author: Tyler Durden
Iran's asymmetric war in the Strait of Ormuz moved from the attacks of the kamikaze of drones on tankers, bulk ships and container ships to littering the world's most crucial maritime passage through sea mines.
Although many of Iran's conventional naval capabilities have been severely weakened in about 12 days of the run Operation Epic Fury, IRGC forces keep an asymmetrical advantage in Hormuz and Gulf region through seamines, drones, tiny units and rocket threats.
"It's a good tool for asymmetric warfare." – said Jahangir E. Arasli, elder technological individual at the Baku-based Institute for improvement and Diplomacy specialising in marine threats, in conversation with Wall Street Journal.
"Conventional possibilities have been eliminated, but they have this asymmetrical ability," said Araslí, noting that he spoke personally.
The U.S. military reported earlier this week that it severely weakened IRGC's naval forces, prompting Iran to depart from the operation to refuse access to the sea's narrow throat to origin havoc on the waterway by placing naval mines.
The Congressional investigation Service, an unpartisan public policy investigation body of the U.S. Congress, published a study in 2020 entitled "Foreign and Defence Policy of Iran", in which he estimated Iran to have about 3,000 to 6,000 naval mines, and any newer estimates indicate stocks are approaching the advanced end of this range.
On Thursday, president Trump told journalists that US forces hit 28 Iranian mine units. This movement to disrupt seamine operations appears at a time erstwhile specified activity would be a nightmare for the movement of merchant vessels on a narrow waterway.
Tehran deployed seamines during the 1980s conflict with Iraq, during the alleged "tank war", forcing the US to escort tankers and another merchant ships.
"Miny is the weapon of the poor," said a erstwhile high-ranking officer of the French Navy and specialist in this field of AFP News subject to anonymity.
Previously, CNN reported that Iran's fresh highest leader, Mojtaba Chamenei, had issued a fresh message in which he stated that the narrow grout in Ormuz would stay closed as a "pressive tool".
Seamines on the waterway and the expanding number of ships awaiting safe passage propose that American and allied naval escorts will shortly be needed if Washington wants to unlock the narrow passage. Still, Tehran seems to hold adequate asymmetrical capacity to keep the tensions advanced for further weeks.
Translated by Google Translator
source:https://www.zerohedge.com/
