Iran says it has built hypersonic ballistic missile
- Iran says its new weapon targets anti-missile defence systems and represents a ‘major generational leap’
- Hypersonic weapons can move at five times the speed of sound, which makes them difficult to intercept
Iran has built a hypersonic ballistic missile, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace commander as saying, in remarks likely to heighten concerns about Iranian missile capabilities.
“This missile has a high speed and can manoeuvre in and out of the atmosphere. It will target the enemy’s advanced anti-missile systems and is a big generational leap in the field of missiles,” commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh was quoted as saying.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi expressed concerns about the announcement.
“We see that all these announcements increase the attention, increase the concerns, increase the public attention to the Iranian nuclear programme,” Grossi said.
But he added that he does not see this as “having any influence” on negotiations over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.
Hypersonic missiles can fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound and on a complex trajectory, which makes them difficult to intercept.
There have been no reports of such a missile being tested by Iran and, while the Islamic Republic has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes, Western military analysts say Iran sometimes exaggerates its weapons capabilities.
Concerns about Iran’s ballistic missiles did however contribute to a US decision in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump to pull out of the nuclear pact that Tehran signed with world powers on 2015.
Last week, Iran said it tested the Ghaem-100, its first three-stage space launch vehicle, which would be able to place satellites weighing 80kg in an orbit 500km (300 miles) from the Earth’s surface, according to state media.
The United States has called such actions “destabilising” as it believes space launch vehicles could be used to transport a nuclear warhead.
Iran denies wanting to develop a nuclear weapon.
Why 40 years of US sanctions failed to keep Iran away from Russia
On Thursday, Iran agreed to a visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency this month to provide answers the UN watchdog and its 35-nation board have long called for on the origin of uranium particles found at three sites, an IAEA report said.
Iran has yet to provide new material, however, and its offer came before next week’s quarterly meeting of the IAEA board of governors at which diplomats say they expect Western powers to push for a resolution calling on Iran to cooperate, a move that Tehran usually bristles at.
“The Agency has reiterated to Iran that at this meeting it expects to start receiving from Iran technically credible explanations on these issues, including access to locations and material, as well as the taking of samples as appropriate,” one of two confidential IAEA reports on Iran sent to member states on Thursday ahead of the board meeting said.
The issue of the unexplained uranium particles has become an obstacle in wider talks to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, since Tehran now seeks a closure of the IAEA’s investigation as part of those negotiations, Western powers say.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse
