http:\/\/www.bozemandailychronicle.com offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.\n <\/p>\n
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’s 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’s 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