Missiles

Iran missile test: A photo from Iran's Revolutionary Guard that accompanied an article in Thursday's Section A about the country's test of medium- and long-range missiles apparently was digitally altered to show four missiles successfully launching. It later became clear that the original photo showed only three rockets. News coverage on A1 and A4.

Russian officials say a submarine-launched ballistic missile has made a record flight, hitting a target in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for the first time. President Dmitry Medvedev witnessed the test, part of naval exercises being staged in the northern Barents Sea. Russian TV showed what it said was the Sineva missile launching from the submarine Tula. Medvedev said it flew more than 7,100 miles to the Pacific near the equator. Medvedev also was quoted by Russian news agencies as ordering naval officials to build new aircraft carriers.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was quoted as saying that Russia had suggested deploying missiles in his former Soviet state to counter a proposed U.S. antimissile system in nearby countries. Lukashenko told the Wall Street Journal that even if Moscow did not deploy the Iskander missiles, Belarus would consider buying them for its own use. He also supported a Kremlin proposal to place the missiles in Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.

The U.S. military apparently struck at Islamic militants outside Pakistan's lawless tribal belt for the first time Wednesday, firing a missile that killed six suspected insurgents. The Pakistani government denounced the attack as another "great provocation" amid a series of U.S. military operations in the country that have angered its citizens. The harsh words were a sharp contrast to reports Tuesday by U.S.

Uranium particles: A Nov. 20 Section A article about International Atomic Energy Agency reports on Syria and Iran misattributed an explanation for the presence of uranium particles in Syria to the IAEA. The explanation that the modified uranium particles must have been "contained in the missiles dropped from the Israeli planes" was from a Syrian government letter that was quoted by the report.

The Soviet public was shown for the first time Thursday a photo of the SS-20 intermediate-range missile in a kind of "hail and farewell" article in the newspaper Pravda. The story by Alexander Prokhanov, the Communist Party paper's defense expert, called the missile "a lethal machine" that has served the country well. However, Prokhanov emphasized that "we are now beginning to transfer the expertise, resources and technology into more productive areas."

Russia said it had sold short-range Tor-M1 air defense missiles to Iran, confirmation that their delivery took place despite U.S. complaints. Defense Minister Sergei B. Ivanov did not specify how many missile systems were delivered, but a Defense Ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity said not all the systems under contract were delivered.

The Chinese military shot down one of its own aging satellites with a ground-based ballistic missile last week, demonstrating a new technological capability at a time of growing Bush administration concern over Beijing's military modernization and its intentions in space. The shoot-down, which U.S. officials said occurred on the evening of Jan. 11, prompted a formal protest from Washington that was joined by allies including Canada and Australia, U.S. officials said Thursday.

Poland and the Czech Republic said Monday that they probably would agree to having parts of a U.S. global missile defense system on their soil, and Moscow warned that the decision could make them targets of a Russian missile strike. Poland would allow a battery of up to 10 ground-based ballistic rockets and the neighboring Czech Republic would be the site for an advanced radar system to track missiles. Both countries are former members of the Soviet bloc that are now part of NATO.

A U.S. proposal to build an antimissile shield in Poland has forced a close ally to reassess Bush administration policies that many officials here say could make their country a target for Russian rockets and Islamic terrorists. Poland has been a steadfast friend to the United States, sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and emerging as one of the few pro-American voices in Europe.