Iran's unveiled two new missiles on Thursday named after top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, who were killed outside Baghdad's international airport in a US strike in January, the state TV reported. "The surface-to-surface missile, called "Martyr Hajj Qassem" has a range of 1,400 km, and the cruise missile, called "Martyr Abu Mahdi" has a range of over 1,000 km," Iran's Defense Minister Amir Hatami said in a televised speech. State TV said the "Martyr Hajj Qassem" missile was not intercepted by a defense system during a test. "Missiles and particularly cruise missiles are very important for us ... the fact that we have increased the range from 300 to 1,000 in less than two years is a great achievement," said Iranian President Hassan Rohani. "Our military might and missile programs are defensive." The announcement comes as Washington is pushing to extend an UN-imposed arms embargo against Iran, which is due to expire in October under Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Tensions have been high between Tehran and Washington since 2018 when President Donald Trump pulled out the United States from the deal and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday Trump has directed him to trigger "snapback" — a return of all US sanctions on Iran — at the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday, after the council rejected Washington's bid to extend Tehran's arms embargo. — Agencies
