Iran test-fires new long range missile

IRAN has test-fired its latest missile system in a show of force and defiance to the west amid the ongoing dispute over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions.

“We have successfully test-fired long-range shore-to-sea and surface-to-surface missiles,” Deputy Navy Commander Mahmoud Mousavi told Iranian state international news channel Press TV.

The missiles are said to have the capability of striking Israel and US bases in the Persian Gulf.

The show of force comes amid mounting tensions between the international community and Iran over its nuclear ambitions. On Sunday, Iran stated that it had successfully manufactured its first nuclear power rod – a further step in the development of the country’s nuclear programme which it insists is for peaceful purposes only. On Saturday,US President Barack Obama signed off on new sanctions against Iran which will make it more difficult for refiners to purchase crude oil from the Islamic state, if enforced.

Iran has threatened to shut off the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, effectively choking off oil exports from the region, if further sanctions were imposed on its oil exports.