TEHERAN, Iran - Iran's latest announcement that it test-fired a new generation of missiles, called Sejil, was actually the Shahab-3 missile with a new logo, according to western experts.

Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said the new Sejil, with a 1,200-mile-range, was manufactured in Iran by the country's own aerospace industries.

On the Islamic Republic's state-owned television, Najjar described the Sejil as a "two-stage missile, carrying two engines, with combined solid fuel [and] a highly unusual ability."

In a report in the London-based Times, officials who watched footage of the test-firing said the "new" missile is the same Shahab-3.

"I think the Iranians just keep on re-jigging the missile and putting a new logo on it. It's basically the Shahab-3 with a different name, and the purpose of the test firing is to tell the world, 'don't forget us.' We have missiles that can reach 1,200 miles," the source said.

"However, the launching of these missiles is not that meaningful because the Iranians have not developed an advanced 'minituarized' warhead to fit into the front end, unless they are getting help from North Korea or Russia. Moscow says it is not supporting Iran's missile program. So the missiles are rather like the Second World War V-2 bombs, which scared people but didn't cause mass casualties," he said.

Source: YNet news