North Korea launched what were believed to be multiple short-range cruise missiles into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan on Tuesday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, the latest in a series of weapons' tests by the reclusive state.

Iran successfully tested a cruise missile on Sunday during naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's state media reported, at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday war was unlikely but called on Iran's armed forces to boost their defence capacities.

Iran plans to boost its ballistic and cruise missile capacity and acquire modern fighter planes and submarines, the Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted a senior Defence Ministry official as saying on Saturday.

The Iran-aligned Houthis control much of northern Yemen and had said Abu Dhabi, a member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting against them since 2015, was a target for their missiles.

Pakistan on Monday test-fired its first submarine-launched cruise missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and giving the country a credible second strike capability, the military said.

Pakistan conducted a successful flight test Tuesday of a locally developed cruise missile named "Ra'ad" with a range of 350 kilometres (around 218 miles), the military said.