Belligerent State Tested At Least Seven Missiles
Iran's test of short- and
medium-range missiles is a disturbing development and points to the
need for a European missile defense system, Pentagon officials in
Washington, DC Wednesday.
Iran tested at least seven missiles Tuesday, according to news
reports. Those missiles may be capable of hitting Israel and parts
of Europe.
"Iran's development of ballistic missiles is a violation of UN
Security Council resolutions and completely inconsistent with
Iran's obligations to the world," White House spokesman Gordon
Johndroe said to reporters traveling with President Bush in Japan.
"The Iranians should stop the development of ballistic missiles,
which could be used as a delivery vehicle for a potential nuclear
weapon, immediately."
The test "addresses the doubts raised by the Russians that the
Iranians won't have a longer-range ballistic missile for 10 to 20
years," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said during a Pentagon
news conference today. "The fact is, they just tested a pretty
extended-range [missile].
The situation demonstrates the emerging missile threat from the
Middle East, Pentagon officials said, and the need for a missile
defense in Europe. Yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to emplace a
missile-defense radar in that country. The United States continues
talks with Poland to emplace the missiles.
"We face with the Iranians -- and so do our allies and friends
-- a growing missile threat that is getting ever longer and ever
deeper, and where the Iranian appetite for nuclear technology to
this point is still unchecked," Rice said in Prague Tuesday.
As ANN reported, Rice signed an agreement with
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg to place part of a
planned Eastern European missile defense shield in the former
Soviet state.
"I think that the reality is that there is a lot of signaling
going on [among Iran, Israel and the United States]. I think
everybody recognizes what the consequences of any kind of a
conflict would be," Gates said. "This government is working hard to
make sure that the diplomatic and economic approach to dealing with
Iran, and trying to get the Iranian government to change its
policies, is the strategy and approach that continues to
dominate."
(Aero-News thanks Jim Garamone, American Forces Press
Service)