TEHRAN – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have unveiled a new naval base aimingto project “dominance” over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state mediareported, following months of tensions with arch-enemy the United States.
The “Martyr Seyed Majid Rahbar” base lies in the southern province ofHormozgan, near the entrance to the narrow Strait of Hormuz through which afifth of world oil output passes.
The vital shipping lane and nearby Gulf waters were the scene of heightenedUS-Iranian tensions late last year when ships were mysteriously attacked,drones downed and oil tankers seized.
“This base has been built with the purpose of total dominance over theentry and exit of extraterritorial aircraft and naval vessels” at theentrance to the Gulf, Guards commander Major General Hossein Salami said onWednesday.
“This location is one of the country’s most strategic defensive points,” headded, quoted by state TV’s website.
The Guards’ navy, which operates separately from the Iranian armed forces,“now has a very powerful naval base” six years in the making, Salami said.
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His remarks come days after a US aircraft carrier passed the waterway toenter the Gulf , amid Washington threats to enforce United Nationssanctions on Iran — a move other world powers have dismissed as legallyvoid.
The Guards on Wednesday released on their official Sepah News websitedrone-captured photos reportedly showing the USS Nimitz.
In June last year, Iran shot down a US Global Hawk drone over the straitafter it allegedly violated the Islamic Republic’s airspace, a claim the UShas denied.
The enemies have twice come to the brink of direct confrontation sincethen. -APP/AFP
