Tehran – Iran has successfully test-fired a mid-range surface-to-surface Emad (Assertiveness) missile, Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan said on Sunday in Tehran.
Dehghan said the Emad missile had been developed and produced in Iran and was more precise than the preceding model. He did not say when or where the test had been carried out.
Fars news agency published photos of the new missile.
Military claims cannot be confirmed in Iran as all tests are carried out in secrecy, without neutral observers.
Concerns have been raised outside Iran that it could use its existing Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile, which is believed to have a firing range of 2,000 kilometres, to hit arch-rival Israel.
These concerns were reduced following the historic agreement reached in mid-July that limits Iran’s uranium enrichment programme and permits international inspections of nuclear sites in return for the lifting of sanctions.
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani has stressed that Tehran would not attack any other country in the region. Iran’s military capabilities were primarily concerned with defence, he said.
