Iran plans to increase the range of their land-to-sea missiles, a senior Iranian commander said Wednesday.
“We did not have coast-to-sea missiles before the [Islamic] Revolution [in Iran] but today, the range of our missiles has increased to 300km and it will increase in the near future,” Iranian Army’s Deputy Commander for Operations R.-Adm. Mahmoud Moussavi was quoted by Iran’s Fars News as saying in Tehran on Wednesday.
“The army has put the reconstruction of defense capability and equipment on its agenda after the Holy Defense period, and upgraded Iran’s deterrent power by forming a sub-surface unit that is highly strategic and did not exist before the Islamic Revolution, and on the other hand by designing and building different missiles,” Moussavi said.
The “maintenance and protection of equipment and facilities is an important military mission of Iran’s Army from the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, which has been done satisfactorily,” he added.
Despite new US sanctions placed on Iran meant to pressure Tehran over its military activity in the Middle East and its ballistic missile program, Tehran is continuing to improve its missile arsenal.
Last week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei urged Iran’s armed forces to continue to increase their military capabilities.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran does not intend to start a war against anyone but you [armed forces] should increase your capabilities to the extent that not only does the enemy fear attacking Iran but also the shadow of war against the Iranian nation will fade away with the help of the armed forces’ solidarity, might and effective deployment,” he was quoted by Fars as saying.
Tehran also unveiled its Hoveizeh cruise missile last week, which it claims has a range of 1,350 kilometers.
“The range of Hoveizeh missile is over 1,350km and it is good for targeting ground targets,” Defense Minister Brig.-Gen. Amir Hatami said, adding that the missile successfully hit a target 1,200km away in a recent test.
In August, Fox News reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired a third generation Fateh-110 in an anti-ship configuration from Iranian soil, crossing part of the Strait of Hormuz before impacting a desert test range 100 miles away.
According to the report, the launch from the IRGC’s base in Bandar-e-Jask in southeastern Iran was detected by US spy satellites and is believed to have occurred during an IRGC naval exercise.
Iran is said to have conducted over 25 missile tests since 2015, claiming that they are legitimate and defensive in nature.
The Islamic Republic possesses over 1,000 short- and medium-range ballistic missiles and has the ability to proliferate weapons to countries and non-state actors such as Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Source » jpost