Tehran successfully tests ballistic missile

AP, REUTERS
In this photo obtained from the Iranian Fars News Agency, a Qadr H long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile is fired by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, during a maneuver, in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this photo taken on March 9, 2016. (AP)

TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has successfully tested a ballistic missile, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency has reported.
The report quotes Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, chief of the Guard’s aerospace division, as saying the missile destroyed a target from a distance of 250 km. It said the sea-launched ballistic missile dubbed Hormuz 2 was tested last week.
The Hormuz 2 is capable of hitting floating targets with high accuracy within a range of 300 km, Fars said. It provided no additional details.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Hajizadeh as saying the Revolutionary Guard had prepared a ballistic missile for civilian purposes, but plans to launch it were canceled after a threat by the US.
“We have prepared a ballistic missile for carrying a satellite for civilian purposes ... but some people sent it to the warehouse after a threat by the Americans. This behavior is humiliating,” he said.
In a separate development, IranAir has taken delivery of its second Western jet under a nuclear sanctions deal with major powers — an Airbus A330 long-haul aircraft, the European plane maker said on Friday.
The aircraft is expected to be used mainly on European routes and on flights to Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.
It joins a medium-haul A321 delivered earlier this year.
Delivery was held up for several weeks by last-minute talks over its Rolls-Royce engines and spare parts, but comes in time for the Iranian new year later in March.
IranAir has ordered 100 jets from Airbus and 80 from Boeing under the sanctions deal. Iran is expected to take delivery of a second A330 in coming weeks.