Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is claiming a historic first with the test firing of two ballistic missiles from the deck of a former commercial ship turned warship in the Gulf of Oman.
The IRGC reported the successful launch of two ballistic missiles from the Shahid Mahdavi. These missiles have the capability to reach targets up to 1,000 kilometers away.
“The firing of a long-range ballistic missile from the warship was successfully carried out,” IRGC chief Hossein Salami said in a report airing on Iranian state television.
The Shahid Mahdavi, previously an Iranian-flagged containership, has been converted into a warship equipped to carry both helicopter and fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
Video of the missile launch has been shared online:
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The cost of shipping oil in the largest tankers hit record highs this week following the biggest wave of attacks on shipping since the U.S.-Iran war began in late February.
Vessel transits via the Strait of Hormuz fell on Wednesday to seven from 12 the previous day, preliminary ship-tracking data showed on Thursday, with levels also below the 10-day average of 14.
Four commodity vessels transited the key waterway of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, down from nine a day earlier and well below the 10-day average tally of about 15, preliminary shipping data showed.
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