IRGC, Army naval forces on full alert in Persian Gulf waters

Rear Admiral Ali Reza Tangsiri said on Monday that the IRGC Navy monitors all movements by extra-regional forces that are present in these waters, adding, "Any attempt for violation of our land, water and air will be met with a rapid response.”

He made the remarks on the fifth anniversary of the arrest of American forces trespassing on the country’s territorial waters.

Tangsiri added, "The naval forces of the IRGC and the Iranian Army are present in the Persian Gulf and this presence continues through the southern waters to the Indian Ocean."

Stressing that the Persian Gulf is full security, he said, “The navy of the IRGC and the army are fully prepared against any aggression.”

In earlier remarks on Sunday, the IRGC Navy commander underlined that deterrence in the face of hostile forces cannot be achieved through mere political means, but it can only be achieved "if your power exceeds that of your enemy."

He said every time that the Iranian naval forces get prepared to stage military drills, the enemy sees their operational and missile power, and this acts as a deterrent factor in the face of the enemy.

Commenting on acts of provocation by hostile forces in the Persian Gulf, he said the Americans' Persian Gulf strategy has failed, adding, "We have barred the enemy from implementing its strategy and this is why the Persian Gulf is secure."

Two US Navy crafts, carrying 10 Marines, reached three miles into the waters surrounding the Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf on January 12, 2016.

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, the then-commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Navy, said that the trespassing occurred because of technical problems with the navigation systems of the US vessels.

The IRGC released the sailors a day later, saying in a statement that "after technical and operational examinations done in interaction with the country’s relevant political and national security authorities and the establishment of the inadvertent and unintentional nature of the entry by the American Navy crafts and their apology, a decision was made to free them.”