Iran to fire missiles in desert war games in warning to U.S. and Israel threats
Iran to fire missiles in desert war games in warning to U.S. and Israel threats.
Sunday, 01 July 2012
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced they are to fire ballistic and other missiles at desert targets during three days of war games starting Monday in a warning to threats of military action by Israel and the United States.
“Long-, medium- and short-range surface-to-surface missiles will be fired from different locations in Iran… at replica airbases like those used by out-of-region military forces,” the head of the Guards aerospace division in charge of missile systems, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said.
“These maneuvers send a message to the adventurous nations that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is standing up to bullies alongside the determined and unified Iranian nation, and will decisively respond to any trouble they cause,” he was quoted as saying by the Guards’ official Sepah news website.
Although Iran frequently holds war games, these exercises appeared to underline Tehran’s threat to strike U.S. military bases in neighboring countries — in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — if it comes under attack by Israel or the United States.
Tel Aviv and Washington have said that military action against Iran remains an option if diplomacy and sanctions fail to convince the Islamic republic to curb its sensitive nuclear program.
Hajizadeh said the war games, titled Great Prophet 7, would “test the accuracy of missile warheads and systems” by hitting the mock camps in the Kavir Desert in central Iran.
He mentioned two types of ballistic missiles that would be used: the Qiam, which has an estimated range of around 500 kilometers (300 miles), or 750 kilometers according to Iranian media; and the Khalij Fars anti-ship missile, which has a range of 300 kilometers.
Tehran refers to its ballistic missiles as “long-range” although other world militaries qualify them as “short-range”.
The longest-range ballistic missile Iran possesses in its arsenal is the medium-range Shahab-3 which, with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers, is capable of hitting Israel. There was no indication in Hajizadeh’s remarks that a Shahab-3 would be used in the maneuvers.
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WarSclerotic 
July 2, 2012 at 11:38 AM
Even though I am vehemently opposed against the Iranian regime and everything it represents, one can not but admire the tenacity with which they are willing to pursue what they claim are their rights to nuclear technology. Thinking back to the 8 year Iraq – Iran war, when Saddam was still the West’s man in Baghdad, and the West supported Iraq in any way possible, the Iranians stood firm no matter how high the price. Even when Saddam resorted to chemical warfare, Iran refused to reciprocate in kind suffering enormous losses, more than 100.000 deaths and a multitude of wounded. The reaction of the West regarding these atrocities was very muted and the US even tried to blame Halabja on Iran. I can fully understand Iran’s distrust towards the West in general and towards the US in particular.
July 2, 2012 at 1:23 PM
By your methods, one can only ” vehemently opposed against ” the Nazi ideology ” and everything it represents ”, but one cannot but ” admire the tenacity ” of Hitler and how he pursued the Nazis ” legitimate rights ”. Sir , wake up and stop admire the ” tenacity of the iranian regime ”. It will bring disaster upon Iran, it will bring disaster upon the world and be careful now : it will get you on your work desk. And they don’t care how much you admire them.
July 3, 2012 at 1:03 PM
@Luis
Any comparison between the actions of Nazi Germany and those of Iran is preposterous, Iran was attacked and invaded by Iraq that thought it could take advantage of the chaos in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Against all odds Iran managed to repel the invading Iraqi armies, and even when Iraq used chemical weapons on a large scale, killing more than 100.000 Iranians in the process, Iran did not retaliate. That, Sir, is admirable.
Furthermore, it will be an Israel/US attack on Iran that will bring disaster upon the world. Perhaps you have not noticed, but the Russians and the Chinese do not even allow US/NATO interference in Syria. Especially the Russians are opposed because they consider Syria part of their back yard.
Do you honestly think those countries will remain impartial if the US (or Israel) preemptively attacks Iran, without approval of the UN Security Council, without any evidence that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon? I fear you are sadly mistaken. Russia and Iran share a border. It is called the Caspian Sea.
July 3, 2012 at 5:53 PM
Sir, you have spoken like a real iranian patriot. You got my respect.