Image source: topwar.ru
The combat capabilities of the Naval Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran cannot be compared with the past. This was stated by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, Major General Mohammad Bagheri. He warned the US military that the IRGC Navy is now very combat-ready and has serious potential.
As General Bagheri noted, if the United States wants to violate Iran's interests in the Persian Gulf, they will have to deal with the IRGC Naval Forces. The general made such a statement during a visit to the exhibition of Iran's defense achievements in the field of naval forces.
According to General Bagheri, the IRGC fleet has significantly advanced today in terms of the number and quality of warships, boats, rocket launchers, naval mines and other types of naval weapons. The chief of the Iranian General Staff recalled that a couple of cases of erroneous entry of American patrol ships into Iranian territorial waters ended with the arrest of US ships.
The ships and crews were released after the command gave a written commitment not to repeat further violations of Iran's borders at sea. Since then, such incidents have not been repeated, General Bagheri noted. Probably, in his opinion, this may indicate that the US Navy in the region does not want to deal with the Iranian fleet.
Recall that in Iran, in addition to the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Iran, there are also separate Naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. According to English-language sources, about 20 thousand people serve in them, and there are 126 surface ships and up to 5,000 boats in service. For comparison, about 18 thousand people serve in the Navy of the Armed Forces, although there are submarines in service.
