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Iran has built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the U.S. Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the region said on Sunday. Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt shipping in the Gulf or strike U.S. forces in retaliation if its oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear program comes under attack. "They have increased the number of submarines ... they increased the number of fast attack...

SNIPPET: "Police are working to figure out the origin of the rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip Saturday evening and exploded near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, without causing damage or injures. A total of four rockets and two mortar shells were fired at Israel on Saturday, causing no injuries. An initial examination revealed that the rocket fired at Nahal Oz was manufactured using professional means, most likely outside of the borders of the Gaza Strip. The rocket had a diameter of 115 millimeters, and police sappers were working to locate fragments of it to be tested."

When the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution on June 9 authorizing a fourth round of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran for its controversial nuclear program, the risk of conflict in the Persian Gulf also escalated considerably. One of the potential points of tension is the resolution’s explicit call for cargo inspection. Iran has warned vehemently against such a move. According to Brigadier Ali Fadavi, Iran’s military forces, especially the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN), maintain a “special and suitable response to the inspection of Iranian vessels” (Fars News, June 14; Press TV, June 22, July 4)....

Iran Revolutionary Guards ready to escort Gaza ships 06 Jun 2010 12:40:35 GMT Source: Reuters TEHRAN, June 6 (Reuters) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday. "Iran's navy forces are ready to escort the peace flotilla to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities," Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's representative inside the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency. Any intervention by the Iranian military would be considered highly provocative by...

Official: Elite Revolutionary Guards are prepared to intervene TEHRAN - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday. "Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys to Gaza with all their powers and capabilities," Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's representative inside the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency. Any intervention by the Iranian military would be considered highly provocative by Israel which accuses Iran of...

Despite its efforts over the last several years, Iran is not yet the naval power it hopes to become, according to a Moscow analyst, but Tehran already has sufficient capacity to disrupt shipments of oil in the Persian Gulf, an ability that already “represents a serious danger and requires an adequate response from the international community.” In an assessment of “The Naval Power of Iran: From Intention to Reality” prepared for the Moscow Near Eastern Institute, V.V. Yevseyev argues that most of what Iran has done in this sector to date represents “a cover” for plans to engage in “diversionary...

Iranian warship the Jamaran on Sunday test-fired a home-built torpedo for the first time as part of ongoing naval war games in the Gulf, state television's website reported. "This torpedo is anti-submarine and when it is fired from the warship, it automatically hunts for the submarine and destroys it," navy commander Arya Hassani was quoted as saying. The report said the torpedo was fired from the Iran-built Jamaran, which was deployed earlier this year. It has a displacement of around 1,400 tonnes and is equipped for electronic warfare. On Wednesday the Islamic republic's navy began eight days of manoeuvres in...

In Phases Two and Three of Iran's biggest sea exercise ever (May 6-7), debkafile's military sources report its Navy and Revolutionary Guards acted out a scenario for driving US naval forces out of the Persian Gulf after defeating them - as well as responding to potential retaliatory American WMD strikes. Thursday night, May 6, Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki meanwhile informed the 15 Security Council members he invited to dinner at UN headquarters, New York, that his government would "definitely continue its nuclear program." They all attended including a low-ranking US official. The eight-day war game, dubbed "The Last Prophet"...

Iran began new naval war games in the Gulf on Thursday to show the Islamic state's "power to defend" itself against any attack, state television reported. was the second such display of military might in less than a month. The maneuvers by Iran's regular navy, due to last eight days in the waterway crucial for global oil supplies, coincided with rising tension in Tehran's long-running nuclear dispute with Western powers. The United States is lobbying U.N. Security Council members to back a fourth round of sanctions on Iran, to press it into curbing sensitive atomic work the West suspects is...

Iran's navy will on Wednesday start eight days of war games in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman, state television said, less than two weeks after the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards held manoeuvres in the Gulf. Habibollah Sayari, commander of the navy, said the exercises would display its defence capability, Al Alam television, Iran's Arabic-language satellite television, reported on Tuesday. In exercises held in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz between April 22 and 25, official media said the Guards tested missiles and a new speedboat capable of destroying enemy ships. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman on Tuesday called...

Iran's navy commander has confirmed the flight of an Iranian aircraft near a US warship in the waters of the Persian Gulf. On Tuesday, CNN quoted a senior US military officer as saying that an F27 aircraft of the Iranian Navy flew as low as 300 feet near the USS Eisenhower on April 21. "US warships tread the free waters of the Gulf of Oman and it is Iranian navy's duty to conduct routine surveillance flights in the region," Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the Iranian Navy commander, said in a Tuesday news conference. "The F27 plane of the navy flew above...

A senior Iranian Air Force officer does not rule out reports that an Iranian fighter jet might have flown over a US aircraft carrier last week in the Arabian Sea. The incident was first reported by CNN on Tuesday. According to the report, a plane belonging to the Iranian Navy was flying as low as 300 feet near the USS Eisenhower on April 21. The Eisenhower was in the northern Arabian Sea when the Iranian maritime patrol aircraft flew within 1,000 yards of the vessel, US military officials claimed. Mohammad Alavi, deputy commander of the Iranian Air Force said that...

Iran's reported acquisition of a record-breaking British speedboat has raised fears it plans to arm it with high-speed Russian torpedoes to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier in hit-and-run raids if Iran is attacked because of its nuclear program. The Financial Times reported Sunday that Iran has got its hands on the 51-foot craft, the Bradstone Challenger, despite U.S. and British efforts to prevent it from obtaining the high-performance boat. The boat was designed by Lorne Camopbell of Britain and is powered by U.S. Caterpillar engines. It was built by ICE Marine of Britain. The project was partly financed by Navatek,...

Iran has test fired a new anti-ship missile – Nour – from its first indigenously-built guided missile destroyer Jamaran in the Persian Gulf, according to a news report. The surface-to-surface missile was launched on Tuesday and successfully hit its target at a distance of 100 kilometers, Press TV reported. The country plans to develop the missile further by extending its range by up to 300 kilometers, the report said. The Jamaran warship, from which the missile was test-launched, was commissioned in the Iranian Navy in February this year. The multi-mission destroyer is equipped with several anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles. It...

In January 2003, Iranian authorities announced the planned construction of at least one Mowj [62,900 attestations] Class frigate, a indigenously developed version of the Alvand Class. This word, meaning wave in Farsi, is also translated as Moudge [ 7,670 attestations ]Mowaj [ 3,370 attestations ] or Mowdge [ 624 attestations]. The first Mowj Class frigate was initially planned to be launched by 2005. Ultimately the Mowj was actually launched in February of 2007. At that time, the second ship in the class, reported to be named the Jamarran, was to be launched in November of 2007. Jamaran [ 238,000 attestations]...

The Iranian Navy sent its first domestically built destroyer, the Jamaran, to sea today. Apparently this is the "destroyer" that Iran announced it was building three years ago. No further details were given at the time, or since. It was known that Iran had launched a clone of their British made Vosper Mk 5 frigates in 2002. That 1,500 ton ship has been fitting out ever since. Four Vosper frigates were delivered in the early 1970s, and at least three are still in service. Actually, these are considered "corvette" type ships, as destroyers tend to displace over 7,000 tons. The...

An Iranian naval commander says the Navy will be adding a second domestically manufactured destroyer to its fleet some time in the next two years. Commodore Amir Rastegari, who heads the Navy's industrial command, made the announcement hours after Iran launched its first locally-made 1,420 ton Jamaran destroyer, equipped with a variety of anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles. "Work continues on a new destroyer. In the next two years, a second Iranian manufactured vessel will be delivered to the Navy," he said. Rastegari added that the Jamaran destroyer was completed in spite of Western efforts to hinder its manufacturing process. "The...

A warship and a destroyer belonging to the Iranian naval fleet have berthed at Qatar's Doha port upon an invitation by Qatari Naval officials. Iranian Ambassador to Doha Abdullah Sohrabi and Iran's military attache in Qatar Brigadier-General Mashallah Poursheh conferred with commanders and cadets aboard the Bandar Abbas warship and Naqdi Destroyer. Sohrabi said that the symbolic docking of the Iranian warship and destroyer at the Qatari capital is a step toward the improvement of bilateral defense ties between the two countries. Since Iran and Qatar are neighbors and have common sea borders, issues such as defense cooperation and security...

The racing yacht, the Kingdom Of Bahrain, owned by Sail Bahrain and crewed by the five Britons, was stopped by Iranian naval vessels last Wednesday as it sailed from Bahrain to Dubai. The crew members are still in Iran and are understood to be safe and well. Their families have been informed. The Foreign Office said the yacht might have "inadvertently" strayed into Iranian waters. The sailors were heading to Dubai to join the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race. One of the men onboard has been named as David Bloomer, believed to be a radio presenter in Bahrain. A source later...

Iran has sent six warships into international waters in a move security experts are calling a "muscle flexing" show of defiance following missile tests last week."Iran has dispatched six ... warships to international waters and the Gulf of Aden region in a historically unprecedented move by the Iranian Navy," Iranian Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told a gathering of armed forces officials, Reuters reported. Sayyari said the ships were moved to preserve Iran's territorial integrity in its southern waters, but foreign policy experts are calling it an aggressive move targeted at a Western audience as much as for regional powers like...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has sent six warships to international waters, including the Gulf of Aden, to show its ability to confront any foreign threats, its naval commander said on Monday. Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, quoted by the ISNA news agency, made the announcement five days after Iran said it test-fired a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles), putting Israel and U.S. bases in the area within reach. Iran said on May 14 it had sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect oil tankers from the world's fifth-largest crude exporter against attacks by pirates...

(CNN) -- An Iranian naval commander Monday said his forces are willing to carry out suicide missions when facing enemy forces in the Persian Gulf, according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.

Tehran, Dec 9 - The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran launched bigget ever maritime war-game in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman regions, commander of Iranian Navy, Rear Admiral Sajjad Kuchaki told IRIB Thursday. The maneuver codenamed "Ashegane Velayat" covers more than 55,000 square kilometers ranging from the strategic Hormoz strait to the port city of Gouater in the southernmost part of the country, he added. All branches of the military and the Revolutionary Guards including air, land and navy forces as well as Basij voluntary members are participating in the war-game. The maneuver, he...