MIDDLE EAST: Israel conducted a successful test of its Arrow anti-missile system yesterday when an incoming missile designed to simulate Iran's long-range Shihab-3 rocket was intercepted and destroyed, defence officials said.
The simulated enemy missile - the Shihab-3 is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead - was fired from an Israeli aircraft flying over the Mediterranean, while the Arrow missile was fired from a military base located in the centre of the country.
The test, which was meant to assess the Arrow's improved intercept capability, was the first since the anti-missile system failed to knock out an incoming missile in the summer of 2004.
Israel is jointly developing the Arrow system with the US.
The test comes a day after prime minister Ariel Sharon said that Israel could not accept a situation in which Iran had nuclear weapons.
Speaking in Tel Aviv, Mr Sharon added that Israel was "taking all the necessary preparations to be ready for this kind of situation".
However, the Israeli leader did say that diplomatic efforts aimed at halting Iran's drive to attain nuclear weapons had not yet been exhausted.
Earlier this week Israel's head of military intelligence warned that US- and EU-led diplomatic efforts which are aimed at halting Iran's uranium enrichment programme will have failed if Tehran is still working on producing nuclear weapons by the end of March. With a 2,000km range, the Shihab-3 could reach all major cities in Israel.
The Arrow, which is believed to be the most advanced anti-missile system being developed today, is meant to intercept an incoming rocket at a sufficiently high altitude so as to prevent any fatal fallout. "The state of Israel, which serves as a clear address for every [ Iranian] missile and for every plant involved in producing Iran's non-conventional capability, has to ensure it has additional capabilities," defence minister Shaul Mofaz said.