Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Monday unveiled an "underground missile silo" which the elite force said will allow them to launch the country's long-range ballistic missiles, state television reported.

 

The television showed images of a facility at an unknown location, with an "underground missile silo" holding a projectile described as a Shahab-3.

 

"The technology to build these silos are completely indigenous," its website quoted Colonel Asghar Ghelich-Khani as saying.

 

The unveiling came as the Guards began on Monday a military exercise, codenamed Great Prophet-6, which was to include the launching of different range ballistic missiles.

 

State television also showed a missile launch, without specifying its type or when the firing had taken place.

 

With a range of nearly 2,000 kilometres, the Shahab-3 is a liquid-fuelled missile which can theoretically reach Israeli territories.

 

In recent years, Iran has tested a dozen of these missiles, which are believed to have been derived from the North Korean No-Dong missile.

 

The Islamic republic says the latest exercise would carry "a message of peace and friendship to the countries of the region."

 

- AFP/de