Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Unveils Solid-Fuel Ballistic Missile Named ‘Kheibar Shakan’
Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported on Wednesday, February 9, about the unveiling of a ballistic missile named “Kheibar Shakan” at one of the missile bases of the IRGC Aerospace Force.
The Kheibar Shakan missile has been introduced as having “solid fuel.”
The news agency reported that this ground-to-ground missile “has a range of 1,450 kilometers and was unveiled during a visit by Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, to this base.”
In a video released by Hamshahri newspaper from the unveiling ceremony of this “new” missile, Mr. Bagheri states that enemies of the Islamic Republic “understand nothing but the language of power and force.”
According to what Tasnim News Agency reported, the Kheibar Shakan missile “is from the third generation of the IRGC’s long-range missiles, with its weight reduced by one-third compared to similar models and its preparation and launch time reduced by up to one-sixth.”
The news of the missile’s unveiling is being released during days when negotiations for the mutual return of Iran and the United States to the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the JCPOA, are still ongoing in Vienna.
Previously, Robert Malley, the U.S. Special Representative for Iran Affairs, had stated that the Iranian government has demonstrated that it uses its ballistic missile program to “threaten” its neighbors.
The New Yorker publication also named Iran on December 27 as one of the “world’s largest missile manufacturers.”
Israel and several Arab countries in the Persian Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have repeatedly emphasized the necessity of “serious and effective” attention to Iran’s missile program and addressing this country’s threats in the region, as well as considering this issue in the Vienna negotiations.
Officials of the Islamic Republic, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claim that the development of Iran’s missile program is carried out with “defensive purposes” and has no connection to Iran’s nuclear negotiations with world powers to revive the JCPOA.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has not provided an explanation regarding the naming of this missile, but the name “Kheibar” is a reminder to Muslims of the Battle of Kheibar in the early Islamic era between Muslims and Jews who were stationed at Kheibar (fortress) near Medina.
Source: Radio Farda
