Iran - Spy ship for the Persian Gulf

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 tonnes) was stripped of all armament to make room for extended superstructures with SIGINT equipment and a small hangar for a helicopter - the exact role of which in electronic reconnaissance is not yet certain. Commissioning was probably not yet associated with the presentation because further functional tests were announced. However, it is clear that the ship will be based at the new naval station still under construction just a few kilometres east of Jask on the Gulf of Oman - and therefore outside the Strait of Hormuz.