According to state media on Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have installed new missile systems on three key Gulf islands, claiming they can strike adjacent “enemy bases, vessels, and assets.”
The weapons were placed on Abu Musa, Lesser Tunb, and Greater Tunb, which are close to the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for the world.
Recently, the Guards conducted military exercises nearby.
The declaration was made on Saturday as Iran prepared to reply to a letter from US President Donald Trump demanding that nuclear negotiations resume and threatening to use force if Iran doesn’t comply.
Alireza Tangsiri, naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s military’s ideological wing, stated, “We have a tactic that we must arm” and “make it operational” the island group.
He declared on state television that “we are capable of attacking enemy bases, vessels, and assets in the region.”
According to the new systems, “any target within 600 kilometers (370 miles) can be completely destroyed.”
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that “if they do anything malign to the Iranian nation, they will get a hard slap” and that US threats against Iran “will get them nowhere” on Friday.
Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister, called Trump’s letter “more of a threat” on Thursday, but he also said that it seemed to present openings and that Tehran will reply “in the coming days.”
US Middle East ambassador Steve Witkoff stated in remarks aired on Friday that Trump was attempting to prevent a war with Iran by fostering trust with Tehran.
The president’s letter was not meant to be a threat, he claimed.
Although the three Gulf islands’ ownership has been contested with the United Arab Emirates for many years, Iran has held control of them since 1971.
Tangsiri claimed that Iran was “expanding” its defense capabilities on the islands in September.
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