Iran missile test-fire no threat to US ships in Gulf: White House

"Our position with the Iranians remains consistent on a number of fronts, but we are not seeing that as a direct assault on our ships," White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

US Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman downplayed the missile test, saying "that's not new that Iran conducts military exercises and missile tests."

The United States was pursuing diplomacy and was not preparing for military action against Iran, Whitman said.

"Our concerns with respect to Iran are being dealt with in the United States government through diplomatic means," the Pentagon spokesman said. "The United States military is not making plans ... for attacking Iran."

Iranian state television reported earlier Thursday that the elite Revolutionary Guards had successfully test-fired a land-to-sea missile with a range of about 350 kilometers (210 miles).

The firing came on the second day of war games by the Guards' air force and naval divisions amid mounting tensions with the West over Iran's disputed nuclear program.

US President George W. Bush recently ordered a second aircraft carrier group into Gulf waters and said last month that Patriot anti-missile missiles would be stationed in the region.

The rising tensions have led to fears that the US could be planning some kind of military intervention against the Islamic republic which it has accused of working to destabilize the region.

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