Iran has for the first time manufactured a hypersonic ballistic missile capable of penetrating all defense systems, General Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force, announced on Thursday. “This hypersonic ballistic missile can counter air defense shields. It will be able to penetrate all anti-missile defense systems,” the general was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
According to the Iranian military official, “This missile, which targets enemy anti-missile systems, represents a great leap forward in the generation of missiles”. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, expressed his concern. “These types of announcements increase unease, heighten public attention on the Iranian nuclear program.” Countries like the United States have developed systems to defend against ballistic and cruise missiles. Instead, the ability to track and shoot down a hypersonic missile remains an unknown.
The announcement comes after Iran admitted on Saturday that it had sent drones to Russia, but said it had done so before the Ukraine war. The Washington Post claimed on October 16 that Iran was preparing to send missiles to Russia, but Tehran said this information was “completely false.”
Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonics fly low – they can hit targets faster. They are also maneuverable, which makes it difficult to follow. Several countries seek to develop them. Russia, North Korea and the United States announced in 2021 that they carried out tests, which revives fears of a new arms race. China would also have them.
Russia has the upper hand with several types of such missiles, announcing in August that it had deployed planes equipped with such hypersonic weapons to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave surrounded by NATO countries in northeastern Europe.
Speaking to Página/12, Argentine Colonel Sergio Skobalski, Doctor in International Relations and strategy and security analyst, explained that Mach 5 missiles exceed the speed of sound five times: they fly at 6,170 km/h. “Not only can’t they be stopped, but they can’t even be detected.” He added that Russia has the Avangard 20 missile -the most powerful in existence- that flies at 24,680 Km/h and could reach North American territory in 15 minutes from the Urals. And each one carries 100 nuclear warheads; Hiroshima is tiny by comparison. According to Skobalski, nuclear weapons are designed not to be used, in theory: their effect would be a deterrent. Because once a nuclear war is unleashed, it would be very difficult to stop it. And all this cannot be separated from the aerospace career: “these technologies are tested there and then go to the military area.”
Both Iran and Russia are subject to sanctions. Iran suffers after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. And Russia has suffered since it invaded Ukraine. The two countries have responded to the sanctions by boosting cooperation between them in key areas to prop up their economies.
Iran’s announcement comes amid stalled talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, reached with six powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — granting Iran relief from sanctions, in exchange for guarantees that it would not develop an atomic weapon. Iran has always denied wanting to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The agreement fell apart after the unilateral withdrawal of the United States in 2018 under President Trump. It also comes after Iran announced on November 5 the test flight of a rocket capable of propelling satellites into space. The United States has expressed concern that these launches could boost Iran’s ballistic missile technology, extending to the possible delivery of nuclear warheads.
In March, the US government imposed sanctions on missile-related activities in Iran, a country that has been protesting for two months over the death of Mahsa Amini and accuses the US of destabilizing them. This Wednesday, Iran warned countries in the region, especially Saudi Arabia, that it would respond to any action aimed at destabilizing the Islamic Republic.