Sunday, December 24, 2023

Iran says domestically produced ‘fully smart’ cruise missiles delivered to naval base

Iran’s navy says it added domestically produced sophisticated cruise missiles to its arsenal, Iranian state TV reports.

The report says both Talaeieh and Nasir cruise missiles have arrived at a naval base near the Indian Ocean in the southern Iranian port of Konarak, some 1,400 kilometers (850 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.

Navy chief Adm. Shahram Irani says the Talaeieh has a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) and called it “fully smart.” Irani says the cruise missile is capable of changing targets during travel.

He says the Nasi has a range of 100 kilometers (62 miles) and can be installed on warships.

From time to time Iran announces the test firing, production and commissioning of new military equipment that cannot be independently verified. The country says it has a stock of various kinds of missiles with ranges up to 2,000 kilometers (1250 miles), capable of reaching Israel and US bases in the region.

The announcement comes amid a wave of drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on a vital shipping lane in the Red Sea, which they say is a response to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.