THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has claimed to have test-fired a new medium-range surface to surface missile capable of reaching Israel.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the test in a bellicose speech in which he warned the country would press ahead with its nuclear programme.
"The defence minister (Mohammad Mostafa Najjar) told me today that we launched a Sejil-2 missile, which is a two-stage missile and it has reached the intended target," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the northern town of Semnan.
"I was told that the missile is able to go beyond the atmosphere then come back and hit its target. It works on solid fuel," Ahamdinejad added to cheers from the crowd.
He did not specify the missile's range.
Mr Najjar told the television in November that the new missile had "a range of close to 2,000 kilometres (1,350 miles)," which is similar to that of the Shahab-3 and sufficient to put Iran's regional Israel in range. State television has broadcast footage of the launch of the missile which is similar in size to Iran's medium-range Shahab 3.
Western analysts have frequently questioned Iran's claims about new missiles. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu has said Iran's missile technology and controversial nuclear programme pose an existential threat to the Jewish state greater than any it has faced since its creation in 1948. >>> \ Wednesday, May 20, 2009
