DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Iran has moved a mock aircraft carrier to the strategic Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the US, satellite photographs released Monday show, likely signaling the Islamic Republic soon plans to use it for live-fire drills.
An image from Maxar Technologies taken Sunday shows an Iranian fast boat speed toward the carrier, sending waves up in its wake, after a tugboat pulled her out into the strait from the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Iranian state media and officials have yet to acknowledge bringing the replica out to the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil passes. However, its appearance there suggests Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is preparing an encore of a similar mock-sinking it conducted in 2015.
The US Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, which patrols Mideast waterways, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The replica resembles the Nimitz-class carriers that the US Navy routinely sails into the Arabian Gulf from the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the waterway. The USS Nimitz, the namesake of the class, just entered Mideast waters late last week from the Indian Ocean, likely to replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Arabian Sea.
It remains unclear when or if the Nimitz will pass through the Strait of Hormuz or not during its time in the Mideast. The USS Abraham Lincoln, deployed last year as tensions initially spiked, spent months in the Arabian Sea before heading through the strait. The Eisenhower came through the strait early last week.
The replica carries 16 mock-ups of fighter jets on its deck, according to the satellite photos taken by Maxar Technologies. The vessel appears to be some 200 meters long and 50 meters wide. A real Nimitz is over 300 meters long and 75 meters wide.
The mock-up strongly resembles a similar one used in February 2015 during a military exercise called “Great Prophet 9.” During that drill, Iran swarmed the fake aircraft carrier with speedboats firing machine guns and rockets. Surface-to-sea missiles later targeted and destroyed the fake carrier.
That drill, however, came as Iran and world powers remained locked in negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. Today, the deal born of those negotiations is in tatters. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in May 2018. Iran later responded by slowly abandoning nearly every tenant of the agreement, though it still allows UN inspectors access to its nuclear sites.
Given the timing of Iran moving the replica to sea, with satellite photos showing it being tugged out of port on Saturday, a drill targeting it may be a direct response from Tehran to an incident last week. That event involved a US F-15 fighter jet approaching a Mahan Air flight over Syria, which saw passengers on the Iranian jetliner injured.
Iran moves mock aircraft carrier to sea amid US tensions
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Iran moves mock aircraft carrier to sea amid US tensions
- Replica resembles the Nimitz-class carriers that the US Navy routinely sails into the Arabian Gulf from the Strait of Hormuz
Yemeni border security chief reveals drug smuggling networks linked to Houthis
- Al-Wadiah security force foils attempt by Houthi leader to enter Saudi Arabia using forged Umrah visa
- Col. Osama Al-Assad: Saudi security measures are strong, the level of vigilance is high, and we coordinate with them on smuggling cases that are being closely monitored
AL-WADIAH, Yemen: Most of the drug-smuggling networks from Yemen to Saudi territory are directly linked to the preventive security apparatus affiliated with the Houthi terrorist group.
This is according to Col. Osama Al-Assad, commander of Yemen’s Security and Protection Battalion at the Al-Wadiah border crossing.
Al-Assad told Asharq Al-Awsat that the battalion recently arrested a Houthi leader while he was trying to enter Saudi Arabia using a forged passport and Umrah visa, suggesting that the motives for his entry were of a security nature, and not to perform religious rites as he claimed.
Al-Assad said the battalion faced several patterns of smuggling attempts, foremost among them prohibited items, in addition to people smuggling, forgers, and persons of unknown identity.
But, he said, that the battalion’s high cumulative expertise enabled them to thwart these illegal activities.
Al-Assad added that the level of coordination with the Saudi side was conducted at the highest levels. He expressed gratitude to the Kingdom for its continuous support to Yemen in general, and to the battalion in particular, in a manner that contributed to strengthening border security between the two countries.
He said the battalion’s mission was focused on securing and protecting the crossing, and combating various forms of smuggling, whether prohibited items or people smuggling, noting that the battalion apprehended about 10 people a day in possession of forged Umrah visas.
Al-Assad said that the battalion’s security coverage extended to “the crossing and its surroundings for a distance of 30 km westward up to the borders of Al-Rayyan in Al-Jawf.”
He added that among the battalion’s tasks was to arrest wanted members of Al-Qaeda, in addition to persons fleeing the implementation of judicial rulings issued against them.
He said the majority of smuggling operations were directly linked to the preventive security apparatus of the Houthi group in Sanaa, explaining that investigations with the detainees revealed direct connections to this apparatus.
Al-Assad said that “during one operation to stop a smuggling vehicle, a network linked to the Houthis offered a sum of SR1 million ($266,650) in exchange for releasing only the smuggler, while relinquishing the vehicle and the confiscated goods.”
Investigations revealed that smugglers affiliated with the Houthi preventive security apparatus held meetings in the border areas with Oman, indicating that some secret meetings were held in the city of Al-Ghaydah in the Al-Mahra Governorate (eastern Yemen).
He said that a man called Ali Al-Harizi had strong connections to smuggling operations and was considered a leader in this network.
“Saudi security measures are strong, the level of vigilance is high, and we coordinate with them on smuggling cases that are being closely monitored,” he said
He thanked the Kingdom for the “efforts and sacrifices it is making to restore the Yemeni state, combat Persian expansionism, and sever the arms of Iran and its supporters inside Yemen.”
He added: “We particularly appreciate the Kingdom’s backing for the Al-Wadiah security battalion through the support it provides at the logistical, financial, and other levels, which positively reflects on the battalion’s performance and its security tasks.”
Al-Assad revealed that the Al-Wadiah protection battalion recently arrested a Houthi commander who was trying to enter Saudi Arabia with a forged Umrah visa, describing the arrest operation as “dramatic.”
He said: “About a month and a half ago, one of the battalion members recognized the Houthi commander, as the soldier himself was a former prisoner of the Houthis. When he saw him, he asked him: ‘Where to, Abu Assad?’ The Houthi commander was startled and replied fearfully: ‘I’m at your mercy. Watch out for me, and you can have whatever you want.’”
He added: “The soldier firmly replied: ‘You will not advance a single step,’ and he was immediately arrested.”
According to Al-Assad, the Houthi commander was a communications officer in the Central Security prison in Sanaa and was using a forged passport issued by the Houthi-controlled areas themselves.
Al-Assad said Al-Wadiah Battalion also arrested four other Houthi operatives at different times, in addition to apprehending 15 murder suspects. A suspect believed to be affiliated with the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda was also detained.
He said that the Houthi group, acting as an Iranian proxy, had moved toward establishing drug-production facilities in Sanaa and Saada following the fall of the Bashar Assad regime in Syria.
He said Yemen’s Ministry of Interior foiled, several months ago, a drug factory in Al-Mahrah Governorate.
“According to available intelligence, the factory was under the direct supervision of Al-Harizi, with a production capacity of approximately 10,000 pills per hour,” he said.
Al-Assad noted that “the facility was seized after intensive surveillance and precise intelligence operations,” and that “security agencies continue to monitor and investigate the case to uncover further details and links.”
The most significant challenges facing the unit are limited resources and capabilities, he said, underlining that operations rely primarily on manual effort and human expertise.
“Our personnel have years of accumulated experience that enable them to identify suspicion even from the way a person speaks or from subtle features of a vehicle,” he said. “We have requested the provision of heavy machinery and equipment to establish an earthen security belt and to dig trenches to curb internal smuggling activities.”
Of smuggling methods, he said that trafficking networks constantly changed and refined their techniques, yet security forces remained vigilant. “In some cases, smugglers modify the vehicle itself, hiding contraband in the dashboard, beneath seats, between the roof and interior lining, inside pillars, and even in public transport buses, where prohibited items are concealed in places one would never expect,” he said.
“On one occasion, they dismantled the vehicle’s frame, opened the metal rocker panel at the base, hid the goods inside, and then welded everything back together.”
Al-Assad emphasized that operations at the Al-Wadiah border post were characterized by a high level of integration and coordination among all relevant agencies, foremost among them the National Shield Forces, alongside passport and customs authorities, an approach that significantly enhanced the effectiveness of joint security efforts.
