A top commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said the country is now a pioneer in missile technology and that its missile power is above the global level.

Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh was speaking in a Sunday ceremony, saying that Iran stands on par with global powers in terms of unmanned aerial vehicles, and its achievements in this field have challenged the world’s powerful armies.

“There are many other [military] achievements, which will be unveiled in due time; for example, the ability to hit enemy [targets] at a distance of 1,500 kilometers,” the IRGC general said.

Hajizadeh added that in terms of missile technology, Iran stands above the global level, adding, “The news of the advanced hypersonic ballistic missile, which was broken recently ... and is able to maneuver outside the atmosphere is nothing new, but was just announced recently.”

He added that Iran’s hypersonic missile represents a generational growth spurt, and the enemies will not be able to come up with a new technology to counter it for many decades to come.

Hajizadeh announced the development of Iran's homegrown hypersonic ballistic missile on November 10, saying it is is capable of penetrating sophisticated aerial defense shields and striking designated targets.

“The missile has a high velocity and can maneuver both in and out of the Earth’s atmosphere,” he said, adding, “The new missile can pass through all missile defense systems.... It can target the enemy's anti-missile systems, and its production marks a huge leap in the development of a new generation of missiles.” 

“In the space field, we were recently able to launch Qaem 100 satellite carrier, which operates on solid fuel,” the Iranian commander said, adding, “We will put the first satellite in the orbit during the current year, using Qaem 100 carrier.”

Earlier this month, the IRGC Aerospace Force successfully launched Qaem 100 three-stage solid fuel suborbital carrier.

Qaem 100, the first of its kind manufactured by Iranian scientists, is capable of putting satellites weighing up to 80 kilograms into orbit 500 kilometers from the earth’s surface.

Iran has over the past years succeeded in manufacturing and putting into space different satellites as well as launching various carriers.

Late in June, Iran tested its domestically-developed hybrid-propellant satellite carrier rocket called Zuljanah for “predetermined research purposes” for the second time.