Alarm over Iranian 'stealth' missile

Iran successfully test-fired a missile that can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads, the military says.

The Fajr-3, which means “victory” in Farsi, can reach Israeli and US bases in the Middle East, state Iranian media indicated, causing alarm in the US and Israel.

Yesterday’s announcement also is likely to stoke regional tensions and feed suspicion about Tehran’s military intentions and nuclear ambitions.

“I think it demonstrates that Iran has a very active and aggressive military programme under way,” US State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said in Washington. ”I think Iran’s military posture, military development effort, is of concern to the international community.

Israel said it too was alarmed by the missile report.

“This news causes much concern,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

General Hossein Salami, the air force chief of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, did not specify the missile’s range, saying it depends on the weight of its warheads.

But state-run television described the weapon as ”ballistic”, suggesting it is of comparable range to Iran’s existing ballistic rocket, which can travel more than 2,000 kilometres and reach arch-foe Israel and US bases in Iraq and the Persian Gulf region.

“Today, a remarkable goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s defence forces was realised with the successful test-firing of a new missile with greater technical and tactical capabilities than those previously produced,” Salami said on television, which showed a brief clip of the missile’s launch.

“It can avoid anti-missile missiles and strike the target,” Salami said.

He said the missile would carry a multiple warhead, and each warhead would be capable of hitting its target precisely.

“This news causes much concern, and that concern is shared by many countries in the international community, about Iran’s aggressive nuclear weapons programme and her parallel efforts to develop delivery systems, both in the field of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles,” said Regev, the Israeli spokesman.

“The combination of extremist jihadist ideology, together with nuclear weapons and delivery systems, is a combination that no one in the international community can be complacent about,” he said.

Yossi Alpher, an Israeli consultant on the Middle East peace process, said the news “escalates the arms race between Iran and all those who are concerned about Iran’s aggressive intentions and nuclear potential”.

“Clearly it’s escalation, and also an attempt by Iran to flex its muscles as it goes into a new phase of the diplomatic struggle with the UN Security Council.” Andy Oppenheimer, a weapons expert at Jane’s Information Group, said the missile test could be an indication that Iran has MIRV capability.

MIRV refers to multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles, which are intercontinental ballistic missiles with several warheads, each of which could hit a different target.

“From the description, it could be an MIRV. If you are saying that from a single missile, separate warheads can be independently targeted then yes, this is significant,” he said.

“But we don’t know how accurate the Iranians are able to make their missiles yet, and this is a crucial point,” Oppenheimer said.

“If the missile is adaptable for nuclear warheads, then they are well on the way,” he added. “But they have not made a nuclear warhead yet. The current estimates are it could take five years.”

The existing ballistic rocket is called Shahab-3, which means “shooting star”, and is also capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.