The Washington Times in a story aimed at overshadowing President Khatami's visit to New York where he attended the UN-sponsored World Millennium Summit, said that Iran had planned to test-fire the Shahab-3 missile, but postponed it to prevent embarrassment of Khatami.
In fact the story which is totally baseless was dispatched to overshadow Khatami's trip, but fortunately it failed.
In fact according to foreign and Iranian analysts, Khatami's trip was a real success. His speech and his meetings too were truly successful. He made a speech which was applauded by the participants and the commentators; he met about 30 heads of state on bilateral ties, and held a successful press conference where he explained Iran's stances on regional and international issues.
Moreover, the Shahab-3 missile is not a clandestine project in Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has already tested the missile and Defense Minister Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani announced on Thursday that Iran will develop the Shahab-3 missile to face up the regional threats posed by its enemies.
So there is nothing new about Shahab-3. The story was truly politically-motivated, but it failed.
It is an established fact that the Zionist regime is in possession of at least 200 nuclear warheads. Its nuclear arsenal is the most serious threat to the regime. Hence, Iran cannot remain indifference vis-a-vis this serious threat. Therefore, Tehran will not hide any development in its missile industry.