{"id":282599,"date":"2026-09-07T21:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T21:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/282599\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T21:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T21:46:08","slug":"iran-touts-ballistic-missile-and-warns-it-will-take-preemptive-action-against-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/282599\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran touts ballistic missile and warns it will take preemptive action against threats"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Iran<\/a> state media on Monday said a ballistic missile with improved capabilities was demonstrating a new doctrine: Tehran \u201cwill take action against any threat, even before it is carried out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report by Iran\u2019s state news agency repeatedly cited comments aired on state TV the day before by the head of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council<\/a>, Mohsen Rezaei, who boasted of new missile capability and claimed it had been \u201ctested\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

The U.S. on Saturday said ballistic missiles were launched at U.S. warships and it struck three Iranian oil tankers<\/a> in response. Experts called the launch a dangerous escalation, noting that until then Iran\u2019s attacks at sea had targeted commercial shipping during six months of war. The U.S. said the warships evaded the attacks.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s messaging in recent days has become more assertive, and Monday\u2019s report said the Qassem Basir marks \u201ca turning point in Iran\u2019s defense strategy.\u201d It described the missile as having greater range and accuracy and a half-ton warhead. The missile was unveiled last year<\/a>, when it was described as having at least a 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) range.<\/p>\n

Concerns about Iran\u2019s ballistic missile program were one of the stated reasons the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran early this year, sparking the war.<\/p>\n

US dismisses talk of Iran-imposed \u2018exclusion zone\u2019<\/p>\n

The White House responded to plans announced by Rezaei to create an \u201cexclusion zone\u201d<\/a> near the Strait of Hormuz that\u2019s aimed at vessels trying to transit, saying the waterway is open and controlled by the U.S.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t sinking them because they carry oil, noting environmental concerns.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Regional countries express frustration<\/p>\n

Frustration emerged again in the Gulf over the uncertainty around the waterway that\u2019s crucial for shipping global supplies of oil, natural gas and related products like fertilizer.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo single state\u201d should control the strait, Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said at a forum of world leaders in Abu Dhabi, adding: \u201cOur energy exports will not be held hostage, nor will our trade and economic activity.\u201d <\/p>\n

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<\/a> after saying it had come under renewed fire.<\/p>\n

Rebuilding trust between Iran and the Gulf countries could take decades, Gargash warned.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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And Nabil Fahmy, secretary-general of the Arab League, told a ministerial-level meeting in Cairo that \u201cwe will not accept our maritime corridors to become a bargaining chip in the calculations of others\u201d and condemned Iran\u2019s attacks on Gulf nations.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Anna reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Josh Boak in Washington and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Iran state media on Monday said a ballistic missile with improved capabilities was demonstrating a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[10343,328,2087,777,197,34,61,196,768,1401,58664,81,69,272,11384,323,200,781,82],"class_list":["post-282599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-anwar-gargash","tag-business","tag-drone-warfare","tag-energy-industry","tag-general-news","tag-iran","tag-iran-government","tag-iran-war","tag-military-and-defense","tag-military-technology","tag-nabil-fahmy","tag-politics","tag-tehran","tag-united-arab-emirates","tag-united-arab-emirates-government","tag-united-states-government","tag-war-and-unrest","tag-waterways","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117231955786484926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}