Iran unveils ‘warhead’ missile amid indirect nuclear talks with US

Iran unveiled a new domestically made missile on Wednesday it claims has precision-striking capabilities and “warhead explosive power,” according to state media reports.

The announcement comes one day after U.S. and Iranian officials resumed indirect talks in Vienna over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The missile was unveiled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran’s Fars News Agency, which is owned by the IRGC, reported. The U.S. designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019.

The missile is said to have a range of 1,450 kilometers (about 900 miles) and is described as having “high agility and is capable of striking its designated targets with pinpoint accuracy.”

Fars News Agency quoted Maj. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, as saying that “Iran will continue the path towards the development of its missile power qualitatively and quantitatively with utmost strength.”

Iran’s proliferation of ballistic missiles is not subject to the 2015 nuclear agreement originally agreed to by the Islamic republic and world powers, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and that is a primary criticism of opponents of the deal. 

The Biden administration is taking part in an eighth round of indirect talks with Iran to bring both parties back to the constraints of the deal, which supporters say put important limits on Iran’s nuclear activity and opened it up to intrusive inspections in exchange for sanctions relief. 

Biden officials have acknowledged the JCPOA does not address Iran’s other behavior that is criticized as destabilizing, such as its proliferation of ballistic missiles and support for terrorist attacks and proxy fighting groups throughout the Middle East. 

Administration officials have said they intend to use a return to the JCPOA by both the U.S. and Iran as the basis for a “longer and stronger” deal to address issues like missile proliferation and have expressed cautious optimism that a mutual return to compliance is within reach. 

Critics who supported former President Trump’s withdrawal from the deal in 2018, and those who are hawkish against Tehran, point to Iran’s increased nuclear activity — it began violating the terms of the deal in 2019 — and its provocations with missile development as negating any benefits of the JCPOA.

Iran’s missile program in particular raises risks for Israel, with Iran supplying proxy forces like Lebanese Hezbollah or Hamas in the Gaza Strip with weapons and missiles.