Iran plans missile tests over 3 days

Iran announced new tests of short-range missiles Sunday, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed contentions that his nation’s economy had been hurt by United Nations sanctions imposed over its uranium enrichment program.

The missile tests come as the U.S. Navy is sending a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf. U.S. officials said the John C. Stennis, which is scheduled to arrive in the Middle East in a few weeks, was meant as a warning to Iran.

The deployment appeared to alarm some in Iran’s hard-line leadership, including one official who warned last week that Washington planned to attack, possibly by striking Iranian nuclear facilities.

U.S. officials have refused to rule out any options in Iran, but say military action would be a last resort.

Iran’s state-run television said the Revolutionary Guard planned to begin three days of testing short-range missiles Sunday. It could not be confirmed if the exercise had begun near the city of Garmsar, about 60 miles southeast of Tehran.

“The maneuver is aimed at evaluating defensive and fighting capabilities of the missiles,” the report quoted an unidentified Revolutionary Guard commander as saying.

The tests are Iran’s first since the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions last month after Tehran refused to suspend uranium enrichment. The sanctions ban the selling of materials and technology that could be used in Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of secretly developing atomic weapons in violation of its treaty commitments. Tehran has repeatedly denied the charge, saying its program is solely for the purpose of developing nuclear technology to generate power.