The Iranian government claims to have developed new weapons. One is a torpedo that can supposedly destroy ships and submarines at any depth and any speed. The second weapon is a missile that Iran claims can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously. Iran also said it test-fired a high-speed underwater missile.
Bryan Whitman, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman, says, "Iranians are always trying to improve their weapons systems by both foreign and indigenous measures":
"It's possible that they are increasing their capability and making strides in radar absorbing materials and targeting. However, the Iranians have been known also to boast and exaggerate their statements about greater technical and tactical capabilities."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan says that Iran's "aggressive military program and defiant rhetoric are further examples of how the regime is isolating itself and the Iranian people from the rest of the world":
"It is also a reminder of why the international community is united in its concern about the regime's possible development of nuclear weapons, and why the international community is calling on Iran to comply with its international obligations, or face further isolation."
Mr. McClellan says the United Nations Security Council "sent a very clear statement to the [Iranian] regime":
"It said: Comply with your obligations, come clean. You have thirty days to come clean, make a commitment to come clean and comply with your obligations, or we're going to be back at the Security Council consulting about next steps to take."
The United States, says White House spokesman McClellan, has "a number of concerns about the [Iranian] regime's behavior and there appears to be a pattern. . . .of concealing its nuclear activities, a pattern of supporting terrorism, [and a] pattern of threatening rhetoric." He says, "You can understand why we are skeptical given their history of hiding their activities."
The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government.
