In a televised speech on Thursday, Defence Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said the country has also unveiled a new homegrown cruise missile.
“The surface-to-surface missile, called martyr Qassem Soleimani, has a range of 1,400 km and the cruise missile, called martyr Abu Mahdi, has a range of over 1,000 km,” Hatami said.
Pictures of the new missiles, which were unveiled on the National Day of Defence Industry, were shown on state TV.
“The country’s achievements in the defense industry over the past four decades are not comparable to any other period,” said Hatami, describing the accomplishments as a “basis for military self-reliance and a must for [maintaining] the country’s independence.”
Commenting on the new achievement’s features, Iran’s Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Qassem Taqizadeh said the speed of the Martyr Qassem Soleimani missiles makes their interception impossible.
He added that the cruise missiles are capable of flying at a low altitude and getting around the enemy’s missile systems.
The new ballistic missile is an upgraded version of the pinpoint-accuracy missile Fateh-110, according to Tasnim.
General Soleimani, the commander of IRGC Quds Force, and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were assassinated in January in a US drone strike on their convoy in Baghdad airport.
Earlier, the Iranian president had noted that “missiles and particularly cruise missiles are very important for us … the fact that we have increased the range from 300 to 1,000 in less than two years is a great achievement.”
The new missiles were unveiled as the United States is pushing in vain to extend a UN-imposed arms embargo against Iran, which is due to expire in October under Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
