Iran test-fired a new missile that it said could carry several warheads, state media reported late Friday, in a move that looked set to ratchet up tensions with Washington.
State-run IRIB released video of a rocket being launched just before midnight local time on Friday (just before 4:30 p.m. ET Friday). It did not report the location.
“Iran successfully tested the long-range Khorramshahr ballistic missile,” IRIB reported, adding that this was the country’s third test of a missile with a range of around 1,240 miles.
American officials were not immediately available for comment on the reports. NBC News was not able to verify the details of the test or if it had even taken place.
Iran unveiled the Khorramshahr missile during a military parade earlier on Friday. State-run Press TV reported that the test was conducted within hours of the parade.
The Khorramshahr is capable of carrying multiple warheads, according to Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (I RGC) Aerospace Division.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump accused Iran at the U.N. General Assembly of building “dangerous” missiles and exporting violence to Yemen, Syria and other parts of the Middle East.
Trump used his U.N. speech to dismiss the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, calling it an “embarrassment” and “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
International experts are almost unanimous in their opinion that Iran is abiding by the pact that saw Tehran agree to limit its nuclear program, which the West believed was aimed at developing weapons, in exchange for the easing of international economic sanctions.
Tasnim news agency reported that the missile “adds to Israel’s misery and it will be their nightmare as it can accurately target the occupied lands completely even their gas fields in the west of Israel.” Iran casts itself as a leading advocate for the rights of Palestinians.
Source » nbcnews