Iran announced the development of its first hypersonic ballistic missile.
The development was announced by the commander of the Air and Space Forces of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Amirali Hajizadeh, quoted by the state Iranian agency IRNA.
"This new missile will go through all anti-missile defense systems and I don't think there will be technology capable of countering it for decades," Hajizadeh said, adding that the missile is the solution to destroying the enemy's anti-missile systems and is a "significant leap" in this area.
Hypersonic weapons can travel at five times the speed of sound.
At the same time, Reuters notes that so far there have been no reports of Iran testing such a missile. Although Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry amid international sanctions and embargoes, Western military analysts say Iran sometimes exaggerates its weapons capabilities.
The announcement came after the US expressed its concern that Russia may purchase Iranian surface-to-surface missiles for use in Ukraine in addition to the drones it has already bought from Tehran.
In particular, the Ukrainian authorities are aware of Russia's plans to purchase Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles from Iran and deliver them by air to Crimea and by sea to Russian ports on the Caspian Sea.
