TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A news agency in Iran is reporting that the Islamic Republic has built a new surface-to-surface cruise missile capable of being launched from an airplane.

The report Sunday by the semi-official Fars news agency quotes Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the airspace department of the elite Revolutionary Guard, as saying that the missile has a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles).

Hajizadeh said the missile can be launched from land-based pads, naval vessels, aircraft, helicopters and drones.

From time to time Iran announces building new military devices, which cannot be independently verified. Iran began a self-sufficient military program in 1992, under which the country produces weapons from mortars to submarines.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.