Written question asked by Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative) on Wednesday, 8 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 March 2006. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Monday, 13 March 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Iran

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the (a) capability and (b) range of Iranian missiles; and which countries he assesses to be in range of such missiles.

Answer: Iran's longest range in-service missile is believed to be the Shahab-3, which entered into service in 2003. It has a claimed range of 1,300 km, with a 750 kg warhead. This range would enable Iran to target Israel, Turkey and Cyprus, as well as large parts of Saudi Arabia. Iran has ambitions to extend the range of its missiles and develop longer range missile systems, which would give it the capability to target a number of European countries.Information relating to Iran has been made available to the International Atomic Energy Agency suggesting that Iran may be designing a missile re-entry vehicle which could have a military nuclear dimension.Iran also has a satellite launch vehicle programme, which shares some of the same technology as a ballistic missile programme.

Secondary information