Iran does not have the technological means to create intercontinental ballistic missiles, the head of Russian military's general staff Yury Baluyevsky told ITAR-TASS news agency on Thursday.
Baluyevsky's remarks came shortly after Iran reportedly fired its longer-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile on exercise for the first time.
"If we are talking about intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to our information, Iran does not possess the technological capability" to create missiles with a 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) range, Baluyevsky said. "In any case, this will be monitored by our intelligence services," Baluyevsky added.
Thursday's missile test marked the beginning of 10 days of war games in Iran amid a mounting stand-off with the West over its nuclear program.
The Revolutionary Guards fired the Shahab-3 missiles, which have a range of up to 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) -- sufficient to threaten US bases in the Gulf -- during the first phase of maneuvers in the central desert, state television reported.
The maneuvers came hot on the heels of naval exercises launched in the Gulf on Monday by a US-led flotilla including warships from Australia, Bahrain, France, Italy and Britain.
When asked whether Iran's Shehab-3 missiles posed a threat to Russia, Baluyevsky responded: "That depends on which direction they are sent."