Iran unveils latest version of ballistic missile
Iran has unveiled what it has dubbed the latest iteration of its liquid-fuelled Khorramshahr ballistic missile.
It comes amid wider tensions with the West over the country’s nuclear programme.
Authorities showed off the Khorramshahr-4 to journalists at an event in Tehran, with the missile on a truck-mounted launcher, on Thursday.
Defence minister General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said the missile could be prepared for launch in a short period.
Iranian officials described the missile as having a 1,240-mile range with a 1,500kg (3,300lb) warhead.
They also released undated video footage purportedly showing a successful launch of the missile.
The Khorramshahr-4 is named after an Iranian city that was the scene of heavy fighting during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
The missile is also called Kheibar after a Jewish fortress conquered by the Muslims in the seventh century in what is now Saudi Arabia.
Regional tensions likely played a role in Iran’s missile display on Thursday.
A miniature example of Jerusalem’s golden Dome of the Rock on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a holy site in both Islam and Judaism that Jews call the Temple Mount, stood next to the mobile launcher.
Iran views Israel as its archenemy and is arming anti-Israeli militant groups in the Palestinian territories and surrounding countries.
Tensions between the two nations are high, particularly as Iran enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
The Khorramshahr would be able to reach Israel.
It remains unclear, however, why the missile has been called Khorramshahr-4 as only two other variants of the missile are publicly known.
It is modelled after North Korea’s Musudan ballistic missile.
