Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Saturday that Tehran has lifted its self-imposed 2,000-kilometer cap on the range of its ballistic missiles. The move could open the door for the Islamic Republic to develop missiles capable of hitting targets far beyond its current reach.
The confirmation came at a press conference in Tehran held by IRGC spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi to mark the country’s Aerospace Week. Asked whether Iran was still bound by the range limit, Mohebbi told reporters, according to the Associated Press: “That restriction has been lifted for us.”
Mohebbi did not say whether Iran already possesses missiles that exceed the 2,000-km threshold. He said only that Iran would demonstrate its capabilities in practice rather than through statements.
His comments came days after Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, warned that any threat from the United States or Israel would be met with a response unconstrained by geography.
The 2,000-km limit was first disclosed in 2017, when then-IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had capped missile ranges, arguing that most U.S. forces and interests in the region fell within that distance.
Iran is not known to have missiles with a range beyond 2,000 km, a distance that already puts the entire Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, most of Egypt, and parts of Greece and the Balkans within reach. U.S. officials, however, have warned that technology from Iran’s space program could be adapted to build intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The announcement marks a further escalation of the regime’s missile program, coming amid stalled U.S.-Iran talks and mounting fears of renewed war in the region.
