Iran Successfully Test-fires Medium Range Sajjil-2 Missile

Iran has successfully test-fired a mid-range surface-to-surface missile, the state media has reported.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying that the Sajjil-2 missile used “advanced technology” and had “landed exactly” on the unspecified target.

The President was speaking in Semnan, from where the missile, with a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles), was reportedly launched.

According to experts, the test may be construed as provocative by Iran’s Arab neighbours and its enemies in the West.

“The defence minister (Mohammed Najjar) told me today that we launched a Sajjil-2 missile, which is a two-stage missile and it has reached the intended target,” Mr Ahmadinejad told a crowd in the northern town.

According to him, the missile used solid fuel and was “able to go beyond the atmosphere then come back and hit its target”.

Solid-fuel missiles are reputedly more accurate than liquid-fuel missiles, which make up the majority of Iran’s long-range arsenal