IRAN SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRED SAJJIL-2 MISSILE
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
16.12.2009 16:44 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran has successfully test-fired an improved version
of a medium-range missile, state television has said.
The Sajjil-2 has a longer range than previously-tested missiles
which could travel 2,000km (1,243 miles), Iran’s Arabic-language TV
station announced.
That range would put Israel and US bases in the Gulf within range.
Correspondents say it is not the first time this missile has been
tested, but the timing is likely to add to current tension over Iran’s
nuclear ambitions. The West says that Iran is trying to build nuclear
weapons, a charge Iran denies.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the missile launch could increase
the likelihood of further sanctions on Iran.
"This is a matter of serious concern to the international community
and it does make the case for us moving further on sanctions," he said.
The French Foreign Ministry said the launch was "very worrying". "A
test of this kind can only strengthen the international community’s
worries at a time that Iran is also developing a nuclear program with
no identifiable civil objective in violation of five United Nations
Security Council resolutions," spokesman Bernard Valero said.
In September, Iran was heavily criticized after testing its Sajjil
and Shahab missiles.
Those tests came just weeks after Iran revealed the existence of a
previously secret nuclear facility in the mountains near the city of
Qom, BBC reports.