Iran’s Army Navy carried out more than 20 successful operations against US warships and around 300 operations targeting American interests in various locations during the 40-day Ramadan War, including missile and drone strikes, a senior Iranian naval commander has said.
Speaking in an interview with IRNA, Rear Admiral Jalil Moghadam, the Navy’s deputy coordinator, detailed Iranian naval operations against US vessels and dismissing claims that the country’s naval forces had been destroyed.
“During the Ramadan War, the Army Navy carried out more than 20 successful operations against US terrorist forces’ warships. In addition, around 300 operations were conducted against US interests in various locations, including missile and drone operations,” he said.
Moghadam said Iranian forces identified the position of US naval vessels on the ninth day of the war, using available surveillance and reconnaissance systems. Within the first two days, they had identified the location of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and targeted it with a strategic cruise missile.
“After our operation, the carrier did not launch or fly any aircraft for three days, and then it moved away from our shores,” Moghadam said.
He added that the carrier requested assistance from a coastal country on the day or night following the attack, reporting that it had injured personnel. Iranian assessments also pointed to damage beyond what would normally be expected from a fire.
“Images released from the damaged area showed tears in the hull and structural deformation, which, in our assessment, indicated a missile strike,” he said.
The commander also described a combined operation against a US destroyer identified as DDG-103, which he said had been harassing Iranian oil tankers and commercial vessels.
Iranian forces developed a coordinated plan involving drones, cruise missiles and electronic warfare systems to counter the vessel and enable Iranian commercial ships to continue their journeys more safely.
He said that Iranian naval forces had successfully conducted operations beyond the Gulf of Oman during the previous war, indicating that their operational reach was not confined to the Persian Gulf.
Addressing US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that Iran’s Navy had been destroyed, Moghadam questioned why American and Israeli forces had refrained from approaching Iran’s coastline, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, during and after the war.
“If Iran’s Navy has been destroyed, the question is why these forces have not come closer than 500 or 600 kilometers to the Strait of Hormuz, or even closer than 300 kilometers to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s maritime borders,” he said, asserting that Iran still possessed a powerful naval force.
He said Iranian strikes against US and Israeli assets during the 40-day war and after the ceasefire demonstrated that the Islamic Republic’s Navy remains operational and is continuing to strengthen its capabilities.
Moghadam added that the war has exposed serious miscalculations in US and Israeli intelligence assessments of Iran’s naval capabilities, as well as their assumption that Iranian armed forces would be unable or unwilling to confront American forces.
“The strength of our armed forces caused the American terrorist forces and the Zionist regime to suffer defeat in the very first days,” he said.
‘Illusion of superpower status prevented US from accepting defeat’
Moghadam said Washington’s perception of itself as a global superpower has prevented it from acknowledging the outcome of the conflict.
“If the Americans had not considered themselves a global superpower, they would have accepted defeat in the first four days and left the region,” he said, adding that their strategy has been fundamentally misguided.
Strait of Hormuz security depends on US withdrawal
Turning to the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, Moghadam described the Iranian nation and the strategic waterway as two of the Islamic Republic’s major assets.
“The Strait of Hormuz is now one of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s trump cards,” he said, adding that the presence of US forces has undermined the security Tehran had previously helped maintain in the waterway.
“As long as American forces remain in the region, security in the Strait of Hormuz will not return to its desired state,” he said.
“If American forces leave the region, the Islamic Republic of Iran can restore security in this strait whenever it decides to do so.”
The commander also warned that any renewed war would prompt a broader Iranian naval response than the operations conducted during the 40-day conflict.
“If war breaks out again, the Navy’s operations will undoubtedly be more extensive than those of the 40-day war,” Moghadam said, citing significant advances in Iran’s equipment and capabilities.
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