IRAN TESTS SPEED BOATS IN "MAJOR" GULF WAR GAMES

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 22, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards successfully
deployed a new speed boat capable of destroying enemy ships as war
games began on Thursday in a waterway crucial for global oil supplies,
Iranian media reported.

The Islamic Republic, which is locked in a dispute with the West
over its nuclear activities, often announces advances in its military
capabilities in an apparent bid to show its readiness for any attack
by Israel or the United States.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon said U.S. military action against Iran
remained an option even as Washington pursues diplomacy and sanctions
to halt the country’s atomic activities.

Iranian media said naval, air and ground units of the elite Guards
force would take part in the three-day exercise in the Gulf and the
Strait of Hormuz. About 40 percent of the world’s traded oil leaves
the Gulf region through the strategic narrows.

Western military analysts say Iran may resort to "asymmetric warfare"
if it comes under attack, for example by deploying swarms of speed
boats to disrupt enemy operations in the Gulf.

State broadcaster IRIB said the Guard put into operation for the
first time its "smart and unique" Ya Mahdi vessel.

"The radar-evading, high-speed Ya Mahdi vessel is able to track and
target the enemy’s surface vessels in a smart way and destroy them,"
it said, adding it was now being mass produced.

A spokesman for the maneuvers, Ali-Reza Tangsiri, said Ya Mahdi was
a remote-controlled vessel whose missiles could blow 7-meter holes
in any enemy ship.

State Press TV said the Guards’ exercise in the Gulf would show
off Iran’s defensive capabilities and its determination to maintain
security in the region.

The ILNA news agency said more than 300 various high-speed vessels
took part in the drill, equipped with missiles and rockets and carrying
Guards commandos.

"These vessels are regarded as the enemy’s nightmare," ILNA said.

A hypothetical enemy war ship which had entered Iran’s territorial
waters was targeted, seized and destroyed, it said.

Theodore Karasik, research director at the Institute for Near East and
Gulf Military Analysis, said the use of swarms of speedboats can be an
"effective tool" against the enemy.

"It plays to their strengths. What they are trying to do (in case
of conflict) is deny and deter access to the strait and surrounding
areas," Karasik told Reuters in Dubai.

"However, the U.S. and other navies know how to counter this," he said.

The drills coincided with rising tension between Iran and the West,
which fears Tehran’s nuclear program is aimed at developing bombs.

Iran denies the charge.

The United States is pushing for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions
on Tehran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities
as demanded by the U.N. Security Council, including proposed moves
against members of the Guards.

Israel, widely believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal,
has described Iran’s nuclear program as a threat to its existence.

Iran, a predominantly Shi’ite Muslim state, has said it would respond
to any attack by targeting U.S. interests in the region and Israel,
as well as closing the Strait of Hormuz