Iran fires longer range missiles in war games

Iran had said the manoeuvres, which will last until November 11 and will include drills in the Gulf and Sea of Oman, would be a show of "defensive strength".

"Shahab missiles were fired. Its range is up to 2,000 km and it can carry cluster warheads," a reporter for state-owned Arabic-language Al-Alam television told Reuters from central Iran, near where he said the missiles were fired.

There was no immediate confirmation from Iranian authorities.

Yahya Rahim Safavi, commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, had said the Guards would fire "dozens" of missiles including Shahab-2 and Shahab-3 types with cluster warheads.

Experts say Iran's Shahab-3 missiles have a maximum range of some 2,000 km (1,240 miles), making them capable of hitting Israel as well as U.S. military bases in the Gulf. They say the Shahab-2 missile has a range of up to 700 km (435 miles).

U.S. officials accuse Iran of planning to equip its missiles with nuclear warheads. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear programme is aimed at making electricity not bombs.

Safavi had said ground, air and naval forces, including submarines, would take part in the exercises called "The Greatest Prophet", mainly in the Gulf and Sea of Oman.

The Revolutionary Guards, the ideologically driven wing of the armed forces which has a separate command structure from the regular military, held war games in the Gulf in April in which they tested new missiles, torpedoes and other equipment.

Analysts interpreted those war games as a thinly veiled threat that Iran could disrupt vital oil shipping lanes if pushed by an escalation in the dispute over the country's nuclear programme.

The start of Iran's manoeuvres follow U.S.-led naval exercises involving 25 nations in the Gulf on Monday aimed at training the forces to block the transport of weapons of mass destruction and related equipment. Reuters