Iran's state television reported that the missile — called Fattah, or “Conqueror” in Farsi — had a range of up to 1,400 kilometers (870 miles).

The report also claimed the missile could pass through any regional missile defense system.

The TV broadcast what appeared to be a model of the missile being unveiled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a hard-line paramilitary organization in the Islamic Republic, before President Ebrahim Raisi. The Guard already has a vast arsenal of ballistic missiles.

In November, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh of the Revolutionary Guard announced that Iran had created a hypersonic missile, without offering evidence to support it.

That claim came during the nationwide protests that followed the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country's morality police.

Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds in excess of Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, could pose crucial challenges to missile defense systems because of their speed and maneuverability.

China is believed to be pursuing the weapons, as is America. Russia claims to already be fielding the weapons and has said it used them on the battlefield in Ukraine.