Iran announces it has built a hypersonic missile
By announcing that it has manufactured a hypersonic missile, Iran would join North Korea, the United States and Russia.
Here, an airman examining a Russian Air Force MiG-31K carrying a Kinjal hypersonic cruise missile (illustrative image).
AFP - HANDOUT
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Iran claimed this Thursday, November 10 to have manufactured a hypersonic missile capable
of "passing through all anti-missile defense systems
", arousing the concern of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at a time when negotiations on the the country's nuclear program have stalled.
Advertising
Read more
The hypersonic missile, a maneuverable weapon, travels at speeds in excess of 6,000 kilometers per hour, five times the speed of sound.
Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles fly low in the atmosphere and are manoeuvrable, which makes their trajectory difficult to predict and their interception difficult.
►Also listen: LINES OF DEFENSE Hypersonic missiles: the new threat
“
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.
missile defense systems and I don't think there will be a technology to deal with it for decades
, "he said, quoted by the Fars agency.
IAEA boss worried
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.
What future for the Iran nuclear deal?
The Iranian announcement comes as Westerners have been trying for more than a year to revive 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.
In Vienna, the IAEA reiterated, in a report seen by AFP on Thursday, its "
deep concern
" that there is "
still no progress
" in discussions with Iran on the issue .
three undeclared sites where traces of enriched uranium were found.
(
With
AFP)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Iran
Nuclear
Defense