Iran Says New Missile Can Breach Any Air Defenses

 "TEHRAN -- Iran said it has built a hypersonic missile capable of penetrating any air-defense system, as the United Nations atomic agency reported that Tehran continues to stonewall its investigation into the country's nuclear activities.

As senior officials lashed out at Tehran's neighbors and other foreign foes they accuse of fomenting protests sweeping across the country, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh on Thursday said the new missile could maneuver both inside and outside the atmosphere, state media reported. He provided no evidence.

While Iran has a vast missile-development program, it remains unclear if it has the capability to build hypersonic weapons, among the latest technology being developed by the U.S., China and Russia. Hypersonic missiles fly at least five times the speed of sound and closer to the Earth than ballistic missiles, making them difficult to detect. North Korea said it tested one this year.

Iran regularly tests new missile technology, but the latest claim comes as it faces an antigovernment protest movement. As the unrest has grown, senior Iranian officials have publicly accused Saudi Arabia, along with the U.S., European countries and Israel, of orchestrating the demonstrations, without providing any evidence.

"If they meddle in Iran, they will pay the price," Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, a senior military adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying on Thursday by the Young Journalists Club, an affiliate of Iranian state television.

The IRGC's top commander in October publicly warned Saudi Arabia to rein in coverage of the Iranian protests by Farsi-language satellite-news channels, including Iran International, a Saudi-backed channel based in London popular with many Iranians. Iran's intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, called Iran International a "terrorist organization" this week.

On Thursday, Iranian authorities arrested a woman they accused of passing information to Iran International, Fars, a semiofficial news agency, reported. The channel denied on its website that it had ever collaborated with Elham Afkari, who is the sister of a wrestler controversially executed two years ago.

Earlier in the week, Iran International said on its website British police had notified two of its London-based journalists of "an imminent, credible and significant risk to their lives and those of their families." The Metropolitan Police force has declined to comment.

Last week, U.S., Saudi and other military forces were on heightened alert for a possible attack from Iran on the kingdom based on shared U.S. and Saudi intelligence warnings. That threat has eased but not passed, Persian Gulf and U.S. officials said. Iran denied it was planning an attack.

Iranian authorities have struggled to quell the unrest that has occurred almost daily since the Sept. 16 death of a young woman in police custody for allegedly violating Iran's strict rules on how women dress in public. More than 200 people have been killed in the crackdown.

Iran has also stepped up accusations against European nations, including Germany, that are looking to place fresh human-rights sanctions against Tehran over its crackdown. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Berlin should back off what he called its interventionist stance or face "long-term consequences." The German Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday said Iran was still obstructing its probe into undeclared nuclear material found in Iran, leading to a likely formal rebuke of Iran at the IAEA's board meeting of member states next week, Western diplomats said.

Tehran has refused to provide credible answers to the agency's questions about the materials, the IAEA has said. Iran has demanded that the three-year-old probe be closed as a condition for restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, a stipulation the U.S. and its European allies have refused. Talks on restoring the deal, which lifted most international sanctions on Tehran in response to tight but temporary restrictions on its nuclear program, have stalled.

In two confidential reports circulated to member states and seen by the Journal, the IAEA also said Iran's decision to remove agency cameras from nuclear-related facilities made it harder for the agency "to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program."

Meanwhile, the agency reported that Iran's stockpile of 60% enriched uranium grew by 6.7 kilograms, to 62.3 kilograms, in the three months to Oct. 22, far above the amount needed to produce enough nuclear fuel for a weapon." [1]

1.   World News: Iran Says New Missile Can Breach Any Air Defenses
Aresu Eqbali; Faucon, Benoit; Norman, Laurence. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 11 Nov 2022: A.12.