Iran threatens the US with chilling warning that its ballistic missiles can now hit ‘ANY ship at any time’
IRAN has said it has beefed up the capability of its missiles, warning they can now hit "any ship" up to 400 miles away.
The Islamic Republic insists the weapons are merely defensive but the announcement comes as tensions with the United States mount over its nuclear programme mount.
Donald Trump pulled out of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear programme earlier this year and reimposed sanctions on Tehran, saying the deal was flawed because it did not include.
Iran has threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if America tries to strangle Iranian oil exports.
Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' air space division, said his country has spent a decade working on anti-ship missiles.
"We have managed to make land-to-sea ballistic, not cruise, missiles that can hit any vessel or ship from 700 km (435 miles),” he said.
In 2008, Iran displayed a ground-to-sea missile that it said could travel about 180 miles.
Hajizadeh said some short-range Iranian missiles had been used over the past two years in Syria's civil war.
Iranian forces have fought in support of President Bashar al-Assad against rebels and militants.
He also said Iranian drones had carried out 700 attacks on Islamic State militant positions in Syria.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to help shore up Assad during the more than seven-year-long conflict there.
On Monday, the U.S. special envoy on Iran, Brian Hook, said that Tehran's ballistic missile programme was exacerbating tensions in Yemen, Iraq and Syria.
"We are accumulating risk of regional conflict if we do not do more to deter Iran's missile proliferation in the Middle East," Hook said.
MOST READ IN NEWS
The Iranian government has ruled out negotiations with Washington over its military capabilities and dismissed U.S. assertions that its activities in the Middle East are destabilising.
The regime has repeatedly threatened to take military action in the Gulf to block other countries' oil exports.
In early August US officials said Iran sent more than 100 boats into the Gulf to take part in massive military exercises.
An estimated 20 per cent of the world's supply travels through the Persian Gulf.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.'
