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"How dare Iran to defend itself against attacks from the west"
Iran Launches More Test Missiles, Draws Rebuke From Rice
U.S. Plays Down Military ShowdownBy Glenn Kessler and Howard Schneider
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 10, 2008; 8:06 AMIran conducted a second day of high-profile missile tests on Thursday, as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned the Islamic Republic that it would defend Israel or other allies in the region from any attack.
Citing broadcasts on state-run Iranian television, the Associated Press reported out of Tehran that the country had continued an on-going military exercise in the Persian Gulf with another round of missile tests. The tests included the use of more long-range rockets capable of reaching Israel, as well as other devices with what state-controlled media referred to as "special capabilities," though no further details were provided.
If the missile tests were meant as a message to the west, Rice had words of her own for Tehran.
"We are also sending a message to Iran," Rice said, speaking from the former Soviet republic of Georgia. "We will defend American interests and the interests of our allies. . . No one should be confused about that."
Rice's comments and the new missile tests continue a back and forth that has seen both sides combine military exercises and sharp rhetoric in a standoff over Iran's suspected efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran test-fired nine missiles yesterday -- including at least one capable of striking Israel -- and asserted that thousands more are "ready for launch," but Bush administration officials played down the possibility of military action against the Islamic republic and belittled Tehran's claims of progress on its nuclear program.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters the world is not closer to a military confrontation, even though Iran's missile launch came just days after Israel conducted a high-profile military exercise in the Mediterranean. "What we're seeing is a lot of signaling going on," he said, adding that both Israel and Iran "understand [the] consequences" of military action.
Undersecretary of State William J. Burns told Congress that "we view force as an option that is on the table, but a last resort." He said the United States and its allies have made progress in thwarting Iran's nuclear ambitions, saying: "While deeply troubling, Iran's real nuclear progress has been less than the sum of its boasts."
The Bush administration's statements contrasted with tougher talk by the presidential candidates.
Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the presumptive Republican nominee, issued a statement against Iran yesterday morning that the tests "demonstrate again the dangers it poses to its neighbors and to the wider region, especially Israel."
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said that the missile launches show "the threat from Iran's nuclear program is real and it is grave," and that it is necessary to begin "direct, aggressive and sustained diplomacy." The two campaigns then squabbled over whether Obama had supported strong action against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
With only six months remaining in President Bush's term, senior officials have repeatedly dismissed the possibility of military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. Instead, the administration has stepped up diplomacy, both toughening sanctions and joining other leading nations in sweetening incentives for Iran to suspend its nuclear activities and begins serious negotiations.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last month even signed a joint letter to the Iranian foreign minister offering the deal, though the administration has refused thus far to allow a senior U.S. official to join other foreign officials in talks in Tehran.
"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 is the approach that continues to dominate," Gates said. "At this point, I'm comfortable that that remains the case."
Iran has responded with cryptic and somewhat encouraging comments, though it has continued to work on its nuclear program. Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief and main Western interlocutor on Iran's nuclear program, is expected to meet with Iranian officials next week.
Burns said the United States and other nations are working on "an intense public diplomacy campaign to explain what we're offering directly. . . .We want the Iranian people to see clearly how serious we are about reconciliation and helping them to develop their full potential, but also who's responsible for Iran's isolation."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack noted that in recent years, Iran has conducted similar exercises, including missile tests. But analysts said the tests, along with Iranian rhetoric, are meant as highly symbolic warning to Israel and the United States.
"We warn the enemies who intend to threaten us with military exercises and empty psychological operations that our hand will always be on the trigger and our missiles will always be ready to launch," Revolutionary Guards air force commander Hossein Salami said yesterday, according to the official IRNA news agency.
The Iranian naval games, dubbed the "The Great Prophet 3," are taking place at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic Persian Gulf waterway that handles about 40 percent of the world's oil. U.S. and British warships are also conducting exercises in the Persian Gulf.
The nine missiles tested by Iran included the Shahab-3, which has a conventional warhead weighing one ton and which Iran says has a range of about 1,200 miles -- sufficient to strike Israel and other U.S.-linked targets. John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense consulting group, said that missile, which has been adapted from an old North Korean model, clearly is being refined to deliver nuclear weapons.
"If they are not developing nuclear weapon for this missile, why are they continuing to test it? It is worthless otherwise," he said. "They are still working on a delivery system, which is a major piece of the puzzle of the nuclear program."
Peter D. Zimmerman, a nuclear physicist who was formerly chief scientist for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the missile's accuracy is poor and that it could miss its target altogether. A missile with a nuclear warhead, by contrast, would not need to be accurate, since it would destroy an area far beyond its range of accuracy.
The administration's military options narrowed dramatically earlier this year when a national intelligence estimate concluded that Iran had halted work on a nuclear weapon in 2003. The NIE made it much more difficult for the administration to argue to allies that Iran poses an imminent threat, setting back diplomatic efforts for several months.
Still, in recent weeks, the administration has persuaded other countries to ratchet up economic pressure on Iran.
The European Union last month brought sanctions against Bank Melli, Iran's largest bank. The soaring price of oil has cushioned the blow for Iran, which is the world's fourth-largest oil producer, but Burns noted that "inflation is running at 25 percent and food and housing costs are skyrocketing." Iran must also import about half of its refined oil products, which experts say could be a tempting target or future sanctions.
Israeli officials have warned that in the meantime Iran continues to build up a supply of low-enriched uranium, so that by the end of next year Tehran could have enough material to convert into highly enriched uranium to fuel a nuclear weapon.
"Israel's preference has been to solve this peacefully," said Israel's U.S. ambassador, Sallai Meridor. "For that to have a chance, it will take a dramatic increase in the economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran."
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