By Ankit Panda
The Iranian military successfully tested two new indigenous long-range missiles.
The Iranian military successfully tested two new indigenous long-range missiles, including a surface-to-surface missile and an air-to-surface missile, according to its defense minister. The tests come ahead of renewed talks between the P5+1 group of nations and Iran on a permanent deal to curb the latter’s nuclear program. The talks are scheduled to take place in Vienna beginning February 18. Iran and the P5+1 concluded an interim deal in November which was implemented in late January 2014 and is currently ongoing.
According to Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, one of the missiles tested was a long-range ballistic missile with radar evasion capabilities. “The new generation of long-range ground-to-ground ballistic missile with a fragmentation warhead and the laser-guided air-to-surface and surface-to-surface missile dubbed Bina (Insightful) have been successfully test-fired,” he said. According to Dehqan, “the Bina missile is capable of striking important targets such as bridges, tanks and enemy command centers with great precision.”
Assertions from Iranian military commanders and officials generally exaggerate its military capabilities. Likely Iranian targets in the region – namely Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East – were already covered by Iran’s existing arsenal of Shabab 3 and Ghadir missiles. The previous generation of long-range Iranian surface-to-surface missiles had a range of up to 2,000 km.
Read the full story at The Diplomat