Could Israel strike first on this one?

21/07
Iran’s supreme leader inaugurates missile capable of reaching Israel
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ Iran equipped its elite revolutionary guards Sunday
with a locally made ballistic missile _ the Shahab-3 _ capable of reaching
Israel and U.S. forces stationed in Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The missile was officially inaugurated during a military parade before
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is in charge of the
country’s armed forces, state-run Tehran television reported.
“Today, the Iranian nation and armed forces … is prepared to stand up
to the enemy with a firm resolve anywhere,” Khamenei was quoted as saying.
The missile’s official deployment comes after its final testing several
weeks ago, Iranian officials said.
The Shahab-3 has a range of about 810 miles (1,296 kilometers), making it
able to reach Israel and U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Turkey.
Earlier this month, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the
missile’s recent testing was its most successful of seven or eight launches
during the past five years.
The last time Iran declared a test of the missile was in May, 2002 when
Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said the country conducted a test to “enhance
the power and accuracy of (the) Shahab-3 missile.”
The missile technology is allegedly based on North Korea’s No Dong
surface-to-surface missile, but Iran says it is entirely locally made.
“Shahab” means shooting star in Farsi.
U.S. intelligence officials have said Iran can probably fire several
Shahab-3’s in an emergency, but that it has not yet developed a completely
reliable missile.
The missile’s inauguration also comes as the United States accuses Iran of
working to build nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the claims, saying its
nuclear program is for electricity production, not weapons making .
Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq
to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its
own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and a fighter plane.