The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced Thursday that the Iranian military successfully test-fired a Hormuz-2 ballistic missile this week. Brig.-Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said the missile destroyed a floating target at a distance of approximately 155 miles (250 kilometers), according to the state-run Tasnim News Agency.
Hormuz-2 is a naval strike ballistic missile intended to hit moving targets at sea with high precision, and has a range of nearly 300 kilometers (186 miles), Press TV reported. The missile is similar in appearance to the anti-ship Khalij-e-Fars (Persian Gulf) ballistic missile.
Earlier in the week, Iran successfully tested the S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system purchased by Tehran from Russia. Iranian Brig.-Gen. Farzad Esmaili, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, announced after the test that Iranian military personnel are designing and manufacturing an indigenous version of the S-300, to be named the ‘Bavar-373.’
Last Saturday, fast-moving Iranian vessels forced the USNS Invincible, a U.S. Navy surveillance ship, to change course while patrolling the waters in the Strait of Hormuz. The Invincible was accompanied by three British Royal Navy ships at the time of the incident. The Iranian vessels came within 600 yards of the American ship, according to Fox News, quoting U.S. officials, who called the interaction at sea “unsafe and unprofessional.” All four ships, American and British, were forced to change course, Reuters reported.
While that was taking place, Iranian military officials were test-firing two Fateh-110 short-range ballistic missiles into the Gulf of Oman 155 miles away from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps bases in Bandar-e-Jask in southeastern Iran, according to information from U.S. military sources.
“The Invincible has radar and other equipment onboard to monitor missile launches, including foreign missile launches and tests,” UPI reported. U.S. officials confirmed the missile tests to Fox News, saying at least one of the ballistic missile tests was successful, destroying a floating barge.
Last Thursday, according to the report, an Iranian vessel tried to position itself between the American and British ships.
On January 29, Iran tested a Khorramshahr medium-range ballistic missile, in violation of the UN Security Council resolution.
On February 3, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed new economic sanctions against Iran in response. “Iran is playing with fire,” Trump tweeted.