TEHRAN, 7 November 2006 — Iran is ready to share its missile systems with friends and neighbors, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards said, after he showed off missiles including some which, he said, had cluster warheads. Guards Commander-in-Chief Yahya Rahim Safavi also told Iran’s Arabic-language Al-Alam TV that the Guards had thousands of troops trained for suicide missions in case Iran was threatened although he said a US attack was unlikely.
The United States has said it wants to resolve a dispute over Iran’s nuclear program by diplomatic means but has not ruled out the use of force. Washington believes Tehran is seeking to make atomic bombs, despite Iranian denials. “We are able to give our missile systems to friendly and neighboring countries,” Safavi told Al-Alam.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, was quoted by Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency on Sunday as saying the Islamic Republic was ready to supply air defense systems — without giving specifics — to the Lebanese military. “Tehran also considers this as its duty to help friendly countries which are exposed to invasion of the Zionist regime (Israel),” Sheibani was quoted as saying, in response to what he said was a request by Lebanon’s army commander, Gen. Michel Suleiman, for help from friendly states.
At the start of 10 days of military exercises, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they fired Shahab missiles with cluster warheads. Experts say the Shahab 3 has a maximum range of 2,000 km and able to hit Israel and US bases in the Gulf. Military experts said the exercises were to show off Iranian technology, although they say many systems are based on modified versions of equipment from other countries.
Meanwhile, an aide to former President Mohammad Khatami said Iran’s reform movement will focus on winning back big cities in December local elections and may be helped by growing criticism of government economic policies. Iran’s reformists, who want political and social change, were swept out of councils, especially in Tehran and other cities, in 2003 polls.
