Iran says improved ballistic missile shows it will take preemptive action against threats

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran state media on Monday said a ballistic missile with improved capabilities was demonstrating a new doctrine: Tehran “will take action against any threat, even before it is carried out.”

The report by Iran’s state news agency repeatedly cited comments aired on state TV the day before by the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, who boasted of new missile capability and claimed it had been “tested” against a U.S. warship. But it was not clear whether what was tested was the missile the new report described, the solid-fueled Qassem Basir.

The U.S. on Saturday said ballistic missiles were launched at U.S. warships and it struck three Iranian oil tankers in response. Experts called the launch a dangerous escalation, noting that until then Iran’s attacks at sea had targeted commercial shipping during six months of war. The U.S. said the warships evaded the attacks.

Iran’s messaging in recent days has become more assertive, and Monday’s report said the Qassem Basir marks “a turning point in Iran’s defense strategy.” It described the missile as having greater range and accuracy and a half-ton warhead. The missile was unveiled last year, when it was described as having at least a 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) range.

Concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile program were one of the stated reasons the U.S. 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 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.