Iran test-fires nuclear missile capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe

ඉරානය විසින් අද සාර්ථකව තවත් න්‍යාෂ්ටික දිගුදුර මිසයිලයක් අත් හදා බැලුවා...2000Km දුර ආවරණය වන මෙමඟින් ඊශ්‍රායලයට පමණක් නොව යුරෝපයේ කොටසකටද මෙයින් පහරදිය හැකිබවයි ඔවුන් පවසන්නේ...     Iran has fired one of the longest-range missiles in its arsenal as part of testing it began ahead of a confrontation with foreign powers over a previously undisclosed secret nuclear facility later this week. Earlier today the Revolutionary Guard is reported to have successfully launched the Shahab-3 missile, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and has a range of up to 1,200 miles – which would put Israel, most Arab states and parts of Europe, including much of Turkey, within its range. Iranian television broadcast footage of the Shahab-3 being fired from desert terrain. Iran's war games began yesterday after the revelations about the enrichment plant, at a military base near the holy city of Qom. It dramatically upped the stakes for the meeting in Geneva on Thursday between Iranian representatives and those of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany. The US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany had demanded that Iran offer a "serious response" to questions about a military dimension to its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is purely peaceful     President Obama announced on Friday the discovery of a previously unknown uranium enrichment plant in a mountain, at a Revolutionary Guard base 20 miles from Qom. The plant was declared to the UN nuclear watchdog only a week ago, after Tehran learnt of the foreign surveillance and decided to pre-empt its exposure with a cryptic note to the agency saying it was a "pilot plant". On Thursday Western officials will demand that Iran allow inspectors access to the site and the personnel who worked on it "within weeks". American intelligence agencies estimate that the plant is designed to house 3,000 centrifuges, far too few to be used for energy production but enough to produce about one bomb's worth of material a year. They will demand that Tehran submit to a much tougher inspections regime, a stiffer requirement than the present Security Council resolution insisting Iran halt uranium enrichment until questions about its programme are cleared up. On Saturday Iran's nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said that inspectors would be invited to visit the site but did not mention a date or indicate whether Iran would meet any of the other Western demands. He denounced Mr Obama's release of the information at the opening of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh as a "plot" meant to "unite the whole world against us". Iran's military began test-firing short-range missiles yesterday in a show of strength demonstrating its preparedness to see off any military threat. That threat most likely comes from Israel, which has been restrained from carrying out strikes by Washington and remains impatient to do so. Brigadier General Hossein Salami, air force commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said of the firings: "This exercise has a message of friendship for friendly countries. For greedy countries that seek to intimidate us, the message is that we are capable of a prompt and crushing response." For all the military showmanship, there were signs that Iran is feeling the pressure. President Ahmadinejad told reporters in New York that he was planning to start talks with a demand for highly enriched uranium "for medical, humanitarian purposes". Diplomats saw that as a ploy to deflect attention away from the real issues and string out negotiations. With Mr Obama's tougher stance and Thursday's deadline, the strategy of diplomatic engagement appears to be coming to an end. Hopes now lie in gathering Security Council backing for tough new sanctions on Iran. President Medvedev of Russia conceded that while he believed that sanctions were rarely productive, "in some cases, they are inevitable". China has registered deep concern at the revelations.