You people can make jokes and laugh all you want but I, personally, would take this sub seriously. I am an old diesel powered submariner who served for a time on the small "T" boats. In fact, the same one Jimmy Carter served on but not at the same time (Thank the good Lord). They usually have 4 torpedo tubes forward but I do think they are saying too much when it comes to missle launches. Maybe hand held from the deck These boats can be very quiet and hard to detect when running submerged on battery. I remember eluding the Navy's best back in the 60's. Often they knew we were there but not exactly where. I believe this sub could be a major threat but would most likely have to stay close to home and not a deep water vessel. IMHO!
I agree that the Soviet made Kilo subs are reasonably effective and modern submarines that could pose a significant threat if treated lightly.
However, I'm talking about the indigenous submarines Iran has been building since the mid 1980s based on imported North Korean technology. These subs are almost certainly slow, noisy, and have very limited sensors. Iran also makes torpedoes (supposedly) and several kinds of mines.
I don't think these subs are a "joke" at all. They are, however, relatively unsophisticated and probably don't have the ability to launch anti-ship missiles (such as the Exocet or Silkworm) as suggested in the article. Any indigenous "missile" launched from that pod mounted forward of the sail is going to make the sub far more vulnerable than if Torpedoes or mines are employed.
Sweden has several small submarines. They rejected the use of missiles such as Harpoon for that very reason: Launching the missiles in confined waters (Baltic or Persian Gulf) would quickly give the sub's position away.
ASW has made some major leaps since the 60's.