The US Navy released the video of the Iranian exercise, which took place on 26 last December, conducted in the vicinity of Coalition warships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. An episode that has exacerbated tensions between the two nations, despite the recent nuclear deal.
The 45 seconds of the black and white film, taken by a US Navy Seahawk helicopter, immortalizes some small boats of the Revolutionary Guard Iranian firing missiles at a target.
The Iranians did not comment on the video. According to Tehran, the exercises that took place were invented by the US and are part of the Western psychological warfare. The video shown, however, would seem to confirm the exercise of the units of the Revolutionary Guard.
Missile tests took place near the US super aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman and two other warships. According to the US Navy, the Revolutionary Guard Iranian would have communicated the exercise only 23 minutes before it began. In addition to the commercial ships present in the area, the destroyer USS were also within the potential range of the missiles launched during the exercise. Bulkeley, the French frigate Provence and, as already mentioned, the USS Truman.
Ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz have marginal room for maneuver. The transport lane in both directions is only 2 miles (3,22 kilometers) in width, with 2 miles (3,2 kilometers) of buffer zone. The US Navy has permanently deployed in Region la Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, on the southern Gulf coast. US ships conduct anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf and serve as a regional counterweight to Iran.
The United States and Iran clashed in the Strait of Hormuz in the 80s during the Iran-Iraq war.
