Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Nov. 02 Iran has successfully test-fired a long-range Shahab 3 missile on Thursday at the start of 10-day-long military exercises by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, state television reported. Iran Focus
Tehran, Iran, Nov. 02 Iran has successfully test-fired a long-range Shahab 3 missile on Thursday at the start of 10-day-long military exercises by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, state television reported.
The IRGC war-games, code-named the Great Prophet 2, are taking place in 14 of the country’s 30 provinces.
Several dozen long-range and short-range missiles, including the Shahab 2, Shahab 3, Fateh-110, and Zolfaqar-103 missiles, were test-fired during the first stage of the drills, the report said, adding that a Shahab 3 missile armed with a cluster warhead, ranging 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles), was test-fired.
The warheads of the Shahab missiles launched in the exercises were transformed into cluster warheads that held thousands of small bombs inside them. The projectile slant of the Shahab missiles was also upgraded, the report added.
Irans Shahab 3 missile is capable of reaching Israel and United States forces in the Middle East.
The commander of the IRGC Air Force Brigadier General Hossein Salami stated that the Shahab missiles increased the armed forces capability and strength in defending the country against foreign aggression.
He said that various surface-to-surface missiles with powerful payloads were test-fired on Thursday.
In April, the IRGC conducted naval war-games, dubbed Great Prophet, in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman. During the exercises, Iran put on display what it claimed were new stealth missiles, sonar-evading torpedoes, and even a “flying boat”.
Iran has a dual military system with a regular Armed Forces as well as the IRGC. Both have their own Army, Navy, and Air Force and report directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
United States-led forces have been carrying out naval war-games in the Persian Gulf this week in what analysts have said are meant to serve as a warning to Tehran.
Twenty five nations, including Britain, France, Italy, and Bahrain, have taken part in the naval exercises as part of the U.S. Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). The goal of the exercises is to practice blocking transports of weapons of mass destruction.
