Themove was announced pending an already announced Iranian retaliation against Israel for the assassination in Tehran of the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, on July 31.

In a ceremony presided over by the supreme commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Hossein Salami, 2,640 missile systems, drones and other equipment were added to the naval force of that elite military unit, the Tasnim news agency reported.

Tasnim, linked to the Revolutionary Guards, specified that “the missiles have new capabilities, such as high-explosive warheads and zero interception, so the impact of each of them could cause serious damage and sink destroyers of the enemies”.

New equipment presented.

According to the same source, during the ceremony only 210 of the 2,640 new equipment were shown, including long- and medium-range missile systems, combat, reconnaissance and suicide drones, electronic warfare systems, naval radars and other combat devices.

Iranian authorities have vowed revenge on Israel for the killing of Haniyeh in an attack with a short-range projectile fired at his residence in Tehran on the last day of July. The attack is attributed to Israel, which neither confirms nor denies.

According to the media, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Army have been preparing for a possible offensive against Israeli territory in recent days “for the violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

The Islamic Republic and Israel are bitter enemies, represent a mutual existential threat, compete for regional hegemony and have been waging a secret war for decades with cyberattacks, assassinations and sabotage actions.

Tehran leads the so-called “Axis of Resistance”, an informal anti-Israel alliance, composed of Hamas, the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Yemeni Huthis, among other groups.