伊朗週末軍演將試射遠程導彈

Iran says it will fire long-range missiles on Saturday as part of military exercises in the Gulf.

The announcement on Friday was made on the heels of heightened tensions between Iran and Western powers over Tehran's threat to block oil shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The semi-official Fars News agency quotes an Iranian admiral ((MahMoud Mousavi)) as saying the navy will test several kinds of missiles, including long-range ones, as part of a military drill that began on December 24. He says the test firings are the final phase of the drill to "prepare the navy for confronting the enemy" in any war situations.

Iran's arsenal incudes the Shahab-3 missile, which could reach Israel and some U.S. bases in the Middle East.

Earlier this week, Tehran threatened to block the entrance to the Persian Gulf if Western powers imposed sanctions targeting its oil exports.

Such a move would add to several rounds of sanctions already imposed on Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

More than one-third of the world's tanker-borne oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz. A closure could temporarily cut off some oil supplies and impact the price of oil worldwide.

The Pentagon said interfering with the passage of vessels through the strait will not be tolerated.

Separately, the Associated Press quoted a Saudi oil ministry official as saying Gulf oil producers would be ready to step in, if necessary, to make up for any losses.伊朗表示，星期六將試射遠程導彈作爲海灣軍事演習的一部分。伊朗星期五宣佈上述消息，在此之前不久，伊朗與西方國家因伊朗威脅攔阻經過霍爾木茲海峽的石油運輸而關係緊張。

伊朗半官方的通訊社援引一名伊朗海軍上將的話說，海軍這次將試射幾種導彈，包括遠程導彈。這是12月24日開始的軍事演習的一部分。他還說，試射導彈是演習的最後階段，這個演習旨在讓伊朗海軍在任何戰爭狀態下都能作好禦敵準備。

伊朗的武器包括流星3型導彈，其射程可及以色列和美國在中東的一些基地。這個星期早些時候，德黑蘭威脅，如果西方針對伊朗的石油出口實施制裁，那麼，伊朗將封鎖波斯灣的入海口。在這次制裁之前，西方已經針對伊朗有爭議的核項目進行了幾輪制裁。

世界上大約三分之一以上的油輪運輸要經過霍爾木茲海峽。封鎖這個海峽可能會暫時切斷一些石油供應，並影響全世界的石油價格。美國五角大樓表示，干擾經由霍爾木茲海峽的油輪的航運是不能被容忍的。另一方面，美聯社援引一名沙特石油官員的話說，如果必要的話，海灣石油生產國將介入，來彌補造成的損失。