TEHRAN: General Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division, asserted on Thursday that Iran has created a hypersonic missile that can penetrate any defence systems.

An Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) senior commander claimed that Iran had developed a hypersonic ballistic missile that can penetrate "all missile defence systems."

Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the IRGC's Aerospace Division, was quoted as saying on Thursday by Iran's Press TV network that the missile has a high velocity and can move both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Like conventional ballistic missiles that are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, hypersonic missiles can travel at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound. As reported by the Iranian Fars news agency, "This hypersonic ballistic missile was built to counter air defence shields."

The general predicted that it would take decades for a system to be constructed that could intercept it, adding that it would be able to breach all anti-missile defence systems. "This missile represents a huge generational leap in the field of missiles since it targets adversary anti-missile systems."

The declaration follows Iran's admission on Saturday that it had delivered drones to Russia, but claimed to have done so before the conflict in the Ukraine.

Iran denied the claim that it was getting ready to send missiles to Russia, which was made public by The Washington Post on October 16. Hypersonic missiles, in contrast to ballistic missiles, fly on a low-altitude trajectory, possibly reaching targets more swiftly.

Stringent sanctions have been imposed on both Iran and Russia; Iran as a result of the US's unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers, and Russia as a result of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February.

In order to support their economy, the two nations have increased collaboration in crucial areas in response to the sanctions.

Although nations like the United States have created defences against cruise and ballistic missiles, it is still unclear if it is possible to track and shoot down a hypersonic missile.

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