Tehran says its marine forces now possess domestically-developed cruise missiles with a range of 200km and dual offshore, onshore homing capabilities.
Iran says it has started the large-scale production of a
domestically-developed cruise missile designed for sea-based targets and
capable of destroying warships.
Iranian Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi was quoted
by the state-run news agency Fars on Wednesday, as saying that an unspecified
number of "Qader" cruise missiles were delivered to the Revolutionary
Guard's Navy.
The announcement was made in an official ceremony, also
attended by Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari and
Commander of the IRGC Naval Force Brigadier General Ali Fadavi.
Vahidi stressed that production of the missiles
"showed that the Iranian Defense Industries are able to satiate the
Iranian Armed Forces' missile needs."
The Iranians claim that the Qader cruise missiles have a
range of 200km, can reportedly travel at low altitudes and are able to home-in
on both offshore and onshore targets.
On Tuesday, Iran's Navy Chief Sayyari said that the
Islamic Republic now possessed the ability to send its warships to the United
States' Atlantic coast. Sayyari gave no details of when such a deployment could
happen or the number or type of vessels to be used.
Also on Wednesday, Vahidi dismissed the need for Iran to
establish a "military hotline" with the United States, and called on
Washington to pull out its forces from the Persian Gulf, warning their
continued presence may trigger a possible confrontation with Iran.
"They want to have a hotline so that in case of
tension, we can settle it but we believe that if they are not deployed in the
region, no tension will occur," Vahidi told Fars.
He also stressed that any US warships which seek to pass
through the Persian Gulf's Strait of Hormuz must respond to the questions asked
by the Iranian Navy, as "the Strait of Hormuz... are under the
intelligence control and domination of our Navy."
*AP contributed to this report
