Iran's Revolutionary Guard Launches Aircraft-Carrying Ship
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched an important warship Thursday capable of carrying helicopters, drones and missile launchers amid ongoing tensions with the U.S.
Photographs of the ship, named after slain Guard naval officer Abdollah Roudaki, showed it carrying truck-launched surface-to-surface missiles and anti-aircraft missiles. It also carried four small fast boats, the type the Guard routinely uses within the Persian Gulf . Sailors manned deck-mounted machine guns.
The Guard said the ship features a length of 150 meters (492 feet). By comparison, a U.S. Nimitz-class carrier features a length of 332 meters (1,092 feet). The Guard's ship doesn't have a runway, but includes a landing pad for a helicopter.
The commander of the Guard’s navy, Adm. Ali Reza Tangsiri, suggested his forces wanted to maneuver beyond the waters of the Gulf into deep-water patrolling. Typically, the Guard covers the waters of the Persian Gulf , while Iran's navy patrols the Gulf of Oman and beyond.
“Presence and assignments within the Indian Ocean is our right,” Tangsiri said.
The ship appears to be a solution to U.S. Navy patrols within the region by its Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. U.S. aircraft carriers routinely travel through Mideast waters. Iran sees those missions, also as Israel's expanding presence within the region, as a threat.
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