U.S. says Iran test-fired two rounds of missiles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran has test-fired two rounds of missiles, including a single medium-range Shahab-3 missile capable of hitting Israel, but does not appear to have tested new or enhanced technology, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Officials from the Defense Department and U.S. intelligence agencies said the two tests involved between seven and 10 missiles altogether and took place within hours of each other on Wednesday.

Tehran said it tested its second round of missiles on Thursday, but U.S. officials said both rounds were fired on Wednesday. They were both completed by the time U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke to reporters at the Pentagon early on Wednesday afternoon, according to defense officials.

"There were two firings, the second of which involved a single missile," said one defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the topic involves classified information.

News of the missile tests roiled the world oil market. Rumors of a third test helped drive crude oil prices up by $6 a barrel on Thursday afternoon.

But U.S. officials said there was no sign that a third test had taken place. "There were two firings. That's it. That's all there's been," the defense official said.

Officials said the firings appeared to be conducted in conjunction with Iranian military exercises and may also have included short-range weapons designed for use against ships in the Gulf.

"It does appear that they had a small military exercise last evening, very small," an intelligence official said.

It was not clear which of the two firings involved the Shahab-3, a ballistic missile believed to have a range of up to 1,250 miles, which is classified as medium-range by the U.S. military and NATO though it surpasses the distance between Tel Aviv and Tehran.

There was no official word on whether the tests were successful.

The tests heightened worries of a possible confrontation between Iran and Israel or the United States over Tehran's nuclear program. Washington and others say Iran seeks nuclear weapons under the guise of an energy program, a charge Tehran denies.

Israel, which views a nuclear-armed Iran as a major threat to its security, conducted a large-scale air drill last month that fed speculation of a possible military confrontation.

"BIG SHOW"

Iranian state television and radio said the Revolutionary Guard fired ground-to-sea, surface-to-surface and sea-to-air missiles as well as long-range missiles and quoted a top official as calling the tests "a lesson for enemies."

But U.S. officials and independent experts said the missile firings did not appear to involve new technology or even the latest versions of missiles known to be in Iran's arsenal.

"They put on a big show and as a result they were able to get headline coverage of the thing by virtue of putting on a display that was visually impressive," said John Pike of the online think tank GlobalSecurity.org.

"Their statements about 'don't-mess-with-us-or-we'll-blow- you-up' achieved a degree of visibility," he said.

Israeli missile expert Uzi Rubin said the initial firings included a Shahab-2 ballistic missile.

U.S. experts say the Shahab-2 has a range of about 300-430 miles. Such a weapon could threaten U.S. facilities located a little more than 125 miles across the Gulf from Iran's coast.

"What was on display was entirely old materiel, though there is no reason to think the test-firings were not successful," Rubin told Reuters.

Pike said Iran's Shahab-3 missile poses the most serious threat to Israel and estimated that Tehran could possess 50-150 of the weapons, enough to confuse and potentially penetrate Israeli air defenses in a war.

The White House called Iran's actions provocative.

(Additional reporting David Alexander in Washington and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)