I’m sure it’s for peaceful purposes:

Iran’s military said Tuesday it has manufactured a new missile with a range of 1,200 miles capable of reaching Israel and U.S. bases across the Mideast, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Let’s recap, before we go any farther. Iran has been working on nuclear power, has bragged about having 3,000 centrifuges running and is now touting a new missle with enough range to hit Israel. This will end well.

Iran already had reported improvements in a previous missile that would give it the same range as the Ashoura, and Najjar did not elaborate about whether there are any differences between the two weapons.

First thing I thought was: And where did China get their missile technology to pass on to Iran? Oh right…President Clinton.

President Clinton, who transferred the power to regulate sensitive satellites to Commerce, under Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, ultimately overruled Christopher.

Clinton’s transfer allowed the Chinese army to acquire advanced U.S. technology for military purposes.

Israel’s resposne:

In Israel, there was no official reaction to Iran’s statement. But missile expert Uzi Rubin, formerly head of the Arrow anti-missile project in Israel’s Ministry of Defense, said the announcement had long been expected.

Rubin said Israel already was in range of other Iranian missiles, so “the people who need to be really worried about the new missile are in Europe.”

That makes me laugh. It’s like: “Hey, welcome to our world.”