Iran test-fired more weapons on Thursday as it continued maneuvers one day after it test-fired its Shahab-3 longer range missile, whose range includes Israel and US bases in the Gulf, and eight other more medium range missiles.

State television said the weapons fired in the Gulf by the naval section of the elite Revolutionary Guards included shore-to-sea, surface-to-surface and sea-to-air missiles.

It said the war games also included the firing of the Hoot (Whale) torpedo that Iran unveiled in April 2006 which it described then as a super-fast weapon capable of hitting enemy submarines.

As part of its defense strategy, the US would deploy an Aegis system off Israel's coast to provide another layer of defense against Iranian ballistic missiles. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the United States, Israel's closest ally, was prepared to defend its interests and allies from any Iranian threat.
  
"We will defend American interests and the interests of our allies. We take very strongly our obligation to defend our allies and we intend to do that," Rice said.
 
On Wednesday, Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles during maneuvers that officials said aimed to show that the country could retaliate against any U.S. or Israeli attack.
 
Gen. Hossein Salami, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' air forces, said "our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Salami also said on Iranian television that a Shahab-3 long-range ballistic missile had been tested, and is capable of traveling longer distances with greater accuracy and with a larger payload.
 
Israel Undermines Iran Missile Test

On the other hand, Israeli experts said the missile launched as part of large-scale military exercise in Iran is not a more capable version of the Shahab-3 ballistic missile. Uzi Rubin, who was a program director of Homa, under which Israel developed the Arrow anti-missile system, is convinced that this was not a new version of the Iranian ballistic missile.
 
"From what I saw, this is an old version of the Shahab-3, and contrary to their claims, it is not capable of reaching 2,000 kilometers, only 1,300 kilometers," he said on Wednesday.
 
But Dr. Nathan Farber of the Technion in Haifa says that the Iranians are in the process of developing a more advanced version of the Shahab missile, known as the Ashura, with a range of 2,000 km. According to Farber's assessment, the new missile uses solid propellants, which makes it easier to launch, although unlike the Shahab-3, its flight time to Israel is estimated at 14 minutes, compared to 11 of the older missile.
 
According to the Israeli media, Intelligence analysts estimate that Iran has several hundred Shahab-3 in its arsenal, but a much larger stockpile, of several thousand shorter range missiles (up to 400 km).
 
Israel Holds Large Scale Air Force Exercise

In Israel, even though the heads of the defense establishment do not often detail in public their preparations for a possible Iranian strike, a large-scale air force exercise, comprising approximately 100 aircraft, carried out a sortie to a distance of 1,500 kilometers over the Mediterranean - the same distance from Israel to some of Iran's nuclear installations in Isfahan.
 
The air armada included fighters, aerial tankers, electronic warfare aircraft, and search and rescue helicopters.
 
On a number of occasions in recent months, Israeli officials stressed the need to bolster the "long arm" of the Israeli forces through the air force. Israel has asked the U.S. to consider moving forward the delivery date for advanced strike aircraft.
 
In parallel, Israel is preparing to carry out significant upgrades to the Arrow anti-missile system. The Arrow-3, which is funded in a multi-year program entitled Tefen, will be capable of intercepting ballistic missiles higher and further away from Israel.
 
Moreover, the Zionist entity on Thursday will exhibit an advanced aircraft it says is capable of spying on Iran. State-run Israel Aerospace Industries has planned an in-house exhibit Thursday of its Eitam airplane, unveiled a year ago and equipped with sophisticated intelligence-gathering systems.
 
America To Deploy Missile Defense System Off Israel's Coast

Consequently, the US Navy recently held an unprecedented exercise testing the communications network supporting its Aegis missile defense system across the Middle East. The test took place on the weekend of June 28 while Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen was in Israel for talks with Israeli Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.
 
The communications test, revealed in the Navy Times, involved ships deployed in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.
 
Defense officials have said that in the event of a conflict with Tehran it was possible that the US would deploy an Aegis system off Israel's coast to provide another layer of defense against Iranian ballistic missiles. By 2009, the US Navy will have 18 cruisers and destroyers with operational Aegis systems that are capable of tracking ballistic missiles and intercepting them with ship-launched SM-3 missiles. -- Al-Manaar TV

Iran test-fired more weapons on Thursday as it continued maneuvers one day after it test-fired its Shahab-3 longer range missile, whose range includes Israel and US bases in the Gulf, and eight other more medium range missiles.

State television said the weapons fired in the Gulf by the naval section of the elite Revolutionary Guards included shore-to-sea, surface-to-surface and sea-to-air missiles.

It said the war games also included the firing of the Hoot (Whale) torpedo that Iran unveiled in April 2006 which it described then as a super-fast weapon capable of hitting enemy submarines.

As part of its defense strategy, the US would deploy an Aegis system off Israel's coast to provide another layer of defense against Iranian ballistic missiles. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the United States, Israel's closest ally, was prepared to defend its interests and allies from any Iranian threat.
  
"We will defend American interests and the interests of our allies. We take very strongly our obligation to defend our allies and we intend to do that," Rice said.
 
On Wednesday, Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles during maneuvers that officials said aimed to show that the country could retaliate against any U.S. or Israeli attack.
 
Gen. Hossein Salami, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' air forces, said "our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Salami also said on Iranian television that a Shahab-3 long-range ballistic missile had been tested, and is capable of traveling longer distances with greater accuracy and with a larger payload.
 
Israel Undermines Iran Missile Test

On the other hand, Israeli experts said the missile launched as part of large-scale military exercise in Iran is not a more capable version of the Shahab-3 ballistic missile. Uzi Rubin, who was a program director of Homa, under which Israel developed the Arrow anti-missile system, is convinced that this was not a new version of the Iranian ballistic missile.
 
"From what I saw, this is an old version of the Shahab-3, and contrary to their claims, it is not capable of reaching 2,000 kilometers, only 1,300 kilometers," he said on Wednesday.
 
But Dr. Nathan Farber of the Technion in Haifa says that the Iranians are in the process of developing a more advanced version of the Shahab missile, known as the Ashura, with a range of 2,000 km. According to Farber's assessment, the new missile uses solid propellants, which makes it easier to launch, although unlike the Shahab-3, its flight time to Israel is estimated at 14 minutes, compared to 11 of the older missile.
 
According to the Israeli media, Intelligence analysts estimate that Iran has several hundred Shahab-3 in its arsenal, but a much larger stockpile, of several thousand shorter range missiles (up to 400 km).
 
Israel Holds Large Scale Air Force Exercise

In Israel, even though the heads of the defense establishment do not often detail in public their preparations for a possible Iranian strike, a large-scale air force exercise, comprising approximately 100 aircraft, carried out a sortie to a distance of 1,500 kilometers over the Mediterranean - the same distance from Israel to some of Iran's nuclear installations in Isfahan.
 
The air armada included fighters, aerial tankers, electronic warfare aircraft, and search and rescue helicopters.
 
On a number of occasions in recent months, Israeli officials stressed the need to bolster the "long arm" of the Israeli forces through the air force. Israel has asked the U.S. to consider moving forward the delivery date for advanced strike aircraft.
 
In parallel, Israel is preparing to carry out significant upgrades to the Arrow anti-missile system. The Arrow-3, which is funded in a multi-year program entitled Tefen, will be capable of intercepting ballistic missiles higher and further away from Israel.
 
Moreover, the Zionist entity on Thursday will exhibit an advanced aircraft it says is capable of spying on Iran. State-run Israel Aerospace Industries has planned an in-house exhibit Thursday of its Eitam airplane, unveiled a year ago and equipped with sophisticated intelligence-gathering systems.
 
America To Deploy Missile Defense System Off Israel's Coast

Consequently, the US Navy recently held an unprecedented exercise testing the communications network supporting its Aegis missile defense system across the Middle East. The test took place on the weekend of June 28 while Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen was in Israel for talks with Israeli Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.
 
The communications test, revealed in the Navy Times, involved ships deployed in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.
 
Defense officials have said that in the event of a conflict with Tehran it was possible that the US would deploy an Aegis system off Israel's coast to provide another layer of defense against Iranian ballistic missiles. By 2009, the US Navy will have 18 cruisers and destroyers with operational Aegis systems that are capable of tracking ballistic missiles and intercepting them with ship-launched SM-3 missiles. -- Al-Manaar TV