TEHRAN, (AFP) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday test fired a longer range Shahab-3 missile, whose range is sufficient to put Israel within reach, Arabic language state channel Al-Alam reported.

The channel said that the missile test fired was a "Shahab-3 with a conventional warhead weighing one tonne and a 2,000 kilometre (1,240 mile) range."

The test firing, which also included the firing of several other missiles, comes at a time of growing tensions over the Iranian nuclear programme, which the West fears could be aimed at making an atomic bomb.

"The aim of these war games is to show we are ready to defend the integrity of the Iranian nation," Al-Alam quoted Revolutionary Guards air force commander Hossein Salami as saying.

"Our missiles are ready for shooting at any place and any time, quickly and with accuracy.

"The enemy must not repeat its mistakes. The enemy targets are under surveillance," he added.

In total nine missiles were tested, state-run English language channel Press-TV reported.

Along with the Shahab-3, the missiles tested were the Zelzal, which has a range of up to 400 kilometres (250 miles) and the Fateh, which has a range of around 170 kilometres (100 miles).

Press-TV showed pictures of the Shahab-3 being launched at an undisclosed desert location inside Iran.

"This a show of Iran's military muscle in the region in the face of threats from countries who said they would target Iran's nuclear facilities," the Press-TV announcer said.

The United States and its top regional ally Israel have never ruled out attacking Iran over its nuclear drive.

There has been concern an attack against Iran could be imminent after it emerged Israel had carried out manoeuvres in Greece that were effectively practice runs for a potential strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

The firing comes a day after an aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Iran would "set fire" to Israel and the US navy in the Gulf as its first response to any American attack over its nuclear programme.

"The first US shot on Iran would set the United States' vital interests in the world on fire," said Ali Shirazi, a mid-ranking cleric who is Khamenei's representative to the naval forces of the Revolutionary Guards.

"Tel Aviv and the US fleet in the Persian Gulf would be the targets that would be set on fire in Iran's crushing response," he said, according to the Fars news agency.

The firing was part of The Great Prophet III war games by the missile and naval sections of the Revolutionary Guards which are aimed at "improving the combat capability" of the forces.

US and British warships on Tuesday also completed a five-day exercise aimed at rehearsing protection of oil installations in the Gulf, the Bahrain-based US 5th Fleet said.

Iran rejects Western accusations and insists its nuclear programme is aimed solely at generating energy for a growing population whose fossil fuel reserves will eventually run out.

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