Iran’s small vessels may be able to challenge US blockade operations, Chinese analysts suggest, despite the heavy losses suffered by the Iranian navy during the opening weeks of the US-Israeli offensive.The United States launched a naval blockade on Monday targeting Iranian maritime trade, after peace talks in Pakistan failed over the weekend.US Central Command (Centcom) issued a formal notice on Sunday announcing that its forces would block “all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports” from 10am Washington time on April 13, citing a declaration by President Donald Trump hours earlier.Centcom said the interceptions would not affect all maritime traffic. According to the notice: “Centcom forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the blockade had been “fully implemented”. Eight oil tankers had obeyed “direction from US forces to reverse course”, it said, citing a US official.While Iran has sharply condemned the blockade, it has refrained from a direct military response. The two-week US-Iran ceasefire agreement reached on April 7 appears to be holding despite the collapsed talks.
Can Iran’s small, fast-attack boats challenge US naval blockade of Hormuz?
Iran’s conventional navy might be decimated, but its large fleet of high-speed boats could well pose a threat, analysts in China say.
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