"The test took place several weeks ago. The range of the missile is what we declared before," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters, adding the test was the final one before the missile is handed over for operation by the country's army.

Officials here have previously said the missile has a range of 1,300 kilometers (810 miles).

Asefi was reacting to a report in the Israeli Haaretz newspaper last week which said Iran had conducted the test just over a week ago and was now capable of hitting the Jewish state, American forces in the Gulf or the Indian subcontinent.

"This is nothing new," Asefi said. "Apparently the Israelis are a bit late with their information."

The spokesman gave no further information on the test.

The Shahab-3 medium-range missile is believed to be based on North Korea's No-Dong missile, and Pakistan's Ghauri-II, and has the reported capability to carry a warhead of between 700 and 1,000 kilogrammes. In Farsi, Shahab means "meteor" or "shooting star".

SPACE.WIRE