U.S. defense official confirms Iran missile launch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran has successfully launched a missile with a range of 2,000 to 3,000 km (1,200-1,900 miles) and a configuration that appears consistent with its Ashura models, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday.

But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon had yet to analyze technical data that would provide clues to the missile's flight trajectory and target.

Iranian officials, who announced the launch earlier on Wednesday, described the missile as Sejil-2. But the defense official said its appearance was similar to an older model long known to U.S. intelligence.

"It looks to be the same as the Ashura model," the official told Reuters. "It's consistent with that look."

Separately, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would not say whether the U.S. military had any evidence that an Iranian test had taken place.

"Our concerns are obviously based on their nuclear ambitions and the implications that long- and medium-range missiles have with respect to that," he told reporters.

"Iran is at a bit of a crossroads. They have a choice to make," Whitman added.

"They can either continue on this path of continued destabilization of the region or they can decide that they want to pursue relationships with countries in the region and the United States that are more normalized," he said.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Andrew Gray; Editing by Doina Chiacu)