Iran delayed its promised long-range missile tests in the Gulf today and signalled it was ready for fresh talks with the West on its disputed nuclear programme.
An Iranian war-boat fires a missile during the iranian navy military exercise on sea of Oman
Deputy Navy Commander Mahmoud Mousavi said the missile launches would be carried out “in the coming days”.
Meanwhile, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, suggested that Tehran would be prepared to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme. The invitation by Jalili comes in the wake of sanctions recently imposed on the country by the UN.
"We formally declared to them [the intent] to return to the path of dialogue for co-operation," Jalili told Iranian diplomats in Tehran, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Mahmoud Mousavi told Iran's English-language Press TV "the exercise of launching missiles will be carried out in the coming days".
The 10-day naval exercise will culminate in a grandiose display of the Iranian regime's ballistic arsenal. Senior navy officers boasted that ground-to-sea, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, some of which could theoretically be fitted with nuclear warheads, would be tested in the Gulf of Oman at the southern end of the Persian Gulf.
Earlier the semi-official Fars news agency, Press TV and the state-run IRNA news agency had reported that the test-firing had already taken place during the exercise on Saturday.
The exercise escalates tensions in the Persian Gulf, just days after it threatened to hold the world's economy to ransom by sealing the Strait of Hormuz - a vital energy waterway.
The manoeuvres have already included minelaying, a vital component were Iran to carry out its threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of the world's tanker borne oil passes.
Iran's vice president, Mohammed Reza Rahimi, gave warning this week that "not a drop" of oil would be allowed to pass through the strait if Europe and the United States proceeded with a plan to punish Tehran for its nuclear activities by sanctioning its energy exports.
The threat prompted an angry response from Washington, which said any attempted blockade would "not be tolerated", raising fears that the United States could send warships to the region to protect international shipping.
Two US naval vessels entered the zone where Iran was holding its war games on Thursday, although military officials insisted that they were on a pre-planned, routine mission.
It remains unclear whether the Iranian navy would be capable of mounting a blockade, even though the strait is only 34 miles wide at its narrowest point. While it would send the cost of oil soaring, such a move would also do serious damage to Iran's energy-dependent economy.
With the situation fast deteriorating, the United States announced on Thursday night that it had completed a deal to sell Saudi Arabia 84 F-15SA fighter jets.
Although the aircraft will not be delivered until 2015, the sale will be seen as evidence of Washington's determination to shore up its Gulf allies, which are increasingly fretful about Iran's growing military swagger.
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