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Ahmadinejad: a "blow" planned for August 22? (AP file)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners August 20, 2006 |
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Iran test-fired ten surface-to-surface short-range missiles on Sunday, as a military training plane crashed outside the capital after catching fire, state-run television reported.
An Iran official said on Sunday that Tehran would not suspend uranium enrichment, ruling out the main demand in a package of proposals backed by six nations aimed at resolving Iran's nuclear standoff with the West.
"We are not going to suspend (enrichment). The issue was that everything should come out of negotiations, but suspension of uranium enrichment is not on our agenda," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, speaking two days before Iran's self-imposed deadline of August 22 to respond to the offer.
The missile testing came a day after Iran launched a series of large-scale military maneuvers geared at testing the country's new defensive doctrine.
"Saegheh, the missile, has a range of between 80 to 250 kilometers," the television said. It said the missile was tested in the Kashan desert, about 250 155 miles southeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Saegheh means lightning in Farsi.
The military did not specify whether the new missile was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
State-run TV also reported that a small military training plane had crashed on Sunday. The plane was not taking part in the military maneuvers, the TV said, stating the crash was due to technical failures.
The broadcast said the plane was making an emergency landing on a highway in northeast Tehran when one of its wings hit a water reservoir and it burst into flames and crashed.
The television said the only pilot in the plane parachuted safely.
The crash was the latest in a string of plane accidents the Iranian government has blamed on U.S. sanctions, arguing that they have prevented the country from repairing and replacing its aging fleet.
Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has supplemented its fleet of Boeing and European-made Airbus airliners with planes bought or leased from the former Soviet Union.
Iran routinely holds war games to test the military equipment it builds at home since the U.S. ban was enforced and the army has held war games with equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers.
But the new tests, in the wake of the Lebanon-Hezbollah fighting against Israel, seemed certain to create new tensions with the West.
The Iranian military said the maneuvers reflected the current level of tension in the Middle East. "We have to be prepared against any threat and we should be a role model for other countries," local newspapers quoted army spokesman Gen. Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, as saying earlier this week.
He said the military maneuvers -- called "The Blow of Zolfaghar" in reference to a sword that belonged to Imam Ali, one of the holiest figures of Islam for Shiite Muslims -- were aimed at "introducing Iran's new defensive doctrine."
State-run television said the missile was built based on domestic know-how, although outside experts say much of the country's missile technology originated from other countries.
State-run TV showed video showing 10 missiles being launched from mobile launching pads.
Iran said its military exercises launched Saturday are being held in 14 of the country's 30 provinces and could last as long as five weeks, the government has said.
The Islamic Republic, which views the United States as an arch foe, is concerned about the U.S. military presence in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan.
It also has expressed worry about Israeli threats to destroy its nuclear facilities, which the West contends could be used to make a bomb but which Iran insists are for civilian uses only.
Iran is already equipped with the Shahab-3 missile, which means "shooting star" in Farsi, and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. An upgraded version of the ballistic missile has a range of more than 2,000 kilometers and can reach Israel and U.S. forces in the Middle East.
Last year, former Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said Tehran had successfully tested a solid fuel motor for the Shahab-3, a technological breakthrough for the country's military.
Iran's military test-fired a series of missiles during large-scale war games in the Persian Gulf in March and April, including a missile it claimed was not detectable by radar that can use multiple warheads to hit several targets simultaneously.
After decades of relying on foreign weapons purchases, Iran's military has been working to boost its domestic production of armaments.
Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane, the government has said. It announced in early 2005 that it had begun production of torpedoes.
The AP contributed to this report.
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