The New Nation - Internet Edition

Iran's test firing of nine long and medium range missiles Wednesday and their wide condemnation in the United States, notably by the White House and the two main candidates for the presidency, heightened tension in the Gulf region.

Meanwhile, Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, said in a statement that the exercise would "demonstrate our resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language".

"Our hands are always on the trigger and our missiles are ready for launch," the official IRNA news agency quoted Salami as saying Wednesday.

The Iranian tests followed sending of Israel's military warplanes over the eastern Mediterranean for a large military exercise in June that U.S. officials described as a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, which the West fears are aimed at producing atomic weapons.

Iran says its nuclear programme is geared only toward generating electricity, not weapons.

The Israeli exercise was widely interpreted as a show of force as well as a practice on skills needed to execute a long-range strike mission.

Again, Shaul Mofaz, an Israeli Cabinet minister, set off an international uproar last month by saying in a published interview that Israel would have "no choice" but to attack Iran if it doesn't halt its nuclear programme. Mofaz is a former military chief and defence minister, and has been Israel's representative in a strategic dialogue on Iran with U.S. officials.

The Iranian exercise was being conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Wednesday's tests "evidence that the missile threat is not an imaginary one."

The facts and circumstances suggest that it would be wise for Iran not to use the language of war to ward off threats of attack, even though it is within its legitimate rights to take all preparations to defend itself. Otherwise it might fall into a trap that Iraq's former president Saddam Hussein could not escape from.

The entire world is witness to the arms build up in Israel about which the major powers prefer to remain silent, even though the balance of power in the region clearly goes against other countries of the region including Iran.

The major powers should also seek a quick solution of the Middle East problem instead of blindly backing one country and ignoring the security needs of other countries of the region.

We will advise Iran against acquiring nuclear weapons these being self-destructive and too dangerous to use. If Israel's nuclear arsenal can be justified, then Iran cannot be condemned internationally if it has nuclear ambition in self-defence. What is most important for the Muslim countries is to form a united shield against their common enemy. Israel must be made to realise that the United States cannot ensure its peace and security without friends in the Middle East.