Tehran announced today that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards was now in charge of the country's naval defense of the Arabian/Persian Gulf. Previously, the regular Iranian Navy had the lead role in this effort.
Over the years Iran has repeatedly warned it would shut down transit of the Strait of Hormuz at the southeastern end of the Gulf if Iran were attacked by outside forces such as the United States or Israel. Over a third of the world’s oil, some of it Iranian passes through the Strait on oil tankers.
The Strait and other parts of the Gulf are routinely patrolled by U.S., Arab, European, and other warships. Occasionally, there have been tense incidents with Iranian vessels. Last winter Revolutionary Guards speed boats threw debris in the path of U.S. warships and made threatening radio calls. There have been fewer incidents of that type with the Iranian regular navy.
Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the top military adviser of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced the change at this morning’s press conference. He said "responsibility to defend the Persian Gulf" has been delegated to the Revolutionary Guards' navy. MG Safavi, himself a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said Iran’s regular navy was “assigned for the defense of the Gulf of Oman and Caspian Sea.” The Gulf of Oman is east of the Strait of Hormuz. The Caspian Sea is landlocked.
"The Guards' missiles are able to cover the whole width of the Persian Gulf. No warship can pass through the waterway without being in our range," he said. "Our armed forces, possessed with defensive weapons including missiles, air, sea and torpedoes, are able to control the Strait of Hormuz."
MG Safavi stated Iran's armed forces, including Army, IRGC and the 11-million-member Basij (militia) forces, were ready to stand up against any threat. Turning to Israel, he said, "the Zionist regime doesn't have the necessary political, economic and social capabilities to start a big war."
Concerning America, he noted, "In case of venturing into hostility with Iran, the US’s 200,000 troops in the region would be in serious danger."
America stepped its naval presence in the Gulf in recent years. Aircraft carriers are often in the confined waters of the Gulf and in the Gulf of Oman in order to provide air cover to U.S. Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tehran caused tensions with some Gulf Arab states over the occupation of some islands whose sovereignty has not yet been determined. Iran has had some clashes with the British Navy as well. They seized, and eventually released, a number of British sailors who were part of a boarding party trying to stop oil smuggling from Iraq.
Monday, Iran also announced an air defense exercise named “Defenders of Velayat.”
The commander of the Khatam-ul Anbia air base, Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani, said the “three stage” air exercise involved scores of aircraft and a large number of air bases countrywide.
