TEHRAN -- Chief Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Hussein Salami has praised the naval warfare service branch of his force as “powerful and prevailing,” stating that his fellow marines have been tasked with bolstering their presence in remote high seas areas.
Addressing a gathering of IRGC Navy commanders and officials in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad on Thursday, Salami said that the IRGC’s naval units have been tasked with the mission to be deployed and present in open seas.
He said the IRGC Navy has admirably and tremendously accomplished its missions, emphasizing that it is developing as a major naval force in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and beyond.
Salami went on to highlight that the IRGC Navy is currently in possession of sophisticated missiles, highly versatile vessels as well as other naval systems and equipment, and relies on the strong commitment and sense of teamwork among its personnel, homegrown know-how, domestically-developed armament and resourcefulness.
He noted that agility plays an important role in the success of naval battles, stating that a confrontation at sea is very fast and decisive as the opposite side has more limited equipment compared to the battle on the ground.
“The faster you can break the initial arrangement, the more you have changed the field of dominance. The more powerful you become, the more vulnerable the enemy turns out to be,” the IRGC chief pointed out.
Last month, the commander of the IRGC Navy said speedboats operated by the force had been equipped with radar-evading stealth technology, which can greatly reduce the distances at which they can be detected.
“As you know, the IRGC Navy is a completely strategic force and is in possession of all types of ammunition, ranging from tanks for naval battles to fixed-wing aircraft and drones,” Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said on the sidelines of a ceremony in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 25.
“Therefore, it has always been in contact and close cooperation with other forces and military organizations like the Ministry of Defense to produce various military systems and equipment,” Tangsiri said.
His force, he said, proudly utilizes equipment manufactured by domestic knowledge-based companies, including a series of drones and quadcopters.
The Iranian commander said the hull material and shape of the IRGC Navy’s speedboats employ stealth technology construction techniques so as to ensure they would remain undetected by radars.
Tangsiri noted that the IRGC Navy takes advantage of homegrown hulls for its watercraft.