Iran To Stage Missile War Games

Iran's new surface-to-surface missile, the Qiam-1

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are to launch military exercises with the firing of different range ballistic missiles.

The state news agency IRNA quotes Guards commander, General Ami Ali Hadjizadeh, as saying that the exercises, codenamed Great Prophet-6, are to start on June 27.

The general, whose force carries out war games each year in the Gulf region, said the latest exercises were "a message of peace and friendship to the countries of the area."

In late May, Iran said it had equipped the Revolutionary Guards with a new surface-to-surface missile, the Qiam-1, which was built locally and test-fired last August.

Iran says it has a wide range of missiles, some capable of striking targets inside Israel as well as U.S. bases in the Middle East.

compiled from agency reports