Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has inaugurated a surface-to-surface ballistic missile it claims has a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) range, ignoring demands Western demands that Tehran halt its missile program, an Iranian news outlet reported Thursday.
The report by the semi-official Fars news agency said a ceremony marking the inauguration was held in an underground missile factory described as an "underground city."
The ceremony coincided with the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The report said the missile, dubbed "Dezful," is a version of the Zolfaghar missile that has a 700-kilometer (430-mile) range and a 450-kilogram (992-pound) warhead.
Iran has missile capability of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), far enough to reach Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.
Occasionally, Iran announces military achievements that cannot be independently verified.
The EU has stepped up criticism of Iran's ballistic missiles program, while the block remains committed to a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers.
A 2015 U.N. resolution that enshrines the nuclear deal "called upon" Iran to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. Some states argue that the language does not make it obligatory.
U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal last year and reimposed sanctions on Iran. The EU has been trying to save the nuclear accord.
Also Thursday, a series of images released by the Colorado-based company DigitalGlobe indicated that Iran attempted to launch a satellite into space on Tuesday.
It wasn't immediately clear that the satellite, if launched, made it into orbit.
