Iran reveals ‘Abu Mahdi’ naval cruise missile amidst strengthened US Gulf presence

Iran's defence ministry announced Tuesday the delivery of "dozens" of cruise missiles to the navies of the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during a televised ceremony.

The 'Abu Mahdi' is one of a number of missiles Iran has revealed this year. These include the hypersonic ballistic missile named Fattah and the 'Paveh' cruise missile.

The missiles have a range of 1,000 kilometres and can destroy naval vessels using features including radar evasion capabilities and artificial intelligence guided flight paths, according to the ministry.

As well as the initial reveal of the ‘Abu Mahdi’ cruise missiles, the Iranian navy said new versions of the missile with a 2,000-kilometre range will also be developed – double the range of the current missile.

The missile is named after former deputy commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was assassinated in a US drone strike alongside IRGC general Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.

The announcement comes following new US deployments to the Gulf aimed at deterring Iran from seizing vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a tactic it has employed since 2019.

The US deployments recently saw the addition of the USS Bataan amphibious readiness group and the 26 Marine Expeditionary Unit. These deployments beef up the already announced USS Thomas Hudner and F-35 and F-16 aircraft, which are joining deployed A-10 aircraft.

The US intervened in the latest attempted seizures, which occurred earlier in July. The Iranian navy fired shots during a second seizure attempt.