Iranian ballistic missile test
Iranian ballistic missile testReuters

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Sunday unveiled a short-range ballistic missile that they said can be powered by a "new generation" of engines designed to put satellites into orbit, AFP reports.

The Guards' Sepahnews website said the Raad-500 missile was equipped with new Zoheir engines made of composite materials lighter than on earlier steel models.

It also unveiled Salman engines made of the same materials but with a "movable nozzle" for the delivery of satellites into space.

The Raad was "a new generation missile that has half the weight of a Fateh-110 missile but with 200 kilometers more range," it said, according to AFP.

The Fateh-110 is a ballistic ground-to-ground missile first unveiled in 2002. Its latest generation has a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles).

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Major General Hossein Salami unveiled the missile and engines alongside IRGC aerospace chief Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh.

"The complicated achievements on the bleeding edge of global technology that were unveiled today are our key to entering space," Salami said.

Salami noted the movable nozzle on the new engine allowed "maneuverability beyond the atmosphere" and amounted to a "leap in modern missile technology".

The missile was unveiled hours before Iran failed in an attempt to launch a satellite into orbit.

Iran’s ballistic missile tests and satellite launches are a cause of concern for the West and particularly the US which says that Iran’s ballistic missile tests are a violation of UN Security Council resolution 2231.

The resolution, which enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, says Iran is “called upon” to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons.

Iran denies its ballistic missile tests violate this resolution. President Hassan Rouhani has stressed in the past that Iran will continue to produce missiles for its defense and does not consider that a violation of international agreements.