Iran Unveils New Naval Ballistic Missile

Iranian officials check the Zolfaghar Basir installed on a launcher truck during the inauguration of Tehran's National Aerospace Park on Sunday. Tasnim
Iranian officials check the Zolfaghar Basir installed on a launcher truck during the inauguration of Tehran's National Aerospace Park on Sunday. Tasnim
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Iran Unveils New Naval Ballistic Missile

Iranian officials check the Zolfaghar Basir installed on a launcher truck during the inauguration of Tehran's National Aerospace Park on Sunday. Tasnim
Iranian officials check the Zolfaghar Basir installed on a launcher truck during the inauguration of Tehran's National Aerospace Park on Sunday. Tasnim

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Sunday unveiled a new naval ballistic missile with a potential range of over 700 kilometers, local media reported.

The missile, dubbed "Zolfaghar Basir", is the naval variant of the surface-to-surface Zolfaghar ballistic missile, according to Tasnim news agency.

Its range is more than twice that of Iran’s other naval missiles, including the "Hormuz-2", with a range of 300 kilometers, which Tehran said it successfully tested in March 2017.

Tasnim did not specify whether or not the new missile has been tested yet.

Images published by Tasnim showed the Zolfaghar Basir installed on a launcher truck during the inauguration of Tehran's National Aerospace Park on Sunday.

"This exhibition shows the comprehensive plan of the deterrent power of (Iran's) system," Guards commander Major General Hossein Salami said at the inauguration, according to Tasnim.

The unveiling of the Zolfaghar Basir comes more than a week after an American aircraft carrier crossed the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and days after the Guards opened a new naval base near the waterway.

Tensions have soared between Washington and Tehran under US President Donald Trump, who pulled out of a landmark 2015 nuclear accord and unilaterally reimposed sanctions on Iran.



Thousands Protest Housing Crunch, High Rents in Barcelona

Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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Thousands Protest Housing Crunch, High Rents in Barcelona

Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Thousands of Spaniards rallied in downtown Barcelona on Saturday to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in the popular tourist destination.
People held up homemade signs in Spanish reading “Fewer apartments for investing and more homes for living,” and “The people without homes uphold their rights.”
The issue has become one of the leading concerns for the southern European Union country, mirroring the housing crunch across many parts of the world.
The average rent for Spain has doubled in the last decade. The price per square meter has risen from 7.2 euros in 2014 to 13 euros this year, according to the popular online real estate website Idealista. The growth is even more acute in cities like Barcelona and Madrid. Incomes meanwhile have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in country with chronically high unemployment.
Protestor Samuel Saintot said he is “frustrated and scared” after being told by the owners of the apartment he has rented for the past 15 years in Barcelona’s city center that he must vacate the premises. He suspects that the owners want him out so they renovate it and boost the price.
“Even looking in a 20- or 30-kilometer radius outside town, I can’t even find anything within the price range I can afford,” he told The Associated Press. “And I consider myself a very fortunate person, because I earn a decent salary. And even in my case, I may be forced to leave town.”
A report by the Bank of Spain indicates that nearly 40% of Spaniards who rent dedicate an average of 40% of their income to paying rents and utilities, compared to the European Union average of 27% of renters in that strained economic circumstance.
“We are talking about a housing emergency. It means people having many difficulties both in accessing and staying in their homes,” said Ignasi Martí, professor for Esade business school and head of its Dignified Housing Observatory.