New Delhi: Iran is nearing finalising a deal to acquire an advanced anti-ship cruise missile as the tension has risen amid the US threatening to strike the Islamic Republic and building up a significant military troop in the Middle East. Although they were engaged in negotiations over the past two years, the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel.
If we go back into the 1980s, China had been a major supplier of weapons to Iran, but the relations dwindled in the next decades due to international pressure. According to Reuters, an agreement for the Chinese-made CM-302 missiles is nearing completion, though a delivery timeline has not yet been confirmed.
Apart from the CM-302, the Islamic Republic is looking to acquire Chinese surface-to-air missile systems, known as MANPADS, anti-ballistic weapons, and anti-satellite weapons.
CM-302 Missile Features
The CM-302 supersonic missile is designed to evade shipborne defenes by flying low and fast and has a range of about 290 kilometres. The missile will enhance Iran’s airstrike capabilities and pose a threat to US naval forces in the region, two weapon experts said, Reuters reported.
“It’s a complete game-changer if Iran has the supersonic capability to attack ships in the area. These missiles are very difficult to intercept,” said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli intelligence officer and now senior Iran researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies think tank.
It will be one of the most advanced military weapons to be supplied by China to Iran and defy a United Nations weapons embargo that was imposed in 2006. Later, the sanctions were suspended in 2015 and reimposed last September.
China builds up the CM-302 as the world’s best anti-ship missile and markets the missile as a destroyer. It can be mounted on ships, aircraft, or mobile ground vehicles.
Moreover, according to Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the CM-302 purchase would be a significant improvement in an Iranian arsenal depleted by last year’s war.