Iran denies recent test of ballistic missile: minister

TEHRAN - Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan denied that the country has recently test-fired a 2,000-km range of ballistic missile, Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday.

On Monday, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Ali Abdollahi, said that the Islamic republic test-fired a ballistic missile two weeks ago with an "insignificant error margin," Tasnim news agency reported.

"We test-fired a missile with the range of 2,000 km two weeks ago, which had an error margin of eight meters," Abdollahi was quoted as saying.

"An eight-meter error margin means no error, means without error," Abdollahi said. "This missile can be guided to out of atmosphere and back to atmosphere, to hit its target with accuracy."

"We had no missile test recently with the range published in media on Monday," Dehqan said according to Tasnim news agency.

In the meantime, he said that Iran has never stopped undertaking defensive measures including missile tests.

Also, "We have never pursued an invasive view and what we are doing is (based on) upgrading our country's defensive capability," Dehqan was quoted as saying.

He reiterated that Iran's military doctrine is defensive and is aimed at ensuring the country's security.