistan which we can hit with these missiles.”
The ‘Great Prophet 6’ war games, to be carried out on land and sea, are a “message of peace and friendship to countries of the region,” Hajizadeh said on Monday.
Asked whether Iranian missiles were a threat to Europe, Hajizadeh told IRNA that while Iran had the technological capacity to build longer-range missiles, the 2,000-km range had been chosen precisely with Israel and U.S. bases in mind.
“Except American and the Zionist regime, we do not feel a threat from any other country,” he said.
(Reporting by Hossein Jaseb; Writing by Robin Pomero
Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized
WarSclerotic 
June 28, 2011 at 3:20 PM
Iran is getting what they want, a standoff with the U.S. Now let’s see who blinks first.
June 28, 2011 at 6:16 PM
This is not about blinking. Iran’s goal is not Tel Aviv. It is sinking an American aircraft carrier. The prestige from doing that is bigger than a war with Israel.
Do not fool around here. America’s only option in fighting Iran is to nuke them after their aircraft carrier is sunk and polluting the Persian gulf or med or both with radioactive smashed reactors.
Face the unthinkable.
Israel is not worried about a ground war of iran coming to Israel to fight with their Iranian soldiers. Iran and Israel knows this is folly for Iran.
This is about deep sixing an American carrier. All the Jewish leadership knows this. Israel has no fear of Iran. Israel knows this is now a submarine war, not a missle war. One torpedo into an american aircraft carrier is all this war takes.
The real choice for the Jewish leadership is are they willing to kill the Iranian subs to protect the americans.
This is way above my pay scale and daring to contemplate.
Douglas
June 28, 2011 at 8:49 PM
A U.S. carrier would be a prize, but they are not exactly ‘sitting ducks’. My guess is the Navy expects an underwater threat from Iran and is prepared to defend her carriers. Responding with nukes to Iran’s attack is probably not necessary. The U.S. military has the resources to finish the job by conventional means. I wouldn’t underestimate the ability of a true superpower as advanced as the U.S. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, the military had their hands tied. What the world saw was a mere fraction of what they are capable of achieving. Sinking an aircraft carrier, heaven forbid, could awaken this sleeping giant and the world would get a glimpse of the horror that can be unleashed by the U.S. military. To put things in perspective, Iran has a GNP of $836 billion while the U.S. military spends over $637 billion annually. Furthermore, the state of Florida has a economy bigger that Iran. As I always say, never underestimate your enemy.