Iran warns it’s ‘ready for war’ with US as it reveals new ballistic missile that could destroy America bases
IRAN has unveiled its latest naval ballistic missile which doubles its military strike range and is capable of destroying US bases in the Gulf.
State-backed Press TV published a video yesterday showing the third generation Zolfaqar-e Basir rocket.
According to the report, the weapon can travel 434 miles – which more than doubles the country’s current missile range.
The US, which has accused Iran of exporting terrorism across the Middle East, has a number of military bases in the region including in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE.
And because the Persian Gulf is up to 210 miles wide, the new Iranian rocket could destroy targets from anywhere in the area.
Commander Major General Hossein Salami, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said the weapon was developed despite the crippling economic sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump.
He said: “The war underway today is one of willpower.
“The Iranian nation continues down this path with conviction by clearly recognising its way forward.”
He said Iran was fully prepared for war with the Unites States adding Tehran had used the sanctions as “an opportunity for expeditious advancement in the defensive areas.”
Most read in News
The second generation of the surface-to-surface Zolfaqar-e Basir was used to attack US troops at Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq, it has been reported.
That assault was retaliation for the killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike ordered by Trump outside Baghdad airport.
The assassination of Soleimani in January drastically ramped up tensions between the US and Iran and led to Tehran pulling out the Obama-era nuclear deal it had signed with western powers.
US and Iran - a troubled history
- Before the 1979 Iranian revolution, Iran was one of America’s biggest allies in the Middle East and was led by the US-backed Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
- However, since the seismic revolt, Iran has been led by murderous Islamic fundamentalists and tensions with Washington have remained ever since.
- On November 4, 1979, the Iranian regime took 52 US diplomats hostage in response to President Carter’s administration allowing Iran’s deposed former leader into America.
- The hostage crisis lasted for 444 days and also included a failed rescue mission which cost the lives of eight US soldiers.
- In April 1980, the US ended diplomatic relations with Iran – a break which lasted for more than 30 years.
- In April 1983, Washington blamed the Iranian-funded terror group Hezbollah for carrying out a bombing attack on the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
- The assault, carried out amid a brutal civil war in Lebanon, killed 17 Americans.
- In November of that year, two truck bombs in Beruit killed 241 US peace keepers. The US again blamed Hezbollah for the incident.
- The Clinton White House, in 1995, placed a total embargo on Iran meaning US companies could not trade with the country.
- And in 2002, George W Bush included the Islamic Republic in his famous “Axis of evil” speech along with North Korea and Iraq.