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Source: Reuters -
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Iran test-fired missiles which a commander said could reach any
regional target, flexing its military muscle before crucial talks
this week with major powers worried about Tehran's nuclear
ambitions.
The missile drills of the elite Revolutionary Guards coincide with
escalating tension in Iran's nuclear dispute with the West, after
last week's disclosure by Tehran that it is building a second
uranium enrichment plant.
News of the nuclear fuel facility south of Tehran added urgency to
the rare meeting in Geneva on Thursday between Iranian officials
and representatives of six major powers, including the United
States, China and Russia.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who says any military action
against Iran would only buy time and stresses the need for
diplomacy, mentioned possible new sanctions on banking and
equipment and technology for Iran's oil and gas industry.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said there was no link between the missile
manoeuvres and the nuclear activities.
"This is a military drill which is deterrent in nature," spokesman
Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference.
"There is no connection whatsoever with the nuclear
programme."
Press TV said the Shahab 3, a surface-to-surface missile with a
range of up to 2,000 km, was successfully test-fired on the second
day of an exercise that began on Sunday, when short and
medium-range missiles were launched.
Such a range would put Israel and US bases in the region within
striking distance.
Television footage of the launches showed missiles soaring into
the sky in desert-like terrain, to shouts of Allahu Akbar (God is
Greatest).
"All targets within the region, no matter where they are, will be
within the range of these missiles," said General Hossein Salami,
commander of the Guards' air force.
Salami said the exercise was over and had achieved its goals.
"All the test-fired missiles managed to hit their targets
without any errors and with precision," the forces website quoted
him as saying.
Wide condemnation
The tests sparked swift international condemnation.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the missile test was
"part of an annual provocation" by Iran and should not distract
from the pending Geneva talks.
"On Thursday (Iran will) need to ... show that they are serious
about ensuring that their civilian nuclear power programme does not
leak into a military programme," Miliband told Britain's Sky
News.
European Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, who will head the
Western delegation in the Geneva talks, said everything that is
done in that context is a concern.
He said the aim of Thursday's talks was engagement.
When asked what sanctions Iran should face if it failed to comply
with Western demands over its nuclear programme, Solana said now is
not the time to talk about that.
France called on Iran to choose the path of cooperation and not
that of confrontation by immediately ending these profoundly
destabilising activities and by immediately responding to the
requests of the international community in order to reach a
negotiated solution on the nuclear dossier.
Russia, meanwhile, urged restraint.
"We should not give way to emotions now," a Russian foreign
ministry source told Interfax news agency.
"We should try to calm down and the main thing is to launch a
productive negotiations process (with Iran)."
The ministry source said the international community should wait to
see what Iranian officials say at the Geneva talks before taking
action.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that if Iran does
not cooperate at the meeting, then other mechanisms should be used
to deal with Tehran's nuclear programme. Medvedev did not
explicitly say whether Russia would support Western calls for
sanctions against Iran.
The United States and its Western allies have made clear they will
focus on Iran's nuclear programme at the Geneva meeting.
Iran has offered wide-ranging security talks but says it will
not discuss its nuclear rights.
Washington, which suspects Iran is trying to develop nuclear bomb
capability, has previously expressed concern about Tehran's missile
programme.
Iran, a major oil producer, says its nuclear work is solely for
generating peaceful electricity.
Additional sanctions
The Pentagon chief told CNN he hoped the disclosure of the second
facility would force Tehran to make concessions.
"The Iranians are in a very bad spot now because of this
deception, in terms of all of the great powers," Gates said.
"There obviously is the opportunity for severe additional
sanctions. I think we have the time to make that work."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Iran must present
"convincing evidence" at the Geneva meeting.
"We are going to put them to the test on October 1," Clinton told
CBS' Face the Nation.
"They can open their entire system to the kind of extensive
investigation that the facts call for."
Both interviews were taped before Iran started the two-day missile
exercise, designed to show it is prepared to head off military
attacks by foes like Israel or the United States.
Iran's state broadcaster IRIB said upgraded versions of Shahab 3
and another missile, Sejil, had been tested. Officials have earlier
said Sejil has a range of close to 2,000 km.
They were powered by solid fuel, IRIB said.
Neither the United States nor its ally Israel have ruled out
military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the nuclear
row.
Iran has said it would respond to any attack by targeting US
interests in the region and Israel, as well as closing the Strait
of Hormuz, a vital route for world oil supplies.
Iran's defence minister warned Israel on Monday against launching
any attack on the Islamic Republic, saying it would only speed up
the Jewish state's own demise.
"If this happens, which of course we do not foresee, its ultimate
result would be that it expedites the Zionist regime's last
breath," Ahmad Vahidi said on state television.
US President Barack Obama said on Saturday the discovery of a
secret nuclear plant in Iran showed a disturbing pattern of evasion
by Tehran.
He warned Iran on Friday it would face sanctions that bite
unless it came clean.
Iran has rejected Western accusations that the plant was meant to
be secret because it did not inform the UN nuclear watchdog as soon
as plans were drawn up, saying the facility near the holy city of
Qom is legal and can be inspected.
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