http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-02/12/content_5731507.htm

 ;   JERUSALEM, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Israeli Defense Ministry has said that the successful test firing of the Arrow missile shows that Israel can now defend itself against an Iranian nuclear missile threat, local media reported on Monday.

    "The test proves that Israel is prepared to deal with a missileattack from Iran, including a nuclear one," Lieutenant Colonel Moshe Fattal, coordinator of the Defense Ministry responsible for the project, was quoted by the Ha'aretz daily as saying.

    "The missile is capable of dealing with future Syrian and Iranian threats as we see them, as of now. I believe that the citizens of Israel can sleep peacefully," he said.

    But an unnamed defense official claimed that "there is no significance to the results of the test."

    The Israeli army successfully conducted its first nighttime trial of an anti-missile system Sunday night.

    This was the 15th test of Arrow, an anti-missile system jointlydeveloped by Israel and the United States to intercept medium and long-range ballistic missiles.

    The Israeli Defense Ministry said that the purpose of the trialwas "to study and improve the operational capabilities of the system, which include expansion of the interceptor envelope against future targets that might threaten Israel."