The Iranian Revolutionary Guard's new warship, named after slain Guard naval commander Abdollah Roudaki, sails to the country's southern territorial waters Thursday. Iran's paramilitary organization said the heavy warship is capable of carrying helicopters, drones and missile launchers. (Iranian Revolutionary Guard photo released to Sepahnews/AP)
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a heavy 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 commander Abdollah Roudaki, showed it carrying truck-launched surface-to-surface missiles and anti-aircraft missiles. It also carried four small fast boats, the kind the Guard routinely uses in the Persian Gulf. Sailors manned deck-mounted machine guns.
An adviser to Iran's supreme leader warned against any American military escalation in Trump’s final weeks in office.
By Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
The Guard said the ship has a length of 492 feet. By comparison, a U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carrier has a length of 1,092 feet. The Guard’s ship does not have a runway, but includes a landing pad for a helicopter.
This photo released Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, shows a helicopter, drones and missile launchers on the Guard's warship named Roudaki while moving in the Iranian southern territorial waters. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a heavy warship Thursday capable of carrying helicopters, drones and missile launchers amid ongoing tensions with the U.S. (Sepahnews via AP)
The commander of the Guard’s navy, Adm. Ali Reza Tangsiri, suggested his forces wanted to move 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 in the Indian Ocean is our right,” Tangsiri said.
The ship appears to be an answer to U.S. Navy patrols in the region by its Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. U.S. aircraft carriers routinely travel through Mideast waters. Iran sees those missions, as well as Israel’s expanding presence in the region, as a threat.
In this photo released Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Guard's warship named after slain Guard naval commander Abdollah Roudaki, sails into the Iranian southern territorial waters. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a heavy warship Thursday capable of carrying helicopters, drones and missile launchers amid ongoing tensions with the U.S. (Sepahnews via AP)
The George W. Bush Institute is urging the current administration to support programs and resources to help veterans successfully transition to civilian li
The massive white orb that drifted across U.S. airspace and was shot down by the military triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and blown up on social media.