TEHERAN (AFP) - IRAN is to produce an advanced version of its Sejil missile which it says can strike Israel and which it test-fired this week drawing Western condemnation, a senior commander said on Tuesday.

'A new generation of improved and advanced Sejil missiles will be produced,' Hossein Salami, air force commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps told the official IRNA news agency.

'The Sejil has good accuracy and destructive capability. This missile is the best weapon that the (Iranian) armed forces have,' he added.

On Monday, Iran test-fired the Sejil, which it says has a range of around 2,000 kilometres, sufficient to hit targets in the Gulf and parts of Europe as well as Israel.

The missile was fired along with another similar-range weapon, the Shahab-3, and a host of shorter-range missiles as part of a two-day exercise.

The White House condemned the tests as 'provocative' while Russia expressed concern and called for 'restraint'.

Mr Salami said that Iran's missile production was 'endless and increasing every day.'

The United States and its regional ally Israel have not ruled out a military option to stop Teheran's nuclear drive, which the West says is aimed at making nuclear weapons but Iran says it is solely for peaceful ends.

The UN nuclear watchdog revealed on Friday that Teheran was building a second uranium enrichment plant, ratcheting up tensions with the West. And this week's missile manoeuvres have further alarmed Washington, London and Paris.

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