President Trump has said that destroying Iran’s Navy is a core objective of the U.S. military campaign. American forces have sunk more than 20 Iranian naval vessels, including one that was torpedoed by a submarine in the Indian Ocean, according to the U.S. Central Command.
While Iran’s nuclear and missile programs have dominated conversations about its military capabilities, the United States and its allies in the region have also long considered its naval forces a serious threat because of their ability to disrupt trade and energy supplies from the Persian Gulf region.
In recent periods of high tension, Iranian officials have threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel between Iran and the United Arab Emirates through which vessels carry a fifth of the world’s oil and a significant amount of natural gas.
Here’s what to know about Iran’s naval forces:
Iran has two navies.
In the years after the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran’s military planners organized its naval forces into two separate services. The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy resembles most other navies, mainly armed with conventional warships. The Revolutionary Guards, a powerful force parallel to the regular military, has its own navy focused on operations in the Gulf and along Iran’s coastline. The Guards’ navy mainly uses smaller, faster boats.
Before Iran was attacked, its regular navy had three submarines, eight frigates and two corvettes in its fleet, according to data from the defense intelligence firm Janes. It also had 22 small submarines. These were designed specifically for operating in the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf, according to the U.S. military. The Revolutionary Guards’ navy was mainly equipped with hundreds of smaller, fast vessels, according to Janes.
Having the ability to lay mines in regional waters has been a key component of Iranian naval strategy, according to U.S. Navy assessments. Iran’s naval services acquired vessels, including submarines and small boats, that are capable of laying mines and disrupting shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment released last year.
In recent years, Iran’s naval forces also integrated into its fleet one of the country’s growing and most potent new weapons: drones. Iran possessed at least one drone carrier ship, the IRIS Shahid Bagheri.
The U.S. says it sank more than 20 Iranian warships.
Iran’s naval forces were hit as soon as U.S. operations commenced, and more than 20 warships had been destroyed by American forces as of Wednesday, according to U.S. Central Command. These include the drone carrier Shahid Bagheri, which Central Command said was sunk within hours of the start of the operation.
Central Command has said the other destroyed vessels include two corvettes and a frigate, the IRIS Dena
There were no Iranian warships left in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz or the Gulf of Oman by March 3, according to an infographic on the first 100 hours of the operation released by the U.S. military. Central Command has not provided details about the other vessels it said were destroyed.
The Revolutionary Guards warned ships away from the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.
An American submarine torpedoed the Dena.
The sinking of the frigate Dena was the deadliest known U.S. strike on the Iranian navy in the current operations.
The Dena sent a distress signal after it was hit. The Sri Lankan Navy sent ships to help and was able to rescue 32 Iranian sailors. At least 80 people on the ship were killed, according to the Sri Lankan authorities.
Iran’s foreign minister said on Thursday that almost 130 sailors had been on board the ship when it was hit, and he accused the United States of carrying out “an atrocity at sea.” Sri Lanka’s foreign minister had earlier said there was a crew of 180.
The attack marked the first time since World War II that a U.S. Navy submarine had struck a vessel with a torpedo in combat.
Abdi Latif Dahir contributed reporting.
Qasim Nauman is a Times editor in Seoul, covering breaking news from around the world.
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