Iran Proclaims Maritime Cruise-missile Tests a Success

Iran says it has successfully conducted a series of tests of maritime missiles of varying sizes and ranges, including a new homemade cruise missile. The test came on Thursday morning during war games in the Indian Ocean close to the strategic Strait of Hormuz. A statement, issued through the semi-official Tasnim news agency, said: “During the exercises, short-range and long-range coast-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles were successfully fired from the coast and from decks of ships, hitting their targets with great precision.” The weapons, it said, included a new, locally manufactured cruise missile with a range of about 175 miles. The war games, according to Tasnim, were codenamed “Ramadan Martyrs” for the 19 sailors killed on May 10 during another naval exercise. News reports blamed that incident on an errant missile. Washington is pressuring the United Nations Security Council to extend a weapons embargo on Iran that had been imposed due to missile tests.