Iran says US bases and aircraft carriers within missile range

LONDON: An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Wednesday that US bases in Afghanistan, the UAE and Qatar, and US aircraft carriers in the Gulf were within range of Iranian missiles, as tensions rise between Tehran and Washington.
“They are within our reach and we can hit them if they (Americans) make a move,” Amirali Hajjizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ airspace division, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.
Hajjizadeh said the Guards had improved the precision of their missiles, and specifically said they could hit the Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Al-Dhafra base in the United Arab Emirates and Kandahar base in Afghanistan that host US forces.
US President Donald Trump pulled out of an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. He said the deal was flawed because it did not include curbs on Iran’s development of ballistic missiles or its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.
The Islamic Republic’s government has ruled out negotiations with Washington over its military capabilities, particularly its missile program run by the Guards.
Iran, which says its missile program is purely defensive, has threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz if the United States tries to strangle Iranian oil exports.