Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard held a surprise drill on disputed islands in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, Aug. 2. The drill focused primarily on Abu Musa Island, one of three Persian Gulf islands under Iranian control but disputed by the United Arab Emirates.
As part of the drill, the Guard’s navy unveiled new vessels equipped with missiles that can travel nearly 400 miles. Swarms of smaller boats also took part as well as paratroopers, drones and truck-launched surface-to-sea missile systems.
The Iran drill came just as the United States sent thousands of Marines and sailors on an amphibious assault ship and a landing ship to the Persian Gulf. The U.S. had already sent A-10 Thunderbolt II warplanes, F-16 and F-35 fighter, and the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner to the region.
The Pentagon said the deployment was “in response to recent attempts by Iran to threaten the free flow of commerce in the Strait of Hormuz and its surrounding waters.”
“Our nation is vigilant, and it gives harsh responses to all threats, complicated seditions and secret scenarios and hostilities,” Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, said at the drill. He later told state TV, “There is absolutely no need for the presence of America or its European or non-European allies in the region.”
Jamsheed Choksy, a professor of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University, disagreed.
“For many years the United States has acted as the shield for Arab nations of the Gulf, in particular to ensure the free flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz,” Choksy said. “So the United States does need to remain in the region actively and actively push back when Iran attempts to stop oil tankers and other energy supplies moving through the Persian Gulf.”
Similar to other countries the U.S. is experiencing escalated tensions with, Iran is also a nuclear threat. Earlier in 2023, the United Nations’ top nuclear official warned Iran has enough highly-enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons.
