Iran has a new hypersonic missile. Here’s what that means for the Middle East

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. The hypersonic projectile has the ability to “penetrate all air defense missile systems and detonate them,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said in comments published by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. But he noted that it’s not necessarily a major “revolution” in Tehran’s missile capabilities, adding that it’s not the first hypersonic missile Iran has designed, even though it is a “revolutionary design.” Experts say that most ballistic missiles can travel at hypersonic speeds. “But it doesn’t achieve this in the same way as other countries’ hypersonic weapons, and it probably won’t have maneuverability to the same extent.” He said that Iran’s claims about the Fattah are mostly credible as the missile is “largely an iteration on earlier, proven technology that Iran has developed domestically.” What does this mean for existing missile defense systems in the Middle East? “Reports out of Ukraine suggest Patriot has shot down Russian Kinzhal missiles, which are similar to Fattah in that they can maneuver at high speeds.” He noted however that Patriots deployed in Saudi Arabia failed to shoot down several missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen “even though those weren’t particularly sophisticated.” “Even a highly capable missile defense system can ‘fail’ if it’s in the wrong location, if its radar is facing the wrong direction, if the missiles are flying too low to be detected, or if there are too many missiles in a single barrage,” he said.