Britain: Iran testing missiles with nuclear capability

Day 3 of Iran's 10-day military maneuvers brings first test of new radar; Iran says it could hit Israel, US targets in event of an attack.

By REUTERS
iranian anti-aircraft missile_311 reuters (photo credit: Stringer Iran / Reuters)
iranian anti-aircraft missile_311 reuters
(photo credit: Stringer Iran / Reuters)
Iran has been carrying out covert ballistic missile tests and rocket launches including testing missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday.
He told parliament the tests were in clear contravention of UN resolution 1929.
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Iran denied the claims.
"None of the missiles tested by Iran is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead," Ramin Mehmanparast, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeman, told Reuters.
Iran is carrying out a 10-day military exercise in a show of strength it hopes will warn Israel and the United States against any attack.
As part of the exercise, it test-fired surface-to-surface missiles on Tuesday with a maximum range of 2,000 km.
On Wednesday it was also announced that Iran has tested a new radar system. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace division, said the new radar system, called Ghadir, was used for the first time.
"The Ghadir radar has been designed and built to detect airborne targets, radar-evading planes, cruise and ballistic missiles and low-orbit satellites," he was quoted as saying by the student news agency ISNA.
The radar has a range of 1,100 km (680 miles) and a height of 300 km (190 miles), he said.
As part of the "Great Prophet 6" exercise, Iran test-fired surface-to-surface missiles on Tuesday, with a maximum range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles), emphasizing it could hit Israel or US targets in the region in the event of attack.
The United States and Israel have said they do not rule out military strikes on Iran if diplomatic means fail to stop it developing nuclear weapons. Tehran says its uranium enrichment program is geared to producing electricity, not atom bombs.
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