TEHRAN, Oct 20: Iran carried out a new test on Wednesday of its upgraded Shahab-3 ballistic missile, which it says has a range of at least 2,000 kilometres, Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani said.
"A few minutes ago we carried out a new test of the Shahab-3 missile in the presence of observers," he said.
Steady progress made by Iran on its ballistic missile programme is a cause for concern for the international community, already alarmed over the country's nuclear activities.
"We tested the range, the destructive capacity, the guidance system and its capacity to hit a defined target," the defence minister said, quoted by the student news agency ISNA.
"We invited all those who had doubts (over the missile) but there were no foreign observers," he said. "Some people had expressed doubts over the success of our (last) test (on August 11) ... so we carried out a new test."
He refused to specify the missile's range. "We do not reveal the range of our missiles," Mr Shamkhani said.
But after the test in August, Nasser Maleki, deputy director of Iran's aerospace industry organisation, said the upgraded Shahab-3 had a range of 2,000 kilometres.
"Very certainly we are going to improve our Shahab-3 missile and all of our other missiles," he said on Oct 7.
Previous figures had put the missile's range at between 1,300 and 1,700 kilometres, already bringing Israel and US bases in the region well within range.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said on Wednesday that Tehran would wait on the result of a meeting on Thursday between an Iranian delegation and representatives of the European Union's three members before making any comments on Iran's nuclear programme.
Representatives of Britain, France and Germany are to meet on Thursday in Vienna with an Iranian party headed by Amir-Hussein Zamaninia, a general director of the Iranian foreign ministry, to offer the Islamic state what is reportedly a last-chance offer to settle its nuclear dilemma.
"We are waiting for the European proposal to see whether they really have goodwill or not," Khatami told reporters after a cabinet session in Teheran.
Khatami stressed again the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities and called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) not to let the issue be politicized.
He said nuclear enrichment was still suspended in Iran, with only spare parts for centrifuges being manufactured but not being put into use, in line with last's October's agreement with the EU.-AFP/dpa
