WANA (Dec 23) – Iran’s Deputy for Cultural Affairs at the General Staff of the Armed Forces said the country’s naval, ground, and missile capabilities are at their highest level of readiness and have been designed to respond to any potential scenario.

 

He stated that Iran’s armed forces have not halted their activities even during periods of peak tension and confrontation, adding that over the past 12 days they have achieved “tangible” gains in strengthening defensive capabilities.

 

Referring to a shift in the nature of confrontation, Shekarchi said the adversary’s approach has moved away from direct military engagement toward soft warfare—through propaganda and media—with the primary aim of undermining public morale.

 

The senior military official emphasized that a significant portion of Iran’s capacities in the ground, naval, and Basij forces has not yet been deployed, and that the country’s missile capability is “fully ready,” even though only part of it has been used so far.

 

Elsewhere in his remarks, Shekarchi pointed to the performance of the “Fattah” missiles, saying that they were able to penetrate the most advanced layers of air defense at a cost far lower than that of interceptor missiles used in the U.S. THAAD system.

He explained that each THAAD interceptor costs between $10 and $12 million, while Fattah missiles, despite their lower cost, have successfully bypassed these systems and struck pre-designated targets with high precision.

 

According to the Deputy for Cultural Affairs at the General Staff, these strikes were neither “blind nor random,” but rather demonstrated the high operational accuracy of the missile system.

 

He also claimed that during recent confrontations, a wide network of enemy spies and operatives was identified, with around 2,000 individuals arrested in recent months—a network that, he said, would take years and significant resources to rebuild.

 

The “Fattah-1” missile has been introduced as a hypersonic missile with a range of about 1,400 kilometers, capable of maneuvering both inside and outside the atmosphere. Its more advanced version, “Fattah-2,” with a speed of around Mach 5 and the ability to be launched from land, sea, and air, places Iran among the limited number of countries possessing hypersonic technology.

Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh stand next to the new hypersonic ballistic missile called "Fattah" with a range of 1400 km during an unveiling ceremony in Tehran, Iran, June 6, 2023. IRGC/WANA (West Asia News Agency)

Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh stand next to the new hypersonic ballistic missile called “Fattah” with a range of 1400 km during an unveiling ceremony in Tehran, Iran, June 6, 2023. IRGC/WANA (West Asia News Agency)