Iran has begun to indigenously produce new short-range cruise missiles, which can be fired from ground-based launchers as well as ships, according to the country’s defence minister.
Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi told Iranian state TV that the cruise missile, called Nasr 1, was capable of destroying targets up to 3,000t in size and can be modified from its current surface version to be fired from helicopters and submarines, according to the Associated Press.
General Vahidi also said the production of the cruise missiles, which took two years to develop, showed that sanctions on Iran had failed and that cruise missiles would strengthen Iran’s naval power.
Iran said that an array of short and medium-range missiles was capable of hitting targets in the region, including Israel, US military bases in the region and much of Europe.
In 1992, Tehran began a military self-sufficiency programme producing a wide range of weapons, including tanks, missiles, jet fighters, unmanned drone aircraft and torpedoes.
