Reuters March 31, 2006
Iran's armed forces on Friday successfully test fired a domestically produced missile which can evade radar, state television reported, a development analysts said could be worrying for Western forces in the Gulf.
Western nations have been watching developments in Iran's missile capabilities with concern amid a standoff over the Iranian nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building atomic bombs. Iran says the program is civilian.
"The missile command of the air force of the Revolutionary Guards has successfully tested a new generation of missiles," Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guards air force, told state television.
"This missile can evade radar and it can evade anti-missile missiles," he said.
"This technology is completely new, without copying any other missile systems that may exist in other countries," he said, adding that the missile could carry multiple warheads.
Lee Willett, head of the military capabilities program at London's Royal United Services Institute, a defense think-tank, said the missile could be a worry for Western navies in the Gulf, wary of threats that could cut off shipping lanes.
Why should it be a worry for western navies ... unless they attack Iran?
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