Tag Archives: Strait of Hormuz

Iran set to unveil new missile-launching warship

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Iranian navy fires a Mehrab missile during the “Velayat-90” naval wargames in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran on January 1, 2012.(AFP Photo / Ebrahim Noroozi)

Iran will unveil a domestically manufactured missile-launching warship in the coming days, the country’s navy chief said. It comes days after Tehran accused the US Navy of conducting “illegal and provocative acts” in the Persian Gulf.

“One of the new achievements of the Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the Sinai 7 missile-launching warship… which will be unveiled on Wednesday,” Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Two new Ghadir-class submarines will also become operational by November 27. Subs of this type are made primarily for shallow-depth performance and can conduct extended coastal missions.

The Islamic Republic will hold a major naval drill, dubbed Velayat 91, between December 21 of 2012 and January 20 of 2013 in the country’s southeastern waters. Last December, Iran conducted naval drills in an area stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.

Sayyari also said that the navy had plans to send a fleet of warships to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

The Iranian Navy is considered to be the most powerful and efficient in the Persian Gulf, having at its disposal five corvettes, 20 missile and 20 torpedo boats, 13 amphibious ships, 28 auxiliary ships, three submarines, 22 aircraft and 15 helicopters.

Recently Iran unveiled its new, fifth navy base in the Strait of Hormuz, located near a major oil transit corridor, through which one fifth of the world’s oil passes from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. The Strait has recently become the focus of tensions, with Tehran threatening to block the route in retaliation for international sanctions over its alleged nuclear weapons program. The US has pledged to keep the strategic oil lane open.

Iran is constantly upgrading its military capabilities. In recent years, Iran declared it had made great achievements in the defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in essential military equipment and systems. The country produces its own tanks, self-propelled guns and multiple rocket launchers. One of its latest achievements is Jamaran, its first domestically-built destroyer, which was launched in the Persian Gulf in February 2010.

Iran is also actively engaged in missile development. Its Shahab-3 long-range ballistic rocket has range of 5,000 kilometers – meaning it could reach Israel and all US military bases in the Persian Gulf.

Tensions have been simmering in the region for several months, with Israel declaring that it is ready to strike Iran in order to prevent it from building an atomic weapon. Recently Israel said a decision over a military strike on Iran will have to be made in “eight to ten months.”

Washington has also said no options are off the table in regards to Iran, though it indicated that it would not support a unilateral Israeli attack on the country.

In the latest chapter of the standoff on Saturday, Iran accused the US Navy of “illegal and provocative acts” near its coastline, including violations of its airspace. Iran’s Envoy to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaee filed formal accusations of these charges with both UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council.

Israeli intelligence believe that Iran is accelerating the development of nuclear weapons, though experts around the world, including in the US, dispute the claim.

Iran has repeatedly assured other nations, especially its neighbors, that its nuclear program is for strictly civil purposes.

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30-Nation War Games Begin Minesweeping In Persian Gulf Ahead Of Iran Strike

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Operation IMCMEX-12 has begun

British and US warships have joined a major naval exercise in the Persian Gulf as tensions between Israel and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear power programme increase. British forces are taking part in a joint operation conducted by the navies of more than 30 countries to sweep the area – a major transit point  of maritime trade – clean of mines.

“The UK is committed to a standing presence in the Gulf to ensure freedom of navigation in international waters such as the Straits of Hormuz,” said defence secretary Philip Hammond.

“Disruption to sailing in the strait would threaten regional and economic growth. Any attempt by Iran to do this would be illegal and unsuccessful.” The show of strength in exercises that include naval deployment by Saudi Arabia, the US and France was designed to warn off Tehran from contemplating disrupting trade routes in the ongoing diplomatic poker game over its nuclear ambitions and Israel’s threat of a strike. The Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman is one of the most heavily used trade waterways in the world. Some 35 percent of the world’s oil shipments – about 18 million barrels a day – pass through the 21-mile-wide channel. Continue reading →

Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike

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Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike(Sept 15, 2012) An armada of US and British Naval Power is massing in the Persian Gulf in the belief that Israel is considering a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s covert nuclear weapons programme. Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war. Western leaders are convinced that Iran will retaliate to any attack by attempting to mine or blockade the shipping lane through which passes around 18 million barrels of oil every day, approximately 35 per cent of the world’s petroleum traded by sea. A blockade would have a catastrophic effect on the fragile economies of Britain, Europe the United States and Japan, all of which rely heavily on oil and gas supplies from the Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most congested international waterways. It is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point and is bordered by the Iranian coast to the north and the United Arab Emirates to the south. In preparation for any pre-emptive or retaliatory action by Iran, warships from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will today begin an annual 12-day exercise.

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Iran plans to deploy warships off US coast

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(Sept 4, 2012) Iran says it will counter US presence in its waters by sending ships to the international waters off the US coast, says Iranian Navy chief Admiral Sayyari.No specifics were mentioned, but during an interview broadcast on state TV, Sayyari said the plans were aimed for “the next few years.In the past two years Iran has broadened the range of its navy, sending ships to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.Sayyari did not deny that the proposed measure was a response to the increase in the number of US vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil passageway off the coast of Iran, which Tehran previously threatened to shut off.“We will not allow anyone to trespass our country’s waters. There is no need for anyone else to establish security in our region,” said Sayyari.The US Fifth Fleet is currently located in Bahrain, on the southern coast of the Strait of Hormuz.More than a third of all the seaborne oil in the world passes through the narrow waterway.Due to US and EU-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic, which the West suspects of covertly developing nuclear weapons, Iran’s export of oil has halved in the past year.

Financial data company Bloomberg reports that the country is missing out on $130 million a day in lost sales as a result.In response to the sanctions, Tehran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz. A majority of Iranian parliamentarians voted in favor of the blockade in July, and although the vote was seen as largely symbolic, the option is still on the table.The US then upped its presence, and currently has two aircraft carriers in the region, also scheduling extensive war games for later this month.Iranian high command has previously claimed that it will send its ships towards the US, but the threats have not yet resulted in actions.Tension between the two countries are at a high, as speculation mounts that Washington’s close ally Israel may carry out a (possibly US-supported) strike on Iran to derail its incipient nuclear program.
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