A nuclear facility near Isfahan was reopened in 2005
A Shahab 3 long range missile is launched during a test from an unknown location in central Iran on Monday, which are capable of reaching Israel, US bases in the Middle East, and southeastern Europe.
A Ghadr 1 class Shahab 3 long range missile rises into the air during a test from an unknown location in central Iran Sept. 28, 2009.
"I would lump any of these into the provocative nature with which Iran has acted on the world stage for a number of years," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, urging Tehran to absorb its nuclear and missile program.
"They have one of two paths that they can take. They can continue the path that they've been on, ... or it can make a decision to step away from its nuclear weapons program and build confidence in the world," said Gibbs.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Gibbs said he believes that there has never been a stronger international consensus to address Iran and its nuclear program than there is now. Analysts say Russia and China are crucial to any potential move to impose tough international sanctions against Iran. Those two countries are scheduled to join Britain, France, Germany and the United States - for talks with Iranian officials in Geneva on Thursday.
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Shahab-3 medium-range missile during a drill at an undisclosed location, 28 Sep 2009 .
In this Sept. 25, 2009, photo, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad adjusts his earphones during a news conference in New York. Seven years ago, when Iran revealed the existence of its first secret uranium enrichment site at Natanz, U.S. intelligence agencies had a hunch it wouldn't be Iran's last attempt to illicitly produce fuel that might one day power a nuclear warhead.
Iran's reported test-firing Monday of medium-range missiles that could reach Israel, Europe and American bases in the Persian Gulf was a reminder of the potent military threat Tehran poses to nations seeking to derail its nuclear program.
The launches demonstrated that Tehran was capable of striking its enemies, especially Israel, which has suggested it might attack Iran's nuclear installations, and the United States, which is urging tougher United Nations sanctions against the Islamic Republic while preparing to create a shield to protect its allies from Iranian missiles.
The missiles fired Monday, the Shahab-3 and Sejil-2, were launched in the desert as part of military exercises that began before the U.S., France and Britain last week accused Tehran of building a secret uranium-enrichment plant. The U.S. and other nations suspect Tehran's nuclear program is designed to create weapons rather than energy for civilian purposes and have threatened new sanctions on Iran if international inspectors are denied access to the facility.
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the missile tests again showed "the provocative nature with which Iran has acted on the international stage for a number of years" and repeated President Obama's recent demand that Tehran allow inspectors into the new site.
"There has never been a stronger international consensus to address Iran and its nuclear program than there is right now," Gibbs added.
Russian news service Ria Novosti quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying: "This is not illegal under any international agreements, but of course when missile launches are accompanied by an unresolved situation around Iran's nuclear program, this concerns us." Lavrov spoke after meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, in New York.
The Shahab-3 and the Sejil-2 have ranges of 800 to 1,200 miles. The Sejil-2 is powered by solid fuel, making it more accurate than previous generations of missiles in the Islamic Republic's arsenal.
It was not the first time these missiles were tested, but their launches as part of an exercise named the Great Prophet IV coincided with growing tension before Iran's meeting in Geneva on Thursday with representatives of the U.S. and other world powers.
Iran's Press TV reported that the missiles "accurately hit their designated targets . . . during the first and second stages of military drill in central Iran Sunday night."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said the missile tests were not a response to international pressure on Iran's nuclear program. They were, he said, part of Sacred Defense Week's annual military exercises to commemorate Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s.
"Many countries have these [displays], and it has nothing to do with Iran's peaceful nuclear technology," he said at a news conference.
Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, was more pointed.
The general was quoted by the Iranian media as saying the tests in recent days of medium- and short-range missiles send "a message for certain greedy nations that seek to create fear, to show that we are able to give a swift and suitable answer to our enemies."
The general added, "We are going to respond to any military action in a crushing manner, and it doesn't make any difference which country or regime has launched the aggression."
Secret Nuclear Plant.
The United States, France and United Kingdom went public with their intelligence on the Iranian site on Friday.
Iran maintains the Qom facility is an experimental site for its civilian nuclear program. Iran is bound by an IAEA agreement to disclose new nuclear sites when construction begins. But Iran declared in March 2007 that it rejected that IAEA requirement.
Iran says its new site is meant to produce uranium refined to contain 5 percent of the radioactive isotope U-235, well below the 90 percent needed to fuel a warhead.
The centrifuges at the original Iranian site at Natanz produce about 2 kilograms a day of low-enriched uranium suitable for fueling a civilian nuclear reactor. Iran has accumulated about 1,400 kilograms of low-enriched uranium.
Depending on the design, a warhead needs 12 to 25 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, but U.S. intelligence has reported that Iran has not yet produced any highly enriched uranium.
The U.S. government continues to stand by its judgment from 2007 that Iran could have a nuclear bomb within one to five years.
At the same time , Iran started to test its missiles arsenal. Giving attention to its long range missile which is now able to reach all the US bases in Middle east , Israel and southeast of Europe.
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