Iran tested several types of weapons at the start of a large-scale military exercise on Thursday including the Shahab-3 ballistic missile which has a range of more than 2,000 km.

"The Shahab missiles carrying cluster warheads have a range of 2,000 km, they were fired from the desert of Qom," a city 120 km south of Tehran, state television reported.

Besides Shahab-3 the Shahab-2 with a warhead which can drop 1,400 small bombs  at the same time and other short-range missiles such as the Zolfaghar-73, Scud B, Fath-110 and Zelzal were also launched in the presence of General Seyed Yahya Rahim Safavi and other high-ranking commanders, said the report.

It was the first time for Iran to test Shahab-3 in military exercises and top officers have said they would utilize other "new equipment" during the drills.

Earlier on Wednesday, Major General Safavi, Commander-in-Chief of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said the 10-day maneuvers dubbed "The Great Prophet 2" would be carried out in Gulf waters, the Sea of Oman and 14 of the country's provinces. But he didn't disclose how many Iranian troops participated in the drills.

"The foremost goal of the maneuvers is to show Iran's firm determination to defend the country against any possible threats," Safavi said. Such exercises were not a threat to neighboring countries, he added.

He made the remarks after US-led warships staged a two-day exercise in Gulf waters aimed at blocking the smuggling of nuclear weapons material and arms proliferation.

Commenting on the US-led maneuvers Safavi said, "It's a propaganda and political maneuver without military value."

"If forces from out of the region want to endanger Iran's security and interests, the Revolution Guards and the Basij (volunteer militia) will use all their capabilities to strike their enemies and their interests," he added.

Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham also said on Monday that foreign military forces should not damage Gulf peace. Durable peace and security would be restored through collective cooperation of all countries of the region.

This is the third large-scale military exercise held in Iran this year. The Islamic Republic in August launched a large-scale military maneuver named "Zolfaghar Blow" and in April also staged "The Great Prophet 1" drills during which Iran said it tested advanced weapons including missiles and torpedoes.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2006)