TEHRAN – Iran on Tuesday unveiled three new precision-guided smart bombs, in a ceremony with Defense Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Website.

The unveilings come amid tensions between Iran and the United States along with Britain in the Persian Gulf.

The new air-to-air missiles revealed by Tehran are called the “Yasin” and the “Balaban” as well as a new series of the “Qaem” missile and were developed jointly by the ministry and Sa Iran (Iran Electronics Industries).

According to the Mehr news agency, the Yasin is a smart missile with folding wings that can be fired from a range of 50 kilometers (30 miles) of its target from manned or unmanned aircraft.

The Balaban smart bomb is guided by hybrid inertial navigation system (INS)/Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance and sensors to boost its precision capabilities and is equipped with folding wings and can be mounted under an aircraft.

The Qaem optic smart bomb meanwhile is a heat-seeking missile equipped with heat and cylinder seekers that allow the bomb to hit within 50 centimeters of a target. Similar to the Balaban, it can be installed on various kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles such as fighter jets and helicopters.

Hatami hailed the missiles’ launch as “another significant achievement of power and dignity for the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“It shows that despite the viciousness and conspiracies of the Great Satan America and its mercenaries, the Defense Ministry will not hesitate for a moment to defend the Islamic Republic and to expand security,” Fars quoted him as saying.

The three missiles were unveiled two days after deputy military chief Brigadier General Mehdi Rabbani was quoted by Fars as saying that the country’s missile range was continuing to increase.

“For at least the next 10 years, no regional or trans-regional country is able to counter or fight against the Islamic Republic of Iran in ground warfare,” he stated, adding that “our missile power also deters any regional and extra-regional acts of aggression, and the range of the missiles is also increasing constantly.”

Also on Tuesday, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani warned that all U.S. bases in the region are within range of an Iranian strike if any war were to break out.

“It may be the case that some regional countries and the Zionist regime have devised such plans against Iran, but they know well that if they inflict any minor damage to Iran, they will receive our firm response as all American bases in the region will get stuck. And if they have a little bit of rationale, they will not enter a war with Iran,” he stated.

Despite new U.S. sanctions on Iran are meant to pressure Tehran over its influence in the region and its ballistic missile program, Tehran is continuing to improve its missile capabilities, defending the program as being purely defensive.

SP/PA