Iran: Shihab-3 Has Increased Range and Accuracy

The Jerusalem Post:

Iran said Tuesday it has improved the range and accuracy of its Shihab-3 missile, saying the weapon can strike targets as far away as 2,000 kilometers with an accuracy of within one meter. READ MORE

Admiral Ali Shamkhani, Iran's outgoing defense minister, also said Iran would halt its international cooperation on its nuclear development if the United States or Israel attacks its nuclear facilities.

"If some day they attack, we will drop all our nuclear commitments," Shamkhani told reporters at a press briefing Tuesday. "We are capable of meeting our defense needs and improving (the Shihab-3's) specifications at any time." He did not mention retaliating to an attack by military means.

Iran on Monday resumed activity at one of its nuclear facilities that carries out an early stage in the nucelar fuel process, defying European demands that it maintain an eight-month suspension of its program. But Iran continues to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, allowing it access to its sites.

Meanwhile, Gen. Ahmad Vahid, the father of Iran's missile industry, told the Associated Press that Iran has boosted the missile's range from about 1,300 kilometers to 2,000 kilometers.

In July, Iran said it carried out a successful test of a solid fuel motor for the Shihab-3. Vahid did not specify whether the new fuel was behind the missile's improved performance.

Iran has been careful to disperse its nuclear facilities and protect parts of it underground, wary of airstrikes to take out the program such as the 1981 Israeli air raid that destroyed neighboring Iraq's main nuclear reactor at Osirak.

Last year, Iran threatened to destroy Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor should the Jewish state attack Iran. Dimona is believed to be home to Israel's nuclear weapons development program.

Israel maintains a nuclear monopoly in the Middle East and is thought to harbor about 200 warheads deployed on ballistic missiles, aircraft and submarines, according to the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Israeli officials do not comment on the country's nuclear weapons potential.