Iran launches missile; Italian minister cancels visit to Tehran

Al-Shorfa and wire services
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-05-22

An Iranian 'Sajjil-2' surface-to-surface missile is seen in front of a banner with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Semnan May 18. (Reuters/Farsi News)

LONDON — Iran said it successfully tested and launched a mid-range surface-to-surface missile. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the 'Sajjil-2' missile used "advanced technology" and had "landed exactly" on the unspecified target.

He was speaking in Semnan, where the missile, with a range of 2,000km, was reportedly launched.

Western officials confirmed the test was for a mid-range missile and that it was successful. Analysts say the test may have been considered provocative by Iran's Arab neighbours and its opponents in the West.

"Defence Minister Mohammed Najjar told me today that we launched a Sajjil-2 missile, which is a two-stage missile and it has reached the intended target", Ahmadinejad told a crowd in the northern town. He said the missile used solid fuel and was "able to go beyond the atmosphere then come back and hit its target".

It is uncertain whether the launch was deliberately provocative, but the fact that it was announced by the president indicates it was probably intended as a political message, analysts say.

Following the Iranian announcement, Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini cancelled a planned trip to Tehran. He rejected the request to meet Ahmadinejad at the launch site, Semnan, instead of in the capital. Hours before his trip was to begin, Frattini expressed "strong regret over a lost opportunity" to discuss Iran's role in stabilising Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Iran says its missile development programme is solely for defensive and scientific purposes, but critics say the rockets could one day be used to deliver nuclear warheads, although Iran denies its nuclear programme has any military dimension.

The announcement of the launch came shortly after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was confirmed as one of the four candidates cleared to stand in Iran's June 12 presidential elections. He will run against two leading reformers, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and ex-Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karoubi, and Mohsen Rezai, former chief of the Revolutionary Guards.

[BBC]

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