Iran lifts range cap on its ballistic missiles as US launches Task Force Iron Gate

Iran lifted its self-imposed range limit on its ballistic missiles and threatened to launch new indigenous weapons that would “astonish the whole world”, hours after the US military launched a new task force aimed at stifling arms shipments and illicit trade from Tehran on November 7.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi confirmed that Iran is now dropping its previous restriction of 2,000 kilometers, or about 1,240 miles, on the range of ballistic missiles, according to the Associated Press.

“This restriction has been lifted for us,” Mohebbi clarified following the task force’s announcement.

Russia secretly boosted Iran’s missile arsenal before war against us, archives reveal

FILE PHOTO: Iranian missiles are displayed at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Forces Museum in Tehran, Iran November 15, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

U.S. Central Command created “Task Force Iron Gate,” 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.

“Increased CENTCOM collaboration with U.S. interagency partners will further limit Iran’s ability to finance terrorism, rebuild its weapons factories, and replenish its military,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement shared on X.

According to Behnam Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the United States can now carry out “targeted strikes” against enablers while exerting “political pressure on border states, as well as commercial pressure and sanctions against institutions that support Iran’s illicit trade.”

“It speaks volumes, of course, that this effort is happening at CENTCOM headquarters,” Taleblu told Fox News Digital.

Meanwhile, Iran’s IRGC quickly dismissed the new initiative as a “play on words,” saying Tehran had already made preparations and coordinated with neighboring countries to resist further pressure, Fars news agency reported.

Mohebbi also warned that Iran was developing new weapons capable of delivering devastating blows in a new confrontation with the United States and Israel.

Iran installs new warlords as Tehran signals ‘prolonged confrontation,’ expert warns

An Iranian missile is launched during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in Iran, August 20, 2025. (Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)

“Surprises will be revealed and deployed on the battlefield if a third wave of confrontation with the enemy breaks out. These surprises will astonish the whole world,” Mohebbi said at a press conference in Tehran on Saturday, according to the official Iranian News Agency (IRNA).

“If they are wrong again, or if the Zionists, in pursuit of their own interests, lead the criminal United States to make another miscalculation, they should know that Iran’s next blows will be even harder and will leave them crippled for years to come,” he added.

Iran’s previous 2,000-kilometer limit already placed the entire Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, most of Egypt, and parts of Greece and the Balkans within range.

In March, Iran unsuccessfully attempted to strike the joint U.S.-British military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, about 2,500 miles from the Islamic Republic.

Mohebbi also claimed that Iran was preparing to unveil new underground missile facilities, as Tehran seeks to protect its weapons production from future attacks.

The facilities, described by Iranian officials as “missile cities,” are designed to allow the IRGC to continue manufacturing weapons in times of war, according to IRNA.

TRUMP’S MOAB THREAT COULD PUT IRAN’S DEEPEST BUNKERS INTO AMERICA’S HARVEST

Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago and site of a major US military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, leased to the United Kingdom in 1966. (Reuters)

The IRGC spokesperson claimed that Iran’s aerospace forces continued to produce missiles and drones during recent fighting, using domestic expertise without importing foreign weapons or relying on “reverse engineering of weapons captured from the enemy.”

Mohebbi also called Iran’s growing self-sufficiency in weapons production a “very big achievement.”

Taleblu, meanwhile, highlighted the importance of the Caspian Sea basin, saying the world’s largest lake is “transformed into a two-way hub for breaking sanctions, both for Iran and Russia.”

“Iranian officials still claim to be self-sufficient in their military industries,” he said.

“But with domestic missile production significantly limited due to the 40-day war, the regime will be dependent on imports to rebuild, and especially on a large scale and at a faster pace.

“This is why efforts to limit land and sea trade inside and outside Iran constitute a double blow for the regime.”

The warnings come as Washington has stepped up pressure on Iran’s regional trade routes, including its land crossings with Iraq, where Baghdad has reportedly resisted US demands for comprehensive and broader border restrictions.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Iraq has closed only one border crossing with Iran so far, despite reported US pressure to close most crossings between the two countries.

NEW ACTIVITIES EMERGE AT IRAN’S DEEPLY BURIED NUCLEAR SITE AS TRUMP WARNS IRAN NOT TO ‘GET CUTE’

Soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition forces are seen during the handover of K1 Air Base to the Iraqi army by the U.S.-led coalition in Kirkuk, Iraq, March 29, 2020. (Associated Press)

The U.S. Treasury on Sunday pressed Iraq to close all but two border crossings with Iran as part of Washington’s policy to increase economic pressure on Tehran, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said, according to Reuters.

The Iraqi government closed the al-Shayeb crossing in southeastern Iraq on October 21 to review security and install equipment to prevent the smuggling of prohibited materials.

Iraqi political sources told Agence France-Presse that Washington had pressured Baghdad to close most border crossings between Iran and Iraq to restrict trade and financial exchanges that could help Tehran resist U.S. sanctions, ISW reported.

The ISW also said that Iran’s 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.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Al-Sadegh is reportedly a member of the IRGC’s Quds Force, which oversees the organization’s operations abroad.

The institute says Baghdad’s limited response likely reflects its efforts to balance its relations with Washington against the influence of Iran-backed political factions.