Iran unveils long-range cruise missile on revolution anniversary
One member of Revolutionary Guards killed, 5 wounded in attack on base
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran displayed a new cruise missile with a range of 1,300 km. on Saturday during celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, state television reported.
Iran has expanded its missile program, particularly its ballistic missiles, in defiance of opposition from the United States and expressions of concern by European countries. Tehran says the program is purely defensive.
“This cruise missile needs a very short time for its preparedness and can fly at a low altitude,” Defense Minister Amir Hatami said during the unveiling ceremony.
The surface-to-surface missile, named Hoveizeh, is from the Soumar family of cruise missiles, which Iran added to its arsenal in 2015, Hatami said.
Western experts say Iran often exaggerates its weapons capabilities, although there are concerns about its longrange ballistic missiles.
Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace division, said at the event Iran had overcome initial problems in producing jet engines for cruise missiles and could now manufacture a full range of the weapons.
The Defense Ministry’s website carried an undated video purportedly showing the Hoveizeh being test-fired from a mobile launcher. It quoted Hatami as saying the missile had successfully hit targets at a distance of 1,200 km.
Since agreeing to a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iran has expanded its missile program despite warnings from the United States.
In January, it tried to launch a satellite into space which it said failed. The launch followed a US warning to Iran against undertaking three planned rocket launches that Washington said would violate a UN Security Council resolution.
The resolution, which enshrined Iran’s nuclear deal, called upon Tehran to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons.
Iran says its missile tests are not in violation of the resolution and denies its missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. It says its missiles are defensive and used for deterrence and has rejected talks over its missile program.
US President Donald Trump quit the deal last year and reimposed sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the pact in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear program.
Washington says although Iran has met the terms, the accord was too generous, failing to rein in Iran’s ballistic missile program or curb what the United States says is interference in regional affairs.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of decades-long international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing most weapons.
Meanwhile, one member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards was killed and five were wounded in an attack on a base in southeastern Iran on Saturday.
“A (paramilitary) Basij base in Nik Shahr came under... fire this morning and several from the Revolutionary Guards communications personnel who were wiring the base were hit,” Mohammad Hadi Marashi, provincial deputy governor for security affairs, told the state news agency IRNA.
“Five of the Guards personnel were wounded and one was martyred,” Marashi said, adding that anniversary events were proceeding peacefully.
The semi-official news agency Tasnim said Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni militant group, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack targeted a base of the Basij, a paramilitary force affiliated with the powerful Revolutionary Guards, in the city of Nik Shahr in Sistan-Baluchestan province, which has long been plagued by unrest from both drug smuggling gangs and Sunni Muslim militants.
On Tuesday, Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for two bombings that wounded three police officers in front of a police station in the city of Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchestan province.
Iran began on Friday 10 days of state-sponsored celebrations marking the 1979 Islamic Revolution which deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.