Chief of Staff Habibollah Sayyar is particularly proud to present his quantum processor. © FarsNews
A few weeks ago, Iran unveiled its first quantum processor at the Imam Khomeini Naval University in Nowshahr. Habibollah Sayyari, the chief of staff and deputy coordinator of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s army, proudly displayed the quantum processor that he says allows the army to detect unwanted ships using of quantum algorithms.
Small problem for the chief of staff, the piece of PCB he holds in his hands is not a quantum processor, but a simple ARM development board from Diligent, sold for just over €600 at resellers specialized.
Iran’s quantum processor is a ZedBoard Zynq-7000 from Diligent. © FarsNews
It must be said that a quantum computer is more like a very large machine worthy of the universe of Jules Verne, in order to maintain the atoms in a quantum state thanks to extremely low temperatures, than a simple motherboard of 20 cm next to. To Iran’s defence, such a quantum processor making it possible to do without GPS is currently being tested in the United Kingdom by the Royal Navy.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, stands next to the quantum computer developed by his firm. ©Google
This is not Iran’s first deception. During Covid-19, his government announced that it could detect affected people at 80 m using a device that ultimately turned out to be… a mine detector.