Iran said on Wednesday that it has the technology to build a supersonic cruise missile, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media.
"The supersonic cruise missile will open a new chapter in Iran’s defense program, as it is extremely difficult to intercept a cruise missile flying at supersonic speeds," the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
"The new cruise missile is currently undergoing its tests."
Iran often boasts of its military accomplishments, though it is not always possible to determine with certainty that it is telling the truth about those accomplishments.
In 2017, the Islamic Republic claimed to have unveiled a domestically manufactured tank which “has the capability to fire missiles and precisely guide them."
Previously, Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed it had successfully tested a Hormuz 2-type ballistic missile.
Iran has also claimed it is in possession of the “father of all bombs”, described as a domestically-made 10-ton bomb with a high destructive power.
The latest announcement comes days after more than 3,000 US sailors and Marines arrived in the Red Sea aboard two US warships, in a bid to deter Iran from seizing and harassing merchant ships travelling through the Gulf's Strait of Hormuz.
The US recently announced it would be beefing up its use of fighter jets around the strategic Strait of Hormuz to protect ships from Iranian seizures.
Later, the Pentagon said that the United States will send additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, along with a warship to the Middle East.
The US moves came after Iran tried to seize two oil tankers near the strait last week, opening fire on one of them.
Officials have said that, in the past two years, Iran has harassed, attacked or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged commercial vessels.