WORLD / Middle East
Iran ready to share missile systems with others
(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-06 21:28
TEHRAN - Iran is ready to share its missile systems with friends and
neighbors, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards said, after he
showed off missiles including some he said had cluster warheads.
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Guards commander-in-chief Yahya Rahim Safavi also told Iran's
Arabic-language Al-Alam TV late on Sunday the Guards had thousands of
troops trained for suicide missions in case Iran was threatened although
he said any U.S. attack was unlikely.
The United States has said it wants to resolve a dispute over Iran's
nuclear program by diplomatic means but has not ruled out the use of
force. Washington believes Tehran is seeking to make atomic bombs,
despite Iranian denials.
"We are able to give our missile systems to friendly and neighboring
countries," Safavi told Al-Alam. A text of his comments in Farsi were
obtained by Reuters on Monday.
Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, was quoted by
Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency on Sunday as saying the Islamic
Republic was ready to supply air defense systems -- without giving
specifics -- to the Lebanese military.
"Tehran also considers this as its duty to help friendly countries which
are exposed to invasion of the Zionist regime ( Israel)," Sheibani was
quoted saying, in response to what he said was a request by Lebanon's
army commander, General Michel Suleiman, for help from friendly states.
Iran funded and supplied Lebanon's Hizbollah militia in the 1980s, but
now says its support is political and moral. The group used Iranian-made
missiles fighting Israel this summer.
On Thursday, at the start of 10 days of military exercises, Iran's
Revolutionary Guards said they fired Shahab missiles with cluster
warheads. Experts say the Shahab 3 has a maximum range of 2,000 km, able
to hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf.
'MARTYRDOM SEEKERS'
Military experts said the exercises were to show off Iranian technology,
although they say many systems are based on modified versions of
equipment from other countries, such as North Korea.
Washington dismissed the maneuvers as "saber-rattling."
"Under the current circumstances, Americans are involved in Afghanistan
and the quagmire of Iraq so we do not anticipate any military attack from
America," Safavi said.
"But Iran has its own defense and deterrent power and it is very unlikely
that America will cause us any problems."
"...We have military weapons which we have not shown off, but we will do
in the next maneuvers," Safavi added.
Iran frequently reports tests of new weapons systems, but experts say it
rarely gives enough detail to make clear if any significant advances have
been made.
"The Revolutionary Guards does not only depend on its technological might
because it has thousands of martyrdom seekers and they are ready for
martyrdom-seeking operations on a large scale," Safavi said, calling them
trained professionals.
An organization has previously said Iranians have signed up for suicide
raids in case Iran was attacked, but officials have in the past said the
group was independent of the government and not part of the Guards, the
ideological wing of Iran's military.
No Iranians are thought to have directly executed suicide bombings in
recent years. But the United States accuses Iran of being a state sponsor
of terrorism, a charge Tehran denies.
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