Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz for Live-Fire Drills as Talks with U.S. Begin

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization, closed the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz for a few hours on Tuesday to conduct live-fire naval drills.

The shutdown was likely intended as a show of force to kick off the next round of nuclear talks with the United States in Geneva.

The Strait of Hormuz is a relatively narrow passage connecting the Gulf of Oman with the Persian Gulf. About 20 percent of the world’s seaborne oil shipments pass through the strait. Iran frequently threatens to blockade the strait or attack passing ships during times of international crisis.

Iranian state media reported on Tuesday that parts of the Strait of Hormuz would be temporarily closed due to “security precautions” as the IRGC conducted a live-fire drill involving anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles. The state media reports were accompanied by footage of uncertain origin that showed military ships launching missiles at “aerial targets.”

The IRGC said the drill included the Sayyad-3F, a new vertically launched naval variant of Iran’s most advanced surface-to-air missile, ostensibly capable of traveling at Mach 5 and hitting targets up to 75 miles away. Iran has allegedly shipped a fair number of these missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine.

Iranian state media claimed all of the missiles tested during Tuesday’s drill struck their intended targets.

RELATED: President Trump Says U.S. Sent a 2nd Aircraft Carrier Near Iran in Case We Don’t Make a Deal

The IRGC has been very hesitant to give foreign intelligence analysts a good look at the Sayyad-3F until now. The commander of the IRGC Navy, Rear Adm. Alireza Tangsiri, addressed that secrecy on Tuesday by saying “the weapon that reaches the battlefield on the day of war is different from what is shown in the exercise,” implying that the weapons involved in the live-fire drill might not have the full capabilities of the versions deployed on the battlefield.

Tangsiri said the live-fire drill demonstrated that Iran’s positions in the Persian Gulf are “invincible fortresses” whose strength was a point of “national honor.”

Tangsiri added that the IRGC has “comprehensive” surveillance across the Strait of Hormuz, including “surface, aerial, and subsurface movements.” He insisted this surveillance is “designed to guarantee secure passage for non-hostile countries whose economic interests are tied to this strategic corridor.”

Contrary to the Iranian naval commanders’ boastfulness, the point of staging the uncommon show of strength in the Strait of Hormuz was to rebuild the Iranian military’s reputation after its shockingly poor performance against U.S. and Israeli air strikes last summer. The IRGC is eager to convey the impression that it has repaired the damage inflicted to its air defenses and improved their quality, in the face of potential new strikes from the United States.

“The Islamic regime foremost wants to strengthen its deterrence and signal preparedness to disrupt shipping traffic,” Washington Institute fellow Farzin Nadimi told the leftist newspaper New York Times (NYT) on Tuesday.

Nadimi said Tehran’s goal was to show it can “disrupt the flow of energy and force the price of oil and gasoline” to rise.

“Iranian officials invoke this threat to warn Washington that a war with Iran would have serious consequences for global energy markets,” agreed Omid Memarian of the Washington-based think tank DAWN.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi kept up the defiant posture in a social media post on Monday, saying that he was only interested in talks with “real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal.”

“What is not on the table: submission before threats,” he said.