Iran Test Missile
Has Israel and EU Within Range
By ALI AKBAR
DAREINI,
AP
May 20, 2009
About
two years ago President Bush began a major effort to place a Missile Defense
Shield in several nations in Eastern Europe – at the time the Lord indicated
that this effort was largely due to Iran and its going nuclear. The purpose being to prevent
or lessen the ability of Iran
and other radical Muslim nations from being able to black mail Europe.
Here now we have wonderful conformation -- why at the same
time the Obama Administration has all but surrendered the installation of this
Missile Defense System to Russian interests. So we want to acknowledge the Lord
and thank Him for speaking and revealing things that eyes have not seen ears
have not heard and things which have never entered into the heart of men.
TEHRAN, Iran – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran test-fired a new advanced missile Wednesday
with a range of about 1,200 miles, far enough to strike Israel, southeastern
Europe and U.S. bases in the Middle East.
The announcement will not reassure the U.S. government, coming just two days after President
Barack Obama declared a readiness to seek deeper international
sanctions against Iran if it
shunned U.S.
attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama said he expected a
positive response to his outreach for opening a dialogue with Iran by the end
of the year.
"Defense Minister (Mostafa Mohammad Najjar) has
informed me that the Sajjil-2 missile, which has very advanced technology, was
launched from Semnan and it landed precisely on the
target," state radio quoted Ahmadinejad as
saying. He spoke during a visit to the city of Semnan, 125 miles east of the capital Tehran, where Iran's space program is centered.
Ahmadinejad is running for re-election in a June 12 vote and has been
criticized by his opponents and others for antagonizing the U.S. and
mismanaging the country's faltering economy.
Most Western analysts believe Iran does not
yet have the technology to produce nuclear weapons, including warheads for
long-range missiles. A group of U.S.
and Russian scientists said in a report issued Tuesday that Iran could
produce a simple nuclear device in one to three years and a nuclear warhead in
another five years after that.
The study published by the
nonpartisan EastWest Institute also said Iran is making
advances in rocket technology and could develop a ballistic missile capable of
firing a 2,200-pound nuclear warhead up to 1,200 miles "in perhaps six to
eight years."
Iran says its missile program is merely for defense and its
space program is for scientific and surveillance purposes. It maintains that
its nuclear program is for civilian energy uses only.
The solid-fuel Sajjil-2
surface-to-surface missile is a new version of the Sajjil
missile, which Iran
said it had successfully tested late last year with a similar range.
Iran's nuclear and missile programs have alarmed Israel, and the country's new prime
minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pressed Obama to step up pressure on Tehran when the two met in Washington on Monday. Ahmadinejad
has repeatedly called for Israel's
elimination, and the Jewish state has not ruled out a military strike to deal
with the Iranian nuclear threat.