Iran fires missiles marked with ‘Israel must be wiped out’

TEHRAN: Iran reportedly test-fired two ballistic missiles Wednesday with the phrase “Israel must be wiped out” written in Hebrew on them, a show of force by the Islamic Republic as US Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel.
Such phrases have been emblazoned on missiles fired before by Iran, but this test comes as the country recently signed a nuclear deal with world powers, including America, and conducted another test the day before. Hard-liners in Iran’s military have fired rockets and missiles despite US objections since the deal, as well as shown underground missile bases on state television.
There was no immediate reaction from Jerusalem, where Biden was scheduled to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who strongly opposed the nuclear deal.
The semiofficial Fars news agency offered pictures Wednesday it said were of the Qadr H missiles being fired. It said they were fired in Iran’s eastern Alborz mountain range to hit a target some 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) away off Iran’s coast into the Sea of Oman. The US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which patrols that region, declined to comment on the test.
Fars quoted Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division, saying the test was aimed at showing Israel that Iran could hit it.
“The 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) range of our missiles is to confront the Zionist regime,” Hajizadeh said. “Israel is surrounded by Islamic countries and it will not last long in a war. It will collapse even before being hit by these missiles.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to immediately comment. Iran has threatened to destroy Israel in the past. Israel, which is believed to have the only nuclear weapons arsenal in the Mideast, repeatedly has threatened to take military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Hajizadeh stressed Iran would not fire the missiles in anger or start a war with Israel.
“We will not be the ones who start a war, but we will not be taken by surprise, so we put our facilities somewhere that our enemies cannot destroy them so that we could continue long war,” he said.
The firing of the Qadr H missiles comes after a US State Department spokesman on Tuesday criticized another missile launch that day, saying America planned to bring it before the United Nations Security Council.
A nuclear deal between Iran and world powers including the US is now underway, negotiated by the administration of moderate President Hassan Rouhani. In the time since the deal, however, hard-liners in Iran’s military have made several shows of strength.
In October, Iran successfully test-fired a new guided long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile. It was the first such test since Iran and world powers reached a landmark nuclear deal last summer.
UN experts said the launch used ballistic missile technology banned under a Security Council resolution. In January, the US imposed new sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the ballistic missile program.
Iran also has fired rockets near US warships and flown an unarmed drone over an American aircraft carrier in recent months.
In January, Iran seized 10 US sailors in the Gulf when their two riverine command boats headed from Kuwait to Bahrain ended up in Iranian territorial waters after the crews “misnavigated,” the US military said. The sailors were taken to a small port facility on Farsi Island, held for about 15 hours and released after US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke several times with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
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Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem contributed to this report.