ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran on Saturday unveiled a new ballistic missile in its arsenal as concerns grow of the potential outbreak of a wider Middle Eastern conflict. The Jihad missile was developed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force and has a 1,000-kilometre range, the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency reported. It was unveiled at a military parade in Tehran marking Sacred Defence Week - the anniversary of the 1980s war with Iraq. Twenty other ballistic missiles were also on display, alongside drones, including the new Shahed-136B suicide drone. “Today, Iran’s defense and deterrence power has reached the level that no enemy has the courage to even think of invading Iran,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a speech at the annual military parade. He also urged Muslim unity as a way to hold Israel in check. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei similarly called for unity at a gathering of Muslim scholars. He said it was “imperative” for Islamic countries to cut economic and political ties with Israel. Tensions have soared in the Middle East since last October when Palestinian Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, which responded with a massive invasion of the Gaza Strip. The conflict has pulled in Hamas ally Lebanese Hezbollah. The Lebanese health ministry said at least 37 people, including 16 Hezbollah members, were killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday, a sharp escalation of the conflict and coming on the heels of two waves of explosions of communication devices that killed dozens and injured thousands in southern Lebanon. Iran has vowed it would retaliate for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31 that was blamed on Israel. Hamas and Hezbollah are both backed by Iran. Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs have been heavily criticized by Western powers who accuse Tehran of arming Russia in its war against Ukraine. Iran has denied the charge.
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