WASHINGTON – Iranian state media said Monday that a ballistic missile with upgraded capabilities reflects a more aggressive defense posture from Tehran, declaring that Iran “will take action against any threat, even before it is carried out.”
The report from Iran’s state news agency leaned heavily on remarks made a day earlier on state television by Mohsen Rezaei, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei touted what he described as new missile capabilities and claimed they had been “tested” against a U.S. warship. However, the report did not make clear whether the weapon involved was the missile it highlighted Monday: the solid-fueled Qassem Basir.
The United States said Saturday that ballistic missiles had been fired at U.S. warships, prompting American forces to strike three Iranian oil tankers in response. Analysts described the launches as a serious escalation, noting that Iran’s maritime attacks over the previous six months of war had largely focused on commercial vessels. U.S. officials said the warships avoided the incoming missiles.
Tehran’s public messaging has grown notably more forceful in recent days. Monday’s state media report called the Qassem Basir “a turning point in Iran’s defense strategy,” saying the missile offers improved range, greater precision and a half-ton warhead. Iran first unveiled the missile last year, when officials said it had a range of at least 1,200 kilometers, or about 745 miles.
Iran’s ballistic missile program has long been a major point of concern for Washington and Israel, and it was among the stated reasons the two countries launched attacks on Iran earlier this year, setting off the current war.
US dismisses talk of Iran-imposed ‘exclusion zone’
The White House responded to plans announced by Rezaei to create an “exclusion zone” near the Strait of Hormuz that’s aimed at vessels trying to transit, saying the waterway is open and controlled by the U.S.
It also said the U.S. Navy had cleared the strait of mines, and that tanker traffic to non-Iranian ports would increase. A U.S. blockade on Iranian ports continues in an effort to increase Tehran’s economic pain by limiting its oil exports. The U.S. military said that as of Monday, 94 commercial vessels had been redirected and three had been disabled.
Tehran wants ships to follow a route it chooses through the strait, which was considered an international waterway before the war. Rezaei acknowledged that the U.S. has been helping a limited number of ships transit on a route off Oman, and said Tehran isn’t sinking them because they carry oil, noting environmental concerns.
As both countries continue to assert claims about the strait and the flow of shipping, global commerce information firm Kpler noted on X that transits through the waterway dropped sharply last week.
A week ago, an attack on a Saudi-owned tanker killed two crew members and left seven unaccounted for. If they are confirmed dead, that would make the attack the deadliest on a commercial vessel since the war began on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes.
Regional countries express frustration
Frustration emerged again in the Gulf over the uncertainty around the waterway that’s crucial for shipping global supplies of oil, natural gas and related products like fertilizer.
“No single state” should control the strait, Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said at a forum of world leaders in Abu Dhabi, adding: “Our energy exports will not be held hostage, nor will our trade and economic activity.”
The UAE, a close U.S. ally, has repeatedly come under Iranian missile and drone fire in the war. Last month, the UAE suspended all trade with Iran after saying it had come under renewed fire.
Rebuilding trust between Iran and the Gulf countries could take decades, Gargash warned.
And Nabil Fahmy, secretary-general of the Arab League, told a ministerial-level meeting in Cairo that “we will not accept our maritime corridors to become a bargaining chip in the calculations of others” and condemned Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations.
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Anna reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Josh Boak in Washington and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed.
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