Iran says upgraded ballistic missile signals preemptive stance, while Gulf states warn over Strait of Hormuz
WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran said Monday that an upgraded, solid-fueled ballistic missile marks a change in the country’s military doctrine: Tehran says it is prepared to act against a threat before that threat is carried out.
Iranian state media highlighted the Qassem Basir missile as “a turning point in Iran’s defense strategy,” saying it has greater range, greater accuracy and a half-ton warhead. The report also amplified comments by Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who claimed the new capability had been tested against an American warship. Iranian reports did not make clear whether the test involved the Qassem Basir, and no evidence was offered.
The announcement follows a confrontation in the Persian Gulf that U.S. officials described Saturday as an Iranian missile attack on American warships. The U.S. military said it responded by striking three Iranian oil tankers. The American warships were not hit, according to U.S. accounts, but analysts called the exchange a dangerous escalation in a six-month-old conflict that until now had largely seen Iranian forces target commercial vessels.
The missile was first displayed last year, when Iranian officials said it had a minimum range of 1,200 kilometers (745 miles). Iran’s ballistic missile program has been a longstanding source of concern in Washington and Israel, and those concerns were among the stated reasons for the U.S.-Israeli strikes in late February that opened the current war.
In his televised remarks, Rezaei also announced plans to create an Iranian “exclusion zone” near the Strait of Hormuz targeting vessels attempting to pass through the waterway. The White House responded that the strait is open and remains under U.S. control. It said the U.S. Navy had cleared mines from the strait and that tanker traffic to non-Iranian ports would increase.
A U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remains in place, cutting off oil exports as part of Washington’s effort to increase economic pressure on Tehran. The U.S. military said 94 commercial vessels had been redirected as of Monday and three had been disabled.
Iran wants ships transiting the strait to follow a route of Tehran’s choosing. Before the war, the waterway was treated as an international corridor. Rezaei said the U.S. has been assisting a limited number of ships along a route off Oman, but added that Iran will not sink them because they carry oil and would cause environmental damage.
The standoff is beginning to affect global energy shipping. Kpler, a firm that tracks commodity trade, said on X that the number of transits through the strait fell sharply last week.
Gulf Arab countries have watched with mounting frustration as the waterway, essential to global supplies of oil, natural gas and fertilizer, has become a military flashpoint. A Saudi-owned tanker was attacked seven days ago, killing two crew members and leaving seven missing. If those seven are confirmed dead, the attack would be the deadliest on a commercial vessel since the war started with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.
At a world leaders’ forum in Abu Dhabi, Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, said “no single state” should control the strait. “Our energy exports will not be held hostage, nor will our trade and economic activity,” he added. Gargash said rebuilding trust between Iran and Gulf nations could take decades.
The UAE, a close U.S. ally, has repeatedly come under Iranian missile and drone fire since the war began. Abu Dhabi suspended all trade with Iran last month after saying it had come under renewed fire.
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy delivered a similar warning in Cairo, telling a ministerial-level meeting that “we will not accept our maritime corridors to become a bargaining chip in the calculations of others” and condemning Iranian attacks on Gulf nations.