Iran test fires new torpedo in Gulf oil nexus

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran test fired a new torpedo in the Strait of Hormuz off its south coast, the world's main nexus for shipping oil, state television reported on Monday.

Iran rarely gives enough details of its military hardware for analysts to determine whether Tehran is making genuine advances or simply producing defiant propaganda while pressure ratchets up on its nuclear program.

Although Iran can draw on huge manpower, its naval and air force technology is largely dismissed as outmoded.

"Revolutionary Guard naval forces a few minutes ago test fired a powerful torpedo in the Strait of Hormuz. This torpedo is capable of destroying enemy warships and submarines at any depth and moving at any speed," state television said.

The test comes in the middle of Gulf wargames that started on Friday. Iran earlier in the wargames said it had tested a radar-evading missile and an underwater missile that can outpace enemy warships.

Iran said in February last year that it had started a mass production line of torpedoes.

The Islamic Republic has three elderly Kilo class diesel-electric Russian submarines. These are capable of firing homing torpedoes but military analysts say these vessels are unsuited to modern naval combat.

Iran has also started building midget submarines, which it says are capable of firing torpedoes.

Earlier in the day, Rear Admiral Mohammad-Ebrahim Dehqani said Iran would have further important announcements to make over the course of the wargames.

"We are going to have very important news that will make our nation proud in the next few days," he told state television.

Western nations have been watching developments in Iran's ballistic missile capabilities with concern amid a standoff over the Iranian nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building atomic bombs. Tehran says the program is only civilian.

The United States and Israel have consistently declined to rule out military action against Iran if Tehran fails to resolve the nuclear dispute through diplomatic means.