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TEHRAN, Aug 20 (AP): Iran test-fired Sunday a surface-to-surface short-range missile a day after its army launched large-scale military exercises throughout the country, state-run television reported.
"Saegheh, the missile, has a range of between 80 to 250 kilometers (50 to 150 miles)," the report said. It said the missile was tested in Kashan desert, about 150 miles southeast of Tehran, the capital.
Saegheh means lightning in Farsi.
Iran has routinely held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and to test equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers. But the new tests, in the wake of the Lebanon-Hezbollah fighting, seemed certain to create new tensions with the West.
State-run television said the missile was built based on domestic know-how, although outside experts say much of the country's missile technology originated from other countries.
State-run TV showed video showing 10 missiles being launched from mobile launching pads.
Iran said it launched the new military exercises Saturday to introduce a new defensive doctrine. They are being held in 14 of the country's 30 provinces and could last five weeks, the government has said.
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