Guards chief: Iran missiles can hit warships in Gulf

Commander of Revolutionary Guards says his ground forces have missiles that could penetrate armor plating fitted to Israel's Merkava tanks, US Abrams tanks

Reuters
Published: 08.15.07, 21:17 / Israel News

Iranian missiles can hit warships operating anywhere in the Gulf and Oman Sea, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday, the day US officials said they might label his forces "terrorists".

But the speech by Commander-in-Chief Yahya Rahim Safavi, according to a report carried by Iran's Fars News Agency, made no mention of the US threat to brand his units.

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"Our coast-to-sea missile systems can now reach the breadth and length of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea and no warships can pass in the Persian Gulf without being in range of our coast-to-sea missiles," Safavi said in his speech, Fars reported.

Iran, locked in a standoff with Washington over its nuclear plans, has previously boasted it had missiles that could sink "big warships" in the Gulf, a region where US aircraft carriers and warships operate.

Israeli Merkava tank (Archive photo: AP)

The United States is seeking to isolate Iran over what it says is Tehran's bid to build nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear program. Iran insists its atomic plans are directed at making electricity to preserve its oil and gas for exports.

Safavi also said Iran's missiles with a range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles) were fitted with equipment that enabled them to be remote controlled, an apparent reference to the Shahab-3 missile, although he did not name it. That missile could hit Israel.

Safavi said the Revolutionary Guards ground forces had missiles in its arsenal that could penetrate the armor plating which he said was fitted to Israel's Merkava tanks and the US Abrams tanks.

US officials said on Wednesday they may soon designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization in a move targeting the finances of the group. An Iranian Foreign Ministry source called the report "psychological warfare".

"Such reports are published as part of the US leaders PR and psychological activity against Iran and are worthless," the sources told IRNA news agency.

Dudi Cohen contributed to the report

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