Guardian: Iranian missile tests prompt US warning - Angela Balakrishnan
The US has warned Iran to stop missile testing if it wants to gain the trust of the world, after "war games" in the Gulf today that Iranian officials said were a response to US and Israeli threats. Iran demonstrated its military force when it test-fired nine long and medium range missiles in the strategic Strait of Hormouz, through which 40% of the world's oil passes.Television reports said the missiles fired included a new version of the Shahab-3 missile, which officials have said has a range of 1,250 miles and is equipped with a conventional warhead weighing a tonne. Such a missile could reach Israel, Turkey, Afghanistan or Pakistan. Israel's military has also flexed its muscles in recent months as tensions with Iran have risen, sending warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean in June. US officials described that incident as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's nuclear program, which the west fears is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev today said Israel "does not desire hostility and conflict with Iran". "But it is clear that the Iranian nuclear program and the Iranian ballistic missile programme is a matter of grave concern," he said.
Note EU-Digest: these tests by Iran are mainly in reaction to the provocative Israeli warplane exercise around and over the Mediterranean. Military experts agree that if Israel audacity to attack Iran the defeat they suffered in Lebanon will be nothing in comparison to the damage that Iran would do to Israel, not only with their rockets, but also with their"proxy" militia surrounding Israel.
