Iran plans to fire Shahab, Zelzal missiles during drill

Ynetnews - A day after the European Union's sanctions on Iran's oil went into effect, the Islamic Republic is launching the Great Prophet 7 missile drill.

Iran's state-run Fars news agency reported that the Revolutionary Guard has begun preparations and said that it would fire "dozens of ground missiles" over the next three days.

"Since Monday morning, missile units and bases have been getting ready to move to positions determined ahead of time," the report said. The exercise is taking place in the middle of the desert.

On Sunday, Tehran announced the exercise and added that soon it would introduce a missile capable of striking Israel's Iron Dome defense system.

Gen. Ami Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guard's airspace unit, said that the new missile has a range of 300 kilometers and that the research and development phase was complete. Moreover, he said, the missile could travel several times faster than the speed of sound.

While 300 kilometers is insufficient range to allow the missile to hit Israel if fired from Iran, the Islamic Republic supplied weapons to terror organizations such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

However, Iran is widely believed to have a stock of missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers that could reach Israel and other Persian Gulf countries hosting US military bases.

According to Hajizadeh, the drill – which will include short, medium, and long-range missiles of a variety of models (including Shahab, Zelzal, and Fateh) – is being held as part of the air force's annual exercises. Missiles are slated to be fired in the direction of ships and bomber drones are also expected to be used on the last day of the drill.

Turning to Israel, Hajizadeh declared that "if it makes a wrong step, the will give us a reason to wipe them off the earth."

Israel knows that its strength doesn't compare to that of Iran, Hajizadeh said, since otherwise, it would not hesitate to attack.