TEHRAN: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps test-fired ballistic missiles against targets in the Indian Ocean as they wrapped up a two-day exercise, their official website reported on Sunday AEDT.
The missiles of “various classes” targeted “the enemy’s battleships and destroyed them from 1800km away”, according to the Sepah news website.
The missiles were fired from central Iran at targets located in the northern Indian Ocean, the Guards said. A video released by state television showed two missiles being launched and targets being hit at sea.
Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri was present on the second day of the drill, alongside Guards chief Major General Hossein Salami and aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh.
“One of our major goals in defence policies and strategies is to be able to target enemy ships, including aircraft carriers and battleships, using long-range ballistic missiles,” General Salami told Sepahnews.
General Bagheri said the launch showed Iran was ready to respond to any “ill will” by its enemies, warning that in such cases “they will be targeted and destroyed by our missiles”.
“We do not intend to carry out any attack,” he said, adding the exercise showed Iran’s readiness to defend itself “with all its strength” against any aggressor.
Read the article in The Australian (AFP).