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Iran claims to have launched missile capable of closing Strait of Hormuz
By Lauren Gelfand
05 August 2008
Iran has test launched a naval-based missile with a 300 km range, state media reported on 4 August, warning that it would be able to easily close the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 per cent of the world's crude oil supplies pass.
The announcement came after Tehran missed an informal deadline to agree to suspend efforts to expand its nuclear capabilities under threat of more sanctions from the UN.
Speaking on the state television channel Al Alam News, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said: "In view of the proximity of the Strait of Hormuz ... to our shores, this distance is within the range of an assortment of weapons and its closure for us is very feasible and we face no limitations from the point of view of time."