President Donald Trump has said destroying Iran’s navy is a central goal of the US military campaign. US forces have sunk more than 20 Iranian naval vessels. including one that was torpedoed by a submarine in the Indian Ocean, according to US Central Command.
While Iran’s nuclear and missile programs have dominated conversations about its military capabilities, the United States and its allies in the region have also long considered its naval forces a serious threat due to their ability to disrupt trade and energy supplies from the Persian Gulf region.
In recent periods of high tensionIranian officials have threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel between Iran and the United Arab Emirates through which ships transport a fifth of the world’s oil and a significant amount of natural gas.
Here’s what you should know about Iran’s naval forces:
Iran has two navies.
In the years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s military planners organized its naval forces into two separate services. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Navy resembles most other navies, primarily armed with conventional warships. The Revolutionary Guard, a powerful parallel force to the regular army, has its own navy focused on operations in the Gulf and along Iran’s coast. The Guard’s navy primarily uses smaller, faster vessels.
Before Iran was attacked, its regular navy had three submarines, eight frigates and two corvettes in its fleet, according to data from defense intelligence firm Janes. It also had 22 small submarines. According to the US military, these were specifically designed to operate in the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. According to Janes, the Revolutionary Guard navy was primarily equipped with hundreds of smaller, faster vessels.
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Having the ability to place mines in regional waters has been a key component of Iran’s naval strategy, according to US Navy assessments. Iran’s naval services have acquired vessels, including submarines and small boats, that are capable of laying mines and disrupting maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a US intelligence assessment published last year.
In recent years, Iran’s naval forces have also integrated drones, one of the country’s most powerful new weapons, by building aircraft carrier ships.
The United States says it sank more than 20 Iranian warships.
Iran’s naval forces were attacked as soon as US operations began, and more than 20 warships had been destroyed by US forces as of Wednesday, according to US Central Command. These include the aircraft carrier Shahid Bagheri, which Central Command says was sunk just hours after the start of the operation. The command said Thursday that it had attacked another Iranian aircraft carrier.
Central Command has said the other destroyed ships include two corvettes and a frigate, the IRIS Dena, which was torpedoed Wednesday by a U.S. submarine in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka.
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As of March 3, there were no Iranian warships left in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz or the Gulf of Oman, according to an infographic on the first 100 hours of the operation published by the US military. Central Command has not provided details about the other vessels it said were destroyed.
The Revolutionary Guard warned ships to stay away from the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.
An American submarine torpedoed the Dena.
The sinking of the frigate Dena was the deadliest known US attack on the Iranian navy in current operations.
The Dena sent a distress signal after being hit. The Sri Lankan navy sent ships to help and was able to rescue 32 Iranian sailors. According to Sri Lankan authorities, at least 80 people aboard the ship died.
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Iran’s foreign minister said Thursday that nearly 130 sailors were aboard the ship when it was hit and accused the United States of carrying out “an atrocity at sea.” Sri Lanka’s foreign minister had previously said there was a crew of 180.
The attack marked the first time since World War II that a U.S. Navy submarine hit a ship with a torpedo in combat.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
