Iran unveiled on Saturday a locally "upgraded missile defense system" with a range of 400 kilometers (250 miles) and able to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles and drones.

The announcement comes at a time of rising tension between Iran and the United States.

State television showed the Falaq, a vehicle and a mobile radar installation it said was an improved version of the Gamma system.

"This system has high capabilities and can detect all types of cruise and ballistic missiles and drones," Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard, commander of the regular army's air defenses, told Iranian private news agency Mehr.

Sabahifard said the Falaq was a locally overhauled version of a system which had been out of operation for a long time, Mehr reported.

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Tehran after pulling out of the nuclear deal, which its other signatories are struggling to maintain as Washington also lobbies to establish a maritime security coalition to safeguard shipping in the Gulf in a related standoff with Iran over oil supplies.

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(Cover: Yassin and Balaban precision-guided munitions (PGM) and a new generation of Qaem electro-optical guided bomb are unveiled in a ceremony where Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami is present, Tehran, Iran, August 06, 2019. /VCG Photo)