TEHRAN – Iran Unveils New Range Of Ballistic Missiles. Iran has unveiled its new short-range ballistic missile on Sunday. The Revolutionary Guards claim that a “new generation” of engines power these.
According to details, the official website of Guards’ said that the Raad-500 missile use the new Zoheir engines. Unlike the usual steel ones, these are made of lighter composite materials, . Iran also unveiled Salman engines with a “movable nozzle” for the delivery of satellites into space.
The Raad was “a new generation missile that has half the weight of a Fateh-110 missile. While with 200 kilometres more range,” the website added. The Fateh-110 is a ballistic missile and has a range of 300 kilometres (186 miles). Iran Unveils New Range Of Ballistic Missiles
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Major General Hossein Salami unveiled the missile and engines. Salami noted the movable nozzle on the new engine allowed “manoeuvrability beyond the atmosphere” and amounted to a “leap in modern missile technology”.
Tensions between Iran and US have soared since May 2018 when US President Donald Trump withdrew from 2015 nuclear deal. US re-imposed sanctions on Iran which increased the tensions.
Washington says it seeks to rein in Iran’s ballistic missile programme as well as its “destabilising behaviour” in the region. The US has also raised concerns in the past about Iran’s satellite programme. Saying the launch of a carrier rocket in January 2019 amounted to a violation of curbs on its development of ballistic missiles.
Iran maintains it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons. And says its aerospace activities are peaceful and comply with a UN Security Council resolution.