- Iran unveiled three new air-to-air missiles Tuesday amid standoff with the US
- Said weapons prove the country ‘will not hesitate for a moment to defend itself’
- President Rouhani earlier warned of the ‘mother of all wars’ if the US attacks
- Comes as Britain joined a US-led mission to protect ships in Strait of Hormuz
Iran unveiled what it described as three new precision guided missiles on Tuesday as President Hassan Rouhani warned of the ‘mother of all wars’ if the US attacks.
Defence Minister Brigadier-General Amir Hatami said it proves Iran ‘will not hesitate for a moment to defend [itself]’ as he viewed the weapons in front of TV cameras.
It comes after President Hassan Rouhani warned the US of the ‘mother of all wars’ if tensions in the Gulf spill over into conflict.
While stressing that Tehran is willing to negotiate over its nuclear programme, Rouhani said that America must drop all sanctions before the country will talk.
He added that while peace with Iran will be ‘the mother of all peace’, ‘war will be the mother of all wars.’
Among the new weapons unveiled by Tehran was a guided missile dubbed Yasin, which has folding wings and is designed to be fired from a drone.
Another newly-developed weapon was the Balaban, which Iran said could be fired from an aircraft before being guided to its target using GPS and other sensors.
Finally, the defence ministry unveiled an updated version of the heat-seeking Ghaem missile, which is also designed as an air-to-air weapon, the Fars news agency said.
Iran has been engaged in sabre-rattling with the US for months after the Trump administration walked away from a nuclear deal signed under predecessor Obama.
The UK then became a target of Tehran’s ire after seizing an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar in what the regime described as ‘economic terrorism’ carried out on behalf of America.
On Monday, the UK became the first nation to agree to join a US-led mission to protecting shipping through the Gulf after one of its tankers was seized.