Iran fires nuclear-capable ballistic missile

Iran has successfully test fired a ballistic missile potentially capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

State TV said the Fateh 110 A is “one the most accurate surface-to-surface missiles manufactured in the world.”

No details on when or where in Iran the test was conducted, nor the missile’s range, were provided.

It was developed as “an effective initiative to prevent threats by destabilising units,” Tehran TV reported without elaborating.

Considerable enmity lingers between Iran and Iraq from their 1980-88 war, which left about a million people dead and wounded.

Iraq accuses Iran of harbouring Iraqi rebels and Iran accuses Iraq of doing the same for Iranian rebels.

Tehran-Baghdad relations soured further recently after each side accused the other of serving Israeli interests in past regional conflicts.

Doug Richardson, editor of the authoritative Jane’s Missiles and Rockets, said the missile may be based on the Chinese DF-11 A missile, “which has a range of up to 248 miles and which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.”

The Chinese missile also possesses Global Positioning System technology, making it very accurate, said Duncan Lennox, editor of Janes Strategic Weapon Systems.

An official with Iraq’s Aerospace Industries Organisation said the use of “local technology in the design and manufacturing sector of combined solid-fuelled missiles” was the most significant achievement of the test fire.

Iran has built a number of missiles, including the Shabab-3 which was first tested in 1998 and has a range of 810 miles.