History of the Iranian Navy

Traditionally, located in the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf, Iran has never been a great sea faring country and its navy has always been the smallest of its military forces. An Iranian navy in one form or another has existed since Achaemenid times in 500 BC; however, except for the Achimanid navy, none of the following navies were particularly well organised or strong. It was only with the Pahlavi dynasty in the 20th century that Iran began to consider building a strong navy to project its strength into the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.

The First Fleets

Qajar Era

Pahlavi Era

:"Main article: Imperial Iranian Navy"Since before 1971, the Iranian Navy had been supplied primarily by US and UK equipment. Up until 1979, Iran rapidly modernized their Navy, adding American and British-made destroyers, frigates and many smaller vessels, including Hovercraft.

Islamic Republic of Iran

With the fall of the Shah in 1979, the United States began economic sanctions, severely hampering Iran's ability to maintain and equip their Navy. In fact, the Navy was more severely affected than the Army or Air Force. Several of Iran's ships had to be laid up. Battles fought with Iraq and the United States during the Iran-Iraq war also degraded Iran's conventional naval assets.

In place of western equipment, Iran has been purchasing equipment from Russia, China, and North Korea, as well as engaging in naval exercises with Pakistan and India. The 1990's saw Iran focusing on building up its fleets of patrol boats and submarines, as well as surface-to-surface, anti-ship missiles.

Iran's goal has always been to provide escort for Iranian shipping in the Persian Gulf, as well as being able to disrupt enemy shipping, as was witnessed in the Iran-Iraq war.
* Operation Praying Mantis The 1988 American attack on the Iranian Navy.

External links

* [http://www.iranmilitaryforum.com Iranian Military Pictures & videos]