Iran's Navy Commander says the new naval base in the strategic port of Jask will be used to block the Strait of Hormuz in case of war. In a Tuesday interview, Chief Navy Commander Habibollah Sayyari said the presence of foreign forces near Iranian waters prompted the army to expand its strategic positions in the Sea of Oman. "The newly-inaugurated naval base offers a new defensive front to the east of the Strait of Hormuz," said Rear Admiral Sayyari.
He stressed that the base would become an impenetrable barrier in the event of war, blocking the entry of enemy naval units into Persian Gulf waters.
Washington and Israel have threatened to strike the Islamic Republic, under the pretext of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. A US attack on the Syrian village of Sukkariyah on Monday, has raised speculation about the likelihood of a unilateral strike on the Islamic Republic.
Tehran has warned that in the event of war, it would not hesitate to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world's sea-transited crude oil passes.
In a Sep. 11 report, the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy says that in the two decades since the Iran-Iraq War, the Islamic Republic has excelled in naval capabilities and is able to wage unique asymmetric warfare against larger naval forces. According to the report, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy (IRGCN) has been transformed into a highly motivated, well-equipped, and well-financed force and is effectively in control of the world's oil lifeline, the Strait of Hormuz.
The study says that if Washington takes military action against the Islamic Republic, the scale of Iran's response would likely be proportional to the scale of the damage inflicted on Iranian assets.