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Iran Unveils What it Calls a Hypersonic Missile

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Women look at a Fattah missile in a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, June 6, 2023. Iran is claiming that it's created a hypersonic missile capable of traveling at 15 times the speed of sound.
Women look at a Fattah missile in a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, June 6, 2023. Iran is claiming that it's created a hypersonic missile capable of traveling at 15 times the speed of sound.

Iran has unveiled what it calls a "hypersonic" missile that it claims can travel at 15 times the speed of sound and has a range of up to 1,400 kilometers.

The missile, dubbed "Fattah," was displayed Tuesday at an event attended by President Ebrahim Raisi, following several days of advertising and preparation.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps aerospace chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh tweeted on Tuesday at midnight: "Tuesday sunrise is not a normal sunrise; The sun rises today with Fattah."

Hypersonic missiles can fly at least five times faster than the speed of sound and on a complex trajectory.

The ICRG claimed the Fattah hypersonic missile can disable all air defense systems, such as "THAD, ARO, Patriot, Aegis, GBI, Iron Dome, Flakhan Dawood, and Barak."

Iran's claims about the missile could not be independently verified.

Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Hossein Salami and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh stand next to the new hypersonic ballistic missile called Fattah, in Tehran, Iran, June 6, 2023. (IRGC/WANA/Handout via Reuters)
Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Hossein Salami and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh stand next to the new hypersonic ballistic missile called Fattah, in Tehran, Iran, June 6, 2023. (IRGC/WANA/Handout via Reuters)

Last November, during the peak of nationwide protests in Iran, Tehran claimed to have successfully developed a supersonic missile.

At the time, a U.S. Department of Defense spokesman expressed skepticism about the claim and said, "I refrained from discussing any personal information or evaluations on the matter. Nevertheless, the Pentagon closely monitors any progress or spread of sophisticated technology related to missile systems originating from Iran."

Concerns over Iran's ballistic missile programs played a part in former President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2105 Iran nuclear agreement. He reimposed sanctions on Iran after the U.S. left the nuclear pact.

Some information in this report came from AP and Reuters.

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