Russia test fires long-range missile

Russian missiles. (File photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/217980.html

Russia has successfully test fired its long-range ballistic missile with a new warhead aimed at developing a domestic missile shield capable of encountering US-NATO missile threats.

On Tuesday, Russia tested its long-range ballistic missile RS-18, known as Stilet (Stileto) to the West, from its Baiknonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

According to a statement by the Russian defense ministry, the missile hit its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula on the Pacific

This is while tension is on the rise between Moscow and Washington over a US-NATO missile system in Europe which excludes Russia's participation.

The US claims that its missile system is designed to avert possible missile attacks by either Iran or North Korea, the two major countries that have fiercely resisted US interference in their respective counties.

However, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he is not convinced with Washington's claims and wants legal guarantees that the system will not be aimed at Russia.

The US, Israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to convince the UN Security Council to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

Tehran has categorically refuted Western allegations, saying that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it has the right to acquire and develop atomic technology for peaceful purposes.