LONDON [MENL] -- Iran has launched a missile designed to have a range of 4,000 kilometers.

Western intelligence sources said the Defense Ministry presided over the launch of an intermediate-range missile in January 2006. The sources said the launch was the first of what they termed a Shihab-4 ballistic missile based on a Soviet-origin platform.

The missile was fired and reached a distance of nearly 3,000 kilometers. The sources said the missile was destroyed in mid-flight, but the trajectory indicated that the projectile could have reached a distance of 4,000 kilometers.

"It looks like the test was meant to see if the separation and guidance systems were working," an intelligence source said.