Iran Lifts Missile-Range Limit, Warns of 'Astonishing' Strikes as US Targets Its Land Routes

Iran has lifted its self-imposed limit on the range of its ballistic missiles and warned it will unveil new homegrown weapons that would "astonish the entire world" — within hours of the United States military launching a new task force to choke off Tehran's weapons shipments and illicit trade.

Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), confirmed the decision at a news conference in Tehran on Saturday, according to The Associated Press. Iran had long observed a self-imposed limit of 2,000 kilometres, or roughly 1,240 miles, on its ballistic missiles. "That restriction has been lifted for us," Mohebbi said.

Mohebbi said surprises would be unveiled and deployed on the battlefield if a third wave of confrontation with the enemy erupted. "If they once again miscalculate, or if the Zionists, in pursuit of their own interests, lead the criminal United States into another miscalculation, they should know that Iran's next blows will be even harder and will leave them crippled for years to come," he said, according to Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Even under the old 2,000-kilometre limit, the entire Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, most of Egypt and parts of Greece and the Balkans were already within range. In March, Iran unsuccessfully attempted to strike the joint US-British military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, roughly 2,500 miles from the Islamic Republic.

The announcement came shortly after US Central Command established "Task Force Iron Gate" on November 7, an initiative targeting the movement of advanced Iranian weapons systems, dual-use materials and illicit revenue across Iran's land borders and the Caspian Sea. "Strengthening CENTCOM's collaboration with US Interagency partners will further constrain Iran's ability to finance terrorism, rebuild weapons factories, and replenish their military," Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, said in a statement shared on X.

The IRGC quickly dismissed the new initiative as "wordplay", claiming Tehran had already made preparations and coordinated with neighbouring countries to withstand additional pressure, Fars News Agency reported.

Mohebbi also said Iran was preparing to unveil new underground missile facilities, described by Iranian officials as "missile cities", designed to allow the IRGC to keep manufacturing weapons during wartime. He claimed the IRGC's Aerospace Force continued producing missiles and drones during recent fighting, using domestic expertise without importing foreign weapons or relying on "reverse engineering of weapons captured from the enemy". He described Iran's growing self-sufficiency in weapons production as a "very big achievement".

Behnam Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), said the United States may now carry out "targeted strikes" against facilitators while putting "political pressure on bordering states, as well as market and sanctions pressure against institutions underwriting Iran's illicit trade". "It speaks volumes, of course, that this effort is being stood up within CENTCOM headquarters," Taleblu told Fox News Digital.

Taleblu emphasised the significance of the Caspian Sea basin, saying the world's largest lake has "turned into a two-way sanctions-busting hub for both Iran and Russia". He noted that while Iranian officials always claim self-sufficiency in their military industries, domestic missile production was significantly constrained by the 40-Day War, leaving the regime reliant on imports to build back, especially at scale and at a faster rate. "This is why efforts to constrain both land and sea trade in and out of Iran are a one-two punch for the regime," he said.

Pressure is also rising on the Iraq border. On Sunday, the US Treasury pressed Iraq to close all border crossings with Iran except for two, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said, according to Reuters. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Iraq has closed only one border crossing with Iran so far, despite reported American pressure to shut down most crossings between the two countries. The al-Shayeb crossing in southeastern Iraq was closed on October 21 to review security and install equipment to prevent the smuggling of prohibited materials.

The institute also said Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Mohammad Kazem al-Sadegh was pressuring tribal leaders in Iraq's Maysan province to push Iraqi officials and leaders of the Shiite Coordination Framework to reopen al-Shayeb. Al-Sadegh is reportedly a member of the IRGC's Quds Force, which oversees the organisation's foreign operations. The institute assessed that Baghdad's limited response likely reflects efforts to balance its relationship with Washington against the influence of Iranian-backed political factions.

Within hours of the new American task force, then, Iran announced the end of its missile-range limit and warned of new weapons. CENTCOM says it will cut off the flow of arms and illicit money by land and across the Caspian Sea; Tehran says its next blows will be harder than before. Between the two announcements, the standoff between Iran and the United States has entered a new phase.