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TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has test-fired a sonar-evading underwater missile that can outpace any enemy warship, a senior naval commander told state television on Sunday during a week of war games in the Gulf.

Western nations have been watching developments in Iran's missile capabilities with concern amid a standoff over the Iranian nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building atomic bombs. Iran says the program is only civilian.

Analysts say the United States could take military action against Iran if it fails to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomatic means. Iranian commanders say their armed forces are ready to respond to any attack.

Iran earlier in the war games said it tested a radar-evading missile and Sunday's announcement is likely to add to Western worries. Iran has a commanding position over the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, a shipping route through which passes some two-fifths of all the oil traded in the world.

"This missile evades sonar technology under the water and even if the enemy sonar system could detect its movement under the water, no warship could escape from it because of its high velocity," Revolutionary Guards Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said.

"The Islamic Republic is now among the only two countries who hold this kind of missile. Under the water the maximum speed that a missile could (usually) move is 25 meters per second, but now we possess a missile which goes as fast as 100 meters per second," he told state television.

The commander used the word "missile" in Farsi, rather than "torpedo."

"The boats that can launch this missile have a technology that makes them stealthy and nobody could recognize them or act against them," he added.

Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Aliasghar Soltaniyeh, said the missile test should not worry the world. He said that, to his knowledge, the weapon could not carry a nuclear warhead.

"The world should not worry because any country has its own self-defense conventional military activities," he told CNN.

POWERFUL WARHEAD

State television earlier described the missile as the world's fastest. It also showed images of the weapon being fired from what appeared to be the deck of a ship, followed by the weapon traveling at speed through water.

"It carries a very powerful warhead that enables it to operate against groups of warships and big submarines," Fadavi said.

The test was part of a week of Iranian naval maneuvers that started on Friday and taking place in the Gulf and Sea of Oman. The official IRNA news agency said the manoeuvres were to show Iran's "defensive capabilities."

On Friday, Iran said it had successfully test-fired a domestically produced, radar-evading missile, and released images of it being launched into the air from land.

Iranian state television said that missile was called the Fajr-3. But Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guards air force, did not name the new weapon or give the missile's range, saying it depended on the warhead weight.

The U.S.-based military affairs Web site globalsecurity.org describes the Fajr-3 as a 240 mm artillery rocket with a 25-mile (40-km) range, one of a group of light rockets Iran has developed mainly for tactical use on the battlefield.

However, it also says Iran has been working on another missile, called the Kosar, that would be undetectable by radar and designed to sink ships in the Gulf.

Diplomats in Europe said this month that Iran was stepping up development of other missiles capable of carrying atomic warheads. An Iranian official denied the charge.

Iran Calls Test of New Missile Successful

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 2 minutes ago

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran conducted its second major test of a new missile within days on Sunday, firing a high-speed torpedo it said no submarine or warship can escape at a time of increased tensions with the U.S. over its nuclear program.     

The tests came during war games that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have been holding in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea since Friday.

On the maneuvers' first day, Iran said it successfully tested the Fajr-3 missile, which can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads.

The new torpedo, called the "Hoot," or "whale," could raise concerns over Iran's power in the Gulf, a vital corridor for the world's oil supplies and where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based. During Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s, Iranian ships attacked oil tankers in the Gulf, and Iran and the U.S. military engaged in limited clashes.

Iran's state television stopped its normal programs to break news of the torpedo test, showing it being launched from a ship into the Gulf waters, then hitting its target, a derelict ship.

Gen. Ali Fadavi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards' navy, said the ships that fire the Iranian-made Hoot had radar-evading technology and that the torpedo — moving at 223 miles per hour — was too fast to elude.

"It has a very powerful warhead designed to hit big submarines. Even if enemy warship sensors identify the missile, no warship can escape from this missile because of its high speed," Fadavi told state television.

The Hoot's speed would make it about three or four times faster than a normal torpedo and as fast as the world's fastest known underwater missile, the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, developed in 1995. It was not immediately known if the Hoot was based on the Shkval.

The new weapon gives Iran "superiority" against any warship in the region, Fadavi said, in a veiled reference to U.S. vessels in the Gulf. It was not immediately clear whether the torpedo can carry a nuclear warhead.

Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet based on the tiny Arab island nation of Bahrain in the Gulf, said no special measures were taken in reaction to the Iranian war games, even after the latest missile test.

He would not comment on whether the new torpedo represents a threat to American forces in the region.

"In general terms, no matter where we operate in the world, we're aware of other capabilities that exist and of other countries that aren't as friendly to the U.S., and we pay attention to those capabilities," he said.

The U.S. and Iranian navies have had brush-ups during the past — during the "Tanker War," when U.S. warships moved into the Gulf to guard oil tankers.

In 1988, the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts was badly damaged by an Iranian mine. In response, the U.S. Navy launched its largest engagement of surface warships since World War II. Two Iranian ships were destroyed, and an American helicopter was shot down, killing the two pilots.

Iran is now trying to show its strength amid worries of U.S. military action over its nuclear program, which Washington says aims to produce nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusation, saying it intends only to generate electricity.

The U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran give up uranium enrichment, a crucial part of the nuclear process. Washington is pressing for sanctions if Tehran continues its refusal to do so, though U.S. officials have not ruled out military action as an eventual option, insisting they will not allow Iran to gain a nuclear arsenal.

Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has warned that the United States will "suffer" if it takes action against its nuclear program. Some have seen that as a threat to increase militant action in the region or turn to the oil weapon, though Iranian oil officials have ruled out any squeeze in supplies.

Iran, which views the United States as an arch foe and is concerned about the U.S. military presence in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan, says the maneuvers aim to develop the Guards' defensive capabilities.

The United States and its Western allies have been watching Iran's progress in missile capabilities with concern. Iran already possesses the Shahab-3 missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and hitting U.S forces in the Middle East.

The upgraded version of the ballistic Shahab-3 missile can travel about 1,200 miles, putting Israel within easy range.

Fadavi said Sunday's torpedo test was the outcome of six years of hard work at the Iranian Aerospace Industries, affiliated with the Defense Ministry.

More than 17,000 Revolutionary Guards forces are taking part in the weeklong maneuvers in the Gulf.

On Sunday, guards paratroops practiced a drop in an attack on a mock enemy position, and warships, jet fighters, helicopters and sophisticated electronic equipment were used in other exercises.

The television report said Sunday's war games included measures to respond to electronic jams caused by a mock enemy.

Iran has routinely held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and test locally made equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.

Iran Calls Test of New Missile Successful  (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iran_missile;_ylt=AkyB_8eVEOwOQtL3xgFlvKus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--)

Iran Tests Second New Torpedo in Gulf

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 23 minutes ago

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran successfully tested its second new torpedo in as many days Monday, the latest weapon to be unveiled during war games in the Gulf that the military said are aimed at preparing the country's defenses against the United States.

A spokesman for the elite Revolutionary Guards suggested the new, Iranian-made torpedo was more powerful and capable of going deeper than others in its arsenal.

Gen. Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani told state television the ship-launched weapon can target submarines at any depth and is powerful enough to "break a heavy warship" in two. He did not give the name of the new torpedo or any details of its speed or range.

The torpedo was tested in the Straits of Hormuz, the narrow entrance of the Gulf and a vital corridor for oil supplies.

The United States said that while Iran may have made "some strides" in its military, it is likely to be exaggerating its capabilities.

"We know that the Iranians are always trying to improve their weapons system by both foreign and indigenous measures," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in Washington. "It's possible that they are increasing their capability and making strides in radar absorbing materials and technology."

But "the Iranians have also been known to boast and exaggerate their statements about greater technical and tactical capabilities," he said.

The Revolutionary Guards, the elite branch of Iran's military, have been holding their maneuvers — codenamed the "Great Prophet" — since Friday, touting what they call domestically built technological advances in their armed forces.

A day earlier, Iran announced it had tested a different new torpedo — the high-speed "Hoot," which means "whale." Iran said the Hoot, moving at up to 223 mph, was too fast for any enemy ship to elude. On Friday, it tested the Fajr-3, a missile that it said can avoid radars and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads.

It has not been possible to verify Iran's claims for the new armaments. But the country has made clear it aims to send a message of strength to the United States amid heightened tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

A top Guards commander, Gen. Hossein Kargar, said Monday the maneuver aims at preparing the troops in case of attack by the United States — often referred to by Iran's clerical regime as "the global arrogance."

"Regarding the threats by the global arrogance, defensive preparation is a task of the armed forces," Kargar was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as saying.

Many in Iran worry over the possibility of U.S. military action in the escalating dispute over Iran's nuclear program, an option Washington has refused to rule out. The United States is pushing for U.N. sanctions against Iran, accusing it of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies the claim, saying its program aims to generate electricity, and it has so far rejected a demand by the U.N. Security Council that it give up uranium enrichment, a key part of the nuclear process that can produce either fuel for a reactor or material for a warhead.

Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday the United States and Europe were "confused" if they thought they could stop Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Speaking after talks with Guinea's foreign minister, he said Iran would pursue its right to develop nuclear energy but vowed its program would be "transparent" and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.

More than 17,000 Revolutionary Guards forces, along with some 1,500 warships, boats and aircraft are taking part in the weeklong maneuvers in a 100,000 square mile area of the Gulf.

After decades of relying on foreign weapons purchases, Iran's military has been working to boost its domestic production of armaments. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane. It announced in early 2005 that it had begun production of torpedoes, though it was not clear if the ones tested during the maneuvers were the first to be put into action.

Iran bought three Russian Kilo-class submarines in the 1980s and has since said it is producing its own smaller-sized subs, at least two of which are believed to have been built and put in the country's fleet.

The United States and its Western allies have been watching in Iran's progress in missile capabilities with concern. Iran already possesses the Shahab-3 missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and hitting U.S forces in the Middle East and Israel.

Ali Ansari, an Iran specialist at Britain's Royal Institute for International Affairs, cautioned that there is likely "a little bit of bluster" in Iran's claims for its new weapons.

"They're trying to impress," he told The Associated Press. They aim to "prove to the West that they can hit Israel and close the Straits of Hormuz. They're saying if you hit us, then we can hit back."

Iran's leaders also want to reassure Iranians the country can defend itself. "There's a lot of worry (among the public) over what direction the country is taking, and they want to show that Iran can hold its own against the U.S."

Iran Tests Second New Torpedo in Gulf (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060404/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_war_games;_ylt=AtU_UBxTVtXefMHsFD2FTU6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-)