https://sputnikglobe.com/20230819/us-warships-in-the-gulf-forced-to-obey-irans-rules-irgc-says-1112724360.html
US Warships in the Gulf Forced to Obey Iran's Rules, IRGC Says
US Warships in the Gulf Forced to Obey Iran's Rules, IRGC Says
Sputnik International
Recent weeks has seen a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf over the US buildup of warships, military aircraft and troops amid Iran’s crackdown on oil smuggling and maritime navigation violations. Iran’s regular armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have responded with a series of stern warnings.
2023-08-19T12:04+0000
2023-08-19T12:04+0000
2023-08-19T12:04+0000
world
alireza tangsiri
ebrahim raisi
joe biden
persian gulf
washington
islamic revolutionary guard corps (irgc)
marines
nato
https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/05/0c/1082868718_0:0:1200:675_1920x0_80_0_0_dc2332423160f9298bee2eed7920a56e.jpg
Large US warships traversing Persian Gulf waters are forced to obey maritime rules set by Iran, IRGC Navy Commander Ali Reza Tangsiri has said."At one time, the NATO countries did not respect the laws of our waterways. But today these countries obey the warnings of the IRGC Navy. For instance, IRGC vessels once approached a US aircraft carrier, and the warship fled to 180 miles away," the commander said.Tangsiri highlighted the continually growing capabilities of the IRGC's naval forces, including long-range coastal defense missiles, plus the development of speedboats equipped with rocket launchers and warship-launched drones. The IRGC Navy now manufactures speedboats with the capability to accelerate to up to 110 knots (over 200 km per hour), the commander said.The IRGC Navy's armaments provide it with David vs. Goliath-type asymmetric warfare capabilities against larger US warships, with the Revolutionary Guard and the regular armed forces creating and fielding an array of ballistic and cruise missiles, mosquito fleets with increasingly deadly capabilities, coastal defense batteries (some hidden within secret mountain fortresses) and a variety of homegrown reconnaissance and strike drones.Iran, which has never shied away from using its military capabilities, even against the powerful US military, in the face of American aggression or maritime border violations, has issued a series of warnings to Washington in recent weeks amid the beefing up of the US presence in the Gulf.Last week, after the US announced the deployment of thousands of Marines from the 26thMarine Expeditionary Unit to the Gulf, IRGC spokesman General Ramezan Sharif warned that Iran had "reached such a high degree of power and capability that it can respond in kind to any US action and mischief, including the seizure of ships."Earlier this year, for example, the Iranian Navy forced a US nuclear ballistic missile sub to surface while it attempted to sneak through the Hormuz Strait. In April, Iran’s military industry announced that the country had gained the capability to track the radar signature of individual Lockheed Martin F-35 jets. In June, the country unveiled a new hypersonic missile. Finally, last week, Iranian media revealed that Iran’s scientists had unlocked the ability to produce a new class of ramjet-powered cruise missile.What’s Fueling the Escalation of Iran-US Tensions?Iran-US tensions began to surge in mid-July as the US started beefing up its military presence in the Gulf region with additional F-16 fighters, missile destroyers, an amphibious strike group and the aforementioned Marines. The official US justification for the buildup was to increase its military's "visibility" was related to the increased incidence of Iranian seizures of commercial vessels traversing regional waters. The Islamic Republic has indeed ramped up a crackdown on vessels it says have engaged in illegal oil smuggling, and detained a US-bound oil tanker in April after it slammed into an Iranian fishing boat and attempted to flee the scene.The escalation comes amid fading hopes for the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal which the US walked out on in 2018 amid pressure from Israel, and which the Biden administration promised to restore after entering office in 2021. Negotiations on a US return to the deal have stalled amid Washington’s attempts to add additional conditions to the agreement, and its refusal to take the IRGC off its designated "terrorist groups" listing.Iran has forcefully rejected the IRGC's designation as a terrorist group, with President Ebrahim Raisi stating Friday that if it were not for IRGC actions in Iraq and Syria, America's European allies would have been overrun by Daesh (ISIS)* terror."The peaceful life Europe enjoys today is a result of the efforts of the IRGC; however, it is unfortunate that they are assassinating the heroes who combat terrorism and labeling the IRGC, which leads the fight against terrorism, as 'terrorists'," Raisi said, referring to the US murder of IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.The current escalation isn’t the first time that Iran and the US risk coming to blows. In the 1980s, hundreds of tanker vessels and other commercial ships came under attack in the Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War, with Iranian and US forces engaging in a series of skirmishes and the conflict culminating in the July 3, 1988 US shoot down of an Iranian passenger plane, killing all 290 people onboard.* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/iran-ramps-up-oil-gas-production-exports-as-western-sanctions-fail-1112653875.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230810/americans-pay-price-at-the-pump-as-gulf-allies-swap-us-dictate-for-multipolarity-1112512675.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230809/us-stoking-tension-in-persian-gulf-as-its-losing-control-needs-more-wars-1112485885.html
persian gulf
washington
Sputnik International
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
2023
News
en_EN
Sputnik International
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
Sputnik International
feedback@sputniknews.com
+74956456601
MIA „Rossiya Segodnya“
iran, united states, persian gulf, rules, maritime rules, islamic revolutionary guard corps, irgc
iran, united states, persian gulf, rules, maritime rules, islamic revolutionary guard corps, irgc
US Warships in the Gulf Forced to Obey Iran's Rules, IRGC Says
Recent weeks has seen a dramatic escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf over the US buildup of warships, military aircraft and troops amid Iran’s crackdown on oil smuggling and maritime navigation violations. Iran's regular armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have responded with a series of stern warnings.
Large US warships traversing Persian Gulf waters are forced to obey maritime rules set by Iran, IRGC Navy Commander Ali Reza Tangsiri has said.
"Even American warships carrying airplanes and helicopters obey our rules when they cross the Persian Gulf," Tangsiri said in an address to fellow IRGC commanders Saturday.
"At one time, the NATO countries did not respect the laws of our waterways. But today these countries obey the warnings of the IRGC Navy. For instance, IRGC vessels once approached a US aircraft carrier, and the warship fled to 180 miles away," the commander
said.
Tangsiri highlighted the continually growing capabilities of the IRGC's naval forces, including long-range coastal defense missiles, plus the development of speedboats equipped with rocket launchers and warship-launched drones. The IRGC Navy now manufactures speedboats with the capability to accelerate to up to 110 knots (over 200 km per hour), the commander said.
The IRGC Navy's armaments provide it with
David vs. Goliath-type asymmetric warfare capabilities against larger US warships, with the Revolutionary Guard and the regular armed forces creating and fielding an array of ballistic and cruise missiles, mosquito fleets with increasingly deadly capabilities, coastal defense batteries (some hidden within
secret mountain fortresses) and a variety of homegrown reconnaissance and strike drones.
16 August 2023, 19:14 GMT
Iran, which has
never shied away from using its military capabilities, even against the powerful US military, in the face of American aggression or maritime border violations, has issued a series of warnings to Washington in recent weeks amid the beefing up of the US presence in the Gulf.
Last week, after the US announced the deployment of thousands of Marines from the 26thMarine Expeditionary Unit to the Gulf, IRGC spokesman General Ramezan Sharif warned that Iran had "reached such a high degree of power and capability that it can respond in kind to any US action and mischief, including the seizure of ships."
Earlier this year, for example, the Iranian Navy
forced a US nuclear ballistic missile sub to surface while it attempted to sneak through the Hormuz Strait. In April, Iran’s military industry announced that the country had gained the capability to
track the radar signature of individual Lockheed Martin F-35 jets. In June, the country unveiled a new hypersonic missile. Finally, last week, Iranian media revealed that Iran’s scientists had
unlocked the ability to produce a new class of ramjet-powered cruise missile.
10 August 2023, 16:11 GMT
What’s Fueling the Escalation of Iran-US Tensions?
Iran-US tensions began to surge in mid-July as the US started beefing up its military presence in the Gulf region with additional F-16 fighters, missile destroyers, an amphibious strike group and the aforementioned Marines. The official US justification for the buildup was to increase its military's "visibility" was related to the increased incidence of Iranian seizures of commercial vessels traversing regional waters. The Islamic Republic has indeed ramped up a crackdown on vessels it says have engaged in illegal oil smuggling, and detained a US-bound oil tanker in April after it slammed into an Iranian fishing boat and attempted to flee the scene.
The escalation comes amid fading hopes for the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal which the US walked out on in 2018 amid pressure from Israel, and which the Biden administration promised to restore after entering office in 2021. Negotiations on a US return to the deal have stalled amid Washington’s attempts to add additional conditions to the agreement, and its refusal to take the IRGC off its designated "terrorist groups" listing.
Iran has forcefully rejected the IRGC's designation as a terrorist group, with President Ebrahim Raisi stating Friday that if it were not for IRGC actions in Iraq and Syria, America's European allies would have been overrun by Daesh (ISIS)* terror.
"The peaceful life Europe enjoys today is a result of the efforts of the IRGC; however, it is unfortunate that they are assassinating the heroes who combat terrorism and labeling the IRGC, which leads the fight against terrorism, as 'terrorists'," Raisi
said, referring to the US murder of IRGC Quds Force commander
Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
The current escalation isn’t the first time that Iran and the US risk coming to blows.
In the 1980s, hundreds of tanker vessels and other commercial ships came under attack in the Gulf during the
Iran-Iraq War, with Iranian and US forces engaging in a series of skirmishes and the conflict culminating in the July 3, 1988 US shoot down of an Iranian passenger plane, killing all 290 people onboard.
* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
