Iran Claims To Have Tested Cutting Edge Rocket, Offers No Evidence

Iran says it has successfully tested a cutting edge surface-to-surface medium range rocket with advanced guidance systems.

Reuters reports the claim came with this statement from General Majid Bokaei, Iran's deputy defense minister: "When this missile was tested, all the enemies' destroyers and ships retreated from near our borders."

He then said it's capable of entering space, then re-entering the atmosphere at "high speed" and "completely destroys the target vessel or warship."

Reuters notes that Iran, known for doctoring images of military tests, made a similar unverified claim in August, when it announced the successful test of a short-range ballistic missile.

Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), voiced skepticism to Reuters reporters, saying that it's difficult to verify, and that Iran's missiles have always suffered accuracy problems.

"We always have to be aware of the propaganda value of all these claims," Wezeman told Reuters.

So far, no Western officials have come forward to confirm a military detection of such a missile launch.