Several vessels join Iranian Navy amid tensions with US

A combat-patrol boat, missile boats, and several overhauled vessels have joined the Iranian naval forces.

The Shahid Soleimani combat-patrol boat is “the first Iranian vessel equipped with a defensive vertical launching system,” Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri said during a ceremony in the southern city of Bandar Abbas on September 5, according to the Tasnim news agency.

The boat “evades detection,” and can “carry out various operations in distant waters.” It is also capable of “performing offensive and defensive” moves and can be used for the landing and take-off of seaborne helicopters. The boat is named after the slain Quds Force commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), who was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020. 

Also, two missile boats named Shahid Rouhi and Shahid Dara joined the IRGC Navy’s fleet on the same day.

A number of overhauled vessels joined the southern fleet of Iran’s regular navy in a ceremony held on September 4. The list of the vessels includes two missile launcher ships, a logistics ship, and a Qadir-class light submarine which have been “reconstructed and renovated” in Iran.

On September 1, days after the IRGC Navy attempted to capture a US Navy Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) in the Persian Gulf, the Iranian Navy reportedly did the same with two American USVs in the Red Sea. After issuing two warnings to an American destroyer to prevent possible incidents, the Iranian Navy’s Jamaran destroyer “seized” and later “released the two vessels in a safe area after securing the international shipping waterway.” According to Iran’s state TV, the US Navy “was warned to avoid repeating similar incidents in future.”