Iranian Khalij Fars missile on transporter. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – A senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said Iran is set to hold a massive ballistic missile test in the near future.

“The IRGC Aerospace Force will hold a large-scale ballistic missiles war-games soon,” Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said Friday while addressing a ceremony in the northern Iranian city of Qaemshahr, Fars News Agency reported.

Earlier this year, Hajizadeh touted plans to upgrade and replace Iran’s existing Fateh, Qiyam, and Qadr missiles with a new generation of missiles, despite international sanctions on the Iranian missile program.

“We will abolish Fateh 110 missiles (short-range, road-mobile, solid-propellant, high-precision ballistic, with advanced navigation and control systems) as well as the mid-range Qiyam (high-precision ballistic) and Qadr (first generation of air-launched precision-guided) missiles to replace them with new missiles,” Hajizadeh said.

The issue of Iran’s ballistic missile program has been a contentious one during the debate over the Iran nuclear deal in the U.S. Congress. Many lawmakers have criticized the agreement for allowing the international arms embargo to be lifted after five years of the deal and the ballistic missile sanctions to be lifted after eight years.