Real or not, Iranian missile fire must stop: US

AFP
Friday, July 11, 2008

The United States Thursday cast doubt on the strength of Iran's claims to have test-fired a whole barrage of missiles over two days, and urged Tehran to cease immediately all provocative acts.

Iran appeared to have fired only a single missile on Thursday, not a second round of missiles as Iranian media reported, and seven on Wednesday not nine as claimed, a senior defense official told AFP.

The United States had detected the launch of seven missiles on Wednesday, including a Shahab-3 missile said to be capable of striking Israel, the official said, asking to remain anonymous.

"There appears to have been one missile fired today, but that may well have been one that failed the day before, and they finally got operational and launched today," the official said.

Amid heightened tensions, the administration of President George W. Bush again renewed its commitment to resolving the standoff with Iran over its contested nuclear program peacefully.

But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Washington was ready to defend Israel and all its allies in the region and that it was stepping up deployments in the Gulf.

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