Iran has claimed for a decade that its Shahab-3 missile has a range of 2,000 kilometers. But Iran never fired any missiles anywhere near that distance.
To test at full range, Iran would have to send a missile to a landing spot outside Iran. The government has not wanted to do that and has just fired missiles inside Iran’s borders, limiting the test range to about 1,200 kilometers.
But Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Pasdar Aerospace Division, announced Saturday that Iran fired two missiles into the Indian Ocean several months ago.
Hajizadeh told a televised press conference, “In the month of Bahman [January 21-February 19], two missiles with a range of 1,900 kilometers [1,180 miles] were fired from Semnan province [east of Tehran] into the mouth of he Indian Ocean.”
He said both missiles successfully hit the targeted spots in the ocean.
Hajizadeh said Iran had sent out a “notice to mariners” warning of the missile shots beforehand and that US warships were in the target area to observe the impact. He also said Iran “allowed” US spyplanes to observe the impact point, which was in international waters. “But since then, they have not reported anything,” Hajizadeh said.
The US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency publishes every week a compilation of notice to mariners of ocean hazards. The Iran Times checked the February 12 issue and found a published notice of “hazardous operations” in the Arabian Sea from January 31 through February 27. The area blocked out was about 1,500 to 1,800 kilometers from the Semnan missile launch center.
The US publication doesn’t show who issued the notice to mariners. The Iran Times queried the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, but the agency had not tracked down the answer before the Iran Times went to press.
Other published notices cite “Missile Test” and “Weapons Firing” as the reasons for the notices. But the one in the Arabian Sea said only “Hazardous Operations,” which would not clearly alert anyone to a missile test.
Hajizadeh claimed in his press conference that Iran had “closed” the area where the missiles would land. But no country can close any zone of international waters. His comment that Iran had “allowed” US planes to fly in the “closed” zone indicated ignorance about standard procedures.
Hajizadeh pointed out that the United States has not reported any Iranian missile test. It is, however, normal for the United States to report major Iranian missile tests. And the claimed tests would help the US make its point that Iran is growing more dangerous with proven missiles of long range. So it is odd that there has been nothing said about the Iranian tests if they were really carried out.
Both the United States and the Soviet Union often sent ships to missile impact zones announced by the other country. They would scour the surface for any floating debris that might give hints about missile designs. It isn’t known if any missile warheads were ever plucked from the ocean floor.
Hajizadeh spoke of US spyplanes also monitoring the impact area. That would be unlikely as the planes would have to be on patrol 24 hours a day for up to a month, not a practical assignment. Ships would actually provide more capability to observe the missiles.