In a meeting on Tuesday with Mr. Sharon and Israeli security and intelligence chiefs in Jerusalem, Abou Mazen, who was accompanied by Mr. Dahlan, told them that documents discovered by Palestinian intelligence sources points to plans prepared by the Islamic Republic of Iran, aimed at "derailing" the US-EU sponsored Road Map with reverting to terrorist operations, blaming them on Yaser Arafat’s Fattah organisation.

The Islamic Republic of Iran not only have no ties with the Jewish State, but also want to destroy it by dropping a nuclear bomb over Israel.

The launch last week was the most successful so far of the seven or eight tests of the missile over the last five years, and has increased worries in Washington – which spotted the test with its tracking mechanisms - and in Israel, newspapers in Israel reported Friday.

"If the assessment proves to be true that the missile, which was launched from east to west, had an effective range beyond the1,300-kilometer red line, meaning the range from western Iran to Israel, the Iranians could position the launching pads for the rocket deeper inside their country", the influential daily "Ha’aretz" said.

"In any case, the missile range already includes Israel, Turkey, the Indian subcontinent and the American forces in the Gulf. Iran has plans for two longer-range missiles: a Shihab-4, with a 2,000-kilometer range and a Shihab-5, with a 5,500-kilometer range", the paper’s Amir Oren wrote.

The next commander of Centcom, General John Abizaid, who replaces Tommy Franks on Monday, testified last week to a Senate committee that "Iran has the largest ballistic missile inventory in the Central Command region to include long-range weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems capable of reaching deployed U.S. forces in the theater". And he warned, "Iran's long-term ability to develop nuclear weapons remains a source of serious concern".

He told the committee that "Iran casts a shadow on security and stability in the Gulf region. Iran's military is second only to the United States. U.S. allies in the Gulf acknowledge Iran's increasingly proactive efforts to soften its image and appear less hegemonic; however, Iran's military poses a potential threat to neighboring countries."

The new Iranian test-firing took place as the international community, led by Washington, is increasing pressures over Tehran to open up all of its nuclear facilities to experts from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), giving Tehran until September for signing the additional protocols to the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which Iran has signed.

But so far, Tehran is resisting the demands, insisting that it would comply on condition that the IAEA provides Iran advanced technologies on nuclear know-how.

Iran, with the help of Russia, is building a 1000 Megawatts nuclear-powered electric plant in the port city of Booshehr on the Persian Gulf, a project that the United States and Israel say might be used for developping atomic bomb transported by the Shehab III missiles.

But both Tehran and Moscow reject the claims on the basis that the Booshehr plant has civilian purposes and all Iranian nuclear progammes are controlled by the IAEA.

Last week, Iran announced it has invited Mr. Mohammad el-Bradeh’i, the Egyptian Director of the IAEA to come to Tehran on 9 July, in an attempt to clear out differences between the two sides. IRAN ISRAEL PA 4703