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Iran unveiled on Saturday a new mass produced long-range anti-warship cruise missile, named Ghadir.

Iran’s defense minister on Saturday inaugurated the mass production line of the country’s homegrown long-range naval missile “Qadir”, while a first cargo of the anti-ship cruise missiles was delivered to the IRGC Navy.

In a ceremony to inaugurate the missile production line, Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan referred to ‘Qadir’ as a “strategic and effective missile in the naval battles.”

Dehqan said it is prepared rapidly for launch, flies in low altitudes with high navigation capabilities, hits the targets precisely with great destructive power, suits for electronic warfare thanks to advanced radars, and can be launched from various types of vessels and even a helicopter, helping extend its operational range.

The minister also noted that videos of the Qadir show it identifying and annihilating a naval target at a distance of 300 kilometers away from the coast, TNA reported.

Iran unveils long-range anti-warship cruise missile

Also today Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi announced that IRGC vessels and helicopters have been equipped with the home-made long-range ‘Qadir’ cruise missiles, FNA reports.

“In addition to their deployment in our coasts, Qadir cruise missiles have also been mounted on IRGC vessels and helicopters,” Fadavi said on the sidelines of a ceremony during which the IRGC received control of Qadir missiles production line from the defense ministry.

He further reminded that the range of Qadir missiles is not limited to 300km, “rather its true range is 300km plus the distance that the helicopter or vessel carrying them has paved. If we fire it from our coasts, its range will be 300km, but when the missile is mounted on our vessels and helicopters, the range of the missile will be added to the range of these missiles.”

The IRGC received control and launched the production line of ‘Qadir’ cruise missiles in a ceremony participated by Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan and other high-ranking Iranian commanders.

The submarine, named Be'sat, which is now in designing stage will be 60 meters long and has the operational power for missions in the depth of 300 meters.

Iranian military experts plan to mount 6 launchers for firing torpedoes and marine cruise missiles on the new submarine and equip the subsurface vessel with mine-laying capability.

The submarine will weigh over 1,300 tons.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems.

Iranian Army Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi announced in December that the Navy forces would launch a newly optimized submarine in the near future.

"The Navy's new subsurface vessel will be ready and launched soon to enhance the Army's power," Salehi told reporters in the Southern province of Bushehr.

"The subsurface vessel has been optimized by the Army's capable forces with the help of old and new achievements and equipment," he added.

Also in December, Salehi praised the high capabilities of Iranian Navy forces and experts, underlining that the country could overhaul and build different types of surface and subsurface vessels.

"Our capabilities are growing each day and we have managed to promote and improve what we have, thanks to Iranian experts' powerful hands," Salehi said on the sidelines of a ceremony held in the Southern province of Bushehr to display the Navy's new achievements.

"In the very near future we will witness the building, renovation and innovation of surface and subsurface vessels by the Navy," he added.

Meantime, Salehi emphasized that Iran's knowledge and capabilities to build different military tools and equipment had no message to the other world nations, but peace and friendship.

"10 Navy vessels have or are being armed with missile systems," Zamini told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony held to mark the delivery of several overhauled and optimized anti-subsurface SH3D helicopters, an SRN6 hovercraft, an anti-surface AB212 helicopter and a sea patrol F27 aircraft in Bandar Abbas port city, Southern Iran on Monday.

"These missiles include Nasr, Nour and Qader cruise missiles," he added.

Also during the ceremony which was held in the presence of Army Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi and Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, Major General Salehi announced that "today all our units, including subsurface, vessel and air units are equipped with the best missiles, rockets and artilleries".

The Iranian Navy on Monday also received 6 overhauled and optimized missile-launching vessels.

The vessels which were delivered to the Navy in the first Naval zone in Bandar Abbas port city, Southern Iran, included 2 Sirik-class and Kalat-class warships as well as 4 Fajr, Shams, Fath and Nour vessels.

All these vessels which were used in logistical and sea patrolling missions before have been equipped with surface-to-surface cruise missiles now.

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) - Two Chinese destroyers have arrived at Iran's Gulf port of Bandar Abbas, in an unprecedented visit attesting to a new rapprochement between the two countries, Iranian media reported Sunday.

The four-day visit is the first time a Chinese naval vessel has called at a port in the Islamic republic, across the Gulf from Bahrain where the US Fifth Fleet is based.

The two navies will conduct joint search and rescue exercises and training for maritime accidents, according to Admiral Hossein Azad, a senior commander of the Iranian navy, quoted by media.

Iran's navy has boosted its international presence over the past few years, in particular to help guard commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden against pirate attacks.

Ships from Iran's navy have called at Chinese ports in the past.

Iran and China have greatly enhanced their trade and economic relations in recent years.

China has become Iran's largest trading partner.

Trade between them is this year expected to exceed $45 billion, despite the economic and banking sanctions against Iran because of its controversial nuclear programme.

China is among so-called P5+1 states (the United States, Russia, China, France, UK and Germany) negotiating with Tehran in the hope of ending more than a decade of crisis over the nuclear issue.

Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 18

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iranian Navy Commander Habibollah Sayyari announced that the home-made Fateh (Conqueror) submarine will join the Navy in late-November.

The commander went on to note that Iran achieved the technology for building submarines 20 years ago, the country's official IRNA news agency reported on Aug. 18.

Iran has failed to unveil the Fateh submarine despite earlier announced dates.

In 2011, for the first time Iranian officials announced that Fateh would launch operation, then in 2013 Sayyari said that "the submarine will become operational in the current year."

Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan announced this March that the submarine would probably join the Navy on May 24, the date honoring the anniversary of the liberation of Khorramshahr city during the eight-year war with Iraq.

Dehqan said that the submarine has undergone necessary tests and its faults have been corrected.

Fateh weighs nearly 500 tonnes and it is Iran's newest semi-heavy submarine.

The Iranian media outlets reported that Fateh class subs can operate more than 200 meters below the sea surface for nearly five weeks.

The country has so far launched different classes of home-made advanced submarines including Ghadir, Qaem, Nahang, Tareq and Sina.

Sayyari underlined that Iran is currently mass-producing Ghadir class submarines.

A submarine Iran is building at Bandar Anzali on the Caspian Sea will be operational in 2015, according to military sources cited by the Azerbaijan Press Agency (APA).

In November 2013, IHS Jane's published satellite imagery that revealed the submarine was being constructed at Bandar Anzali and that a second, similarly sized boat had already been launched at the Bostanu shipyard on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials have said a new class of 500-tonne submarines called the Fateh is under construction. Although the launch of the first-of-class has not been officially announced, in February Iranian television broadcast footage of it being launched at Bostanu.

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian Navy started to manufacture an indigenous destroyer for training purposes, dubbed ‘the Persian Gulf’, a top Navy commander announced.

The mock aircraft carrier that Iran is building was seen in this picture that was released on 21 February when Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh visited the shipyard west of Bandar Abbas. Source: ISNA

A mock-up of an aircraft carrier that is currently under construction at an Iranian shipyard will be used in a film about the shooting down of Iran Air flight 655 by the US Navy (USN) in 1988, according to Iranian media reports.

The film is called Airbus and will be directed by Nader Talebzadeh. It is unclear from the Iranian media reports if any members of the film's production team have gone on the record to confirm the mock-up will be used in the movie.

The construction of the mock carrier was first reported by The New York Times on 20 March. The newspaper said it had been informed by US officials who wanted to "reveal the

existence of the vessel to get out ahead of the Iranians".

The New York Times reported that the vessel is approximately two-thirds the length of the USN's Nimitz class, and has 68 - USS Nimitz 's fleet number - painted near its bow (this cannot be seen in the satellite imagery that has been published to date).

It said the USN and other intelligence analysts believe the mock-up will be used as a target and/or blown up for propaganda purposes if Iran's current negotiations with the international community stall.

The mock carrier has been under construction at the shipyard southwest of Bandar Abbas since at least August 2013, when its frame could be seen in the most recent satellite imagery published by Google Earth. That shipyard is used to repair and produce naval vessels, but also makes commercial ships.

A photograph of the mock-up was published by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) on 21 February when Iranian Minister of Industries, Mines and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh visited the shipyard.

COMMENT

It is difficult to believe the claim that the mock carrier is a movie prop, given the expense of building it when compared with using computer-generated imagery and the fact that an aircraft carrier was not directly involved in shooting down Flight 655, which was destroyed by a missile fired from the Ticonderoga-class missile cruiser USS Vincennes . It would also be strange if the mock-up was intended to represent USS Nimitz , which arrived in the Gulf region more than three months after Flight 655 was shot down on 3 July 1988.

While the mock carrier would also be an expensive target, this explanation seems more credible. If this is the case, the fact that aircraft and flight deck markings have been painted on the vessel suggest it will be used in a dramatic demonstration of Iran's ability to attack naval vessels.

This could involve the Khalij Fars anti-ship ballistic missile: a version of the Fateh-110 fitted with an optical seeker so it can home in on its target in its terminal phase. The Iranians have already publicised two tests of the missile, one of which involved the release of footage shot from its seeker as it homed in on a floating barge.

The Iranians hinted there would be further developments on this front on 24 February, when they unveiled a new optical seeker for a ballistic missile. The announcement prompted speculation that the new seeker has been developed for a larger missile with a longer range. Dimensional analysis indicates the new seeker has approximately the same diameter as the one seen on the Khalij Fars (380 mm), but is shorter.

Israël a intercepté ce matin, en mer Rouge, « Klos C », un navire iranien à destination de Gaza avec des dizaines de tonnes d’armes à bord.

Le navire iranien a vu arriver sur son pont à 5h30 du matin des soldats israéliens, alors que le commandant du navire mettait le cap sur le Soudan – où il était censé décharger les armes pour que ces dernières partent en camion vers Gaza à travers l’Egypte.

A l’intérieur des cales, des missiles sol-mer, sol-sol, sol-air… Dont certain ayant une portée de 200 km ! Ainsi, Gaza aurait pu toucher « tout Israël » avec ces missiles.

« Nous avons pris le contrôle du navire iranien sans résistance et il n’y a eu aucune victime ni violence » explique une source bien renseignée à JSSNews.

 Le Chef d’Etat Major de l’armée ajoute: « cela fait plusieurs jours que nous avons l’oeil sur ce navire. Nous l’avons arrêté à 1.500 km de nos cotes, et le personnel marin dans le navire iranien  est international. Nous essayons aujourd’hui de savoir s’ils étaient au courant de ce qu’ils transportaient. »

« Nous avons trouvé des dizaines de roquettes identiques à ce que l’on trouve en Syrie, des 302M » ajoute l’armée.

En fait, des armes ont été chargées sur ce bateau depuis la Syrie, l’Iran et l’Irak.

Le navire a été capturé entre le Soudan et l’Érythrée. 

Dans le passé, les opérations d’abordage similaires de la Marine ont conduit à la capture d’armes. En novembre 2009 les combattants de la marine ont pris le contrôle du navire Francop , qui voyageait de l’Iran vers la Syrie avec 40 conteneurs pleins d’armes, pesant environ 300 tonnes.

En janvier 2009 a été arrêté le navire chypriote Monchegorsk loué par une société iranienne d’expédition. A l’intérieur: des obus de chars, de l’artillerie et des roquettes.

Le bateau le plus célèbre arrêté est le Karine-A. Israël l’avait abordé en 2002. Il venait d’Iran et avait pour destination l’Autorité Palestinienne.

En mai 2001, le navire Santorin a quitté le Liban avec des armes pour la bande de Gaza. Il a été capturé au large de Haïfa. A l’intérieur, des RPG, des kalachnikov, et des missiles moyenne portée.

Iran has launched its Fateh-class submarine, the largest it has ever built, into the Persian Gulf. It has a displacement of 600 tons, which means a significant improvement if compared to the Ghadir-class submarines, which had a displacement of 120 tons. Fateh is equipped with more sophisticated electronic and weaponry systems than the Ghadir-class submarines. The Submarine is bigger than the largest subs built by North Korea, which is believed to have helped Iran produce its 29-meter Ghadir midget subs. Iran has also announced the production of another new submarine class called 'Besat', which will have a displacement of 1200 tons.

An excerpt from the report of Iranian TV on military achievements after the Islamic revolution, the anniversary of which these days is celebrated in Iran.

The flotilla, which is the first dispatched to the Atlantic, but the 29th one dispatched to the international waters, consists of Khark logistic and helicopter-carrier warship and Sabalan destroyer. The warships should sail 25,000 nautical kilometers in the next three months.

Addressing Iranian commanders, Navy personnel, sailors and crews in a ceremony to bid farewell to the flotilla, Admiral Moussavi said Iran has a message of peace and friendship for the world states and seeks to show its defensive power to the world by sending its fleets of warships to the international waters.

In December another senior Iranian commander announced the country’s plans to deploy warships in the Atlantic Ocean.

“The previous flotillas of warships were sent to the Mediterranean Sea and passed the Suez Channel and even sailed through the Pacific Ocean and the China Sea,” Commander of the Navy’s Fourth Naval Zone Admiral Afshin Rezayee told FNA last month.

“Now we intend to enter the Atlantic Ocean and this will be materialized after dispatch of the next flotillas of warships,” he added.

In relevant remarks in November, Sayyari said that Iran plans to dispatch its next flotilla of warships to the high seas in early 2014 to protect the country’s cargo ships and oil tankers against pirate attacks.

“The Navy’s next flotilla will be dispatched to either the Pacific Ocean or the Atlantic on January 21-Feb 20,” he said.

He underlined that the Navy’s flotilla will pass through the Mediterranean Sea to reach the Atlantic Ocean.

The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.

According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.

The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.

Admiral Sayyari noted that the 28th Flotilla comprises Alborz destroyer, Bandar Abbas helicopter-carrier warship and the Tareq-class submarine, Younes, and added, “This flotilla will berth in Mumbai with the mission of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries and supervising the security of Iran’s interests.”

Another ranking commander of the Iranian Navy had announced earlier that the Younus submarine would be dispatched to the East Asian waters.

“The (Iranian) Navy will dispatch the ultra heavy Tareq-class submarine, ‘Younus’ as part of the Navy’s 28th flotilla of warships to the countries of East Asia,” Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Navy for Operations Admiral Siyavash Jarreh said last month.

He underlined Iran's sophisticated technology in the naval industry, saying “The most complicated technology of world’s military equipment belongs to submarines.”

“The Navy’s 28th Flotilla will berth at Mumbai and Colombo ports during its voyage,” he added.

 In August, the Iranian Navy dispatched its 27th flotilla of warships to the high seas to protect the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against pirates.

Admiral Sayyari said the 27th fleet was dispatched after the return of the 26th fleet of the Iranian Navy, comprised of the Bandar Abbas warship and the Alvand destroyer returned home.

Sayyari also said that the mission of the warships is to provide security for Iranian oil tankers and commercial ships sailing on the open seas.

He added that the 26th Fleet had operated in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Northern Indian Ocean during its mission on the open seas and visited a number of ports in Oman and Djibouti.

The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.

According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates.

The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.

Navy commanders said the overhaul of Lavan chopper carrier, including renovation and operationalizing its hydraulic systems which needs a very complicated technical procedure, has taken 33 months.

Meantime, the SH3D combat helicopter also came back into operation for the Navy after nearly 20 months of overhaul repairs and seven months of tests.

Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army Brigadier General Abdul-Rahim Mousavi and Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari were present in the ceremony.

Lavan warship is capable of carrying RH and SH helicopters as well as armored personnel carriers.

In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems.

In September, Sayyari had announced in September that the country's Navy has equipped its newly-overhauled warship, Lavan, with advanced weapons and radar systems to improve its performance and fire power.

"Some repairs and changes have been made to the body as well as the sailing, sonar and radar systems, weapons and information-gathering sensors of the warship," he told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in the Northern city of Noshahr at the time.

"The warship needed an overhaul and equipment with the state of the art and novel technologies and therefore the warship's weapons have been modernized," he added.

"The overhaul operations have been thoroughly made by the young and committed experts of the naval industry," he added.

On Wednesday, a senior Navy commander announced that the Iranian Navy plans to expand its fleet by launching three new warships later this week.

“Two missile-launcher warships, namely Neyzeh and Tabarzin, as well as Sirjan logistic warship will join the Navy’s military fleet on December 1 (Sunday),” Commander of Iran’s Second Naval Zone Rear Admiral Mohammad Reza Abbasian told reporters, addressing a press conference in the Southern city of Bushehr.

March 9, 2015 (Persian calendar 1393/12/18) Iran’s domestically-made frigate, Damavand دماوند, has officially joined the Navy’s fleet in the Caspian Sea دريا...

During the meeting, both officials emphasized the importance of exchanging experiences and technical know-how between the two countries’ naval forces.

They also called for holding joint naval exercises in high seas.

Sayyari also held a separate meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan on Thursday, where the Iranian official attached great importance to its relations with China and voiced Tehran’s readiness to enhance bilateral naval cooperation with Beijing.

According to a report by China's official Xinhua news agency, Chang, for his part, expressed Beijing’s willingness to work with the Islamic Republic “to further pragmatic cooperation and strengthen military-to-military ties.”

He said that Iranian and Chinese armed forces have had “good cooperation on mutual visits, personnel training and other fields in recent years.”

Iran and China have recently boosted their naval cooperation.

Earlier in September, the 17th Chinese Naval Escort Fleet, including the missile destroyer Changchun and missile frigate Changzhou, docked at the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.

On March 4, 2013, the 24th fleet of Iran’s Navy, comprising Sabalan destroyer and Kharg helicopter carrier, docked at China’s port city of Zhangjiagang after sailing 13,000 kilometers in 40 days.

The Iranian Navy said in a statement on September 17 that Iran’s naval forces rescued a Chinese container ship from an attack by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

The Chinese vessel was reportedly on its way from Singapore to the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia when it came under attack. It continued its voyage after being rescued from the pirates.

Iran's Khalij Fars anti-ship ballistic missile (AShBM) - a weapon that could shift the military balance in the Gulf region - is being delivered to operational units, according to the US Department of Defense's annual report to Congress on the Islamic Republic's military capabilities.

"Tehran is quietly fielding increasingly lethal symmetric and asymmetric weapon systems, including more advanced naval mines, small but capable submarines, coastal defence cruise missile batteries, attack craft, and anti-ship ballistic missiles," the report's declassified executive summary said.

This is the first corroboration of Iranian claims that the AShBM is in service. US officials declined to comment further on the report, which was submitted to Congress in January.

The Khalij Fars is a version of the Fateh-110 tactical ballistic missile with an electro-optical (EO) seeker that enables it to home in on a ship's infrared signature in its terminal phase. The Iranian media has reported that the missile has the same 300 km range and 650 kg warhead as the more recent versions of the Fateh-110.

Vice Admiral James Syring, the director of the US Missile Defense Agency, submitted a statement to a Congressional subcommittee in June saying: "This ballistic missile has a range of 300 km, which means it is capable of threatening maritime activity throughout the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz." Vice Adm Syring confirmed the AShBM had been flight tested, but did not comment on whether it was operational.

The Khalij Fars would be harder to intercept than Iran's conventional anti-ship missiles due to its significantly higher velocity (said to be Mach 3) and parabolic trajectory.

The missile was first unveiled in February 2011, when Iran released footage apparently showing it hitting a stationary ship. A second test was announced in July 2012, when Iranian television showed footage that appeared to have been filmed by the missile's seeker as it homed in on a floating platform that was moving.

While the Iranian media has reported since the February 2011 unveiling that the missile was being mass produced, it was not until 5 March 2014 that the Ministry of Defence held a ceremony in which multiple Khalij Fars were officially delivered to the military.

The eight Khalij Fars that featured in the ceremony had the tip of their noses covered by a protective cap, making it impossible to see the EO seeker that distinguishes them from the Fateh-110.

Analysts have previously been sceptical of Iran's AShBM programme. A paper published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on 14 August said: "Experts feel … Iran has little or no operational capability to use the Khalij Fars … or any ballistic missile or long-range rocket in the anti-ship [role]."

The CSIS report said Iran did not have an effective way to acquire and track over-the-horizon targets so that the missile's guidance system could be programmed and then updated during flight to ensure its seeker could find the target in its terminal phase.

It nevertheless said: "Iran potentially could alter the regional naval balance if it ever did reach such a level of sophistication in guidance, range, reliability, and operational accuracy."

The first frigate to operate in the Caspian Sea is currently undergoing tests and will become operational in the next six months, Iranian media organisations have reported.

The announcement was made by Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN), during a visit to the Fourth Naval Zone based at Bandar Anzali on the Caspian.

Officially launched in March 2013, the ship is the second Jamaran-class vessel that Iran has built domestically using the 1,400-tonne Alvand-class light frigates it acquired in the 1960s as a template.

Before its launch, the Iranian media reported that the vessel was to be called Velayet , while officials referred to it as Jamaran 2 during the launch ceremony.

A new Iranian Ghadir-class stealth mini-submarine, home-built with Chinese technology, recently sank near the Strait of Hormuz, while preparing for a Revolutionary Guards naval exercise to practice sinking or disabling a mock-up US aircraft carrier, debkafile’s military and intelligence sources report exclusively.
The sub was launched just a year ago.

The Iranians drew a tight veil of secrecy over the accident, curtailing the search for the estimated 10 crewmen to avoid drawing the notice of US or other intelligence agencies in the region.
Chinese and Russian teams secretly enlisted to help search for the sunken mini-submarine, quickly abandoned it saying that none of the crew could have survived. It was up to Iran to decide, they said, whether to continue the search at the risk of exposing its plans for sinking US carriers in a war contingency. So long as the sub stayed on the bottom, its stealth technology would make it hard for Western intelligence to locate it.
The ill-fated submarine was to have shown its paces by striking a replica of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier Iran had built at the Bandar Abbas naval base.

The replica was spotted by US satellites. Challenged for an explanation, the Iranians first tried claiming it was to be used in a film documenting the naval forces present in the Persian Gulf.
But then on April 27, the Navy Commander Rear Adm. Ali Fadavi gave the game a way by saying: “Iranian forces should target the carrier in the trainings. We should learn about the weaknesses and strengths of our enemy.”

On May 6, Adm. Fadavi made a more warlike statement that clearly defined “the enemy” when he said: "They [Americans] know nothing. We have been making and sinking replicas of US destroyers, frigates and warships for long years, and we have sunk the replica of their vessels in 50 seconds through a series of operational measures."

The semi-official Fars agency quoted him as saying also: “Destroying the US navy remains one of the top operational goals of the Tehran forces. If war with the United States breaks out, the Iranians will attack American aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, their size making them easy to target.”

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN) has refitted its Tondar fast attack craft (FACs) with Ghader anti-ship missiles, local media quoted Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the IRGCN's deputy commander, as saying on 7 April.

Iran imported 10 Tondar FACs from China in the mid-1990s. These were originally armed with Chinese C-802 anti-ship missiles and remain the largest combat vessels in the IRGCN's fleet.

IRGCN Chief General Ali Fadavi announced in April 2012 that the Tondars had been rearmed with Iranian missiles and fire-control systems. While he did not identify the missile, it could have been either the Noor - which is the Iranian version of the C-802 - or the stretched version known as the Ghader.

Iranian officials announced that the Ghader went into production in 2011 and has a range of 200 km.

The rearming of the Tondar FACs is part of a wider trend that has seen Iran integrate the Ghader, which was first produced for shore-based launchers, with a growing number of platforms, including Kaman (Combattante II)-class FACs, Jamaran-class frigates, and F-4 fighters.

WASHINGTON — Iran is building a nonworking mock-up of an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that United States officials say may be intended to be blown up for propaganda value.

Intelligence analysts studying satellite photos of Iranian military installations first noticed the vessel rising from the Gachin shipyard, near Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, last summer. The ship has the same distinctive shape and style of the Navy’s Nimitz-class carriers, as well as the Nimitz’s number 68 neatly painted in white near the bow. Mock aircraft can be seen on the flight deck.

The Iranian mock-up, which American officials described as more like a barge than a warship, has no nuclear propulsion system and is only about two-thirds the length of a typical 1,100-foot-long Navy carrier. Intelligence officials do not believe that Iran is capable of building an actual aircraft carrier.

“Based on our observations, this is not a functioning aircraft carrier; it’s a large barge built to look like an aircraft carrier,” said Cmdr. Jason Salata, a spokesman for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, across the Persian Gulf from Iran. “We’re not sure what Iran hopes to gain by building this. If it is a big propaganda piece, to what end?”

Whatever the purpose, American officials acknowledged on Thursday that they wanted to reveal the existence of the vessel to get out ahead of the Iranians.

Navy and other American intelligence analysts surmise that the vessel, which Fifth Fleet wags have nicknamed the Target Barge, is something that Iran could tow to sea, anchor and blow up — while filming the whole thing to make a propaganda point, if, say, the talks with the Western powers over Iran’s nuclear program go south.

Iran has previously used barges as targets for missile firings during training exercises, filmed the episodes and then televised them on the state-run news media, Navy officials said.

“It is not surprising that Iranian military forces might use a variety of tactics — including military deception tactics — to strategically communicate and possibly demonstrate their resolve in the region,” said an American official who has closely followed the construction of the mock-up.

But while Iran has tried to conceal its underground nuclear-related sites, the Iranian Navy has taken no steps to cloak from prying Western satellites what it is building pierside at the busy shipyard. “The system is often too opaque to understand who hatched this idea, and whether it was endorsed at the highest levels,” said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Iran has sought to exploit captured or pirated American military technology in the past. Last year, Iran’s political and military elite boasted that their forces had shot down an American intelligence-gathering drone, a remotely piloted Navy vehicle called ScanEagle that they quickly put on display for the Iranian news media...

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For now, Navy analysts and American intelligence officials say they are not unduly concerned about the mock ship. But the fact that the Iranians are building it, presumably for some mysteriously bellicose purposes, contrasts with the fact that the Iranians stepped back from their typically heavy anti-American posture during a recent naval exercise in the gulf.

Until recently, Iranian fast-attack boats have harassed American warships, and the government in Tehran has deployed remotely piloted aircraft that carry surveillance pods and that may someday carry rockets.

With Iran’s multiple political bases of power, the government’s purposes can be hard to decipher. After the temporary nuclear agreement was reached in November between the world powers and the moderate government of Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, it was unclear to American officials whether Iran’s hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps might try to provoke a conflict with the United States Navy to undercut the accord.

The navy of the Revolutionary Guards consists of fast-attack speedboats with high-powered machine guns and torpedoes, and crews that in the past employed guerrilla tactics, including swarming perilously close to American warships.

When the mock-up will take its maiden voyage — if it ever does — is anyone’s guess, analysts said. The vessel is nearing completion, they said, and will presumably be shipped by rail on tracks that run through the shipyard, to its destiny in the Persian Gulf just a few hundred yards away.

Fars News Agency, quoting Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Navy for Operations Admiral Siyavash Jarreh, announced that the new Sayyad 2 Surface to Air Missiles would be modified in order to be fitted on Iran's Navy Mowdge class Destroyers (Frigate in western standards).

The Iranian defense ministry in November inaugurated the production line of Sayyad 2’.

The production line of the missile was launched in a ceremony attended by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan.

“The designing and production of Sayyad 2 missile was brought on agenda to have the needed defensive tool for confronting (possible) air raids,” Dehqan said, addressing the ceremony in Tehran.

“The missile enjoys a solid fuel engine with a combined guiding system and high operational capabilities,” he added.

Dehqan explained that Sayyad 2 is a missile for mid-range and high-altitude air defense systems, designed based on the state-of-the-art technologies which can destroy different types of helicopters, drones and targets with small radar cross-section and high speed and maneuverability within its operational range.

Iran successfully test-fired its latest air-defense missile system, Sayyad 2, in 2011.

Iran had earlier unveiled Sayyad 1 surface-to-air missile which is a two-staged air defense missile that is capable of destroying targets with low Radar Cross Section (RCS) at low and medium altitudes.

The system enjoys the capability to defuse jamming and electronic warfare attacks.

Sayyad 2 is an upgraded version and enjoys higher precision, range and destruction power compared with its previous version.

Iran's first home-made destroyer, Jamaran, was launched in late February 2010. The Mowdge Class vessel has a displacement of around 14,000 tons and is equipped with modern radars and electronic warfare capabilities and is armed with a variety of anti-ship, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, Sayyari left Tehran on Saturday to attend the conference as a special guest and deliver a speech about Iran’s viewpoints on providing maritime security for naval routes in the Indian Ocean.
He will also discuss the expansion of naval ties with Indian Ocean littoral states including India, Pakistan, South Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia as well countries like Japan and China.
The International Maritime Security Symposium is scheduled for December 9 to 11.
Nearly 350 participants from countries grouped in the Indian Oceans Naval Symposium (IONS) and Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) as well as extra regional countries will attend the three-day symposium.
In recent years, the Iranian Navy has increased its presence in international waters, including the northern tip of the Indian Ocean, the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Red Sea, to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.
In line with international efforts against piracy, the Navy has also been conducting patrols in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden since November 2008 in order to safeguard merchant containers and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran or other countries.
The Navy has managed to foil several attacks on both Iranian and foreign tankers during its mission in international waters.

Iran will install its newly unveiled Asr radar system on the Jamaran destroyer, head of the Iranian Navy's Industrial Research and Self-Sufficiency Organisation Rear Admiral Ali Gholamzadeh said, Fars news agency reported on Dec. 4.

The Asr naval phased array long range radar system being manufactured by the Navy Industrial Research and Self-Sufficiency Organisation was unveiled on Nov.27.

Gholamzadeh went on to note that the radar is also planned to be installed on the Sahand destroyer which is being built.

"If a new radar system is not manufactured until the Sahand destroyer's launch, Asr will be installed on board," he said.

Gholamzadeh also underlined that sailing range of the Sahand would be twice that of the Jamaran destroyer as well as its weapons.

In recent years, Iran's Navy has been increasing its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly asserted that its overseas naval presence is meant to convey a message of peace and friendship to regional countries.

In line with international efforts against piracy, the navy has also been conducting patrols in the pirate infested Gulf of Aden since November 2008 in order to safeguard merchant containers and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran or other countries.