Iranian Defense Minister Brig.-Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh announced on Wednesday that the country has produced a new generation of missiles with significantly enhanced capabilities, warning that they would be deployed in any future confrontation with Israel.
Speaking to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, Nasirzadeh said the 12-day conflict in June was not only against Israel but also involved “the full intelligence, logistical, and operational support of the United States.” He emphasized that the missiles used during that war had been developed years earlier, but that newer, more advanced weapons have since been manufactured and deployed.
“If the Zionist regime attempts another act of aggression, we will certainly employ these improved missiles,” he said.
Nasirzadeh also said that the Iran Armed Forces relied entirely on domestically produced systems during the conflict, claiming that Iranian missiles “precisely struck their intended targets and caused heavy damage.” He argued that Israeli censorship prevented the full extent of these strikes from being publicized, though he said reports eventually confirmed their impact.
According to the minister, Israel used its most sophisticated defense systems – including Iron Dome, Arrow, Patriot, and THAAD – but was still unable to stop most of Iran’s firepower. He asserted that only around 40% of Iranian missiles were intercepted in the early days of the war, and by the final days, “90% were reaching their targets.”
Notably, data after the 12-day war between the two countries suggest the opposite of Nasirzadeh’s claims, pointing out that Israel and its allies successfully intercepted around 95% of all aerial threats launched by Iran.
Nasirzadeh added that if hostilities had continued beyond June 24, “the upper hand would have certainly belonged to the armed forces of the Islamic Republic.”
Iran claims ability to target US cities if provoked
The defense minister’s comments come amid rising rhetoric from Tehran over resuming hostilities with Israel, the US, and Europe.
Earlier this week, Amir Hayat-Moqaddam, an Iranian lawmaker in the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that Tehran can target US cities from offshore positions, and every European country is already within range of Iranian missiles.
Hayat-Moqaddam, who made the remarks on Sunday as the UK, France, and Germany have signaled that they are ready to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran, told the Iranian outlet Didban Iran that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force has worked “for 20 years” to enable strikes “using Iranian warships and vessels.”
“We can move our ships to within 2,000 km. of the US and from there target Washington, New York, and other cities,” he said. “Right now, all European countries are within our range.”