Iran’s Navy, IRGC to receive new combat vessels this year: Commanders

The naval forces of the Iranian Army and Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) are set to receive new combat and logistics vessels this year, according to the forces’ commanders.

Speaking during a live televised interview on Thursday, Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said that his force will unveil its first dock ship in November during the country’s Navy Day.

He noted that with a span of 231 meters, the vessel will be 24 meters longer than Iran’s Khark logistical vessel and can carry up to seven helicopters and a vast array of drones, missiles and electronic warfare equipment.

Khanzadi added that the Dena destroyer, a vessel of the Jamaran-class, is undergoing its final trial stages and is more advanced than the previously produced Jamaran vessel.

He said that Dena, the Saba mine-hunter and the Zereh missile boat will also be unveiled in November.

Khanzadi added that he inspected Iran’s second and third indigenous Fateh submarines under construction yesterday.

He said that a fourth Fateh submarine is being developed with air-independent propulsion (AIP), allowing the craft to remain submerged for a longer duration.

The Iranian navy commander added that two Iranian missile boats were currently taking part in the Russian “Caucasus 2020” war games in the Caspian Sea.

He noted that naval maneuvers with other states were being planned for the end of the current year.

‘US forces under surveillance the moment they set sail from port’

Addressing the recent deployment of the American USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, Khanzadi said that Iran monitors US naval forces “the moment they set sail from port”.

He added that the Iranian Navy conducts its operations, such as monitoring and controlling the movements of US vessels with complete coordination with the IRGC.

“The American terrorists are monitored by the Iranian Army’s Navy in the Arabian Sea. Once they enter the Persian Gulf, it’s the IRGC which monitors them,” he said.

Noting that the American fleet had avoided the Persian Gulf in the past ten months, he said that the American navy had been previously positioned about 600 to 700 kilometers away from Iran’s shores.

“They thought they were safe from our range, not knowing that they were continuously being monitored by us,” he added.

Khanzadi also said the Americans’ presence is meant to give mental assurance to their minions in the region, noting that the waters under Iranian rule are highly secure, and that any signal received from a vessel, the name of its commander, the courses he has undertaken and his characteristics are displayed as they are all stored in our databases.

‘IRGC to receive oceangoing vessel in near future’

Also speaking on Thursday, IRGC Navy Commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, said that the force will unveil an oceangoing vessel in the near future spanning 65 meters and capable of carrying helicopters.

He added the IRGC Navy will acquire drone and helicopter-carrying vessels this year.

Withstanding various international sanctions and embargoes since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has striven to develop its own military hardware as part of a general doctrine of self-reliance.

Iran has consequently managed to domestically produce a wide array of hardware, including its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, radars, boats, submarines, unmanned aerial vehicles, and fighter planes.