The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, claimed on Tuesday that Iran’s ballistic missiles were capable of hitting “carriers in the sea” with great precision, Reuters reported.
“These missiles can hit with great precision carriers in the sea ... These missiles are domestically produced and are difficult to intercept and hit with other missiles,” Salami said in a televised speech.
He added that Iran’s ballistic missile technology had changed the balance of power in the Middle East.
Salami’s comments follow last week’s attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week which the US said were carried out by Iran.
Iran’s ballistic missile program remains a source of concern for the West and was one of the reasons cited by US President Donald Trump when he withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
Iran has carried out several ballistic missiles over the past several years. In February, Iran attempted to launch a satellite into space but failed when the satellite failed to reach orbit.
The US says that Iran’s ballistic missile tests are a violation of UN Security Council resolution 2231, which enshrined Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.
The resolution says Iran is “called upon” to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons.
Iran, however, denies its ballistic missile tests violate this resolution. President Hassan Rouhani has stressed in the past that Iran will continue to produce missiles for its defense and does not consider that a violation of international agreements.
Salami is one of several Iranian officials who regularly threaten both the US and Israel. Last month, he claimed that Iran’s “absolute power” in its region has sapped the capacity of the United States to wage war against it.
He previously warned that Iran is "on the cusp of a full-scale confrontation with the enemy.”