Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Amid heightened tensions with the United States, Iran rolled out a new missile defense system Thursday it says was developed and built locally.
President Hassan Rouhani hailed the surface-to-air Bavar-373 missile system, compared it favorably to the Russian-made S-300 and said it rivals the S-400. He praised Iran's defense industry for producing "effective systems" to counter aerial threats and detect, track and destroy radar-evading aircraft "from a safe distance."