Iran flaunts its strength with new missile test

Iran today test-fired a long-range missile capable of reaching Israel, it was reported.

State TV claimed that Tehran had launched either a Shahab-3 or a Sajjil missile, the longest-range such weapons in its arsenal. Both have a range of about 1,200 miles and could also reach US military bases in the Middle East and parts of Europe. Iran test-fired short-range Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 missiles overnight.

Military analysts say the launches are designed to show Israel that Tehran has the ability to fight back if its nuclear sites are attacked.

The US defence secretary said today that the disclosure of a new nuclear site in Iran placed it in a "very bad spot".

Robert Gates said diplomacy remained the favoured technique to persuade the Iranian government to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

"I think there's still room left for diplomacy," Mr Gates said in a TV interview. "There is no military option that does anything more than buy time." Iran admitted last week that it has a secret facility at a military base near the holy city of Qum.

Barack Obama plans to tell Iran this week that it must open the site to international inspectors "within weeks".

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "They can open up their entire system to the kind of extensive investigation that the facts call for. Words are not enough."

Mr Gates said America already knew about the site, but would not say if they had found others. He said the deception by Iran made world leaders suspicious that the plant was for military use rather than nuclear power.

He added: "Why didn't they allow inspectors in from the very beginning? This is part of a pattern of deception and lies on the part of the Iranians. It's no wonder that world leaders think... that they have ulterior motives."

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the plant did not breach UN regulations and that it was open for inspection by UN experts. But the US, Britain and France raised the prospect of tougher sanctions against Iran if it does not co-operate.