‘US terrified of confronting Iran navy’

A senior Iranian commander says despite having deployed a fully-equipped aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, the US is terrified of potential confrontation with Iran’s naval forces.

“The only reason Western countries, especially the US, do not attack Iran is that they are aware of the courage [displayed by Iranian] soldiers during the unfair Iraq-Iran war,” the deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy, Ali-Reza Tangsiri, told Fars News Agency on Saturday.

The imposed war began in 1980, one year after the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, and lasted until 1988. It saw Iraq supported by the world’s major powers invading Iran by launching aerial and ground incursions into the Islamic Republic.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems.

Most recently, the country equipped the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps with a domestically-produced anti-ship stealth missile dubbed Qader (Able). The missile has been hailed as a projectile undetectable by the most advanced radar systems and one of a destructive power enough to sink any large battleship.

Iran has, however, repeatedly said that its military prowess poses no threat to other countries and that its defense doctrine is based on deterrence.

The Iranian commander stressed that “despite the advancements in its military industries, Iran has never harbored the thought of starting war rather it has sought peace and calm in the region and will only defend its borders against aggressors.”

The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet based in the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain carries out patrols of the region with about 30 ships, including two aircraft carriers.