(Tehran) Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile and a one-way attack drone at a military parade on Saturday, state media reported, amid rising regional tensions and allegations of Russian arming.
Western governments accuse Iran of supplying drones and missiles to Russia for its war against Ukraine, something Tehran has always denied.
The solid-propellant Jihad missile was designed and manufactured by the aerospace wing of the Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic Republic’s ideological army, and has an operational range of 1,000 kilometers, the IRNA news agency said.
The drone Shahed-136B is an improved version of the Shahed-136with new features and a range of more than 4,000 kilometers, the agency added.
New President Massoud Pezeshkian attended the annual parade in Tehran commemorating the 1980-88 war against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
“Today, our defensive and deterrent capabilities have developed so much that even the devils would not think of aggression against our dear Iran,” he said.
“Thanks to the unity and cohesion of Muslim countries, we can put in its place the bloody and genocidal usurper that is Israel, which has no pity for anyone, neither for women, nor for children, nor for the young, nor for the old,” he accused.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made similar remarks Saturday to attendees of the Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran, urging Islamic countries to use their “inner strength.”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY IRAN’S SUPREME GUIDE OFFICE, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Ali Khamenei, Iranian Supreme Leader
“This inner force can eliminate the Zionist regime, this malignant cancerous tumor from the heart of Islamic society, namely Palestine, and get rid of the influence, domination and coercive interference of the United States in this region,” he said.
He called on Muslim countries to “completely sever economic relations” with Israel and “reduce political ties.”
The Middle East has been in turmoil since the Iranian-backed Palestinian Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the ongoing war in Gaza and involving Iran’s allied groups in the region.
Tensions have escalated in recent days as Israeli fire has moved north to the Lebanese border, where Israeli troops are battling Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.
An Israeli airstrike Friday on Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed 16 members of its elite Radwan force, according to a source close to the group, following spectacular attacks attributed to Israel that targeted Hezbollah’s communications equipment this week.
Britain, France, Germany and the United States imposed new sanctions on Iran earlier this month, alleging it had supplied ballistic missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine.