Iran has issued a fresh threat to the US over its newly upgraded ballistic missile, with officials warning that the nation "will take action against any threat, even before it is carried out."
The report by Iran’s state news agency on Monday highlighted comments broadcast on state television the previous day by the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei.
He praised the country's expanded arsenal and claimed a new missile had been "tested" against a US warship. However, it was unconfirmed whether the test involved the solid-fueled Qassem Basir featured in the new report.
Washington stated on Saturday that ballistic missiles targeted US naval vessels, prompting American forces to strike three Iranian oil tankers in response. The US confirmed its warships avoided the incoming fire.
Security analysts described the launches as a dangerous escalation, pointing out that Iranian strikes at sea had previously focused on commercial shipping throughout six months of conflict.
Amid increasingly firm messaging from Tehran, Monday's report claimed that the Qassem Basir represents "a turning point in Iran’s defense strategy."
The weapon, unveiled last year with an estimated range of at least 1,200 kilometres (745 miles), is said to possess greater accuracy, extended reach, and a half-ton warhead.
Concerns about Iran's ballistic missile program were one of the stated reasons the US and Israel attacked Iran early this year, sparking the 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 US.
It also said the US Navy had cleared the strait of mines, and that tanker traffic to non-Iranian ports would increase. A US blockade on Iranian ports continues in an effort to increase Tehran's economic pain by limiting its oil exports.
The US 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 US 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 28 February with US 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 US 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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