The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' new and improved Shahab-3 missile tested successfully, according to an announcement by the defense ministry. With a range of 810 miles, the missile is capable of hitting Israel, as well as the US forces in the region. August 11, 2004 - Defense ministry announced on Wednesday that it successfully tested a new version of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile,. The Islamic government was working to improve the range and accuracy of the missile, which is capable of targeting Israel or US forces in the region, defense minister Ali Shamkhani said last week.
“We will continue to take steps to address Iran’s missile efforts, and to work closely with other like-minded countries in doing so,” US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
To make Shahab-3, which is thought to have a range of 810 miles, the Islamic Republic defense industries, a unit of the defense ministry, has modified North Korea’s Nodong-1 missiles with Russian technology. Shahab-3 was initially developed in 2002, and was turned over to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
“If Israel behaves like a lunatic and attacks the Iranian nation’s interests, we will come down on their heads like a mallet and break their bones,” IRGC commander Yahya Rahim Safavi said on Wednesday, according to the state-run “students” news agency ISNA.
“The Israelis have recently tried to increase their missile capability and we will also try to upgrade our Shahab-3 missile in every respect,” Shamkhani said last week, adding that the improvements to the Shahab-3 “will not be limited to the missile’s range and will include all its specifications.”
The Islamic authorities denied Israel’s charges that they were developing a Shahab-4 missile with a range of 1,056 miles, capable of reaching Europe.
“This ‘new and improved’ Shahab-3 could well be Iran’s way of producing the extended-range missile while avoiding the Mark-4 label, which would draw international concern,” according to a senior Israeli defense source quoted by Reuters.
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