The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy Expanding Deployment of Special Units in Int’l Waters

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps naval force is expanding its presence in international waters, IRGC Navy Commander General Ali Fadavi said, adding that the special units of the IRGC Navy are deployed on all Iranian ships traversing international waters.

“When the sea piracy in the Gulf of Aden started, first the IRGC Navy’s special forces were dispatched to the region and stayed there for four months,” General Fadavi told reporters on the sidelines of the 18th annual meeting of the IRGCN.

“Later” he said “the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army sent its naval troops to the region and our forces have been present in those waters alongside the army forces ever since then.”

“The Special forces of the IRGC Navy are present on all Islamic Republic of Iran’s ships in Eastern and Western Indian Ocean in a bid to prevent any kind of (hostile) move,” added the general.

“The presence of the IRGC naval forces in free waters will expand in future,” he added.

Iran’s naval power has even been acknowledged by foes. In a Sep. 11, 2008 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy also said that in the two decades since the Iraqi imposed war on Iran, the IRGC has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces.

According to the report, Iran’s Navy has been transformed into a highly motivated, well-equipped, and well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world’s oil lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.

The study says that if Washington takes military action against the Islamic Republic, the scale of Iran’s response would likely be proportional to the scale of the damage inflicted on Iranian assets.

The Islamic Republic’s top military officials have repeatedly warned that in case of an attack by either the US or Israel, the country would target 32 American bases in the Middle East and close the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

An estimated 40 percent of the world’s oil supply passes through the waterway.

A recent study by a fellow at Harvard’s Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Caitlin Talmadge, warned that the IRGC Navy could use mines as well as missiles to block the strait, and that “it could take many weeks, even months, to restore the full flow of commerce, and more time still for the oil markets to be convinced that stability had returned”.

The Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Seyed Ali Khamenei has described the Iranian Army’s Navy as “a strategic force”.

“Given the current issues of the world and today’s geopolitical conditions of the world, we should strengthen ourselves in sea and in coast as far as we can,” the Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed on November 28, 2010, addressing senior Navy commanders here in Tehran in a ceremony to commemorate the National Navy Day.

The Supreme leader also stressed that increasing manpower, recruiting talented personnel and taking innovations and initiatives into action are highly necessary for the future of the country’s naval forces.

The Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Seyed Ali Khamenei further praised the close cooperation between naval forces of the Islamic Republic Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

The Iranian Army Navy and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy have tight cooperation in controlling the country’s waterways and protecting Iran’s interests inside territorial waters and in the high seas.