The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN; Persian: نیروی دریایی سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, romanized: niru-ye daryâyi-e sepâh-e pâsdârân-e enghelâb-e eslâmi; officially abbreviated in Persian as NEDSA and also known as the Sepah Navy) is the naval warfare service of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps founded in 1985, and one of the two maritime forces of Iran, parallel to the conventional Islamic Republic of Iran Navy.
| Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy | |
|---|---|
| نیروی دریایی سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی | |
| Founded | 17 September 1985 |
| Country | Iran |
| Type | Navy, maritime land force |
| Role | Naval warfare, amphibious warfare |
| Size | +20,000 (2020) |
| Part of | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
| Headquarters | Tehran: 17 Bandar Abbas: 15 |
| Fleet |
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| Engagements |
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| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Commodore Alireza Tangsiri |
| Insignia | |
| Ensign | |
| Flag | |
IRGC's Navy has steadily improved its capabilities to support unconventional warfare and defend Iran's offshore facilities, coastlines, and islands in the Persian Gulf.
The Basij Navy has been established with a force of 55,000 sailors and 33,000 ships covering an area from the Persian Gulf to Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, and Zanzibar.
Name
The forces are known with their official abbreviation in Persian, "NEDSA". In maritime radio communications, it is addressed as "Sepah Navy".
History
Iran–Iraq War (1985–1988)
On 17 September 1985, Iran's supreme leader and commander-in-chief Ruhollah Khomeini ordered Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to create three branches including navy. Shortly afterwards, Hossein Alaei was appointed as the commander of the naval forces. The navy was tasked to operate in the Persian Gulf and by 1987 were able to play an active role against Iraqi Navy in the Iran–Iraq War.
During the "Tanker War" phase of the Iran–Iraq War, beside the regular Iranian Navy, IRGC started employing swarm tactics and surprise attacks using Boghammar speedboats fitted with rocket launchers, RPGs, and heavy machine guns. Attacks on Kuwaiti tankers, an Iraqi ally, eventually dragged the US Navy into the Persian Gulf to escort Kuwaiti tankers. As a response, IRGC ordered mining west of Farsi Island on the route of the very first caravan—the Kuwaiti supertanker SS Bridgeton escorted by four US warships—which successfully hit the tanker itself.
The 1988 naval battle between Iran and the US, Operation Praying Mantis, resulted in 1 Iranian frigate being lost (45 crew members killed), 1 gunboat (11 crew members killed), 3 speedboats, and 2 platforms. The US suffered 2 casualties due to an AH-1T Sea Cobra crashing or being shot down.[citation needed]
Engagements with the Royal Navy
On 21 June 2004, eight sailors and Royal Marines were seized by forces of the Revolutionary Guards' Navy while training Iraqi river patrol personnel in the Persian Gulf. On 23 March 2007, fifteen sailors and Royal Marines from HMS Cornwall were seized by forces of the Revolutionary Guards' Navy in the Persian Gulf.
Engagements with the United States Navy
On 7 January 2008, US officials claimed five Iranian speedboats 'harassed' United States Navy vessels in the Persian Gulf. IRGC speedboats made threatening moves and in one case even came within 180 meters of US warships. The US Navy also claimed to have received a radio transmission from Iranian boats saying: "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes". After this US ships were said to have taken up their gun positions and were ready to open fire at one of the boats when the Iranians turned away and one of the Iranian speedboats (allegedly) dropped white boxes into the water in front of the U.S. ships, it was not clear what was in the boxes.
Iranian officials and military commanders later downplayed the incidents as normal and denied having sent the radio transmission. After the US released a video showing Iranian speedboats swarming US ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran released its own video of the incident after suggesting the US video was staged.
On 12 January 2016, 10 American sailors were apprehended by IRGC officials off the coast of Farsi Island, which doubles as a naval installation for the IRGC. American officials stated that the sailors were on a training mission when one of their boats experienced a mechanical failure. During this time the vessel drifted into Iranian territorial waters spurring IRGC naval units to respond and apprehend the sailors with both vessels. US Secretary of State John Kerry engaged in a phone call with Iranian officials to defuse the situation. Iranian officials said that the sailors were in custody, but would be freed within hours, understanding that the incident was a mistake.
In 2019, the IRGC Navy allegedly carried out a series of attacks on international vessels in the Gulf of Oman and seized vessels taking them to Iran. As a result, the United States started the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) which increases overall surveillance and security in key waterways in the Middle East, according to the Deputy Secretary of Defense Michael Mulroy.
Military doctrine and strategy
IRGC Navy and Artesh Navy overlap functions and areas of responsibility, but they are distinct in terms of how they are trained and equipped— and more importantly also in how they fight. The Revolutionary Guards Navy has a large inventory of small fast attack craft, and specializes in asymmetric hit-and-run tactics. It is more akin to a guerrilla force at sea, and maintains large arsenals of coastal defense and anti-ship cruise missiles and mines.
Janes recognizes the IRGCN as the resuscitator of fast inshore attack craft (FIAC) in the modern era, as well as the most prominent practitioner of "small boat swarm tactics that combine speed, mass, co-ordinated manoeuvre, low radar signature, and concealment" among naval forces of the world.
It has also a Takavar (special force) unit, called Sepah Navy Special Force (S.N.S.F.).[citation needed]
In 2022, the IRGCN had unveiled a new uniform ditching its usual green in favor of white.
Organization
| Command | Current commander | Location of headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Naval Regions | ||
| 1st Region (Saheb al-Zaman) | Capt. Abbas Gholamshahi | Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province |
| 2nd Region (Nouh-e Nabi) | Capt. Ramezan Zirahi | Bushehr, Bushehr Province |
| 3rd Region (Imam Hussein) | Vice Cmdr. Yadollah Badin | Mahshahr, Khuzestan Province |
| 4th Region (Sarallah) | Vice Cmdr. Mansour Ravankar | Asaluyeh, Bushehr Province |
| 5th Region (Imam Mohammad Bagher) | Vice Cmdr. Ali Ozmaei | Bandar Lengeh, Hormozgan Province |
| Independent components | ||
| Special Force | Vice Cmdr. Sadeq Amooie | Faror Island, Persian Gulf |
| Engineering Command | Unknown | Borazjan, Bushehr Province |
| Naval Academy | Vice Cmdr. Hossein-Ali Zamani Pajouh | Zibakenar, Gilan Province |
| Samen al-Hojaj Naval Base | Capt. Parviz Gholipour | Babolsar, Mazandaran Province |
| Imam Ali Independent Naval Base | Cdr. Seyyed-Mehdi Mousavi | Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchestan Province |
Basij
The corps has a warfare organization for civilian Iranian citizens fleet since 2019, they will help fight wars and combat contraband and smuggling too.
Equipment
Current ships
According to 'The Military Balance 2020' of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), the inventory includes:
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- Unlike IISS categorization of PBFG, Jane's Fighting Ships considers this class of vessel PTFG or fast attack craft.
Speedboat fleet
In addition to the vessels mentioned above, IRGC operates a fleet of armed speedboats with displacement below 10 tonnes, the exact number of which is unknown. Back in 2007, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence estimated IRGC had a fleet of 1,000 speedboats that was growing. As of 2011, estimates ranged widely from "hundreds" to "several thousand". The number was put between 3,000 and 5,000 vessels according to most recent reports in 2020.
Classes of speedboats in the inventory include:
- Boghammar or Tareq class (IISS estimates c.40 operational in 2020)
- Zulfighar class air-defence boat
- Ashura class
- Cougar class
- FB class (RIB-33)
- Murce class
- Bahman class catamaran
- Gashti class
- Kuch class
- Bladerunner of Seraj class
- Heidar class
- Meead class
- Kajami class
- Gahjae class
- Tarlan class
- MIL 55 class
- MIL 40 class
- Zafar class
Ships
- Frigate
- IRIS Shahid Roudaki
- IRIS Shahid Mahdavi
- IRIS Shahid Bagheri, a drone carrier
Other vessels
- Al-Sabehat, swimmer delivery vehicle
- Bavar 2, wing-in-ground effect air vehicle
Current aircraft
Based on the IISS report, as of 2020 Iranian aircraft inventory includes:
| Aircraft | Origin | Type | Variant | In service | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helicopters | ||||||
| Bell 206 | United States | multi-role | AB-206 | Unknown | ||
| Mil Mi-17 | Russia | transport | Mi-171 Hip | 5 | ||
UAV
- Shahed 136
Coastal anti-ship missiles
- Noor, based on the Chinese C-802 (+)
- Kowsar, based on the Chinese C-701 (+)
- Kowsar, based on the Chinese TL-10 (+)
- Nasr-1, based on the Chinese TL-6 (+)
- HY-2 Silkworm (+)
- Qader, medium-range anti-ship cruise missile
- Persian Gulf (Khalij Fars), Anti ship ballistic missile (ASBM) based on Fateh-110.
- Firing Nasr-1 Missile from a truck launcher in Velayat-90 Naval Exercise
- Qader
Torpedoes
- Hoot, can be launched from IRGCN speedboats and torpedoboats
Commanders
| No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hossein Alaei | 17 September 1985 | 23 December 1990 | 5 years, 67 days | – | |
| 2 | Commodore Ali Shamkhani (born 1955) | 23 December 1990 | 27 August 1997 | 6 years, 247 days | [1] | |
| 3 | Commodore Ali Akbar Ahmadian (born 1961) | 27 August 1997 | 19 July 2000 | 2 years, 327 days | [2] | |
| 4 | Commodore Morteza Saffari | 19 July 2000 | 3 May 2010 | 9 years, 288 days | [3] | |
| 5 | Commodore Ali Fadavi (born 1961) | 3 May 2010 | 23 August 2018 | 8 years, 112 days | [4] | |
| 6 | Commodore Alireza Tangsiri (born 1962) | 23 August 2018 | Incumbent | 7 years, 116 days | [5] |
See also
- List of navies
- List of marines and similar forces
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