Iran unveils its first hypersonic missile and warns it can bypass all missile defenses

O Will launched this Tuesday, 6, its first hypersonic missile and guaranteed that it has the capacity to defeat all anti-missile defenses. The Fattah hypersonic missile, the latest achievement of the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace force, was unveiled in the presence of President Ebrahim Raisi,” state television announced. The presentation was held during an event that was attended by President Ebrahim Raisi and several military officials were at the event, including the Commander of the Guard, General Hossein Salami. The Fattah has a “range of 1,400 km and its speed before reaching the target is between 13 and 15 times the speed of sound”, highlighted the official agency IRNA. The Iranian president said that the new missile “will increase the deterrence capacity” of Iran and guaranteed that “it will contribute to the peace and stability of the countries of the region”, according to the Iranian news agency ‘Mehr’. The commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Aerospace Force, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, described the new weapons as a “big leap” in the country’s defensive capacity. “This new missile is capable of bypassing all anti-missile defense systems. Its target is anti-missile defense systems,” Hajizadeh said. With this launch, Iran joins the exclusive club of countries that have tested this type of missile, such as the United States, China, North Korea and Russia, something highlighted by Salami. “This technology is unknown to most countries in the world, but our country’s experts have caught up with it,” said the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Hypersonic missiles fly low in the atmosphere, making them difficult to intercept.

The country has developed in the last four decades a national weapons industry, due to the international embargo, with special interest in missiles, and has several that reach 2 thousand kilometers, enough to reach Israel. In November, the Islamic republic announced the manufacture of the missile, which provoked concern from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding the Iranian nuclear program. IAEA director Rafael Grossi said the announcement should not, in principle, influence negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, which have been stalled since 2022 and in which Western powers want to ensure that the program does not have a military nuclear dimension. . At the end of May, Tehran presented a new missile with a range of 2,000 km and a warhead weighing 1,500 kg, equipped with liquid fuel engines and more accurate than previous versions. Iranian ballistic missiles are a source of concern for the US, Europe and some countries in the Middle East, although Tehran officials say they have only a defensive and deterrent role. The presentation of the missile coincides with the reopening today of Iranian diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia, after the two rival countries reached an agreement in March to normalize their diplomatic relations with Chinese mediation after seven years of rupture.

*With international agencies