Iran’s Guards launch SCO counter-terrorism exercise in northwest

Brigadier General Ali-Mohammad Naeini, the IRGC’s spokesman and deputy for public affairs, described the fighting as a high-intensity hybrid conflict and said Iran’s adversaries misread the sources of Tehran’s power, including mass-mobilization structures such as the Basij that he credited with sustaining social and logistical support during the flare-up.

“The Zionist regime suffered a decisive defeat in the 12-day war,” Naeini said. “If the enemy undertakes any new act of mischief or aggression, it will receive a more serious response, and there is no doubt about that.”

Naeini said Iran’s missile, cyber and electronic-warfare units operated with high tactical readiness and that production lines remain active.

Naeini also said: “The armed forces of the Islamic Republic are currently at the highest levels of tactical readiness, armament and innovation.”

“Peace, stability and security in the vital and strategic Strait of Hormuz are important for all nations of the region, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we are their guardians,” Major General Amir Hatami said at a naval ceremony in southern Iran.

He said Iran and its neighbors have lived and worked in the region for centuries, adding that “those who are not from this region and have no place here should leave.”

Hatami said any attempt to disrupt regional stability would “create disorder,” and that the countries bordering the Persian Gulf should share its benefits “under fair conditions.”

Iran adds repaired destroyer and floating base

The remarks came as Iran added the destroyer Sahand and the floating base Kordestan to its navy, in what the army described as a move to strengthen maritime power and technical self-reliance.

The Sahand, a domestically built Moudge-class frigate fitted with cruise missiles and radar-evading technology, capsized during repairs at the southern port of Bandar Abbas last year after water entered its ballast tanks. The Navy later refloated and restored it.

The Kordestan floating base is designed to serve as a mobile port supporting naval and non-naval units far from Iranian shores. Mehr news agency said it “can play an important role in supporting combat and logistics operations at sea.”

Hatami said Iran’s forces remain ready to respond to any threat. “Our forces will not wait for an enemy to attack,” he said. “We are ready to deliver a decisive and crushing response wherever our national interests require.”

Ali Salemizadeh, the prosecutor of Kish, said the boats were stopped under a judicial order as part of operations by a naval task force formed to combat fuel smuggling. He said the alleged smugglers had modified the structure of the boats and installed extra tanks on deck to move the fuel out of the country.

No details were given about the ownership, registration, or crew of the vessels, or about where they were headed.

Salemi­zadeh said authorities would continue to act firmly against fuel trafficking networks, which officials in Tehran say cause heavy losses to the state due to large price gaps with neighboring countries. Fuel smuggling is common in southern Iran, where heavily subsidized prices make it profitable to resell fuel abroad.

The announcement came amid a series of maritime enforcement operations by Iran in recent months. Earlier this month, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had seized a Marshall Islands–flagged tanker off the coast of Makran, confirming reports from maritime security firms that the ship had been diverted toward Iranian waters after being approached by small boats in the Gulf of Oman.

Iran says such seizures are carried out under judicial orders to prevent illegal fuel or cargo transfers. But Western officials and shipping sources say the country has often used maritime enforcement as leverage in regional and sanctions-related disputes.

Iran’s coast and the Strait of Hormuz are key routes for global oil shipments, and Tehran has increased patrols there as part of what it calls efforts to safeguard national interests and counter smuggling.

Sahand, a Moudge-class frigate built in Iran, joined the navy in 2018 and is equipped with cruise missiles and stealth technology designed to evade radar detection, state media said. It sank last year during repairs at the southern port of Bandar Abbas after water entered its ballast tanks, causing it to lose balance and partially submerge. The navy said it later refloated and repaired the ship.

The Sahand had been readied for an anti-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean after leading an Iranian flotilla to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden amid attacks on commercial vessels in the region, according to state media. In 2021, it drew international attention when a US diplomatic campaign stopped it from docking in the Western Hemisphere. Washington believed it was carrying weapons and heading toward Venezuela, but the vessel eventually changed course toward the west coast of Africa, US officials said at the time.

The Kordestan floating base is designed to act as a mobile port city capable of supporting naval and non-naval combat units far from Iranian shores. Mehr news agency said the base “is essentially a port city that can play an important role in supporting naval and non-naval combat units at sea.”

The army also unveiled new missile-equipped speedboats, unmanned aerial and underwater systems, and electronic and coastal defense equipment during the ceremony.

Major General Amir Hatami, commander of the Iranian army, and Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, head of the navy, attended the event along with provincial governors, lawmakers, clerics and families of fallen navy personnel.

Votel, who oversaw American operations in the Middle East from March 2016 to March 2019, emphasized in an interview with Eye for Iran that the primary objective is countering narcotics trafficking.

But the show of force could also aim to deter Washington's arch-nemesis in the Middle East, Votel added.

"The presence of a carrier is a huge message that we're sending not just to the region, but to others who would be supporters of Venezuela,” he said. "Venezuela has been a place where ... we've seen Iranian advisors, the IRGC, Quds Force and others for a long period of time who developed a relationship."

"They look for this as an opportunity for strategic competition against us in an area of a sphere of our influence here ... it's going to be mostly indirect on Iran.”

The administration of US President Donald Trump has been amassing forces in the Caribbean in the biggest military buildup in the region for decades.

Washington accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of narco-terrorism and has offered a $50 million dollar reward for information leading to his arrest. The US strategy remains unclear but appears aimed at unseating the leftist populist.

Caracas and Tehran are sharp critics of US foreign policy and are sworn to opposing US influence in their regions.

“Iran has been a vocal supporter of Venezuela … they obviously have relationships with the Venezuelan government," Votel added.

Iran has bristled at the US maneuvers and says they show Washington's true face.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi this week condemned what he called US bullying and aggression toward the oil-rich South American country, according to a readout of a phone call he made to his Venezuelan counterpart.

Yvan Gil Pinto in turn thanked Iran for its support and vowed that Venezuela would resist US interference.

In a defiant speech on Thursday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei condemned US designs on Venezuela as a cynical play for its energy wealth which threatens chaos.

“Wherever the US intervenes, the outcome is war-mongering, genocide, destruction, and displacement," he said. "Because of oil and underground resources, they are willing to ignite conflicts anywhere in the world — and this warmongering has now reached Latin America as well."

The Iran-Venezuela strategic partnership dates back nearly 25 years. Since the two countries signed a 20-year cooperation agreement in 2022, they have expanded coordination in energy, security and trade.

Iran’s footprint in Venezuela includes an undetermined number of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel and military advisers.

Venezuela, in turn, provides Iran with access, alternative markets for sanctions evasion and a platform in the US near its borders.

The power of deterrence

Despite those ties, Votel stressed that the US key focus was on Venezuela, which has long been an irritant for Washington in the region.

“What we’re doing right now appears to principally be focused on the narco-terrorism,” he said.

Still, the scale of the deployment matters — and Tehran will not miss the message.

The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, supported by 70–80 aircraft and more than 12,000 US personnel, marks one of the most significant American naval postures in the Western Hemisphere since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Votel underscored just how substantial this deployment is: “We’re talking 12,000 troops. This is more than we had in Afghanistan for the last several years we were there.”

Washington has also conducted roughly 20 airstrikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing more than 80 people.

Votel added that while Iran could theoretically respond asymmetrically in the Persian Gulf, Iraq, or elsewhere, Tehran is significantly weaker today than a year ago, with its networks degraded and its security architecture shaken by US and Israeli strikes.

“They’re not in a great position to do that right now,” he said, “but again, we can never count out Iran in any of this.”

The US posture in the Caribbean also reflects a broader strategy of deterrence: using visible military force and the information environment — including openly discussing covert options to pressure Maduro’s government and shape the behavior of states aligned with it.

Votel said that the fact Washington is publicly talking about covert options is itself a message.

“In most cases, we wouldn’t normally talk about covert operations, but in this case, our government has made the decision to do that … to ramp up the pressure on the Maduro regime.”

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