Iran claims to have created hypersonic missile

Iran has alarmed Israel by unveiling what it claims is its first domestically made hypersonic missile. It had previously said it would be able to hit Israel within 400 seconds.

The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, attended the unveiling of the missile, named Fattah, or “conqueror” in Farsi. It is claimed to have a range of 870 miles (1,400km), to be able to travel at up to 15 times the speed of sound and to bypass air defence systems.

Hypersonic missiles can fly at least at Mach 5 – five times the speed of sound – and their speed and claimed manoeuvrability is believed to make them difficult to intercept. Only four other countries claim to have them in their arsenals.

“This missile power means that the region will be safe from evildoers and foreign aggression,” he said. “So its message to the people of the region is a message of security, and its message to those who are thinking of attacking Iran is that the Islamic Republic is a powerful country and its power aims to support the people of Iran and the oppressed people of the world.”

Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the aerospace force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, called the Fattah “a missile that is unique in the world”. Iran has not described any actual launch of the missile and Hajizadeh later said there had been a ground test of the missile’s engine, which involves a rocket motor being put on a stand and fired to check its abilities.

China is believed to be pursuing hypersonic missiles, as is the US. Russia claims to already be fielding the weapons and has said it has used them on the battlefield in Ukraine. Ukraine’s air force said in May it had shot down a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile with US Patriot air defences.

There are reports Iran is about to receive about $24bn (£19bn) of currency shortly, including $7bn from South Korea, $10bn from Iraq and $6.7bn in special drawing rights. Those reports may be linked to the recent release of three Europeans held in Iranian jails and mediation by Oman. Discussions about the release of US prisoners are continuing.

But the US ambassador to the IAEA, Laura Holgate, speaking to a quarterly board meeting of the nuclear watchdog, said: “Iran continues to expand its nuclear activities far beyond JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name for the Iran nuclear deal] limits. In particular, we have underscored that Iran’s production of uranium enriched up to 60% has no credible peaceful purpose. No other country in the world today utilises uranium enriched to 60% for the purpose Iran claims.”