IRAN SAID TO TEST FIRE SILKWORM MISSILE IN HORMUZ

  Iran has test-fired its newly acquired
  Silkworm anti-shipping missile in the Strait of Hormuz and has
  set up at least two land-based launching sites in the area, a
  British naval source in the Gulf said.
      The source, who declined to be identified, said Iran had
  fired the Chinese-made missile at a hulk off its southern Gulf
  naval port of Bandar Abbas and scored a hit.
      "These missiles pack a fairly big punch," he told Reuters.
  "There is no doubt they could be used to target (shipping)
  across the Strait of Hormuz."
      Tension in the Gulf has risen since U.S. Officials last
  week broke the news that Iran had acquired the Silkworm
  missiles.
      The U.S. Has said it will not allow Iran to use the
  missiles to choke off oil shipments and has offered its
  warships to escort Kuwaiti tankers past the missile batteries.
      But Tehran denied last Sunday it intended to threaten Gulf
  shipping and warned the U.S. Any interference in the region
  would meet a strong response.
      The British naval source said the Silkworms were in place
  at at least two sites around the Strait of Hormuz, but would
  not give the exact location.
  

