The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired a ballistic missile from its relatively new Shahid Mahdavi warship. The ship itself was provided to the IRGC in March of 2023 and was docked at Bandar Abbas. Now it may have new missile capabilities, extending the range of its threats at a time when the Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea.
Iran has targeted ships in the Gulf of Oman in the past. Iran and the Houthis have drones and anti-ship ballistic missiles.
IRGC Navy Chief Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri praised the Shahid Mahdavi when it was delivered to the IRGC last year. He said it can carry helicopters, drones and missiles and that it has a long range. The ship itself is a converted cargo ship that is 240 meters in length. It is supposed to have a variety of missile systems on board.
“Shahid Mahdavi warship is like a mobile maritime city ready to carry out ocean missions…to create sustainable security of sea communication lines and provide aid to the commercial and fishing fleets of the Islamic Republic and regional countries,” The IRGC Navy commander said last year.Now Tasnim News a pro-government publication in Iran close to the IRGC, has published photos of it launching missiles. In these images, 2 ballistic missiles were fired from inside 2 containers installed on the Shahid Mahdavi ocean liner and successfully destroyed the intended target,” the report said. The missiles have a range of 1,700km, the report claims. The IRGC head Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami praised the missile test. This shows how important this is for Iran.
He also praised cooperation between the IRGC navy and IRGC aerospace force. “This new achievement has increased the range of influence and our naval power to any desired point because our ocean-going ships can appear in any part of the world and when we can fire missiles from them, there is basically no safe place for any power. It does not create insecurity for us,” the IRGC leader said.
Extra munition transportation
The large cargo ship is supposed to be able to carry air defenses and also a plethora of other munitions. This raises questions about whether the IRGC might send this ship to sea to threaten shipping. While a ship like this would make a large and easy target, the US would likely be reticent to confront it. This is because the US mission currently is to strike the Houthis if and when they target ships in the Red Sea.
That mission doesn’t yet extend to dealing with Iran’s threats or its naval threats. Iran is alleged to have spy ships operating in the Red Sea and they have so far remained unscathed. Iran’s Behshad ship is a commercial cargo ship alleged to be a front for Iran and while the US is aware of the ship, it has not been confronted yet, according to reports.
Another alleged spy ship linked to Iran is called the Saviz. Both ships seem to be playing a nefarious role in the current Houthi attacks on shipping.