TEHRAN - Iranian state-run television said Thursday the country had opened military maneuvers by test-firing the long-range Shihab-3 missile, believed capable of firing nuclear warheads at Israel and U.S. troops in the Middle East.

The report said the elite Revolutionary Guards had also launched several kinds of short-range missiles in a central desert area of Iran.

The newscaster did not elaborate about when the maneuvers had begun or where they were located. But earlier Wednesday, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, General Yahya Rahim Safavi, said the 10-day maneuvers, named "Great Prophet," would take place in the Gulf, the Sea of Oman and several provinces of the country.

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"Dozens of missiles were fired including Shihab-2 and Shihab-3 missiles. The missiles had ranges from 300 km up to 2,000 km," Iranian state television reported, without showing any footage.

A reporter for state-owned Arabic-language Al-Alam television earlier told Reuters from central Iran, near where he said the missiles were fired, that Shihab-3 missiles could carry cluster warheads. State television confirmed this.

"Iranian experts have made some changes to Shihab-3 missiles installing cluster warheads in them with the capacity to carry 1,400 bombs," state television said. It did not say whether the unarmed missiles fired were carrying warheads at the time.

The Shihab-3 missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and is believed to have a range of more than 2,000 kilometers. It can reach Israel and U.S. forces in the Middle East. According to experts, the range of the Shihab-2 missile has a range of 700 kilometers.

Iran's manoeuvres follow U.S.-led naval exercises involving 25 nations in the Gulf on Monday to train forces to block the transport of weapons of mass destruction and related equipment.

U.S. officials accuse Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, of planning to equip its missiles with nuclear warheads. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear program is aimed at making electricity not bombs.

Yahya Rahim Safavi, commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, had said before the war games ground, air and naval forces, including submarines, would take part in drills dubbed "The Greatest Prophet", mainly in the Gulf and Sea of Oman.

The Revolutionary Guards, the ideologically driven wing of the armed forces which has a separate command structure from the regular military, held war games in the Gulf in April in which they tested new missiles, torpedoes and other equipment.

Safavi said the war games are aimed at demonstrating the deterrent power of the Guards against possible threats.