IRGC: Iran Can Target All Enemy Bases in Region

TEHRAN (FNA)- Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) boasted Iran's missile power, saying all enemy basis in the region are within the reach of Iranian missiles.

"Today, there is no base in the region lying outside the reach of the Iranian missiles," Brigadier General Hossein Salami said, addressing a ceremony held in honor of Martyr Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, known as the Father of Iran's missile industry.

"Wherever you imagine these bases are, they are within the reach of Iranian missiles," Salami reiterated, noting the range, power and high precision-targeting capability of Iran's ground-to-ground, ground-to-air and ballistic missiles.

Iran has made giant progress in arms production, specially in area of missile technology, in the last decade.

Iran has been pushing an arms development program in recent years in a bid to reach self-sufficiency. Tehran launched its arms development program during the 1980-88 Iraqi imposed war on Iran, to compensate for a US weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own jet fighters and armored vehicles as well as radar-evading missiles and other high-tech weapons.

Yet, Iranian officials have always stressed that the country's military and arms programs serve defensive purposes and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

Each year Iran displays part of its advancements in missile technology, but its Shahab 3 and Sejjil missiles have notably worried the Israeli regime.

The liquid-fuel Shahab 3 missile has a range of up to 1,250 miles (2000 kilometers) and is capable of carrying a 1,000-760 kilogram warhead.

But Sejjil, which is considered as the third generation of Iran-made long-range missiles, is a solid-fuel, two-stage missile with two engines. It is capable of reaching very high altitudes and therefore has a longer range than that of the Shahab 3 model.

The missile has boosted the Islamic republic of Iran's defense capabilities.

Yet, western military experts believe that half of Iran's missile capability is still unknown to the West, and that Tehran holds many aces up its sleeve.