TEHRAN, July 10: Iran test-fired more long-range missiles on Thursday in a second day of exercises aimed at showing the country can defend itself against any attack by the US or Israel, state television reported.

The weapons fired overnight have “special capabilities” and included missiles launched from naval ships in the Persian Gulf, as well as torpedoes and surface-to-surface missiles, the broadcast said.

It did not elaborate.

A brief video clip showed two missiles being fired simultaneously in darkness.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran that Washington would not back down in the face of threats against Israel.

“We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies,” Rice said on Thursday in Georgia at the close of a three-day Eastern European trip.

Among the missiles Iran said it tested on Wednesday was a new version of the Shahab-3, which officials have said has a range of 2,000km and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead. That would put Israel, Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan and Pakistan all within striking distance.

Wednesday’s missile tests were conducted at the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which up to 40 per cent of the world’s oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.

Oil prices jumped on news of Wednesday’s tests, rising $1.44 to $137.48 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

But another Iranian state channel, Press TV, quoted a senior Republican Guard commander on Thursday as saying Iran would maintain security in the Strait of Hormuz and the larger Gulf.

Gen Mohammad Hejazi, chief of the Guards’ joint staff, called the missile tests a “defensive measure against invasions,” according to the channel’s website.

Iran will not jeopardise the interests of neighbouring countries, he said without elaborating.

Even as Hejazi appeared to downplay possible regional jitters over Iran’s missile tests, Tehran’s standoff with the West coincided on Thursday with news that French energy giant Total SA would not invest in Iran for now.

“The conditions are not present for investing in Iran today,’’ said Total spokeswoman Lisa Wiler. “We hope that the political relations will improve so that we can invest.”

Total had been in discussions for developing a liquefied natural gas project linked to Iran’s South Pars gas field with Malaysia’s Petronas.—AP