Tehran. Iran’s top paramilitary force Revolutionary Guard announced on April 20 that it has significantly upgraded the range of its anti-warship missiles, according to reports.

The Guard said it now possesses surface-to-surface and subsurface anti-warship missiles with a range as high as 700 kilometers, according to its top naval officer Adm. Ali Reza Tangsiri.

In September, Iranian officials said the country’s most advanced anti-warship missiles had a range of about 300 kilometers.

Iran’s armed forces are believed to have surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometers, that can reach Israel and US bases in the West Asia.

Tangsiri’s remarks came a day after the Guard acknowledged its naval forces had a tense encounter with US warships in the Arabian Gulf last week.

Tensions between Iran and the US remain high in the Gulf, following a year of escalating clashes between the two countries.

The US withdrew from the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. Tehran views the heavy presence of US forces along the Gulf littoral as a threat.