Iran tests missiles near key oil-transit strait

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Iran on Monday tested missiles near the Strait of Hormuz, underlining its threats to close the vital oil-transit channel at the entrance to the Gulf as the West prepares to impose more economic sanctions.

The launch of two missiles took place on the final day of war games in waters east of the Strait of Hormuz, a navy spokesman, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi, was quoted as saying by official media.

Another missile was also to be tested on Monday, he said.

The longest range of the missiles tested on Monday was 200 kilometres (120 miles)

On Sunday, a medium-range surface-to-air missile was also test-fired during the exercises, according to Mousavi.

The show of military muscle was designed to show Iran's ability to close the Strait of Hormuz - through which 20 per cent of the world's oil flows - if it chooses.

Political and military officials have said they could take that drastic step if the West imposes more sanctions on top of others that have already taken their toll on Iran's oil-dependent economy.

US President Barack Obama did up the sanction pressure on the weekend, signing into law new unilateral sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and financial sector.

The European Union is considering an embargo on Iranian oil imports. A meeting of EU foreign ministers at the end of this month will decide whether to implement that measure.

The United States, which keeps its Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf, has warned it will not tolerate a closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Halfway through the 10 days of Iranian navy manoeuvres it sent an aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, through the strait on what the Pentagon said was a 'routine' passage.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday told senior officials in his country's central bank that the institution would confront the new US sanctions with 'strength'.

He also said that 'currently there is no particular problem in the economic sector'.

Monday's missile tests, however, raised concerns over what Iran might do if it felt cornered.

Mousavi said a Qader ground-to-ship cruise missile and a shorter-range Nasr surface-to-surface missile were launched in the tests.

The Qader cruise missile 'built by Iranian experts successfully hit its target and destroyed it', Mousavi was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency.

He said it was 'the first time' a Qader missile had been tested.

Hours later a Nasr missile 'was also fired from a vessel in the sea today', he told state television, adding that its test, too, was successful.

The Qader missile is said to have a range of 200 kilometres, which is generally considered medium-range or even short-range for a cruise missile, even though IRNA described it as 'long-range'.

The Nasr is based on a Chinese design, as is the other missile to be tested on Monday, the Nour. The Nour missile has a range of 200 kilometres.