Iran has begun producing ballistic missiles with ranges beyond the approximately 2,000 kilometre limit it has publicly maintained for decades, according to Mohammad Akramiya, a spokesperson for the Iranian Armed Forces. The announcement marks a significant shift in Tehran’s stated missile policy and occurs amid a protracted ongoing conflict with the United States. “The Iranian authorities have decided to increase the range of our missiles due to the ongoing conflict with the United States,” Akramiya said. “During this conflict, we have concluded that it is absolutely necessary to increase the range of our missiles, and we have already begun to do so,” he added. For years, Iranian officials have described that limit as a deliberate policy rather than a technological constraint, arguing that European countries were not intended to be targets of Iran’s missile program.