Islamic Republic of Iran Navy or Iran Navy launched a naval combat war game in the Sea of Oman and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean on Thursday morning. In the exercise, codenamed ‘Ramadan Martyrs’, the Navy tested new short-range and long-range cruise missiles manufactured by the Iranian Defense Ministry. The long-range naval cruise missiles hit the targets at a distance of 280 kilometers. The range of the new homegrown missiles may be extended. A variety of coast-to-sea and sea-to-sea missiles with short and long ranges were fired simultaneously from the coastal launchers and the deck of naval vessels, and they could successfully detonate the targets with great accuracy.
The Thursday war game was held on the fortieth day after the martyrdom of a number of Navy forces in an incident involving the Konarak vessel. Nineteen Navy servicemen were dead and 15 others injured in the accident on May 10 when a number of vessels were carrying a naval training exercise off the coasts of Jask and Chabahar in the Sea of Oman. The vessel was struck by a Noor missile fired from the Iranian frigate Jamaran in a friendly fire incident during training on 10 May 2020.
Islamic Republic of Iran Navy regularly holds exercises in the Gulf of Oman, which is close to the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which 20 percent of the world’s oil trade passes. The U.S. has been actively campaigning to keep a United Nations arms embargo in place on Iran that is due to expire in November. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers two years ago, launching a maximum pressure campaign against Iran that has pushed the archrivals to the verge of conflict.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy acronymed NEDAJA is the naval warfare service branch of Iran’s regular military, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (Artesh). One of Iran’s two maritime military branches alongside the IRGC Navy, it overlaps functions and areas of responsibility with the other navy, but they are distinct in terms of military strategy and equipment. In contrast to the IRGC Navy, which is equipped with small fast-attack crafts, the backbone of the Artesh navy’s inventory consists of larger surface ships, including frigates and corvettes, and submarines. It is charged with the responsibility of forming Iran’s first line of defense in the Gulf of Oman with the mission of acting as an effective blue-water navy.
