Iran said Tuesday it has tested medium-range missiles that are capable of hitting targets as far away as Israel in an attempt to discourage the United States or Jerusalem from attacking it, state-run media reported.
“The main aim of this drill is to demonstrate the Iranian nation’s political resolve to defend [its] vital values and national interests,” Hossein Salami, a general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, was quoted by state-run Press TV as saying.
The general said the Great Prophet 7 missiles were aimed at mock enemy bases during a war games exercise, which are intended to convey a message of Iran’s might amid disputes in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran said it would also fire different variants of the Shahab and other missiles during the war games, state media reported.
The missile test came as the United States quietly deployed military units, including a floating base, to the Persian Gulf to deter Iran from cutting off the Strait of Hormuz, a military source told The New York Times.
“When the president says there are other options on the table beyond negotiations, he means it,” an official, who was not named, told the newspaper last week in a report published Tuesday.
“The message to Iran is, ‘Don’t even think about it,’” another unnamed official said.
“Don’t even think about closing the strait. We‘ll clear the mines. Don’t even think about sending your fast boats out to harass our vessels or commercial shipping. We’ll put them on the bottom of the gulf.”
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