Iran has unveiled a new surface-to-surface ballistic missile called the 'Conqueror', in what the country's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed was a "deterrence."
The short-range Fateh-110 has already caused diplomatic ripples, with an Israeli security expert telling the Jerusalem Post the new missile was a threat to America.
The Daily Mail cited security sources claiming Israel was "closer than ever" to an attack against Iran before November 2012.
An earlier prototype of the Fateh-110 missile
Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday he had "no doubt that our defensive capabilities can stand up to bullying."
He told a press conference: "We want it to defend ourselves, our territory, our existence.
"Secondly, we want it for defending human dignity."
Emily Landau, director of the Arms Control and Regional Security Project at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies told The Jerusalem Post the missile could be a threat to the US.
“The fact that Iran indicated that it can hit both land targets and targets at sea [with the Fateh-110 missile] seems to hint at least that this kind of message is directed at the US," she told the paper.
Last month the head of MI6 Sir John Sawers said British spies foiled Iran's attempt to get hold of nuclear weapons as recently as 2008.
However Sir John has warned that the Islamic republic is only "two years away" from obtaining nuclear weapons.
In rare public comments reported by the Daily Telegraph on Friday, the spy chief warned that it would be "very tough" for Britain or the US to accept a nuclear armed Iran.
“The Iranians are determinedly going down a path to master all aspects of nuclear weapons; all the technologies they need,” he said.
“It’s equally clear that Israel and the United States would face huge dangers if Iran were to become a nuclear weapon state.”