April 20 (Reuters) - Iran has increased the range of its naval missiles to 700 kilometres (435 miles), the head of the Revolutionary Guards navy said on Monday, according to the Fars news agency.

"There was a time when the longest range of our naval missiles was 45 kilometres and needed to be operated with the help of American advisers," Alireza Tangsiri said on the occasion of the anniversary of the passage of a bill that set up the Guards.

"But now we have a variety of surface and sub-surface missiles with a range of 700 kilometers which have been produced by domestic military experts."

Western military analysts say Iran often exaggerates its weapons capabilities.

(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh Editing by Gareth Jones)