Reports have emerged that 19 sailors were
killed and 15 others were injured when an
Iranian warship was accidentally hit by a
missile during a naval exercise in the Gulf
of Oman.
The statement published on the Iranian army’s
website, announced a total toll of “19 martyrs
and 15 wounded”.
It read, “During an exercise on Sunday afternoon
conducted by a number of naval vessels in
the waters of Jask and Chabahar, the light
support vessel Konarak had an accident”
Iranian media reported that the support ship
Konarak was hit by a new anti-ship missile
being tested by the frigate Jamaran during
an exercise on Sunday.
Tasnim news agency reported,
"Iran's Moudge-class frigate Jamaran accidentally
hit the Konarak ship with a missile during
the exercise,"
The incident took place near the Strait of
Hormuz.
This mishap raise questions about the professionalism
of Iranian military, the quality of its weapons
and the readiness to confront the U.S if there
is a skirmish.
Viewers may note that just few months earlier
Iran had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian
jetliner near Tehran, killing 176 passengers.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why
friendly fire by Anti Ship missile indicate
Iran is on lose ground when it comes to taking
on U.S ?
Let’s get started.
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Iran's military , especially its naval forces
have been very aggressive as the situation
in the region became strained since last year.
Tensions in the region escalated after the
U.S government under President Trump unilaterally
withdrew from Iran nuclear deal and imposed
stringent sanctions against Iran.
The deal offered Iran relief from sanctions
in exchange for limits on its nuclear program.
Trump administration is of the view that Iran
is misusing the deal.
Recent months have seen multiple spikes in
hostilities which include the U.S accusing
Iran for a series of attacks on commercial
ships and Iran downing of American RQ-4A Global
Hawk drone.
In July last year, USS boxer had a face-off
with an Iranian drone which was knocked down.
Iranians also seized a British tanker in the
strait in July and two oil tankers were attacked
in the nearby Gulf of Oman in June.
As recently as last month things were on on
verge of going out go hand when Iran’s fleet
of small boats harassed US Navy vessels.
The U.S Navy statement about the incident
read 11 Iranian vessels “repeatedly conducted
dangerous and harassing approaches of the
USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3), USS Paul Hamilton
(DDG-60), USS Firebolt (PC-10), USS Sirocco
(PC-6), USCGC Wrangell (WPB-1332) and USCGC
Maui (WPB-1304) while the U.S. vessels were
conducting joint integration operations with
U.S. Army AH-64E Apache attack helicopters
in the international waters of the North Arabian Gulf.
US Navy added, “The IRGCN’s dangerous
and provocative actions increased the risk
of miscalculation and collision, were not
in accordance with the internationally recognized
Convention on the International Regulations
for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS)
‘rules of the road’ or internationally
recognized maritime customs, and were not
in accordance with the obligation under international
law to act with due regard for the safety
of other vessels in the area,”
There are several passages in the world oceans
that are narrow, the Strait of Hormuz is one
of them.
The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the
Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
It provides the only sea passage from the
Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
It is one of the world's most strategically
important shipping lanes.
Around 33% of the world’s liquefied natural
gas and almost 20% of total global oil production
passes through the strait making it one of
the most important sea routes.
Because of its narrow width, it is kind of
a choke point.
Iran has strategized and implemented an asymmetric
warfare plan to control the Strait of Hormuz
and waters around it.
It has invested in many kinds of small vessels
and has developed strategies to deploy them
effectively in the strait.
It is recognized that Iran has a decent flotilla
of these vessels that can carry out operations
in the strait on short notice.
These boats carry short-range rockets, anti-ship
missiles, and torpedoes.
This exercise which resulted in the accident
seems to aimed at honing the tactical plans
and also serve as a notice to the world.
Reports indicate that the Konarak had been
putting targets out in the water and remained
too close to one.
The Iranian navy said the ship was towed ashore
and that an investigation had begun.
As of now the name or variant of the missile
is that was used is not clear.
The Dutch-made, 47-metre (155-foot) vessel
had been in service since 1988.
The Konarak had been overhauled in 2018.
It was not immediately clear how many crew
members were on board the warship at the time
of the accident.
Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported as many
as 40 crew members were on board the Konarak.
Jamaran which fired the missile at Konarak
is the first ship of Moudge-class class and
was launched in 2010.
The Moudge-class frigate also spelled Moje
class (meaning Wave), is a class of domestically
produced Iranian light frigates.
It appears to be a development of the Alvand-class
design.
They are described as destroyers by the Iranian
state media but the size and weight of the
ships; 1,500 ton displacement, are more in
keeping with that of modern corvettes.
The ships are also referred to as destroyer
escorts.
It is armed with several weapons systems:
4 × Noor or Qader anti-ship missiles.
1 × 76 mm Fajr-27 naval gun
1 × 40 mm Fath-40 AAA
2 × 20 mm cannons Oerlikon
4 × Mehrab Missiles reverse engineering of
SM-1 SAM or Raad Missiles
2 × triple 324 mm torpedoes
2 × 12.7 mm heavy machine guns
Jamaran also carries one Bell 214 ASW helicopter
After the harassment of U.S warships by Iran
, U.S President Trump had announced new instructions
to the U.S Navy via Tweet on Apr. 22, 2020
to deal will this kind of situation.
Trump's Tweet read, "I have instructed the
United States Navy to shoot down and destroy
any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass
our ships at sea,"
The exact new rules of engagement for American
warships was not reveled but it means that
a firefight is more likely than it was earlier.
Iran is boxed in, sanctions have taken a toll
on it.
More than 150 foreign corporations have stopped
doing business with Iran and many countries
like India and Japan have reduced oil imports
and may eventually stop buying completely.
The financial squeeze has resulted in a severe
crunch and the economy shrank by as much as
3.9 % in 2017-18, 5.4% 2018-19 and 7.6% 2019-20.
President Hassan Rohani had stated sometime
back that U.S. sanctions have cost the country
$200 Billion and losses are still mounting.
Now the price of crude oil which is its main
source for getting foreign revenue has plummeted.
At this point, any conflict with the U.S will
be unsustainable and its is also clear after
this accident and incident related to the
jetliner that Iran has a long way to go when
it comes to acquiring technical capabilities
& having properly trained human resources
to take on 
the U.S military.
