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Report: Iranian Mini-Subs, Irregular Tactics, Threaten Gulf States

by TheTower.org Staff |

DefenseNews recently highlighted the capabilities of Iran’s navies, the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN). While neither navy is a major threat in conventional terms both are threats, especially in the Persian Gulf region, due to their “ability for irregular warfare.”

A military analyst described the Iranian naval threat to DefenseNews:

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards [Corps] threaten every state in the region. The IRGC possess mini-subs and are a constant menace to not only the UAE Navy, but to all naval trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz as they are particularly hard to trace. There have been numerous unconfirmed reports that Iranian midget subs have been spotted within a number of the regional ports, something which is particularly worrying for the entire [Gulf Cooperation Council] region.

Iran’s threat to naval commerce is a complement of its irregular warfare strategy, according to Anthony Cordesman:

But Iran is proficient at irregular warfare. It has built up a powerful mix of capabilities for both regular and IRGC forces to defend territory, intimidate neighbors, threaten the flow of oil and shipping through the Gulf, and attack Gulf targets. It has a dedicated force to train and equip non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas and Shiite extremists in Iraq—potential proxies that give Iran leverage over other states.
In addition, Cordesman points out that Iran’s missile program serves to make up for the weakness of its air force. More generally Iran’s asymmetric capabilities augment a conventional military that fields outdated equipment.
In terms of Iran’s naval threat, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) explains that, in a conflict, the mini-subs are suited “to lay mines and fire torpedoes at enemy forces. They would also be used for reconnaissance missions and covert Special Forces insertion.” According to NTI, Iran developed its current naval doctrine during “asymmetric naval operations during the Iran-Iraq war,” which were employed when conventional tactics failed to achieve their goals.
Though, as Cordesman writes, in a direct conventional confrontation between Iran and the United States, the United States would “decisively” defeat Iran, Iran has developed its irregular and asymmetric capabilities to the point where it threatens its neighbors in the Persian Gulf.

[Photo: FulcrumPilot / YouTube ]

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