Iran Navy Gets ‘Smart’ Submarine and Yet More Ski Boats

In this photo released by official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, Presid
Iranian Presidency Office via AP
Nathaniel Charles

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Tuesday unveiled a new unmanned, “smart” submarine they claim can be helmed remotely.

The introduction of these vessels, if functional, would be the first time Iran has possessed such a capacity.

Alongside the submarines that were unveiled during a ceremony in Bandar Abbas – a southern Iranian port city – the IRGC also announced the addition of new missiles and modified ski boats  that have a claimed maximum speed of up to 60 knots.

Iranian media outlined its updated missile arsenal includes those that are manoeuvrable with an extended range, AP reports, fulfilling a boast of invincibility previously made by an angry General Salami.

The Iranian government has a fondness for modified ski boats, having an estimated 2000 in their naval forces, some with the capacity to fire missiles which Salami previously described as “hell for the enemies of Iran and Islam”.

These vessels are used by Iranian forces – who believe in a missile boat doctrine of “mobility over defense and firepower” – to harass larger boats in crowded Middle East waterways.

Iran has also previously threatened to use these speedboats to swarm and attack any U.S. vessels that attempt to interfere with their naval practices, regardless of their legality.

While it is questionable how effective these boats would be against large military vessels, the speedboats were successful when used to overpower a British oil tanker sailing through the Strait of Hormuz in 2019.

Ten Iranian speedboats swarmed the Mesdar, before armed soldiers entered and seized the vessel, which provoked an international crisis until Iranian forces released it.

These tactics have been used against multiple commercial vessels as recently as November 2021. It is unclear what the motive for these intimidatory tactics are.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards drive speedboats during a ceremony to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the downing of Iran Air flight 655 by the US navy, at the port of Bandar Abbas on July 2, 2012. The plane was shot down by mistake over the Gulf by the US navy's guided missile cruiser, USS Vincennes, during confrontation with Iranian speedboats on July 3, 1988, killing 290 civilian passengers and crew members. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

Iranian Revolutionary Guards drive speedboats during a ceremony to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the downing of Iran Air flight 655 by the U.S. Navy, at the port of Bandar Abbas on July 2, 2012. (ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran has also been accused of taking more aggressive action against oil tankers in the region, with Israel suggesting the Islamic dictatorship carried out a drone attack on a vessel linked to the Jewish state.

That action killed a British Army veteran and a Romanian crew member in September 2021.

“Although the Islamic Republic of Iran considers the threats of Western officials and those of the Zionist regime [Israel] as propaganda, any move against the interests and national security of Iran will face a tough and firm response, and Washington and London will be directly responsible for its consequences”, an Iranian government spokesman said in response to the attack.

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