IRAN DEVELOPING MORE ADVANCED MISSILE IN PARALLEL TO SHIHAB-3
ISRAEL LINE FRIDAY, JULY 31, 1998
Military sources said on Thursday that Iran, which last week test-fired a
missile with a range of 800 miles, is rapidly developing a more
sophisticated weapon with a range of more than 1,200 miles and capable of
carrying nonconventional warheads, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The new
missile is called Shihab-4 and its development could be completed within the
next two to five years, the sources said.
Unlike the Shihab-3, the missile based on the North Korean No-Dong missile
which was test-fired last week, the Shihab-4 is a product of exclusively
Russian missile technology and can carry biological, chemical or nuclear
warheads.
Shihab-3, which the sources said will be operational in 1999, has been
developed by Russia in a fast-track program that might not include
nonconventional warhead capability. But the Shihab-4, the sources said, is
being developed parallel to Shihab-3 and has made significant progress this
year.
Israeli military sources said that despite its pledges, the Russian
government is not significantly slowing down the pace of missile technology
transfer to Iran.
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