Iran flaunts home made missile after heightened tensions with US

Iran flaunted its new home-grown air defense system on Thursday at a time of increased tensions with the United States.

The Iranian domestically produced long range missile defence system has previously been named Bavar-373 by the Iranian officials.

Bavar — which means “believe” was made by Tehran after the purchase of Russia’s S-300 system was suspended in 2010 due to international sanctions.

President Hassan Rouhani ordered the Iranian missile be added to the defense network after attending the unveiling the mobile surface to air system ceremony.

IRNA said “The long-range Bavar-373 missile system is suited to Iran’s geography with a range of more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) … and competes with Russian and American systems such as S-300 and Patriot,”.

The system is “better than S-300 and close to S-400”, Rouhani said in televised remarks after the ceremony, held on Iran’s “national defense industry day”.

Iran installed the S-300 system in March 2016 following several years of delays, after a nuclear agreement reached with world powers the previous year allowed the lifting of international sanctions.

Thursday’s unveiling takes place against a backdrop of rising tensions with Washington since President Donald Trump last year withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions.

Iran shot down a US Global Hawk drone with a surface-to-air missile in June for allegedly infiltrating its airspace.