A hypersonic missile allegedly capable of traveling at 15 times the speed of sound was revealed on Iranian state television on Tuesday.
Speaking during the broadcast on June 6, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi claimed that the missile dubbed Fattah, meaning “Conqueror” in Farsi, had a range of up to 870 miles.
“There exists no system that can rival or counter this missile,” said Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who leads the aerospace program for the country’s Revolutionary Guard, according to AP News.
Footage of the Fattah in operation was not shown, but Hajizadeh claimed that a ground test had successfully been conducted.
Since hypersonic missiles travel at such high speeds, maneuverability and precision strikes are hard to achieve in flight. Additionally, system functions must be maintained even as missiles heat to temperatures as high as 3,000° Fahrenheit, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office.
Nonetheless, the televised reveal of the Fattah comes at a time when relations between Tehran and Washington have been tense.
As The Dallas Express reported, Iran’s nuclear program has advanced despite an international agreement signed in 2015 limiting the country’s armament in exchange for reduced sanctions.
This has been of grave concern to neighboring Israel, a country closely aligned with the U.S. Israel and Iran have launched a few drone strikes targeting each other lately, representing an uptick in tension.
Also, Iran has been making diplomatic gains with Saudi Arabia — a U.S. ally, as The Dallas Express reported. Chinese-brokered talks in Beijing in March put an end to seven years of broken diplomatic relations. Both sides agreed to reopen embassies, which Iran did the same week it revealed the Fattah.
While exercising diplomatic means to secure partnerships with Saudi Arabia, the Iranian president suggested that the Fattah would show that the country has military means as well.
“Today we feel that the deterrent power has been formed,” Raisi said, according to AP News. “This power is an anchor of lasting security and peace for the regional countries.”
