Iran has tested a Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile, according to a source in the Trump administration who spoke to Fox News. The official said the launch took place on July 24 and the missile flew close to 600 miles from the southern part of the country northward to an area outside the capital, Tehran.
The US official speculated that the test was part of Iran’s efforts to improve the range and accuracy of its missiles.
The Shahab-3 (Persian: meteor) is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) developed by Iran based on the North Korean Nodong-1. It has a range of 620 miles. Iran also has in its arsenal an MRBM that can reach 1,200 miles (and hit targets as far as Israel, Egypt, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece).
The Shahab-3 missile is effective against large, civilian targets such as cities. Given its payload capacity, it is capable of delivering nuclear warheads.
US Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center estimated in 2017 that Iran had deployed not more than 50 launchers for the Shahab-3.
A second senior US administration official told Fox News that “we are aware of reports of a projectile launched from Iran and have no further comment at this time.”