Iran Claims Its Ballistic Missile Strike Hit a U.S. Destroyer in the Indian Ocean
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that its forces had launched missiles at a United States Navy destroyer in the Indian Ocean, hundreds of kilometres from Iran’s border. The IRGC claimed that the missile strike hit the U.S. warship.
According to the IRGC, as reported by Tasnim News Agency and Press TV, on Wednesday (4 March 2026), a U.S. destroyer refuelling from an American tanker in the Indian Ocean was struck by Ghadr-380 and Talaeieh missiles. The strike was launched by IRGC Navy forces.
The Ghadr is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) with a range of up to 2,000 kilometres, designed for precision strikes and rapid deployment. The Talaeieh is a strategic cruise missile able to reach targets up to 1,000 kilometres away, claimed to be a smart missile capable of re-targeting mid-mission, further enhancing its strategic capability.
According to IRGC, the target lay in waters more than 600 kilometres from Iran’s southern coast when the ‘devastating attack’ was launched. With the destroyer refuelling from the American tanker at the time of the strike, IRGC intelligence concluded that the attack triggered widespread fires aboard both vessels, sending plumes of smoke into the sky.
Iran has continued launching strikes against targets in Israel and the U.S. to retaliate for attacks by the two countries since last Saturday (28 February). The series of US-Israel attacks killed several notable figures and senior Tehran officials, including the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The latest report from the Iranian Red Crescent said that to date at least 787 people had died as a result of the US-Israel attacks.
Iran has retaliated with missile and drone strikes against targets in Israel, and U.S. bases and assets in Gulf countries. The IRGC said its forces had attacked several sensitive and strategic targets in the occupied territories of Israel, as well as launching retaliatory strikes against numerous American interests across the Gulf, including in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the region was also named as a target by the IRGC, which pledged to continue attacks until the enemy’s total defeat.