Iran showcases new precision ballistic missile in military parade

Tehran claims medium-range projectile can reach targets up to 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) away

By AFP 22 September 2022, 6:10 pm

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S-300 missiles are carried during a military parade commemorating the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, September 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran unveiled a new medium-range ballistic missile on Thursday during a military parade commemorating the Iran-Iraq war, state television said.

“The liquid-fueled Rezvan ballistic missile has an operational range of 1,400 kilometers (870 miles),” said the station, which aired images of the missile mounted on a military vehicle.

The Rezvan missile was presented in Tehran during an annual parade of the armed forces to commemorate the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.

“It’s a precision ballistic missile,” the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Hossein Salami, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies says Iran has around 20 types of ballistic missiles as well as cruise missiles and drones.

The London-based research institute said the Islamic Republic’s priority was to make its missiles more precise.

Emad missiles are carried during a military parade commemorating the anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, September 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In February, the Guards announced the creation of the Kheibar Shekan, a medium-range missile capable of “hitting targets within a radius of 1,450 kilometers (900 miles).”