Iran says it tested ballistic missile with 2,000 kilometer range
2,000 kilometer range would put Israel in ballistic missile's striking distance.
By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFFIran tests new precision-guided ballistic missile [File](photo credit: IRANIAN MEDIA)
Iran successfully tested a medium-range ballistic missile two weeks ago, a senior military planning official was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency on Monday."We tested a missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) and eight meters error margin two weeks ago. An eight-meter error margin means ...full accuracy," Tasnim quoted Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi as saying.A range of 2,000 kilometers would put Israel within the missile's striking distance.Iran continued progress on its ballistic missile program despite US lawmakers threatening to push for more unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic when it carried out a similar test in March.At the time of that ballistic missile test, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards stated that the missiles were designed to be able to hit Israel.The nearest point in Iran is around 1,000 km from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem."The reason we designed our missiles with a range of 2,000 km is to be able to hit our enemy the Zionist regime from a safe distance," Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh was quoted as saying by the ISNA agency.In January, Washington imposed sanctions against businesses and individuals linked to Iran's missile program over a test of the medium-range Emad missile carried out in October 2015.Washington fears those missiles could be used to carry a nuclear warhead at some point in the future, even after Iran implemented a nuclear deal with world powers in January that imposes strict limits and checks on its disputed nuclear program.Iran's missile program is subject to UN Security Council resolution 2231 that calls on the Islamic Republic not to develop missiles designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Iran says its missiles are solely a conventional deterrent.