Guards : Iran tests new anti-air missile defence

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said it test fired on Monday medium-range surface-to-air missiles designed to knock attacking aircraft out of the sky at a range of 50 kilometres (30 miles). The test of the new defence system, called Ra'ad (Thunder), was successful, according to a statement published on the Guards' official Sepahnews website. The Taer-2 missiles used in the Ra'ad system are domestically made and "more advanced" than the Russian-made Buk family of anti-air missiles, the Fars news agency reported. Examples of the missile were displayed at a military parade in Tehran on Friday, it said. Iran has been talking up its military might in recent weeks, to counter bellicose rhetoric from its arch-foe Israel, which is threatening possible air strikes on the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities.