Tehran - Iran said Monday that its new ground-to-ground missile was purely defensive and posed no threat to any country. Iran's Revolutionary Guards last week successfully tested the new generation of Sejil-type missiles, the government said.
"Our missile potential in general and the new missile in particular are just for defensive and preventive purposes and no threat to any country," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi told reporters in Tehran.
"But whenever we make such tests, there are various reactions which are however irrelevant," he said in dismissing concerns voiced in some Western countries.
The military launched an upgraded version of the Shahab-3 missile in July, which reportedly has a range of up to 2,000 kilometres and is capable of reaching targets in Israel and Persian Gulf-based US warships.
Some Western military analysts doubt Tehran's claims of progress in missile development, saying it released doctored photographs in the past and noting that it does not yet have the necessary warheads.
