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OE Watch Commentary: Since 2007, the Iranian leadership has redoubled emphasis on Iran’s navy in order to project power beyond the Persian Gulf. Simultaneously, Iran’s government has prioritized its own indigenous military industries so as to become less reliant on foreign suppliers. A recent incident raises questions about how effectively the Iranian military has done both.
While the Iranian navy’s activities in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and sometimes Eastern Mediterranean make international headlines, it has also deployed ships in the Caspian Sea to defend Iran’s interests over maritime disputes in the oil rich waters and to counter smuggling and poaching in offshore fisheries. It was in the Caspian that, according to the semi-official Young Journalists Club in an article excerpted here, on 10 January 2018, the Iranian frigate “Damavand” struck a breakwater while attempting to dock in the Iranian port of Bandar Anzali and sank. Even if seas were stormy, such an incident raises questions about the quality of Iran’s indigenous military platforms and the competence of its naval personnel.
Initially, the Iranian military denied that the Damavand had sunk. However, in the video accompanying the Young Journalists Club report, it is clear that the Damavand did sink, even if waters were shallow. That the Iranian military would deny the incident and that a semi-official outlet would not only ignore this but photograph the aftermath and openly contradict the official line indicates that at least some portions of the Iranian press are no longer willing to cover up the regime’s mistakes and errors. Whether such willingness to contradict authorities is the new normal or simply a temporary extension of the resistance accompanying the recent mass protests remains to be seen. End OE Watch Commentary (Rubin)