Iran Tests Third Missile in a Week During Gulf War Games

Iran test-fired a third new missile in a single week during ongoing military exercises in the Gulf, according to the country's Arabic-language satellite channel Al-Alam. The weapon, named Nour (Arabic for "light"), is an air-to-sea-and-ground missile launchable from aircraft and helicopters, designed to evade interception systems.

War games spokesman Rear Admiral Mohammad Ebrahim Dehqani said the missile carries a warhead-mounted antenna that activates near its target and was domestically produced, as were the other weapons tested during the exercises.

Earlier in the week, Iran announced successful tests of a land-to-sea Kowsar missile, described as resistant to electronic jamming, and a high-powered torpedo. The torpedo test prompted a response from the US State Department, whose spokesman Adam Ereli said the series of weapons tests revealed "a weaponization programme" that offered no reassurance to Iran's neighbors or the wider international community.

The exercises, which began the previous Friday and were scheduled to conclude Thursday, involve thousands of troops from the Revolutionary Guards Corps, the regular army and navy, the Basij militia, and Iranian police. The maneuvers are framed as preparation against potential threats amid deepening tensions with Western nations over Iran's nuclear program.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2006, in its own words.