A Military Commander: IRGC Boats Will Be Radar-Resistant and Equipped with New Missiles

The commander of the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that the speedboats of this force will become "radar-resistant and equipped with new missiles." His remarks come in the wake of rising tensions between Iran and the United States following Washington's withdrawal from the JCPOA, the U.S. efforts to reduce Iran's oil sales to zero, Tehran's threats to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if pressure on Iran's oil exports increases, and the entry of a U.S. warship into the Persian Gulf on December 21. Alireza Tangsiri stated on Tuesday, January 1, that this decision was made because "high speed and mobility in carrying out missions is always a priority in the IRGC Navy." According to him, this force is seeking "greater radar evasion and agility for its speedboats" to carry out assigned missions. This senior IRGC commander, without specifying these "missions," added: "New missiles are being installed on the IRGC Navy vessels with great agility." Tangsiri claimed that the IRGC "has the fastest speedboats in the world" and added: "We are working on speedboats with speeds of 80 knots and more, and we will soon take action to build boats with speeds exceeding 80 knots." Previously, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic had asked the commanders of the Iranian Navy to increase their "capabilities and readiness" so that "enemies do not dare to threaten the Iranian nation." Alireza Tangsiri, appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei for the IRGC Navy, also called for maximum military strengthening of the Islamic Republic during a ceremony at the Navy Sciences University in Nowshahr on September 9. According to IRNA, in another part of his statements, the IRGC Navy commander referred to the presence of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis as the first U.S. warship after the country’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, stating that "foreigners are present in the region but not in our waters." According to Tangsiri, they "do not even appear in our supervised waters; they are present in the territorial waters of other countries and in international waters." On December 22, coinciding with the arrival of the USS John C. Stennis in the Persian Gulf, the IRGC Ground Forces conducted a military maneuver on Qeshm Island and its surrounding waters. This force had also held a maneuver in the Persian Gulf nearly six months ago. Previously, multiple reports of confrontations between IRGC speedboats and U.S. warships had been published. However, these confrontations have decreased in recent years to the point where Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced this summer that the number of such incidents in 2018 was zero. However, Iranian television aired an unreleased video in October showing IRGC boats approaching the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Persian Gulf. Press TV states that this video was recorded on March 21 of this year. Regarding Iran's acquisition of "radar evasion" technology, military expert Hossein Aryan stated in an interview with Radio Farda's website: "If we equate radar evasion with 'stealth,' it is unlikely that Iran has achieved this technology. The U.S., Russia, and China are the only countries that possess this technology. However, Iran can build boats with a narrow radar cross-section (RCS) that reduces their detectability by radar." He added: "One aspect of the operational doctrine of the IRGC Navy is the use of so-called swarm attacks, meaning the use of a large number of speedboats equipped with rockets and machine guns to confront and strike a potential enemy. Therefore, the IRGC has always sought to equip itself with high-speed boats in recent years. Nearly a decade ago, Iran purchased the 'Blade Runner' boat known as 'Brad Stone Challenger' from South Africa." Aryan emphasized: "The claim that Iran has 'the fastest speedboats in the world' is an exaggeration. For example, ten years ago, the British Ministry of Defense unveiled a speedboat called 'XSR,' which is a pursuit boat equipped with a machine gun with a maximum speed of 85 knots, used to combat drug traffickers and pirates."