IRAN HYPERSONIC MISSILE CLAIM RAISES NUCLEAR AGENCY CONCERN

TEHRAN: An Iranian general claimed on Thursday that the Islamic republic had developed a hypersonic missile capable of penetrating all defence systems, raising concerns from the UN nuclear watchdog.

Hypersonic missiles, which like traditional ballistic missiles can deliver nuclear weapons, can fly at more than five times the speed of sound.

“This hypersonic ballistic missile was developed to counter air defence shields,” General Amirali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace unit, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency. “It will be able to breach all the systems of anti-missile defence,” he said.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, speaking at a UN climate summit in Egypt, 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 told AFP.

But he added that he does not see this as “having any influence” on negotiations over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.