Top defense researcher Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall, a senior analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said Iran maintains a covert, intelligence gathering presence in the Red Sea.
Speaking to Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), Segall alerted that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Navy has a covert presence in the Red Sea through an array of ships, including some that gather intelligence and act as forward bases.
“The Shahid Roudaki and other forward base ship are usually equipped with fast boats that can be lowered to the sea with cranes,” said Segall. “Usually, the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy (IRIN) is active in missions/deployment outside of the Persian Gulf, while the IRGC-N is responsible for the Persian Gulf and Iran’s littoral shores. But they also cooperate, such as when IRGC forward naval bases may cooperate with Iran Navy ships in international waters.”
JNS reports “While the IRGC usually deploys forward base ships to act as intelligence-gatherers and enable rapid attack capabilities, the Iranian Navy, which is less well funded than its IRGC equivalent, unveiled last year its own forward base, in the form of a large ship called the IRIS Markan, a converted tanker, able to act as a mothership for naval operations, such as escorting Iranian tankers.”
“The Markan is a huge ship that accompanies smaller vessels,” said Segall.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a vessel was attacked 63 kilometers (34 nautical miles) off the Yemenite coastline, adding that an investigation was underway. British maritime security company Ambrey Intelligence said the incident involved a sailing vessel that managed to escape an attempted boarding from occupants of skiffs and that the crew have been reported safe, the report stated.