Iran unveils new ballistic and cruise missiles amid U.S. tensions

Tehran: Iran unveiled on Thursday, new ballistic and cruise missile systems designed and manufactured locally, ignoring U.S. demands that Tehran halt its missile program.

The two new missiles, named after former IRGC Quds Force Commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, were unveiled on Thursday during a virtual ceremony. The surface-to-surface missile named after Soleimani has a range of 1,400 km, according to Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami. The pictures of the missiles were shown on state TV.

Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in January 2020 in a U.S. strike on their convoy at Baghdad airport. The announcement comes as Washington has been pushing to extend a U.N.-imposed arms embargo against Iran, which is due to expire in October under Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Washington says its aim is to force Tehran to agree a broader deal that puts stricter limits on its nuclear work, curbs its ballistic missile program and ends its regional proxy wars. Iran has rejected talks as long as U.S. sanctions remain in place.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday (August 19) Trump has directed him to trigger 'snapback' - a return of all U.S. sanctions on Iran - at the U.N. Security Council in New York on Thursday, after the council rejected Washington's bid to extend Tehran's arms embargo.