Tehran scraps 2,000-km limit, vows to 'prove capability through action'
Move comes one week after Khamenei ordered military to respond 'without geographic limits'
US forces fire on merchant vessel attempting to break maritime blockade, raising Strait of Hormuz tensions
![Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members are seen climbing aboard the Panama-flagged container ship MSC Francesca and the Liberian-flagged Epaminondas in footage released by Iranian state television Saturday (local time), as the US seized at least three Iranian vessels and Iran responded with its own ship seizures. [Reuters]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/11/08/news-p.v1.20260423.1a398decb5d64d94a4005adff3493b6e_P1.jpg)
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared that it has lifted its self-imposed limit on ballistic missile range, signaling an intent to develop missiles capable of striking US military assets as far away as Europe and the Indian Ocean — well beyond the Middle East. The announcement came as the United States carried out limited airstrikes against Iran and fired on a merchant vessel attempting to break a maritime blockade, sharply escalating military tensions between the two countries.
IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebi told reporters Friday (local time), according to the AP and the Times of Israel, that the range restriction no longer applied. "For us, that limit has been lifted," Mohebi said when asked about the cap on ballistic missile range.
Mohebi added that "Iran will prove this capability through action."
Tehran had long claimed it voluntarily capped its ballistic missiles at a range of 2,000 kilometers. The announcement signals that Iran now intends to develop missiles capable of striking targets beyond that threshold.
The remarks came one week after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Khamenei ordered Iranian forces on Oct. 31 to respond "without geographic limits."
At the time, Khamenei also ordered a full overhaul of Iran's military target list to include all tangible and intangible assets belonging to the United States and Israel.
The move raises the prospect that Iran's missile reach could extend beyond the Arabian Peninsula and parts of Greece and the Balkans to cover Europe and the Indian Ocean.
Earlier, Iran was reported to have attempted — and failed — to strike Diego Garcia, a joint British-American military base in the Indian Ocean roughly 4,000 kilometers from Iranian territory, in March.
The United States has also been intensifying its military pressure on Iran.
According to NBC News, President Donald Trump was advised by aides on Nov. 3 — just before the midterm elections — that any decision to resume military operations against Iran would need to be made before the new Congress convenes next January.
Trump subsequently announced Friday that US forces had carried out limited airstrikes targeting Iranian air defense facilities.
The conflict between the two countries has also spilled into maritime confrontations around the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command announced Friday that it had fired on a Saint Kitts-flagged merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman after the ship attempted to break through the US maritime blockade of Iran, according to the AP.
CENTCOM said the vessel had called at an Iranian port and then ignored multiple warnings before attempting to leave the blockade zone.
US forces disabled the ship, rendering it unable to continue sailing.
The IRGC also announced Friday that two oil tankers had struck mines and caught fire in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Guard said the vessels had been attempting to transit the strait via an unauthorized route with their Automatic Identification System transponders switched off.
Iran did not disclose the flags or destinations of the ships involved.
sjy@heraldcorp.com
