IRGC Says Iran Has Infrastructure for Longer-Range Missiles

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said on Tuesday that the country has the technological infrastructure needed to produce missiles with significantly longer ranges, but that moving ahead depends on a political decision taken within Iran.

The force's spokesman, Hossein Mohebbi, made the remarks in an interview with the official news agency IRNA. He said that in any confrontation, Iran would unveil new weapons with new ranges, precision and destructive power, and described the battlefield as the best place to test such systems.

Mohebbi also said Iran had recently tested a new missile against a United States aircraft carrier and a warship, stating that the missile struck the carrier at a range of 500 km. According to him, the strike did not disable the carrier but caused damage, and Iran maintains it inflicted casualties — a claim he said Washington has not announced.

His comments follow an earlier statement by Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, who told state-run IRIB TV this month that the country had carried out an important attack against a U.S. aircraft carrier within the preceding 48 hours. Rezaei described the action as a warning intended to show the "enemy" that its naval blockade is vulnerable.