Iran claimed on Thursday that it had built a hypersonic missile capable of “passing through all missile defense systems”, prompting concern from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as talks over Iran’s nuclear program countries are at a standstill.
The hypersonic missile, a maneuverable weapon, travels at speeds in excess of 6,000 kilometers per hour, five times the speed of sound.
“This hypersonic ballistic missile can counter air defense shields,” said General Amirali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Aerospace Force of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army.
“It will be able to cross all anti-missile defense systems and I do not think that there will be a technology to deal with it for decades,” he assured, quoted by the Fars agency.
According to General Hajizadeh, “this missile which targets enemy anti-missile systems represents a great generational leap” in this field.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the announcement “reinforces concerns” about Iran’s nuclear program.
“The heart of our work is nuclear, but of course nothing can be taken in isolation. We see all these announcements that heighten concerns, heighten public attention regarding Iran’s nuclear program,” Rafael Grossi told AFP, during an interview on the sidelines of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. .
However, he added that this announcement “should not have any influence” on the negotiations around Iran’s nuclear program.
Russia ahead
Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles fly low in the atmosphere and are manoeuvrable, which makes their trajectory difficult to predict and their interception difficult.
Russia, North Korea and the United States announced in 2021 that they had carried out hypersonic missile tests, rekindling fears of a new arms race. But it was Russia that took the lead, announcing in March that it had used Kinjal hypersonic missiles in Ukraine, weeks after the invasion began on February 24.
China has several projects, which seem directly inspired by Russian programs, according to a study by the US Congressional Research Center.
The Iranian announcement comes as Westerners have been trying for more than a year to revive the JCPOA, the 2015 nuclear deal between the major powers and Tehran.
This agreement aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring atomic weapons in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions has been in disrepair since the unilateral withdrawal in 2018 of the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump, which led to the progressive release by Tehran of its obligations.
Negotiations, already deadlocked, now seem impossible.
On November 5, Iran also announced that it had “successfully” tested a rocket capable of carrying satellites into space.
Western governments fear that satellite launch systems will incorporate technologies interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, something Iran has always denied wanting to build.
Tehran insists its space program is for civilian and defense purposes only, and does not violate the 2015 agreement or any other international agreement.
Warning to Saudi Arabia
While Iran and Russia, both hit by Western sanctions, have made a rapprochement in recent months, Tehran admitted on November 5 to having delivered drones to Russia, but before the war in Ukraine. kyiv and the West accuse Moscow of using Iranian drones for its attacks on civilians and infrastructure.
Iran, shaken for nearly two months by protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurd arrested by morality police, accuses its “enemies”, in particular the United States, of wanting destabilize the country.
On Wednesday, Tehran warned countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, that it would retaliate against any destabilizing action targeting the Islamic Republic.
“I would like to say to Saudi Arabia that our destiny and that of other countries in the region are linked to each other because of our neighborhood,” said Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, quoted by the site. Khamenei IR.
“For Iran, any instability in the countries of the region is contagious, and any instability in Iran can be contagious for the countries of the region,” he said.