Iran test fired new missile, says Revolutionary Guards commander

The test comes days after Iran revealed a new missle defence system

The missile test follows the unveiling of the Iran-made Bavar-373, a long-range surface-to-air missile system this week. AP

Iran has test fired a new missile, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, said on Saturday.

"Our country is always the arena for testing a variety of defense and strategic systems and these are non-stop movements towards the growth of our deterrent power," Mr Salami said. "And yesterday was one of the successful days for this nation."

He did not provide any additional information about the missile.

Confirmation of the test comes just days after the debut of a new Iranian missile defence system, Bavar-373.

Iranian officials have previously called Bavar-373 the Islamic republic's first domestically produced long-range missile defence system.

Tehran began making Bavar, which means "believe", after the purchase of Russia's S-300 system was suspended in 2010 due to international sanctions.

President Hassan Rouhani attended the unveiling ceremony for the mobile surface-to-air system and ordered it to be added to Iran's missile defence network, state news agency IRNA reported.

"The long-range Bavar-373 missile system is suited to Iran's geography with a range of more than 200 kilometres ... and competes with Russian and American systems such as S-300 and Patriot," IRNA said.

The system is "better than S-300 and close to S-400", Mr Rouhani said in televised remarks after the ceremony, held on Iran's "national defence industry day".

Pictures released by his office showed the system mounted on the back of military trucks in Tehran.

Saturday’s missile test and Thursday's unveiling take place against a backdrop of rising tensions with Washington since President Donald Trump last year withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions.

Iran shot down a US Global Hawk drone with a surface-to-air missile in June for allegedly violating its airspace, which the United States denies.