A senior American military official told ABC News that Iran has installed cruise missiles on some fishing boats in the Persian Gulf region in order to increase its military power and covert assault capabilities.

This senior official rejected Iran’s claim that weaponizing its military boats to cruise missiles was a defensive measure and said that there is no justifiable reason for weaponizing fishing boats with cruise and ballistic missiles other than covert and surprise assaults.

Previously, Javad Zarif, the Islamic Republic’s minister of foreign affairs had told ABC News that Iran has the right to missiles on its boats to defend itself.

But according to this military official, installing missiles on these small and often wooden fishing boats does not fit the justification.

The recent intelligence and satellite photos show that small commercial wooden boats have been equipped with cruise missiles and were spread throughout the Persian Gulf which can only be for covert operations.

ABC News reports that over a month ago, an intelligence gathering operation by the U.S military revealed that cruise missiles have been installed on some non-military boats. The report states that the missiles were installed on box-shaped platforms and could be fired from the boats.

The American intelligence forces found these small wooden boats almost 300km away from Iran’s coast east of Chabahar port.

The U.S official stated that over 2000 cruise and ballistic missiles have been positioned by Iran in its southern waters, and it is possible that Iran plans on using them against commercial ships.