Ch. 11: IRAN

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN)

• asymmetric doctrine

• smaller, faster platforms

• AOR: Persian Gulf

Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN)

• strategic force

• more conventional doctrine

• forward presence

• naval diplomacy

• AOR: Gulf of Oman, Caspian Sea

2008 January

Iranian patrol boats approached USS HOPPER, USS PORT ROYAL, and USS INGRAHAM in the Strait of Hormuz

2009 September

uranium enrichment plant

2011 December-present day

Strait of Hormuz is ongoing dispute

2015 July

world powers reach deal with Iran on limiting Iranian nuclear activity in return for lifting international economic sanctions

2016 January

IRGC seized a US Navy craft and detained the crew (9 men, 1 woman) for 15 hours; strayed into Iranian waters and were held on Farsi Island

2019 June

Iran’s air defense shot down US Global Hawk operating in international airspace (last event)

Fast Attack Craft

FAC

• smaller platforms

• smaller, faster vessels

Fast Inshore Attack Craft

FIAC

• swarming vessels

• lightly armed small boats

Shahab-3 Medium Range Missile

• 1,242 miles

• liquid-fueled

• single warhead

• launched from any location

Fateh-110 Short-Range Missile

• solid-fueled

• can carry nuclear or biological warheads

• launched from any location

1979

Iran introduced Islam as a form of governance in ____.

2018, 2015

• In May ____, the Trump administration withdrew from the ____ nuclear agreement negotiated by 6 world powers and Iran.

• It “did not adequately curb Tehran’s nuclear program or address missile program, human rights abuses, and support for terror.”

maximum pressure

Washington reimposed sanctions as part of a “_______” campaign

2019, Gulf of Oman

Tensions between Iran and the United States escalated over attacks on tankers in ____ in the _______.

Houthis

Iran supports the _______ in Yemen.

Hezbollah

Iran wants to consolidate its influence in Syria and arm _______.

Popular Mobilization Committee

Iran-supported _______ _______ _______-affiliated Shia militias remain the primary threat to US personnel in Iraq.

proxies, partners

The United States continues to watch for signs that the Iranian regime might direct its _______ and _______ in Iraq to attack U.S. interests.

20 km

How wide is Bab al-Mandab?

21 miles

How wide is the Strait of Hormuz?

3.4 million

More than _______ barrels of oil pass through the 20km wide Bab al-Mandab Strait each day.

Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM)

In 2016, Navy destroyer USS MASON defended three other warships and US merchant vessels during missile attacks in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels in Yemen. MASON became the only warship in US naval history to successfully employ the _______ while under attack.

1,000

MASON’s actions protected _______ US sailors.

Hasan Ruhani

centrist President

corruption, banking sector, foreign investment, trade

pervasive _______, weak _______ _______, and a business climate that discourages _______ _______ and _______.

Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman

harassment of US ships in 3 bodies of water…

nonlethal

The United States assesses that Tehran is prepared to take more aggressive security measures in response to renewed unrest while preferring to use _______ force.

confrontational

Regime hardliners are more emboldened to challenge rival centrists by undermining their domestic reform efforts and pushing a more _______ posture toward the United States and its allies.

military capabilities

8 listed…

• ballistic missiles

• unmanned explosive boats

• naval mines

• submarines and advanced torpedoes

• UAVs

• anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles

• anti-ship ballistic missiles

• air defenses

2,000 km

Iran has the largest ballistic missile force in the Middle East and can strike targets as far as _______ from their borders.

Persian Gulf, UAVs

In recent years, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has challenged US ships in the _______ ____ and flown ____ close to US aircraft carriers during flight operations.

July 2018

Since _______, Iranian leaders have threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz.

1/3, 30%

Nearly ____ of all seaborne crude oil (18+ million barrels per day) passes through the 21-mile-wide opening between Oman and Iran, as well as approximately ____ of all natural gas shipped on tankers.

critical chokepoints

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most _______ in the world.