- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 04:31 05:49 12:21 15:48 18:47 20:05
Image shows an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter hauling cargo from the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Antonio during a replenishment-at-sea in the Gulf of Aden. The US Navy has deployed an amphibious transport ship to the Mediterranean, where five destroyers are already in place for possible missile strikes on Syria, a defence official said on September 1. (AFP)
Israel tested a US-backed missile system in the Mediterranean on Tuesday but did not announce the launch in advance, prompting a disclosure by Russia that kept the world on edge as the United States weighed an attack on Syria.
The morning launch was first reported by Moscow media that quoted Russian defence officials as saying two ballistic "objects" had been fired eastward from the centre of the sea -roughly in the direction of Syria.
The news ruffled financial markets until Israel's Defence Ministry said that it, along with a Pentagon team, had carried out a test-launch of a Sparrow missile. The Sparrow, which simulates the long-range missiles of Syria and Iran, is used for target practice by Israel's U.S.-backed ballistic shield Arrow.
"Israel routinely fires missiles or drones off its shores totest its own ballistic defence capabilities," a U.S. official said in Washington.
Russia raised the alarm on Tuesday after detecting the launch of two ballistic "objects" in the Mediterranean Sea but Israel later said it had carried out a joint missile test with the United States.
There were no reports of missile strikes on Syria. Syrian state sources said the missiles had fallen harmlessly into the sea and there were no explosions in the capital Damascus, Russian news agencies reported.
Initial reports of the launch by Russian news agencies had ruffled financial markets because the United States is preparing for a possible military strike on Syria.
But the Israeli Defence Ministry said it had tested a missile used as a target in a U.S.-funded anti-missile system at9:15 a.m (0615 GMT), about the same time as the Russian radar picked up the launch.
"The trajectory of these objects goes from the central part of the Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern part of the Mediterranean coast," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a Defence Ministry spokesman as saying.
The spokesman said the launch was picked up by an early warning radar station at Armavir, near the Black Sea, which is designed to detect missiles from Europe and Iran.
He did not say who had carried out the launch and whether any impact had been detected, but RIA news agency later quoted a source in Syria's "state structures" as saying the objects had fallen harmlessly into the sea.
The Russian Defence Ministry declined comment.
The Russian Embassy in Syria said there were no signs of a missile attack or explosions in Damascus, state-run Itar-Tassreported.
Syria's early warning radar system did not detect any missiles landing on Syrian territory, according to a Syrian security source quoted by Lebanon's Al Manar television.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin of the launch but it was not immediately clear how he reacted.
Five U.S. destroyers and an amphibious ship are in the Mediterranean, poised for possible strikes against Syria with cruise missiles - which are not ballistic. U.S. officials said the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and four other ships in its strike group moved into the Red Sea on Monday.
"The pressure being applied by the United States causes particular concern," Itar-Tass quoted Russian Defence Ministryofficial Oleg Dogayev as saying.
He said "the dispatch of ships armed with cruise missiles toward Syria's shores has a negative effect on the situation in the region."
Missile test in Mediterranean not linked to Syria: US
A missile test in the Mediterranean carried out by Israel and the United States on Tuesday had no connection to possible US military action against Syria, the Pentagon said.
The joint military exercise had been previously scheduled and was designed to assess Israel's missile defenses, Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement.
"This test had nothing to do with United States consideration of military action to respond to Syria's chemical weapons attack," Little said.
"The test was long planned to help evaluate the Arrow Ballistic Missile Defense system's ability to detect, track, and communicate information about a simulated threat to Israel."
He added that the United States and Israel cooperate on various ballistic missile defense development programs "to address common challenges in the region."
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.