Tehran, Iran – Iran tested a new anti-ship missile fired by a submarine during war games Sunday, raising worries that it could disrupt vital oil-tanker traffic in the Persian Gulf amid its standoff with the West over its suspect nuclear activities.
President Mahmoud Ahma dinejad took a tough tone on the nuclear issue, saying his nation’s decision to pursue nuclear technology was irreversible.
His comments and the missile test came before a Thursday deadline imposed by the United Nations for Tehran to suspend the enrichment of uranium, a process the United States says the Iranians intend to use to build nuclear weapons. Enrichment can produce reactor fuel and material for a warhead.
The Thaqeb, Farsi for Saturn, is Iran’s first missile that is fired from underwater and flies above the surface to hit its target, distinguishing it from a torpedo. A brief video showed the missile exiting the water and hitting a target less than a mile away.
While the missile showed some technological advances by Iran, its main importance seemed to be that it gives the country another means for targeting ships, along with the arsenal of torpedoes and other anti- ship missiles it already has.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity, has refused any immediate suspension and called the U.N. deadline illegal, although it is open to negotiations.
“The great decision of the Iranian nation for progress and acquiring technology is a definite decision. There is no way back from this path,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech on national television after giving awards to 14 nuclear officials and scientists.
He said the United States should give up nuclear technology because it could not be trusted with it, having developed and used nuclear weapons.
Israel recently purchased two German-made Dolphin submarines capable of carrying nuclear warheads – clearly aiming to send a message to Tehran that it could strike back.
Israel is believed to have hundreds of warheads, the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, but it has kept the information secret and refuses to confirm or deny the reports.
The oil minister and other government officials have said Iran would never attack tankers in the Persian Gulf.
