TEHRAN, Iran — Iran tested its longest-range solid-fuel missile yesterday — a launch that displayed Tehran's reach and burnished the president's hardline reputation ahead of next month's election. The missile was said to be capable of striking Israel, U.S. Mideast bases and Europe.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates confirmed the test, which was announced by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The launch raised concerns about the sophistication of Tehran's missile program and Pentagon officials said that it leaves Iran at a crossroads.

"They can either continue on this path of continued destabilization in the region or they can decide that they want to pursue relationships with the countries in the region and the United States that are more normalized," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.

IRAQ BLAST KILLS 41, INJURES AT LEAST 70

BAGHDAD — A car bomb exploded yesterday near several restaurants in a Shiite neighborhood of northwest Baghdad, killing 41 people and injuring more than 70, police and hospital officials said.

No group claimed responsibility for the blast but the style and location of the attack suggested it was carried out by Sunni extremists, such as al-Qaida in Iraq, in an apparent bid to rekindle sectarian warfare as the U.S. draws down forces in the capital.

Nearly 200 people were killed in major bombings in Baghdad alone last month — mostly against Shiite targets. That has raised concern about security in the capital ahead of a June 30 deadline for the U.S. to remove all combat forces from Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.

INTERIOR DEPARTMENT NOMINEE CONFIRMED

WASHINGTON — Republicans relented yesterday and allowed the Senate to confirm President Obama's pick for the No. 2 job at the Interior Department.

David Hayes, an environmental lawyer, was confirmed by voice vote after the GOP senators who had opposed his nomination said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar had promised to review a recent decision to revoke 77 oil and gas leases in Utah.

Hayes, picked by Obama to serve as deputy secretary of the Interior Department, held the same post during the last three years of the Clinton administration.

3 DEAD, 2 MISSING IN NAVY CHOPPER CRASH

SAN DIEGO — Searchers recovered three bodies and scoured the ocean for two more members of a Navy flight crew yesterday after their helicopter went down in darkness on a training flight, authorities said.

The HH-60 Seahawk helicopter took off from the USS Nimitz and crashed at 11:36 p.m. Tuesday, 13 miles southwest of San Diego and 87 miles from the Nimitz.

"There were five crew members on board and three deaths have been confirmed," said a spokeswoman for the Navy's 3rd Fleet in San Diego.

MEXICAN SENATOR RESIGNS TEMPORARILY

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican senator at the center of a drug scandal yesterday stepped down from his job temporarily, saying he welcomed an investigation that he expects will clear his name.

Coming just six weeks before national mid-term elections, the allegations involving 14.5 tons of marijuana found on property belonging to the senator's family have inflamed suspicions widely held by Mexicans that many politicians are in cahoots with drug traffickers.

Sen. Ricardo Monreal of Zacatecas state has acknowledged that the warehouse where the pot was found belongs to one of his brothers. But he says the drug was planted by political rivals.

TSA SCRAPS UNRELIABLE BOMB DETECTORS

WASHINGTON — A $36 million anti-terrorism program designed to detect bombs on airline passengers by shooting air blasts to dislodge explosive particles is being scuttled because the machines proved unreliable.

The "puffer" machines — glass portals that passengers enter for checkpoint screening — are being removed after the Transportation Security Administration spent $6.2 million on maintenance since 2005. Removing them will cost nearly $1 million, a TSA spokeswoman said.

Problems emerged after the TSA bought 207 puffers for $30 million starting in 2004. Ninety-four were installed in 37 airports. The other 113 stayed in storage. Dirt and humidity in airports led to frequent breakdowns.