For some years now, the Iranian naval forces have had a number of unusual units at their disposal. The converted merchant ships are intended for the use of drones. For over ten years, rumours have been circulating on social media that Iran was planning to acquire its own aircraft carriers. At the beginning of 2014, these rumours seemed to become reality when satellite images...
After numerous hints and confusion, the Iranian navy officially unveiled its first nationally developed and built reconnaissance ship "Zagros" at the end of January. Here too - as is often the case in the Iranian shipbuilding programme - a tried and tested ship type was simply modified in order to fulfil new tasks: A Mowj-class corvette (95 metres, 1,500...
After the corvette-sized Dena (95 metres, 1,500 tonnes, in service in mid-2021, hull number 75), construction number four of the Iranian Navy's Jamaran class, completed its eight-month world tour in May 2023 accompanied by the forward base ship Makran (230 metres, 120,000 tonnes), two similar newbuildings have appeared,...
From 15 to 19 March 2023, units of the Chinese, Iranian and Russian navies conducted a joint naval manoeuvre in the area between Muscat (Oman) and Chahbahar (Iran). According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defence, ten units took part in the "Maritime Safety Belt" exercise: China provided the destroyer 155 "Nanjing" (Type 052D), Russia...
As is well known, Iran does not have long-range large combat ships, but it knows how to help itself in one way or another. It demonstrated this to high-ranking military leaders in mid-July and reported on it in the state media. This coincided with the American warning that Russia was planning to use...
A satellite photo published by the Associated Press (AP) on 27 May 2022 shows the "Shahid Mahdavi" in the flooded dry dock of Shahid Darvishi Marine Industries, a shipbuilding company near Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz. The shipyard, which manufactures and services both military and civilian units, is regarded as one of the...
While a ship sinks on our doorstep, the latest units of the Iranian navy pass the Cape of Good Hope westwards and move into the Atlantic, where no Iranian unit has ever travelled before. The cargo ship Makran, with military deck cargo (seven small FK combat boats) and presumably an ample arsenal of weapons below deck, is...
In the first days of June, Iran's largest unit to date, the Kharg, sank not far from the Iranian port of Jask at the exit of the Strait of Hormuz after a fire in the engine room spread on board and sent a signal that could be seen for miles. The ship had to be abandoned after twenty hours of unsuccessful firefighting. It was...
Mane obviligo If the passage of Russian nuclear submarines caused a furore, the entry of the Iranian navy's largest ship into the Baltic Sea accompanied by an Iranian frigate is no less so. For weeks, ship spotters have been following the course of two Iranian naval units with different interpretations of their destination. In the morning...
The Strait of Hormuz is an important bottleneck in the global trade in crude oil. The Iranian armed forces have repeatedly demonstrated that they can disrupt maritime traffic with simple means. The Islamic Republic of Iran and its naval forces represent a power factor in the Middle East. For this reason, it is worth taking a look...
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