To boost its deterrence capability, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Tuesday unveiled its homegrown medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile capable of traveling 15 times the speed of sound. , which raised concerns among Western powers and rival Israel.
The missile, named Fatih in Persian, with a range of up to 870 miles (1,400 km) was unveiled at a ceremony attended by President Imran Rahisi, Guards chief General Hossein Salami and other top military officials.
The Iranian development is expected to be followed by a Western and US response as tensions with the West run high over Tehran’s nuclear program.
President Raisi praised the new missile’s hypersonic capability, saying it would increase Iran’s “deterrence power” and “bring peace and stability to countries in the region.”
Iranian state media IRNA Photographs of the event have been published in the band.
The media said that before hitting the target, the speed of al-Fatah missile is between 13 and 15 times the speed of sound.
Like other nuclear warheads, hypersonic missiles can be loaded with a nuclear payload, and Iran’s announcement in November that it had developed one prompted International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi to express concern. What did
But Grossi added that he did not see the new missile having “any impact” on negotiations with Iran over its nuclear activities.
Concerns about Iran’s nuclear capability
Talks between Iran and the P5+Germany to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, which was unilaterally withdrawn by the US under Donald Trump’s administration and imposed new sanctions, are currently deadlocked. .
Iran has since suspended enforcement of strict limits on its nuclear activities and limited IAEA monitoring to a policy it is slowly reversing.
Unlike conventional ballistic missiles, hypersonic warheads fly through the air at lower speeds, allowing them to reach their targets more quickly and with less chance of being intercepted by advanced air defenses.
When the program was announced last year, Guards Aerospace chief Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said the system was developed for “counter-air defense shields,” adding that “he believes that It will take decades to develop a system capable of stopping it.”
Iran’s arch-enemy Israel, which is believed to have its own undeclared nuclear arsenal, has multiple air defense shields to counter subsonic and supersonic missiles.
North Korea’s test of a hypersonic missile last year raised concerns about the race to acquire the technology, which is currently led by Russia, followed by China and the United States.