Editing Shahab-3 (section)

===2008 Great Prophet III test===
{{main|Great Prophet III}}
[[File:Great Prophet IV (16).jpg|thumb|A Shahab-3 on a launcher at Iran's Great Prophet IV military exercise]]
On 8 July 2008,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/09/africa/09iran-cnd.php|title=Iran tests missiles amid tension over nuclear program|last=Cowell|first=Alan|author-link=Alan Cowell|date=2008-07-09|work=[[International Herald Tribune]]|access-date=2008-07-10}}</ref> Iran test fired a non-upgraded version of the Shahab-3, as one of 9 medium- and long-range missiles launched as part of the [[Great Prophet III]] exercise.

Other missiles fired include the surface-to-surface [[Fateh-110]] and [[Zelzal]] missiles.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.payvand.com/news/08/jul/1092.html|title=Iran test-fires upgraded Shahab-3 missile|publisher=Payvand|access-date=2008-07-09|date=2008-07-09}}</ref> [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]] air and naval units conducted these tests in a desert location.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/iran-test-fires-shahab-3-long-range-missile_10069433.html|title=Iran test-fires Shahab-3 long-range missile|date=2008-07-09|agency=[[RIA Novosti]]|publisher=Thaindian News|access-date=2008-07-09}}</ref> Air Force commander Hossein Salami said that "Iran was ready to retaliate to military threats... we warn the enemies who intend to threaten us with military exercises and empty psychological operations that our hand will always be on the trigger and our missiles will always be ready to launch".<ref>{{cite news|last=Peterson|first=Scott|title=Confrontation escalates between Iran and Israel|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2008/0710/p01s13-wome.html|access-date=27 February 2014|newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|date=10 July 2008}}</ref>

On 9 July 2008, Iran allegedly tested a version of the Shahab-3 in the [[Strait of Hormuz]], which Iran has threatened to shut down traffic into if it is attacked. Arms control analyst [[Jeffrey Lewis (academic)|Jeffrey Lewis]] analyzed Iranian launch footage and concluded that Iranian claims of testing an upgraded Shahab missile were unfounded.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hess|first=Pamela|title=Official: Iran missile tests used 'old equipment'|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ik14cCceJS05D5D5LtCvk7HqoY3QD91S0T3O0|publisher=[[The AP]]|access-date=27 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080715041722/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ik14cCceJS05D5D5LtCvk7HqoY3QD91S0T3O0|archive-date=15 July 2008|date=12 July 2008|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>  A senior Republican Guard commander said Iran would maintain security in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. According to the Israeli newspaper ''[[Haaretz]]'' and the French news agency [[Agence France-Presse]], which published pictures from the missile test,  "Iran had apparently doctored photographs of missile test-firings and exaggerated the capabilities of the weapons", and an additional missile was added afterwards to cover up a failed launch.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1000992.html|title=Did Iran doctor an image of its missile test launch?|work=[[Haaretz]]|publisher=[[Agence France-Presse]]|access-date=2008-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724100930/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1000992.html|archive-date=24 July 2008|date=11 July 2008|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>