The Khoramshahr -4th generation ballistic missile, with a potential range of 2,000 km, was successfully test-launched by Iran on Thursday, according to state media, two days after the head of Israel's armed forces suggested taking "action" against Tehran over its nuclear programme.
Iran, which has one of the most extensive missile programmes in the Middle East, claims that its warheads can reach the bases of arch-foes Israel and the United States in the region.
Despite concerns from the United States and Europe, the Islamic Republic has stated that it will continue to develop its "defensive" missile development.
Iran's opponents should know that we will defend the country and its achievements. "We want to help regional stability," we say to our friends. Mohammadreza Ashtiani, Iran's Defence Minister, stated
The Khoramshahr ballistic missile is an Iranian medium-range missile. It is named after Khorramshahr, a city seized by Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. In January 2017, the Khoramshahr rocket was put to the test for the first time. Since then, it's been tried more than once, last time being in August 2020.
The makeshift 4th generation Khorramshahr missile has been put to the test. on May 25, 2023.The test was successful, and the missile met all of its objectives.
Khoramshahr 4th generation ballistic missile is a medium-range missile and can carry a payload of up to 1,500 kilograms. It is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The missile is mobile and can be launched from a variety of platforms, including trucks and submarines.
The missile's designation as Khorramshahr-4 is still a mystery, though, as only two additional types are confirmed to exist. It is based on the Musudan ballistic missile from North Korea.
According to the official news agency IRNA, the liquid-fuel missile was also given the name "Kheibar" in honour of a Jewish citadel that early Muslims conquered.
Fast preparation and firing times are among the Kheibar missile's exceptional characteristics, making it both a tactical and a strategic weapon, the report added.
The senior Israeli general suggested on Tuesday that Israel may take military action against Iran, as negotiations by six world countries to resurrect the 2015 nuclear agreement have stagnated since last September and as Western concerns about Tehran's quickening nuclear development mount.
The agreement, which the United States pulled out of in 2018, placed restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities and increased the amount of time Tehran would need to build enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, should it choose to do so. Iran disputes that it wants nuclear weapons.
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Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).