Iran appeared to have fired only a single missile on Thursday, not a second round of missiles as Iranian media reported, and seven on Wednesday not nine as claimed, a senior defense official told AFP.

The United States had detected the launch of seven missiles on Wednesday, including a Shahab-3 missile said to be capable of striking Israel, the official said, asking to remain anonymous.

"There appears to have been one missile fired today, but that may well have been one that failed the day before, and they finally got operational and launched today," the official said.

Amid heightened tensions, the administration of President George W. Bush again renewed its commitment to resolving the standoff with Iran over its contested nuclear program peacefully.

But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Washington was ready to defend Israel and all its allies in the region and that it was stepping up deployments in the Gulf.

"We will defend American interests and the interests of our allies," Rice said, answering a question on an Iranian threat to "set fire" to Israel.

"We take very strongly our obligation to defend our allies and we intend to do that," she said at a news conference in Tbilisi.

The United States has been leading a push to impose a third round of sanctions on Iran for its refusal to end its uranium enrichment.

But White House spokesman Tony Fratto said: "What our goal is is to use diplomacy as best as possible to bring Iran to the table in a way that we can resolve this peacefully.

The missile "tests are in violation of, or the expansive use of ballistic missiles are in violation of UN Security Council resolutions," he added.

"We want to see them stop enriching uranium and we'd like to see them stop these provocative tests that only further isolate the Iranian people," Fratto added.

The Shahab-3 is advertised as having a 2,000 kilometer range (1,250 miles), which would put Israel, Saudi Arabia, and US military installations throughout the Middle East within striking distance.

But there were mounting doubts Thursday about the veracity of the Iranian claims of how many missiles it had launched.

One defense analyst in London told AFP that Iran had apparently doctored photographs of the missile test-firings and exaggerated the capabilities of the weapons.

Photographs published on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards website showed four missiles taking off from a desert launchpad.

But one of the missiles had apparently been added to the photograph using elements from the smoke trail and dust clouds from two of the other missiles.

Mark Fitzpatrick of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said: "It very much does appear that Iran doctored the photo to cover up what apparently was a misfiring of one of the missiles.

"The whole purpose of this testing was to send a signal so Iran both exaggerated the capabilities of the missile in their prose and apparently doctored the photos as well."

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell also agreed that the Iranian missile shots were intended as "a show of force to intimidate their neighbors" rather than a test of new capabilities.

"This operation seems much less about testing than trying to flex their muscles in public," he said.

"All these capabilities had been tested before. This appears to be much more for impact on the public than it was an attempt to test these capabilities," he said.

The Iranian tests have raised new fears that the Islamic republic has diverted what it says is a peaceful nuclear program towards enriching uranium with the view of making a nuclear bomb.

But despite the mounting rhetoric, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday he did not feel the two countries were close to open conflict.

His words were echoed Thursday by Fratto, who said: "We hope that there's sufficient communication from everyone involved and that they're seeing these things in a clear-headed way and thinking in a clear-headed way also."

earlier related report
Iran fires more missiles in war games
Tehran (AFP) July 10, 2008
Iran test-fired more weaponry on Thursday as it continued war games, ignoring global concern over its launch of a broadside of missiles amid efforts to end the crisis over its nuclear programme.

The weapons fired in the Gulf by the naval section of the Revolutionary Guards included shore-to-sea, surface-to-surface and sea-to-air missiles, state television said. No details were given on the names of the missiles.

It said the war games also included firing the Hoot (Whale) torpedo that Iran unveiled in April 2006 and which it says is a super-fast weapon capable of hitting enemy submarines.

Iran on Wednesday test-fired its Shahab-3 long-range missile, which the Islamic republic says can reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf, and eight other more medium-range missiles.

The move sparked major concern in Western governments which say they fear Iran's nuclear drive is aimed at making atomic weapons, a charge that Tehran vehemently denies.

In a separate land exercise late on Wednesday, the military also fired "longer and medium range missiles," state television said, showing several missiles being fired into the night sky.

Footage was also broadcast of the naval manoeuvres, showing divers fixing mines to a pier, missiles being fired from shore-based mobile launchers and the Hoot speeding towards a target.

Washington and its regional ally Israel have never ruled out military action against Iranian atomic facilities, while Tehran has warned of a fierce response if it is attacked.

"Iran rejects the international demand to halt the enrichment of uranium and the world must respond accordingly -- by increasing and intensifying the sanctions against Iran," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Thursday.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israeli public radio Iran represented a challenge for the whole world.

"Israel is the strongest country in the region and we have already shown in the past that we are not afraid of acting when our vital interests are threatened," he added.

After an aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Iran would "set fire" to Israel and US ships in the Gulf if attacked, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned that the United States would defend itself.

"We will defend American interests and the interests of our allies. We take very strongly our obligation to defend our allies and we intend to do that," she told reporters in Tbilisi.

The White House avoided confirming that Iran staged a second series of missile tests on Thursday.

"I don't have our own US government verification that there were any additional tests, but they did test the day before," said Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman.

A senior US defence official said Iran appears to have fired only a single missile on Thursday, not a second round of missiles as suggested by Iranian media reports.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told AFP the United States had detected the launch of seven missiles on Wednesday, including a Shahab-3.

"There appears to have been one missile fired today (Thursday), but that may well have been one that failed the day before, and they finally got operational and launched today," the official said.

There has been concern an attack against Iran could be imminent after it emerged that Israel had staged manoeuvres in Greece that were effectively dry runs for a potential strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

The latest war games come amid increased diplomatic efforts to end the five-year standoff over the Iranian nuclear drive.

Tehran's response to a deal by world powers, in which it would be offered technological and economic incentives if it suspended uranium enrichment, is currently being analysed by diplomats.

Meanwhile the chief of French energy giant Total said it was too politically risky to invest in Iran at present, as Western governments lean on firms to cut ties with the Islamic republic.

Christophe de Margerie's remarks to the Financial Times appear to spell the end of Total's involvement in a deal to exploit Phase 11 of Iran's giant South Pars gas field to produce liquefied natural gas for export and to build a liquefaction plant.

In response Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said: "We have announced that whoever is interested, they are welcome to come forward. If they are not interested, we do not insist either."

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