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Evolving submarine capabilities enhance Iranian strategic posture

15th May 2020 - 16:58 GMT | by Ian Keddie in Toronto

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Development and deployment of submarines has been at the forefront of Iranian naval strategy for decades. Since the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) acquired three Kilo-class boats (one of which is pictured above) from Russia in the early 1990s, it has sought to expand this capability in order to better exploit the strategic possibilities offered by the vital links of the Persian Gulf.

Lessons learned during the Iran-Iraq war taught the IRIN and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy that conflict against peer competitors would prove prohibitively costly whilst asymmetric tactics offered highly efficient means of delivering strategic

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