The Iranian Revolutionary Guard presented a new ballistic missile with a range of 1,650 kilometers, at a time of tension with the West over the sale of drones to Russia and the repression of protests sparked by the death of the young Mahsa Amini in September.
“We have added a new missile with a range of 1,650 kilometers to the arsenal of the Islamic Republic,” the commander of the Revolutionary Aerospace Force, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said late on Friday.
Hajizadeh noted that Tehran has missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers that can hit “US aircraft carriers” and sent a message to the European Union.
“We have limited the range of our missiles to 2,000 kilometers out of respect for the Europeans. We hope that the Europeans will maintain their dignity,” Hajizadeh said.
This is an allusion to the tensions between Iran and Europe over the European sanctions against Tehran for the repression of the protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, as well as the sale of drones to Russia, which used them in the invasion of Ukraine.
In January, the European Parliament passed a resolution urging the Council of the European Union to consider the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its subsidiary forces, such as the Basij paramilitary militia and the Quds Force, as a terrorist organization.
This resolution aggravated difficult relations between Iran and European countries, despite the fact that the Revolutionary Guard was not designated as a terrorist group.
Iran’s ballistic missiles are a source of concern for the US, Europe and some Middle Eastern countries, though Tehran officials say they serve only a defensive and deterrent role.
Mahsa Amini was arrested in September on a Tehran street by the “morality police” for incorrectly wearing the ‘hijab’ (Islamic headscarf), ending up dying days later in hospital, sparking several months of unprecedented protests. in the country and the world. .
Source: TSF
