Iran unveils new ballistic missile with 1,200 km range
In this handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency on February 2, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (C) visits a defence and space achievements exhibition in Tehran. PHOTO:AFP
Iran on Sunday unveiled a new solid-fuel ballistic missile with a range of 1,200 kilometres (745 miles), state television reported, at a time of rising tensions with the West.
"The solid propellant Ghassem Basir ballistic missile has a range of at least 1,200 kilometres and is Iran's latest defence achievement," the broadcaster said.
On Sunday, Iranian state television broadcast footage of the new missile during an interview with Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh.
"If we are attacked and war is waged against us, we will respond with force and will target their interests and their bases," Nasirzadeh said. "We hold no animosity towards neighbouring states, but American bases are our targets," he said.
The new missile was shown after Tehran and Washington held Oman-mediated talks on Iran's nuclear programme on three consecutive Saturdays from April 12. AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
4 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Iran says US travel ban shows ‘deep hostility' for Iranians, Muslims
Tehran on Saturday blasted U.S. President Donald Trump'stravel ban on countries including Iran, saying it showed 'deep hostility' toward Iranians and Muslims. 'The decision to ban the entry of Iranian nationals - merely due to their religion and nationality - not only indicates the deep hostility of American decision-makers towards the Iranian people and Muslims but also violates… international law,' a senior foreign ministry official said in a ministry statement posted on the X platform. Separately, Iran on Saturday condemned new sanctions imposed by the United States targeting more than 30 individuals and entities Washington said are part of a 'shadow banking' network linked to Tehran that has laundered billions of dollars through the global financial system. 'The new U.S. sanctions …, are illegal and violate international law, and are further evidence of the deep and continuing hostility of the U.S. ruling regime towards the Iranian people,' foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement carried by state media. Trump reinstates US travel ban, bars citizens of 12 countries Trump's travel ban will bar citizens from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The ban, which Trump said was necessary to protect against 'foreign terrorists', was reminiscent of a similar move he implemented during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, when he barred travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Business Recorder
16 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Gaza rescuers say Israel fire kills 36, six of them near aid centre
GAZA CITY: Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 36 Palestinians on Saturday, six of them in a shooting near a US-backed aid distribution centre. The shooting deaths were the latest reported near the aid centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) in the southern district of Rafah and came after it resumed distributions following a brief suspension in the wake of similar deaths earlier this week. An aid boat with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, was meanwhile nearing Gaza in a bid to highlight the plight of Palestinians in the face of an Israeli blockade that has only been partially eased. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that at around 7:00 am (0400 GMT), 'six people were killed and several others wounded by the forces of the Israeli occupation near the Al-Alam roundabout'. Gazans have gathered at the roundabout almost daily since late May to collect humanitarian aid from the GHF aid centre about one kilometre (a little over half a mile) away. AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls compiled by the civil defence agency or the circumstances of the deaths it reports. US-backed Gaza aid group says all distribution sites closed after shootings The Israeli military told AFP that troops had fired 'warning shots' at individuals that it said were 'advancing in a way that endangered the troops'. Samir Abu Hadid, who was there early Saturday, told AFP that thousands of people had gathered near the roundabout. 'As soon as some people tried to advance towards the aid centre, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire from armoured vehicles stationed near the centre, firing into the air and then at civilians,' Abu Hadid said. The GHF, officially a private effort with opaque funding, began operations in late May as Israel partially eased a more than two-month aid blockade on the territory. UN agencies and major aid groups have declined to work with it, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals. Activist boat nears Gaza Israel has come under increasing international criticism over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations warned in May that the entire population was at risk of famine. The aid boat Madleen, organised by an international activist coalition, was sailing towards Gaza on Saturday, aiming to breach Israel's naval blockade and deliver aid to the territory, organisers said. 'We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast,' German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. 'We are all good,' she added. In a statement from London, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza – a member organisation of the flotilla coalition – said the ship had entered Egyptian waters. The group said it remains in contact with international legal and human rights bodies to ensure the safety of those on board, warning that any interception would constitute 'a blatant violation of international humanitarian law'. 'For this case as well, we are prepared,' army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said on Tuesday, when asked about the Freedom Flotilla vessel. 'We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly.' A 2010 commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach Israel's naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead. Body of Thai hostage recovered The Israeli military has stepped up its operations in Gaza in recent weeks in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas. In a special operation in the Rafah area on Friday, Israeli forces retrieved the body of Thai hostage Nattapong Pinta, Defence Minister Israel Katz said. 'Nattapong came to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture, out of a desire to build a better future for himself and his family,' Katz said. He was 'brutally murdered in captivity by the terrorist organisation Mujahideen Brigades', the minister charged. The Mujahideen Brigades is an armed group close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad that Israel has also accused over other deaths of hostages seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the border. The military said Nattapong's family and Thai officials had been notified of the operation to recover his body. Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said the country was 'deeply saddened' by his death.
Business Recorder
16 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Iran says it obtained sensitive Israeli nuclear documents
DUBAI: Iranian intelligence agencies have obtained a large trove of sensitive Israeli documents, some related to the nuclear plans and facilities of Tehran's arch enemy, Iran's state media reported on Saturday. There was no immediate official comment from Israel and it was not clear whether the report was linked to a reported hacking of an Israeli nuclear research centre last year that Tehran is choosing to divulge now amid heightened tensions over its nuclear programme. 'Although the operation to obtain the documents was carried out some time ago, the sheer volume of materials and the need to transport them safely into Iran necessitated a news blackout to ensure they reached the designated protected locations,' state-run PressTV reported, quoting unnamed sources. '(Sources familiar with the matter) also noted that the abundance of documents is so vast that reviewing them, along with viewing images and videos, has consumed a significant amount of time,' PressTV added, without giving details of the documents. Iran has right to 'legitimate defence', FM Araghchi says after Israel strikes In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israeli agents had seized a huge 'archive' of Iranian documents showing Tehran had done more nuclear work than previously known. U.S President Donald Trump has threatened Iran with bombing if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear programme. But Trump in April reportedly blocked a planned Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites in favour of negotiating a deal with Tehran. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that abandoning uranium enrichment was '100%' against the country's interests, rejecting a central U.S. demand in talks to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
