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Iranian missile on parade in Teheran in 1999. (AP)
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| By Ellis Shuman May 27, 2002 |
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Israeli officials expressed concern yesterday over Iran's recent successful testing of its Shahab-3 medium-range missile, which is capable of striking Israel and bearing a biological, chemical or nuclear warhead. President George W. Bush, fearing that the Iranians would also target U.S. troops stationed in the Mideast, discussed the possibility of Iran acquiring weapons of mass destruction in his talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
"They are improving the Shahab-3 rocket," Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz said, in a briefing with military reporters. Mofaz said Iran's development of its missiles combined with a nuclear capability would post "an existential threat to Israel in the future."
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said that Israel is carefully monitoring Iran's progress and has warned the international community of the dangers of Iran's missile program. He added, though, that the Iranians had experimented with missile launchings in the past and that Israel "was prepared for any and all scenarios."
Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres said Israel is aware of Iran's attempts to develop short, medium and long-range missiles, and was "contemplating the development" of a missile with a 10,000 km (6,200 mile) range. Peres described Iran as "the mother of terror in the Middle East."
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Peres and Ben-Eliezer all raised the Iran issue in their talks in the United States with Bush administration officials in February. The Israeli officials also stressed Iran's provision of weapons to the Palestinian Authority, and its support of the Hizbullah and Islamic terror groups in the territories.
Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani confirmed media reports that Iran had tested the Shahab-3 missile earlier this month, Tehran radio reported. "To enhance the power and accuracy of Shahab-3 missile ... We will continue our missile program, and the recent successful tests were carried out in the same context," the state radio quoted Shamkhani as saying.
In February, Shamkhani warned Israel against making a preemptive strike on the nuclear plant being built, with the aid of Russian experts, near the Persian Gulf port of Bushehr. "If Israel attacks Iran, we will respond in a way no Israeli politician has ever dreamed about," he told al-Jazeera television, without providing details of the nature of Iran's possible response.
U.S. officials said last week that Iran had carried out a successful test of the Shahab-3, which has a range of about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) - adequate to reach Israel and U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and eastern Turkey. Officials said the test was the missile's fifth, and that some of the previous tests had failed.
U.S. Defense Minister Donald Rumsfeld said last week that the Iranians were "getting assistance" in becoming a nuclear power. "They've been making good progress, and they've been determined to accomplish that goal," he said.
The issue of Russia's sale of nuclear energy technology to Iran reportedly created friction at the summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week.
"We spoke very frankly and honestly about the need to make sure that a non-transparent government run by radical clerics doesn't get their hands on weapons of mass destruction which could be harmful to us and harmful to Russia," Bush said.
Putin denied that Russia's building of a nuclear power plant in Iran was helping the country achieve weapons of mass destruction. "Cooperation between Russia and Iran is not of a character that would undermine the process of non-proliferation," he said at a news conference.
Following their summit, Bush indicated that Putin had agreed to international inspection of the Iranian nuclear plant. Bush said Putin "is willing to allow for international inspection teams to determine" whether the facility would lead to the development of weapons of mass destruction. "We're thinking about what he told us," Bush said.
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