Iran Reports New Missile Tests - NYTimes.com

Iran Reports New Missile Tests - NYTimes.com: "Iran Reports New Missile Tests

By NAZILA FATHI and ALAN COWELL
Published: November 12, 2008

TEHRAN — Iran said Wednesday that it successfully test-fired a new generation of long range surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 1,200 miles, state-run television reported. A senior official said the missile would be used only defensively, but did not identify a potential aggressor.

A television news broadcast said the new missile, called the Sejil, used solid fuel and was more accurate than some other missiles. A British expert on Iran’s missile armory, Duncan Lennox, said the missile seemed to resemble an earlier weapon called the Ashoura. Its claimed range would enable it to strike targets in Israel or the Gulf region, he said,

Iran’s Defense Minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, was quoted by state-run television as saying the missile was ‘”very fast”, could be produced and stored “in mass” and was easy to pre"....