Iran Says Building Missile To Launch Satellites.

Iran said Sunday it was building a new missile to launch satellites into space and would test its engine later this week. Iranian Defense Minister A. Shamkhani told reporters the new missile, called Shehab-4, "will have no military purpose.The Shehab-4 is intended to carry satellites into orbit and it carries no warhead". He said Iran had achieved its military missile goals by building the Shehab-3 missile, which it test-fired in July with a range of 1,300 km (800 miles), enough to hit arch-foe Israel. He said "Iran had experienced problems with the Shehab-4 engine, which he said Iran was in the process of resolving. We had some mechanical problems with the Shehab-4_s thrust. And, God willing, the new engine will be tested Tuesday". An Israeli military official said last month that Iran had delayed a second test of its Shehab-3 missile after running into trouble trying to apply sophisticated Russian technology to a simple frame it purchased from North Korea. Israel and the United States have repeatedly expressed concern over Iran_s missile capacity, urging Russia and China to stop any transfers of technology to the Islamic republic.