DUBAI: Iran presented what the officials termed as its first domestically-made hypersonic ballistic missile on Tuesday, the state news agency, IRNA reported, an announcement likely to heighten Western concerns about Tehran’s missile capabilities.
Iranian state media published pictures of the missile named Fattah at a ceremony attended by President Ebrahim Rahisi and commanders of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.
Hypersonic Fattah missiles can fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound and on a complex trajectory, which makes them difficult to intercept. Last year, the country said it had built a hypersonic ballistic missile that can maneuver in and out of the atmosphere.
State TV said Iran’s Fattah missile could hit “the enemy’s most advanced anti-missile systems and is a big generational leap in the field of missiles”.
Iran’s state TV said, “It can bypass the advanced anti-ballistic missile systems of the US and the Zionist regime, including Israel’s Iron Dome.”
It added that Fattah’s top speed reached Mach 14 levels.
Despite the United States and European opposition, the Islamic Republic has said it would further develop its defensive missile programme. Western army analysts said Iran sometimes exaggerates its missile capabilities.
Concerns about Iran’s ballistic missiles contributed to then-United States President Donald Trump’s decision in 2018 to ditch Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six main powers.
Indirect negotiations between Tehran and the United States President Joe Biden’s administration to salvage the nuclear deal have stalled since last September.
