Israel: New Iranian missile likely bound for Hezbollah

Islamic Republic's Defense Minister Vahidi says the mass production of the Qiyam missile shows Tehran's self-sufficiency in arming itself.

By YAAKOV KATZ
Iranian ballistic missile_311 reuters (photo credit: Ho New / Reuters)
Iranian ballistic missile_311 reuters
(photo credit: Ho New / Reuters)
A new Iranian missile test-fired on Sunday is likely intended for delivery to terror proxies of the Islamic Republic, like Hezbollah, Israeli defense analysts said on Sunday.
Iran’s Arabic-language state television channel Al Alam reported that the successful test of the new surface-to-surface missile, called Qiyam 1 (Resurrection), demonstrated the country’s self-sufficiency in mass producing weaponry.
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Iran did not disclose the range of the missile, but Tal Inbar, head of the Space Research Center at the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, said that the Qiyam was similar to the Scud missile, which has a range of a few hundred kilometers, makes up the backbone of Syria’s arsenal and is believed to have been transferred to Hezbollah.
“The Qiyam is very much like the Scud, and Iran might be using it as a test bed for different systems – or for export to proxies,” Inbar said.
Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency that Qiyam was the first missile developed by the republic without stabilizer fins, and demonstrated “the Islamic Republic of Iran’s self-sufficiency in producing various types of missiles.”
Inbar said that the Qiyam was first launched in 2010, and that footage aired on Iranian television on Sunday showed 10 missiles inside a hanger.
The new technology installed inside the missile enables it to fly towards targets without stabilizer fins, but instead with an advanced navigation and guidance system.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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