U.S. Central Command declared Monday that Iran’s naval presence in the Gulf of Oman has been reduced to “ZERO,” announcing that every Iranian warship operating in the strategic waterway at the outset of Operation Epic Fury has been destroyed as American forces struck more than 1,250 targets in the first 48 hours of the campaign.
Iran’s largest naval vessel caught fire and sank Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman, under circumstances yet to be made clear by Tehran.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Tuesday they warned U.S. Navy vessels to watch their behavior after Washington said warning shots were fired near Iranian fast attack boats, the latest confrontation between the rivals in the Persian Gulf.
Sailors onboard the Iranian Navy’s 66th flotilla took to international waters Tuesday to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the Iran Islamic Revolution by shouting angry insults and threats at U.S. and Israeli forces.
An Iranian military vessel confronted an American warship in the Gulf and warned it to stay away from a damaged Iranian fishing boat, Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, but the U.S. Navy denied any direct contact with Iranian forces.
A senior official in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday accused the United States of provoking tensions after two separate incidents in the Gulf last week.
Iran is likely to capitalize on the expiration of an international arms embargo in 2020 to purchase new warships, submarines and cruise missiles, according to a new assessment by the US Office of Naval Intelligence.
Iran warned a U.S. warship and jet to leave the area near the Strait of Hormuz where the Iranian navy took part in military exercises.